Hi all well after a valient struggle with my wife i get the small room for my train so it will be N scale. What type of becchwork is a good start this is going to be a L shape layout. Do i need foam board for noise, is 1/2 inch plywood strong enough? Sorry for all the questions this is all new to me .
Benchwork
- Thread starter plbab
- Start date
Congratulations on getting over the first hurdle (space) 
. I guess you had to do some sweet talking .
What sort of ideas are running through your head plbab?
Dimensions? Type of layout ... scenic, switching, end to end, out and back????
The dimensions and type will determine the type of benchwork. Others will be more than willing to advise you on that.
Personally, for my HO 18" deep L shaped layout I used 3/8" plywood (which I feel is overkill).
I can understand your enthusiasm to get stuck into construction but would advise you to have a good long think and do a bit of planning first. It is remarkably easy to "dive in" only to find that that this, that and the next thing could have been thought out first. That's a sure way to disillusionment my friend. If you can get your hands on one or two books ... eg, "N Scale Primer" published by Kalmbach Books, you will not regret the investment.
Good luck and happy building, keep us posted.
Errol
. I guess you had to do some sweet talking .What sort of ideas are running through your head plbab?
Dimensions? Type of layout ... scenic, switching, end to end, out and back????
The dimensions and type will determine the type of benchwork. Others will be more than willing to advise you on that.
Personally, for my HO 18" deep L shaped layout I used 3/8" plywood (which I feel is overkill).
I can understand your enthusiasm to get stuck into construction but would advise you to have a good long think and do a bit of planning first. It is remarkably easy to "dive in" only to find that that this, that and the next thing could have been thought out first. That's a sure way to disillusionment my friend. If you can get your hands on one or two books ... eg, "N Scale Primer" published by Kalmbach Books, you will not regret the investment.
Good luck and happy building, keep us posted.
Errol
Not to much sweet talking we have 2 rooms and she got larger one oh well at least i got something..HAHAHA. i really want to do some switching yardwork, have a mainline . We live within 100 yards of a very busy set of tracks that see approx 50 to 75 trains a day, but they all go straight and fast not much fun there. So i am really open to any thing.
Can I suggest to you a website which has quite a number of N layouts which you might want to pick-and-mix from:-
http://www.naisp.net/users/mfischer/m_train2.htm
It's as good a starting point as any.
Errol
http://www.naisp.net/users/mfischer/m_train2.htm
It's as good a starting point as any.
Errol
Being open to anything is a wonderful place to start from, but you don't want to start there. Make a plan. Make two plans. Make TEN plans. Show them to your buddies, show them to your family show them to your boss, show them to strangers on the elevator. Scrap all of them and start all over.
Before you lay one shingle, cut one board or drive home one nail, have a plan. Once your plan is in place, you can ignore it all you want but if you don't have one to start, you will likely never finish.
Before you lay one shingle, cut one board or drive home one nail, have a plan. Once your plan is in place, you can ignore it all you want but if you don't have one to start, you will likely never finish.
plbab,
There's a considerable amount of rail activity on both sides of the Mississippi, in the Quad Cities area. Where you are only 35-40 miles from there, you might take a day and check it out for ideas. Even if you don't want to "model the prototype", you could use the real thing as a base to freelance from.
Pete
There's a considerable amount of rail activity on both sides of the Mississippi, in the Quad Cities area. Where you are only 35-40 miles from there, you might take a day and check it out for ideas. Even if you don't want to "model the prototype", you could use the real thing as a base to freelance from.
Pete