In this episode of The Roundhouse I will be showing the planning and building of the train table as well as the initial layout of the track. It has been modified a couple times since the beginning and those changes will be detailed in future episodes.
There are many ways you can build a railroad, if it isn't going to be a permanent setup you can just set it up on the floor or on a dining room table. But for those who want a more permanent setup with the ability to do scenery, buildings, and fully theme it in its entirety, one of the most popular ways is to construct a wooden table base custom sized to your layout. Below are the steps I went through in order to plan the layout, build a base table, and lay the track.
Step 1: Planning a Layout
The first thing I did was to review a few different layout books and other peoples setup in order to better visualize what I would want in my setup. The book which was the most useful to me was: "Bachmann Trains E-Z MODEL RAILROADS TRACK PLANNING BOOK"
There are many ways to choose and plan your layout; you can even come up with it on your own if you have an idea on how you want to lay it out. This is just the way I pursued building and planning mine.
The initial plan chosen was "Layout 19" in this book, as seen below. These layouts in this book were based around Bachmann's E-Z Track style. Since I was going to be working with Atlas Track I used this book as a general layout and counted how many of each item I would need then made a list and ordered the corresponding parts from the Atlas site. By doing this you can see another way your track layout can vary even if you are using a template book as a foundation.
Step 2: Designing the Table
The next step taken was to design the table which will serve as the base of the railroad. Please note that your table does not need to be designed anything like mine, you can build yours to suit your needs. Since I was also in need of a workbench for the house I decided to design 4 identical 4x4 foot tables and use one of them as a work table, and join the other 2 into a single 4x8 table to house my railroad layout. Since they were all designed to be stable for a workbench they are overbuilt for a railroad table. Your table does not need all the bracing mine has due to this reason.
I utilized CAD software to design the tables using standard lumber sizes. This way I could get a list of materials needed to complete it all at once. Below are images of the completed CAD design as well as the list of materials used in construction.
Step 3: Building the Table
Once the table(s) was designed the task at hand was assembling all the material into the finished product. As stated this design was 3 identical 4x4 ft tables, 2 of which were merged together to form the 4x8 table for the railroad. This made assembly quick once I got the first one done. I had them all assembled within 1 weekend and in their positions.
Another item not discussed yet was the addition of a 1" thick piece of insulation board. This would allow for some noise damping between the track and the wood base, as well as an opportunity in the future if the desire arises to care in some lakes or valleys.
Step 4: Laying the Track
The final step in this episode is to lay the track in the pattern I had decided on in Step 1. To ensure the track is secure and doesn't move over time on its own I secured the Foam board to the wooden tables using a Latex based caulk (which was designed for foam to wood and plastic). Using a caulk adhesive allows for easy removal if a change is desired in the future without having to purchase new track or foam.
The track was laid out loose onto the table in the proper orientation and once I was happy with it I came back around and glued it all in place ensuring that all the joints between the track sections were secure. Once this was done all that was left was to plug in the power pack and run a train on it.
In the future we will discuss and show how I converted this layout from a DC system to a DCC system with a simple Arduino board and a small laptop.
Below is a quick video of the first train to run on the setup (2-8-0 Locomotive with the B&O Diner Car). To learn more about this locomotive and corresponding car head on over to the Roster section of MWB.
That is all for this episode of The Roundhouse. I hope it was interesting, if there are any details or steps you would want more information on, please feel free to head on over to the Contact section of the site and shoot me a message. I will be sure to respond as quickly as I can.
Until next time!
All Aboard!
- Matt
Comentarios