Opinion on benchwork - fixed or modular?

[jagged ben]

My plan, such as it is, is to do modular so that the layout can be rearranged or expanded as it gets bigger.  Some modules may follow freemo standards but it depends on the details. 
Right now it's all theoretical anyway.  Thus one advantage of modular is that I can bite off a chunk to complete first, with a plan to expand if I ever actually get that done.

[rodsup9000]

 I think it will depend on what your track plan will be.
 There is no way I could of built my stacked part of the mushroom designed layout in sections. The top is supported by the ceiling joists, as is the main staging yard.

 This is between Clio Trestle and Portola with east side of Oroville underneath





 The same area with some track

[randgust]

I'd call mine a sectional.   After I realized I couldn't even get my 3x6 door sized layout out of the room it was in without destroying it when I had to move, I vowed to never do that again.

It's still a small layout, 8' x 5'6", in six sections.   Biggest section is 27" x 48" so I could get it through doors.  It's now been in three different houses.  If you're easily bored with the same layout for years, move on.  If you want to take a layout to the top - full detail, scenery, lighting, equipment - and don't want to have to restart all over again, do it in sections because life changes.   

I also have a slew of T-trak modules that are portable and find that that footprint is far more forgiving than I thought if you are creative.   I think if I had to start over I'd do as much of the layout as possible in that footprint, but I'm old enough now it may be irrelevant.

[MVW]

Sectional is the way to go. (My approach is similar to Mike's: sectional benchwork but foam doesn't necessarily conform.) At least it will present you with the option of salvaging something if the need to move arises.

In addition, I highly recommend giving yourself some immediate running opportunities, even if that means just a temporary return loop at one end. Seeing trains in motion ASAP does wonders for maintaining interest.

Jim

[lock4244]

This is all very helpful, and my take away here is that the best option is the one that works for your particular situation. Stands to reason. I think Mike's "permanent sectional" concept is most intriguing, and knowing myself having to worry about cutting though scenery for a move won't be an issue... I doubt I'll do more than attempt a little scenery, at least for some time.

It's been so long since I've had a layout that everything will be the first time... benchwork, wiring, dcc, tracklaying, dcc again (it's basically magic to me at this point).

[thomasjmdavis]

I've always done sectional with bolt- together sections and with short bridge track pieces over the joints. These have sliding joiners on one side so they can be removed easily. I laid cork roadbed over the joints without a cut and placed tape or plaster gauze as a thin layer over any subsurface scenery joints. Easy to cut through without mess and easy to repair later. About half of the moves the layout did were relatively unplanned so it was nice to be able to reuse most if not all in a new room or dwelling. Currently have gone modular for easier construction and later access.

All my N scale layouts (5 with #6 on the drawing board) have been sectional (at least 1 section was built as an Ntrack module, back in the day). One major upside, for me, is that I do not have to build sections or modules in the layout location. This allows for doing most of the dusty or smelly work in the garage or a workshop, rather than having sawdust clogging your furnace filter or gassing everyone in the house when glue fumes get sucked into the AC system. Plus, precision carpentry is simpler when you build everything within a few feet of your table saw.

The other reason I build layouts this way is that I was a scenic designer and stage carpenter by trade - so that method of building was what I did every day.

[brill27mcb]

Another option is to design the high-featured parts of your layout to be reusable sections, and if you move and the room is a different shape (which is likely), you try to just change the shape of the runs in-between these areas.

Rich K.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So here's a question that gets to what I was talking about.

What is your layout gonna be?

Do you want to railfan? Operate?
Do you have specific scenes you want to recreate? Specific operations?

Are you a lone wolf? An occasional get together type guy? An "work sessions every Wednesday and ops the first Saturday of every month" type?

All of those factor in.

[Lemosteam]

This is all very helpful, and my take away here is that the best option is the one that works for your particular situation. Stands to reason. I think Mike's "permanent sectional" concept is most intriguing, and knowing myself having to worry about cutting though scenery for a move won't be an issue... I doubt I'll do more than attempt a little scenery, at least for some time.

It's been so long since I've had a layout that everything will be the first time... benchwork, wiring, dcc, tracklaying, dcc again (it's basically magic to me at this point).

Keep in mind as well that if planned, the sections of foam and half a flex piece could be placed in such a way that only the esoteric stuff on top would need to be cut ( and subsequently replaced/repaired once reassembled. I.e. the foam could overlay each piece of bench work by six inches, sort of an interlocking section, if you will. These things would help prevent the proverbial stacked joint tolerance of a modular design, that many times causes an uneven surface at a joint. This is one issue that prevented me from diving headfirst into NTrak.

Some of the other modular designs have mitigated that a lot with the wat the tracks are jointed.

[robert3985]

Since I move around a lot, and I love attending shows with my work, I decided long ago to design my own modular/sectional layout that basically emulates a permanent layout, but which I can break down and take to shows...then set it back up again in a few hours when the show is over.

I have "modular ends" on several sections, but I build in LDE's (Layout Design Elements) derived from prototype scenes which are a minimum of 12' long and a maximum (so far) of 24' long, with several "Mini-LDE's" in my longer scenes.

The layout has a minimum visible mainline radius of 24", with the absolute minimum radius where it isn't visible of 18"...so all curves are considered "broad" because I prominently run large steam, and large non-steam motive power, and passenger trains along with my freights.

I decided on a "standard" length of 6' for the vast majority of my layout sections, with a maximum total width of 36", some being narrower because that's what I can manhandle by myself if I need to.  Layout depth is determined by the scene because I want to take advantage of N-scale's excellent Scenery-To-Track-Ratio.  However, I'm designing a 24' long LDE that simply cannot be done without an extra-large 8' long section.  I can still move it, but it's not nearly as easy as the 6' sections. 

I've standardized the hardware that connects the sections so I know exactly what tools I need when I break it down, or remove a section to work on it.  It also really helps at shows when I have help and they bring their own tools.

Benchwork is also standardized and is L-girder benchwork, with integral folding, braced legs and splined Masonite subroadbed in-between congested regions, with yards and industrial areas resting on 1/2" plywood.  Skyboards are all removable, made from 1/8" tempered Masonite.  Front fascia is mostly organically curved and is composed of two layers of 1/8" tempered Masonite with the first layer glued and screwed to the fascia supports rough side out, and the second fascia layer glued and clamped to the first layer rough side to rough side. The outer layer covers the countersunk screw heads so very little filling and sanding of countersunk screw heads is required.  The fascia actually forms a significant portion of the stiffness of my layout sections and since I plan exactly what I'm modeling track-wise and scenery-wise before building the benchwork, the fascia goes in before the subroadbed, track laying and electrical.

Although I appreciate multi-level layouts, I've chosen to forego that option because I am a big fan of my 52" railhead to floor height.

I also light it with swing-arm drafting lamps every 3 feet or less, with 100W equivalent LED Daylight bulbs, which really help when displaying the layout and also if I need to repair track, do scenery, or add/remove trains and cars.

Since I've moved five times since I started building my sectional/modular layout, moving it is the least of my worries when I'm heading toward a new residence.  If I have the right space, I can break the layout down in about a day, load it up in a few hours with help, and then have it set up again in its new home in just a few hours.

Track is Code55 for mainlines, using both Rail Craft and Micro Engineering flex, and branchlines/industrial areas/yards in hand-laid PCB Code40 with all hand-laid turnouts.  Although the layout now is set up with modules/sections back-to-back with the skyboard running down the middle, when I set up at a show with my model train buddies, we form "Crew-Quarters" on one end where there's a couple of tables, tools, chairs to get away from the crowd or do repairs.

I also forego the use of connecting tracks.  Even my most complicated trackwork is easy to make mate up perfectly with the adjacent sections.  I reinforce the rail ends with several PCB ties, and when I'm transporting them, each section has track protectors that screw into the ends so that rail ends don't catch on anything.

Although the benchwork isn't the very lightest, it is constructed of premium pine, plywood and other dimensional lumber, with every joint being glued and screwed with yellow Carpenter's Glue and square-drive grabber screws.  Scenery is all done with extruded 2" Styrofoam insulation, which adds very little weight to the section/module.

Since the end goal is to have a layout that occupies a 35' X 35' space, I've gone with 12AWG main power buses and 22AWG track feeders 6" long.  Anderson Power Poles join all wiring between layout sections, color coded and labeled so mistakes are difficult to make.  Sounds a lot like NTRAK because it is, except I opt for top-quality multi-strand, low-oxygen, pure copper, black & red speaker zip cord...and genuine 3M IDC Connectors wherever possible instead of solder.

Power is by Digitrax DCC with five power blocks and Duplex Radio throttles, with programming track at Echo that can be totally turned off for parking DC engines that run on the layout on address "00". 

As of right now, here's what's under construction with about half of it being semi scenicked...that being Echo and Echo Canyon...

Photo (1) - Track Plan for my layout that fits in the present space I have available:


Although I enjoy working on "new" projects, this continuing project keeps my interest very well, and I don't have to discard my previous work...I just add to it.

I'm a huge proponent of modular/sectional portable layouts.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[oakcreekco]

I did this "bench work" in 2000.

This works great for wall mounting, as you can vary your section lengths, section depth, and scenery elevations.

I used these metal "L" brackets, bolted to the wall, into the studs.

The pics are self explanatory,  and dimensions are up to your needs.

I wanted all my main wiring, power supplies, train controls, etc under and separate from the scenery base. I guess you can call it the lower fascia.

Basically a wood "rectangle" mounted to each wall bracket, then wood studs from bracket to bracket

I used pink foam that is layered up, for the tracks and scenery base, that sits "unattached" on top of the this lower fascia.

It's been stable, and worked out well for me. If a move had to happen, disassembly would be easy, and most of the lower section could be reused.

Just a lot of possibilities of what one can do with this type of bench work.

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[lock4244]

So here's a question that gets to what I was talking about.

What is your layout gonna be?

Do you want to railfan? Operate?
Do you have specific scenes you want to recreate? Specific operations?

Are you a lone wolf? An occasional get together type guy? An "work sessions every Wednesday and ops the first Saturday of every month" type?

All of those factor in.

Realistic operations are where I find the most enjoyment. What I have never been able to do is pin down a particular area to focus on. Across southern Ontario there are a lot of areas or operations I'm interested in, but they're far flung to the point that they don't fit on one layout if one's trying to model a prototype. The parallel CN & CP mainlines between Newcastle and Belleville, the GM plant at Oshawa, CN's mainline from Brantford to London, CN's branch to Goderich (now GEXR), CP's branch front Agincourt to Havelock, and CN and CP's mainlines north out of Toronto. It's all too much for one layout, so I'm thinking I'm looking at CN and CP 'somewhere and nowhere' in Ontario.

To date my plans have always been in the abstract, that is to say hypothetical, so it seems likely that now I'm going to do more thinking on the matter.

The auto industry used to be a huge part of the Ontario economy (it still is, but there've been many closures since my 1987-89 timeframe), so representing the GM assembly plants in Oshawa is a must for me. I grew up and lived in beautiful Scarborough, the eastern most of the cities were amalgamated into Toronto, and have over the years become pretty familiar with operations east of Toronto, a lot of which revolved around the Oshawa plant. The combined output of the three assembly lines of the South Plant was several hundred loaded autoracks each day, as well as a multitude of 86' autoparts boxes (extendos as we call them), so it's an excellent choice for a focal point. I built up a large fleet of Red Caboose bi-levels and an equally large fleet of extendos (thx Bluford and Trainworx). I don't want to have a big classification yard and engine facility on the layout, however the yards serving GM (and other local industries) will allow one to fulfill the desire to switch cars as there'll be a single daily CN freight pair will originate WB and terminate EB, with other through trains working the yard. It will also be a base for one EB and one WB mainline local each day. CP's yard will only serve as a place for passing road freights to work and will include a yard job but no locals are based there.

I may include CN's former Oshawa Rwy (electric until late 1960's) line to the GM north plants beside Oshawa's downtown area for some added switching interest. It included a small yard at the junction with the Kingston Sub about 1.5 miles west of the main yard, and connection with CP at a small CP owned yard 0.6 miles north of the Kingston Sub, and a GM parts plant up around mile 2.7 including street running on Bruce St and Ritson Rd S (this lasted until early 1998, managed a few shots in 1997 including CN lifting two cars from CP at the small yard).

The salt operation at Goderich, Ontario, is another of interest to me. CP abandoned their branch in 1988 iirc, and CN transfered their branchline to Goderich-Exeter in 1993 (give or take). While both branches cut across flat to rolling farmland, it was the trackage in town and down to the port (the Sifto Salt operation is fed from a mine under Lake Huron) that I find most interesting. CN enters town from the southeast and once past their yard they access the port via a steep grade (GEXR ran away on it a winter or two ago), while CP entered town on a long trestle, then used a loop to get down to the lakefront trackage past a large grain elevator and connect to CN who I believe switched Sifto and set out cars for CP on the connector. This was a town where the cylindrical covered hopper was ubiquitous, which is ok with me. Champion had a plant that built road graders in town as well, so there were often interesting loads coming out on flatcars.

Into the early 90's there were various stone trains operated by CN and CP from pits that fed the construction industry in Toronto and surrounding areas. These trains were pretty much entirely comprised of offset hoppers, and thanks to Bluford Shops again, I have a fleet for both roads and plan to run stone trains I saw as a kid. I distinctly recall watching a CP job heading to the Nelson Aggregate facility on Sheppard Ave E along the appropriately named Nelson Pit Spur... two straight SD40's, about 30 offsets, and a TH&B Angus van with tailend crew guiding the shove. Nelson also operated an unloading facility on CN's Uxbridge Sub a few miles south of it's crossing with their York Sub (eastern part of the Toronto bypass built in the 1960's to access the new MacMillan Yard). Was three tracks as I recall and had it's own center cab switcher. This was fed largely by the pit at Uhthoff, Ontario, via the Midland Sub between Orillia and Midland.

And with Rapido doing the barrel ore cars I'll have the opportunity to run a train that ran through the heart of my area of interest, but working it in to be prototypical would eliminate the GM plant since it's about 25-30 miles from the closest point where the ore train ran.

I could go on, but suffice to say there is more that I'd like to model than would be possible to model accurately on any given line or area. I'm left with either modeling an actual route or a generic representation that has the flavor of the area but isn't specific.

I'm definitely a lone wolf, I mean I'm social but not plugged into the model railroad scene locally, if there is one. There's no train store in Cedar Rapids; closest store I'm aware of is in Cedar Falls, Caboose Stop Hobbies, about an hours drive. A great store, and I've chatted with folks there, but they're either locals in CF or Waterloo area, which isn't exactly local. I imagine that if I put in some effort I could connect with some local guys to operate some day, but for now we'll go with the lone wolf for now.

I've got some thinking to do...

[oakcreekco]

Pretty much the same here. Small town rural living, retired, so I'm not out and about to stop at shops easily. Lone wolf and the internet. 😂

Living in the midwest, and on the road for 30 years in sales, I saw a lot of variations of rail lines, from branch services to mainline, to the spider web of abandoned lines.

They all have interesting spots that stick in my mind.

I solved part of my "what to do" with a HO switching layout. Like you, I  enjoy everything about switching operations.

N scale was a perfect solution for my mainline running.

No specific area for either was intended, but it's about the overall feel, that can fit into many areas.

It all does take time, mostly making time, after some solid planning, and realistic goals are understood.

Switching operations in one scale, and rail fanning in another scale at the same time are very enjoyable.

I just had to come "out of the closet" twice.

I'm a happy lone wolf. 😂

[Rossford Yard]

I should have jumped in earlier, but here goes.

I once had a semi modular layout, i.e., it was J shaped, 12 x 16, and made up of 2 4x12 sections set at 90 deg., and a 5x9 for the peninsula.

It moved twice, before it succumbed to a stretch of 100 days of 100 + heat in my townhouse garage.  Basically, if you think you will move just once or twice (and can get it out of your basement), maybe fewer but bigger sections might make sense.  Tough to move (Had it in an upstairs loft and needed a scissor lift to get it down off the balcony) but far less time in putting it back together.

And, as someone mentioned, there is no need to be totally consistent if it will be a home layout.  Most prototypical switching can be done on a long straight section along a wall, and maybe those can meet Free Mo or other standard, but if you need a peninsula, build that as a 4 x 8 module.

[mark.hinds]

I suggest a sectional layout, meaning one which is designed to be broken down into moveable sections if needed.  My current interminably in-process layout has been moved twice. 

In my case, because the design is intended to be vignette-style with integral valences and lighting, the disassembly is a bit more complicated than just unplugging things, but it's way easier than starting from scratch.  Basically, the layout (see Railwire link below) breaks down into 3 benchwork sections, namely a 3-foot square piece on the left, a 4-by-8-foot piece on the right, and a center bridge section.  The backdrop will be one continuous strip of 1/16" polycarbonate plastic 1.5-feet high and 20-feet long, which along with the upper valence strip and supports might have to be disassembled, depending on clearances at each end of the trip.  The supporting legs disassemble.  Etc. 

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28831.msg305681#msg305681

MH