I am thinking about building a N-scale layout in my 2 car garage but I want to maintain half of the garage for my ski and general storage. That being said I’d like to also use that to increase the size of the layout, on a temporary basis. My idea is for a linear walk around with a couple dog bone peninsulas that can be broken down to several large pieces with the larger pieces (such as the peninsulas) on wheels.
The yard would be the anchor of the layout and would be fixed on one side of the garage. The sections of the mainline run that transition from one peninsula to the next would be removable, much like and N-track module and large sections on wheels so that it could collapsed to store, kind of like an accordion.
So my question to this esteemed board is how viable is this approach and how should I build the bench work so that it’s stable and strong enough to withstand the stresses associated with being rolled? I’m certainly going to try to build it light as I can (using foam board for the roadbed and primary scenery base) so that it’s not as top heavy as it would be with conventional construction with a plywood base.
Thanks for any help!
BDF
My 5x12 foot HO layout is on wheels. I started with this benchwork:
It's a 1x4 frame, with 1x3 rafters and 2x3 legs. The legs are held in place with triangular gussets made with scrap 3/4-inch plywood. I roll the whole thing around on carpet in my family room. The key is the the triangular gussets, plus a couple of 1x2 diagonal braces. From 10th grade geometry, remember that you can't "twist" a triangle. Once the sides are specified, you can't change the angles.
I "sunk" my 2-inch foam into the frame by mounting the rafters an inch below the top of the outer frame. This protects the foam, and hides any under-base wiring very well.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I think you said the magic words with, "N-Trak modules." That, plus larger tables on wheels for use as peninsulas should work admirably.
As Mister Beasley noted, the key is to brace the legs adequately. Mine have steel stud diagonal braces, and survived sliding around (without wheels) on a concrete garage floor quite nicely, thank you.
For something that is going to be moved fairly frequently, go with good quality, large diameter wheeled casters. They will, literally, be the foundation of your layout. Also, make sure you have some system that will allow you to align the mating ends of pieces of benchwork (to within a few hundredths of an inch) without having to make a major project of it every time you assemble the full layout.
Good luck with your project.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a 2-car garage)
I built mine very similar to Mister Beasleys.In fact it was Mister Beasleys layout table that sold me on this method.The only difference being that mine is not on wheels or casters,But the bottom of my legs all have levelers ( screw type).Mine is HO scale.
Mine is (three) 6 foot by 8 foot tables end to end for a total of 6 by 24 feet with bolt on legs and all braced, and totally walkaround at this time.If I ever decide to move the whole thing, I can simply take all the loose items
off the tables, slide them apart, unbolt the legs, and stand the tables on edge, and they can easilybe carried up the stairway from the basementI could have used plywood in place of foam for the tops, but then it would be a lot heavier, and harder to move if I ever had to move it.
TheK4Kid