I decided to build the train table in three sections. Essentially, the entire layout consists of three tables that can be disconnected from one another if needed. Each table has the following dimensions:
- Height: 25″
- Width: 40″
- Length: 53″
The total length of the layout is almost 160″, or 13′ 4″. The total area is 44.44 ft².
I liked the grid-based benchwork system described on the NMRA website, so I decided to use this approach for our layout.
Materials
- Screws: #8 x 1-1/2 in. Zinc-Plated Phillips Flat Head Wood Screws (100-pack) (2x)
- Legs: 2 in. x 4 in. x 96 in. #2 Premium Grade KD-HT Studs (4x)
- Grid:
- 1 in. x 4 in. x 8 ft. S4S Standard and Construction Premium Kiln-Dried Hem-Fir/Douglas Fir Boards (8x)
- 1 in. x 4 in. x 6 ft. Premium Kiln-Dried Square Edge Whitewood Common Boards (6x)
- Decking: 5.2 mm Sandeply Plywood (1/4 in. nominal thickness; actual thickness: 0.205 in.; dimensions: 48 in. x 96 in.) (3x)
- Foam: Owens Corning FOAMULAR NGX F-250, 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. SSE R-10 XPS Rigid Foam Board Insulation (2x)
- Foam adhesive: Liquid Nails Interior Projects, 10 oz. Tan Latex Construction Adhesive (1x)
- Wood glue: Titebond II Premium Wood Glue, 16 oz. (1x)
- Leveling feet: 1/4″ Thread Leveling Feet, 12-piece set, with T-nuts for individual adjustment (12x)
- Gap filler: DAP Alex Plus, 10.1 oz. White Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone
I installed the XPS foam following the instructions in these videos: Video 1 and Video 2. In short, I cut the foam with a utility knife and then snapped it along the cuts. I used Liquid Nails to glue the foam pieces together.
The entire build took me about two days.
Building the Frame
Gluing the XPS Foam
Tracks
At this point, I decided that the outer, main line would have curves with a maximum radius of 18″, while the inner line would have 15″ radius curves. We already had some Bachmann E-Z Track (Code 100) at home, so I bought a few Atlas Code 83 track sections to complete two independent loops.
This decision will affect which trains we can run on the layout, but I’m fine with not being able to run a Big Boy on these tracks.
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