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We discuss building simple and solid benchwork for your model railroad in today’s video!
In this detailed tutorial, the staff at ModelRailroadTV begins construction on their freelanced Ho Scale CSX Salem Division Shelf Layout. This tutorial explains the basic and important steps in creating light weight, stable, and affordable Ho Scale benchwork.
And its furring, not firing
I found 1×3's at Lowes that were perfect and yes they were furring strips
I made a table and used 2 1x3s at each corner screwed together first to make an L-shape and then attached to the table…then a cross piece from side to side. wasn't too concerned about bracing lengthwise but might try it next time. the way you have it with doubled up boards on each side of the legs makes it difficult to drill holes for wiring I would think
EveryBody constructs their table I am not playing music when constructing my tables.
What size was that table
interesting points ,if anyone else needs to find out about building a model railroad layout try Panlarko Amazing Railroad Planner ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some great things about it and my mate got amazing success with it.
I noticed that you didn't use a tape measure on the bench top, for all four corners checking for square
My new layout is going to be a 12×8 layout in an L shape. So two full sheets of 1/2" plywood. Is this strong enough, or should i just frame it all in 2×4 lumber for strength.
9 years later I was just at Home Depot the wood was double that price,
why pilot holes ?
Got as far as 2:00; Couldn't stand the music. Far, far better without it
You say you use 50 1" 5/8" wood screws but they come in different diameters so what number screw do I use?
Nice Matt I am excited for train show going to Montana when my layout is fished then invite u run some trains with me
Good demonstration of best practices for building traditional benchwork. There are several alternatives. My preferred methods use extruded foam as the primary material and don't use any plywood.
When assembling your 1×3 framing I would recommend using pocket screws. It avoids screwing into end-grain which is not a strong joint
What kind of connectors did you use from the bus line to the feeders?
You offer an excellent example of layout building. I wish you well in your journey. Peace!
Thank you for this amazing video on benchwork! As someone who recently built my first benchwork that didn’t turn out very well I have been looking for a good tutorial and yours is really helpful for me! Thank you so much and I can’t wait to build some benchwork for my N Scale layout!
Matt. Incredible Work. Mad Skills. Don’t listen to Beginners Comments and Ideas I see on all these Videos, especially to use Foam with a Hot wire Knife.
Keep doing your thing !!!
1 by 3 clear pine is usually straight,not to pricey
Measure once, cut thrice. Got it.
joking aside, thanks for the video!
Thanks for the great video. I'm interested in your take on cookie cuter benchwork. I agree it gives you flexibility on scenery, but it does not give you flexibility if you want or need to change your track arrangement. I think if you are pretty solid on your track placement and want to have that flexibility for scenery, cookie cutter is the way to go. Otherwise I am leaning towards building on stacked foam. Curious on your opinion? I also notice you are using those taps to connect your leads. How do you like working with those? I have used suitcase connectors in the past and they work but you have to do some things to get them to work well. I really like the PosiTap products, but they are prohibitively expensive (upwards of $1 each) unless you are doing something small or just have a bigger budget.