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Newbie table question

Hello again,

I pick up my set tomorrow morning and have nowhere to put it!

A lot of you recommended the scalerail web site which builds custom boards and legs, however for speed, I am thinking of IKEA, and this product:

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specs are here:
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As you can see the dimensions for one table is:

1200 x 750 mm, so when combined with another the total size will be 2400 x 1500 which is more than enough to house the 6 x 4 hornby track mat.

Can anyone give any serious reasons not to go down this route? At a total cost of £80 for two pine tables, and same day up and running - it seems to make perfect sense, however I have no knowledge of the hobby and will take your advise on board. My main worry is that the two table will not be of equal height, and this may damage the set if not sorted?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Gary Whittle.

Reply to
Gary Whittle
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Actually you need 4 to get to that size but you could fit the track mat on three.

If you do have a problem with heights, possibly from uneven floor you can just pack up the low one with little cardboard squares under the legs. This is OK just to lay things out loose on a trackmat but won't help when you feel a need to start fixing things down. You would be better off buying two tables and a 6 x 4 sheet of 12mm ply or mdf that you can lay on top. Then there are no joint in your track board and you don't have to worry about damaging the tables. And you have some material ready for when you want to make a more permanent set up. (If you have enough room get an 8 x 4 board.

Keith

Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

Reply to
Keith Norgrove

The biggest problem with using commercial stuff like that is that it is expensive. A few sitcks of 1x4 lumber and some 1/2" plywood and some time building and you have a "table" for the trains. Very quickly you will see that building a table restricts the amount of railroading that you can do so you then start on the layout room where you put much of the layout around the room with some sticking to the inside area and gain a lot of running room as well as room for scenicing ideas. Basements are a good place to do this as well as attics as both of these spaces tends to occupy a significant part of the house for size but are otherwise not used for much.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works evevery time it is tried!

Reply to
Bob May

Hi Keith,

I have taken your comments on board and started a plan of action. I have managed to created enough room for 128 x 50 inches of board space, which is roughly 11ft length x 4ft width. I have put identical tables at each end of the room, each table being 4ft x

2 ft - each acting as a solid base for the main piece of wood base which will be the 11 x 4 piece. I have also been advised to place a piece of "sundeala" onto the wood base to allow for easy fixing of track etc.

I will post some photos of the building of this, stage by stage and you can let me know what you think :)

Thanks for the tips, this will hopefully cost no more than £50 which is a lot better than the other options I was thinking off.

Ta,

Gary.

Reply to
GW

Better yet, only thing is that your 11 x 4 piece will have to span

7ft. And over here at least 8 x 4 are the biggest single sheets. So you will need to support your 11 x 4 between the tables with beams. Keith

Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

Reply to
Keith Norgrove

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