Finished the benchwork!

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Fast forward 525 years, and what did I find myself doing on Columbus Day? Finishing up my benchwork! Phew! This has been a long time coming.

I got burned out on the benchwork a couple of months ago, mostly because I was dealing with the problem of keeping 8 separate sections (four sides, four corners) aligned on the top. But, with the lure of a three-day weekend that was absolutely free from commitments I decided to make the final push and finish it. The fourth side of the layout is only 54" long, instead of 84" like the rest. That is a 30" difference. However, it is essentially a square and the only way in or out is to either duck under the layout (not happening) or build a lift out section. Once that section is temporarily removed, there is a 30" gap to allow someone to easily walk into the layout. I didn't want to make it too narrow and tight.

I don't know what to model on the fourth side. However, I am currently working on my NMRA Master Model Railroader certificates and there are some requirements that my layout wouldn't normally have on the sections I am focusing on. So, my fourth side will essentially be crammed with whatever I need to meet the requirements. If I am awarded the certificate, I may later revise the track plan.

Building up the fourth section was pretty easy, though I was once again startled to see how out-of-square the frame would turn out if I built assembled the 1x4" lumber first and and then tried to attach the plywood. So, I built the outside box, then secured the plywood on top, and only then added the cross braces. There are no diagonal corner braces added yet, because I plan to add a large shelf beneath the layout. This will be used to hold the DCC system, any other power or sound system components, etc.

The last corner section is also different from the others because I took a slice off the outside corner to allow easier access to the laundry area. This was my wife's idea, but it was a good one. The corner sections are essentially just filler/temporary areas anyway. I couldn't build it per my normal drawings so instead I built it bit by bit, cutting one or two pieces of wood at a time and then gluing them up. This was a bit tedious, but it meant that every piece was cut exactly to the proper length and angle. The interior bracing was made from a 2x4", which is a bit overkill but I ran out of 1x4" lumber. The plywood top was a cut and paste job, with the gap braced on the underside and then filled with latex caulk, though harder Liquid Nails would have been better.

But that was several weeks ago. Why the delay in posting to this blog?

I was having issues with the four wires that pass between each benchwork section. The problem was that the wooden blocks with the 10-24 bolts were too short and located too close to the ends. The wires had to make a sharp 90-degree bend to attach to the bolts, and there was no place for any slack in the wire to go. Plus, some of the bolts I used were spinning in their holes because I didn't use carriage bolts. So, I made taller ones and located them farther out from the ends. I cut down the old bolts using a Dremel and that took forever. To prevent cuts on the sharp ends, I put a dab of caulk on each one. I also shifted some of the wooden 1x2" lumber screwed to the L-girders to allow for easier access to the wingnuts.

Also, I have been having trouble leveling the benchwork because the ends of the 5/16" carriage bolts are hard to reach below the legs. Plus, with the weight of the layout bearing down on them they are tough to turn by hand, and a wrench is clumsy. So, I fell back upon an idea that I came across on the Model Railroader forums by someone named "Batman" (if that is his real name) which used hockey pucks. It was worth a try, so I ordered a bunch of hockey pucks on EBay for $1 each. I drilled and countersunk the bolts into them, and put a nut and washer on top heavy tightened down to prevent spinning. They work great!

Unfortunately, while installing them into the legs of the benchwork the T-nuts kept falling out. The T-nuts only have three little prongs that dig into the wood, and they just weren't up to the task. I honestly don't know how other model railroaders have never had this problem, but I needed a plan B. I saw some T-nuts with holes drilled in them for three tiny screws, but that didn't look too solid. So, instead I bought some furniture leg brackets online. When they arrived, I was surprised to discover that the thread didn't go all the way through them. So, I took them to my friend's house and he quickly used a power tapping head in a drill press to finish the job. The threaded brackets were 2" square, which was a little bit larger than the layout legs. So, I fabricated some simple wooden "L" shapes which were predrilled and then glued and screwed to the benchwork legs.

I could now level the layout. Working on one section at a time, I carefully jacked up the layout a little bit with my Toyota Corolla car jack to give me enough clearance. Because it wasn't entirely stable, my wife assisted by holding the "t" wooden brace together while I spun the jack. I first removed any remaining T-nuts that were still in the wood by wiggling the bolt. Then, I roughly set all of the hockey pucks to the same level by spinning them. They were then glued and screwed to the bottom of the leg, making sure they were perpendicular to the legs. I then lowered the car jack until the layout was at the desired height, and un-threaded the hockey pucks until they firmly resisted against the floor. I was amazed at how simple a process this turned out to be. To adjust the layout, I found it best to raise/lower it with the jack instead of just screwing in/out the hockey pucks. Otherwise, too much weight would be put on the hockey pucks and they might strip out. The next day, I worked on another section, adjusting it to be level with the first one. And so on, until the project was finished. It set me back a couple of weeks and about $50 for the metal brackets, pucks, and lumber, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

In the end, the benchwork cost me about $650 total. I could have probably saved $50 with better planning, and another $50 if I had a truck large enough to allow me to get my lumber in longer lengths. Would I do it again? Probably not. It seems like it should have been easy (measure, cut, glue, screw) but it wasn't. At least not for me. Prefabricated benchwork would have cost me a lot more, but it might have been better. Oh well.

Finally, I can now work on more interesting things like roadbed, painting the plywood, laying track, wiring, etc...