Building a temporary layout

Ok. I'm new. I am envisioning an approx 8.5x5 layout for a seasonal Christmas layout involving a North Pole scene.
I want to support this thing on my 8 foot pool table, so it will overlap somewhat.
I only see plywood in 8x4 sheets so I presume I need to do some splicing? That's question number one.
Question two is, given I don't have the room to store this size layout, how would I attach it in sections so it maintains its rigidity? I do plan on using support blocks beneath to prevent sagging. But it needs to dissemble after the Holidays. A corollary question would be where to make the cuts on the layout so as to be least disruptive to scenery elements. ( I'm thinking perhaps to delay any such cuts until I have finalized the whole thing. )
I browsed Home Depot today and saw birch, red oak, mdf(?), particle board, in various thicknesses. I'm thinking 5/8 inch minimum. Thoughts? And, to repeat, how to hold the pieces together in accurate and firm alignment? I was thinking simple straight brackets to be attached beneath the layout; being more problematic to do beneath the foam board I intend to glue over the plywood.
There are undoubtedly considerations I have not even thought of, so I would appreciate any input.
Thanks anyone and everyone.
Bob

 

I would look at your limiting factors first: What's the biggest piece you can store? What are your doorway widths? And so on. That will dictiate how big of a segment you can make. Will there be any turnouts/switch tracks? If not, then you can get away with framing up the benchwork on 1x2s since you are using the pool table as a base. Otherwise, I'd go with 1x4s for the frame. I use bolts with washers and wingnuts in multiple locations to help with aligment and clamping. That might be difficult for you to assemble though, since you won't have open access to the bottom of your layout unless you are comfortable tilting it up during reassembly. To minimize seams showing through, you could make some scenery objects removeable, placing them over the layout once it's together. Do your best to make the uncut sides of the plywood and foam board face each other at the segment edges unless you have robot-like precision cutting ability. Not seeing the layout plan or knowing what your storage restrictions are, I'd either make a 4'x5' module and a 4'-6"x5' one, or 2 3'x5' and 1 2'-6"x5' module.

Show us the layout plan

It should be noted though that I am a new modeller myself and a lot of the folks here have decades of building experience. The nice thing is, you have plenty of time until next Christmas!

 

Thanks. You know I hadn't really thought about a sub plywood frame since I had the pool table. But that makes a lot I'd sense I see, allowing the sections to be bolted together using the frame members. Plus I gain space to run wires. Like I said I'm new.
I plan a few sidings but not working turnouts (passenger loading & elves unloading goodies etc).

I may be able to store 4x5 sections. Guest bedroom closets I'm thinking.

I'm toying with the idea of two helixes connected by a trestle. The helixes are Ashlin Designs kits using the shorter radius (11-12 3/8) Kato superelevated double track. I have read people get nervous with small radius climbing curves but my consists will be rather short (5-6 cars) pulled by Kato Mikados. It's a vision but tell me if you think I'm out of my mind.
Of course it will be a pain to take down a trestle for storage but what the heck...it's Christmas right? I have this huge holiday party every year which would make it all worthwhile.
As for the larger scenery elements like mountains , tunnels, etc ,I was thinking of keeping them detachable and feathering them in with snow, rocks, etc.
bob

 

First off Bob, you don't NEED to build a TABLE out of plywood to put your layout on.

If you look at what those of us who have been building layouts a long time do, you'll notice that we don't build a table, then put the layout on it. We (1) plan the layout, (2) build benchwork (for example, L-girders w/cross braces and front fascia and skyboard if applicable) to fit the well-thought-out plans, (3) lay subroadbed...which can be made from 3/4" plywood...maybe 1/2", or made from splines of various types, for example, pine splines, or Masonite splines that are 1" deep and 1/8" thick and glued together to form the subroadbed (I use splined Masonite for my portable, modular layout) which are supported by risers attached to the benchwork, (4) lay cork roadbed glued to the top of the sanded subroadbed, (5) lay track by gluing it to the top of the sanded cork roadbed, (6) install all the track electrical, including feeders, busses, switch motors, auxiliary power wiring, toggle switches for control of various electrical things, main power supply, and other stuff for either DC or DCC or both and TEST IT THOROUGHLY before the next step, which is (7) painting and preliminary weathering of all track and ties...clean the tops of the rails, TEST AGAIN before the next step while your wiring is easily accessible from the top. Step (8)...start your scenery base, which will fill the empty spaces between the subroadbed, the fascia and skyboard. I use various thicknesses of extruded Styrofoam insulation for this, starting with the lowest, flattest scenic feature first which is usually a river or lake, and I build UP from there, layering the Styrofoam like topo map levels. I like Styrofoam because it's stiff, light and strong enough to support the thin layers of finished scenery on top of it. Others like other materials. The choice is yours.

Of course, you can mix and match some of these steps so at least part of the layout is running while you're working on it and you don't get totally zoned out by only doing one chore for several weeks...or months.

That's the way some of us would approach this. Here are the reasons: (1) A plywood table-top to lay track on is heavy, cumbersome to move and difficult to get under to work on...especially if you're laying it on top of your pool table! Lots of work goes on under the layout, so if you need to get under it, the layout should be light enough to move off of the pool table. (2) Getting all the under-track wiring and mechanisms installed before doing your scenery is a really easy way of doing it, and makes working on those things a pleasure rather than a royal pain in the back. If you do the plywood table thing, you'll be underneath the whole time, unless you tip it on its side and install stuff that way. (3) L-girder benchwork is lightweight, simple, versatile, robust (stiff & strong) and easy to build.

Here's the picture. Build your two L-girders out of premium clear pine 1X4's, with three cross members made from the same 1X4's on the ends and middle between the two L-girders, which are positioned so they rest on the long top/sides of your pool table, with four height adjusters on each corner of the pool table to make your benchwork level.

The L-girders are upside-down with the bottom of the L's at the top, facing outward. I'd make the vertical member of the L-girders overhang the pool table sides by 1/8" to 1/4" and the two end cross members inside edge about 1/2" inward from the pool table end centerlines. Make the cross members into L-girders too, with their tops even with the side L-girders. I'd put the screw levelers to bear on coasters or rubber furniture roller pads, so the top of your pool table sides are not marred by the tops of the carriage bolt levelers, which are accessible from the outside.

2X2 redwood balusters, resting across the flat tops of the two L-girders, further tie the L-girders together and don't have to be positioned evenly. The ends that protrude to the outside of the L-girder bench will be what you attach the 1/8" Masonite fascia to, with vertical gussets made from 1/4's, glued and screwed to the sides of various 2X2 redwood balusters. These keep the fascia vertical and really strengthen it. I prefer to do the fascia in two layers, with the first layer screwed and glued to the baluster ends & gussets, rough side out, then the second layer simply glued and clamped to the first layer which eliminates having to fill sand countersunk screwheads. If you do this properly (strong gussets), you'll be able to lift your layout by the fascia...it is STRONG. No need to have square fascia corners, or straight sides. Be creative and make your fascia "flow" and be rounded on the corners. It's really easy to do. The 2X2 redwood balusters also function as what you glue and screw your risers to. The risers support your subroadbed.

If you want, you can build legs that attach to the outside of the vertical members of your L-girders, using bolts, washers and T-nuts. I like to use eyebolts instead of hex-head bolts because I can really tighten them using nothing other than a screwdriver if I have to. Having removable legs will allow the layout to still be positioned over the pool table, but get it up higher and off the pool table. My suggestion for a good height is between 46" and 52" if you want to stand to run your layout, or sit on a bar stool, but I like more eye-level layouts...you may not.

Another more simple option is to go ahead and construct the L-girder benchwork with everything except the subroadbed, including the 2X2" balusters supporting your fascia, then instead of risers and subroadbed, plop one or two sheets of 2" extruded Styrofoam on the tops of the 2X2" balusters, cut to fit your fascia and glue it in place. That'd work okay for both laying roadbed and track, and having a carvable scenery base. However, it's going to be much noisier than having subroadbed made from 3/4" plywood or splines. It also won't be as easy to mount switch motors to, but not that difficult. You also lose the ability to work on wiring from the top, but you could tip it on its side since it won't be very heavy.

However, a bigger-than-4X8' layout is going to be difficult to handle, so I'd think seriously about making it in two sections that bolt together.

Here are a couple of photos of my modules' benchwork, which are similar to what I've described, but not exactly what I've described for you. You can see the L-girders on either side, the 2X2" balusters which support both track and front fascia, the use of two layers of 1/8" Masonite for the fascia, the use of eyebolts to attach legs and bracing. The first photo is my Emory center siding module and is 6' long and does not have the splined Masonite roadbed in yet.


Here's the underside of one of my four 6' modules which make up Echo Junction. You can see the DCC wiring, the two L-girders, the 2X2" balusters, the front fascia composed of two layers of 1/8" Masonite, and the underside of my scenery base made up of 2" extruded Styrofoam, butting up against the 3/4" plywood subroadbed of the Echo Yard. I took the legs off, which are folding, integral legs, for better access when I was replacing my DC wiring with new high-speed, low-drag DCC wiring.


Lots more to write about, but this about does it for me tonight. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, but if I were you, since you need to move the layout periodically, I'd use more advance methods to achieve both lightness and strength...rather than a big, heavy, hard plywood table top.

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

 

Thanks Bob. Advice well taken. You've probably saved me lots of grief.
Some of the terms are new to me, such as baluster, but nothing I can't figure out. ("Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor not a carpenter")

Tell if I got this right.. The L girders rest on the pool table (long sides). The balusters sit across the girders.. Risers are supported by the balusters. Plywood goes over the risers. ( not sure why risers could not go directly over the the girders). Railbed on plywood. Track on rail bed. You put styrofoam about everywhere else as scenery foundation.

Question. I thought I read somewhere else to put foam down over entire plywood area, then lay track over foam. Is that ok.? Seems like subsurface elements like lakes , ravines etc would be more dimensional. Increased weight would be a negative.

second concern. If layout is say 5 x 8.5, and storage limits me to nothing longer than say six feet, I assume I will make two, maybe three modules transverse, not longitudinal, as it relates to the layout. If its two modules, each would measure aprox 5 x 4.25. I guess this affords mobility but after its bolted together isn't just the same "big table" I want to avoid. I must be missing something, perhaps most of the under wiring is done before attaching the modules??

BTW, I'm planning DC and no switched turnouts. But I do have a good number of scenery lights. I had figured to run the light wires by burying them into cuts in the foam board overlying the plywood.

I really appreciate your assistance (and probably no small amount of patience).
Bob