Benchwork mistake need help


davehall83

New Member
Hello folks, first time here. So i purchased some sievers benchwork but i made the novice mistake of going beyond 30" deep on my benchwork. The benchwork in 50% of the areas is 36" deep and in others 4ft deep. Not sure what to do because i want to model scenary, install track and other things in these areas. So i purchased a top side creeper but i dont even know if thats going to totally solve my problem but the issue is im stuck with the benchwork now so i have to live with what i have. Any suggestions on maybe making it modular which im thinking of doing and putting casters on it? I am not sure if casters with a 1/4" threaded stem to go into the existing legs will be able to hold the weight of everything. I am using O gauge and O gauge style buildings. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated. I am also thinking of an access panel in the deep areas.
 
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the questions about the casters etc is if i used 1/4 x 20 stems these casters at most handle 110lb's and i would have 32 of t hem total around that benchwork does that seem like it would be enough to handle the weight of the model or do i need heavier duty then at that point i have to modify alot of things here to bolt them on....
 
Depending on what you're planning the end product to look like, you can put in some access holes from underneath. You'd just need to either make covers for the holes, or find a way to hide them.
 
You issue is constrained to the weight load of the casters. At 110lbs per leg, I would say you're safe with that caster as long as they are all evenly adjusted to carry load. One problem you will run into with a modular system is alignment. Humidity or lack of it will warp your wood, no matter how much you think or desire that it won't. Track that aligns perfectly during construction will be offset a year from now, both vertically and horizontally. Also, track, road bed and scenery will not be able to hide the module joints.
 
As far as casters, where are you going to roll it to? It appears the layout almost completely fills your space. If you disassemble it, to where will the pieces be moved? You might be able to roll the parts into what appears to be a hallway from which you are taking pictures, but if you are doing a project that will take days or a weeks to finish, will your family want to have the pieces blocking the hallway for that long?

To make it sectional, you will have to disconnect the track. If you use the track connection method across the joints in the sections that has a removeable piece of track or removeable rails, that means you will have to be able to access the track to put it all together. If the problem is you can't reach the track when the layout is together, then connecting the track when the layout is together could be an issue (as will disconnecting the track to take it apart).
 
Dave - First, welcome to the forum.
Forget the casters as it appears that there is nowhere really to move the layout, although 110 lbs per caster is more than ample enough for normal layout benchwork. Even if you have to crawl on top to get to things. Unfortunately you are going to have to count on the topside creeper to access those areas that are 4' deep. The 3' reaches could most likely be made standing on a 6" high platform. Scaffolding in the stairwell is an option for that side!!!
 
How high is the top of the benchwork? One "solution" even though is would entail a lot of work would be to shorten the legs, making it easier to reach. Another might be to cut out some of the middle areas of the extensions into the aisle. You might have to make your trackwork curve around these, which might make for a more interesting layout. The real railroads often had to run curves where the terrain simply wasn't something they could alter.
 
How high is the top of the benchwork? One "solution" even though is would entail a lot of work would be to shorten the legs, making it easier to reach. Another might be to cut out some of the middle areas of the extensions into the aisle. You might have to make your trackwork curve around these, which might make for a more interesting layout. The real railroads often had to run curves where the terrain simply wasn't something they could alter.
40 inches high. I don’t have a track plan yet i was trying to get some O-72s curves in here because i read some of the expensive or good locomotives can’t make the O-36 turns. I like a lot of switching too but not sure how much i will get on this layout with the space issues. I haven’t gotten the top side creeper from micro mark yet but i’m hoping that helps i guess i could get ontop of the benchwork and sit i’d it will hold my 278lb butt on there lol. I wanted to get a few lines in there like on large outer circle and have a drop down door in the entrance area so i could complete the circle i heard of drop in track but what is that and where do you get it to make it work
 
Dave - First, welcome to the forum.
Forget the casters as it appears that there is nowhere really to move the layout, although 110 lbs per caster is more than ample enough for normal layout benchwork. Even if you have to crawl on top to get to things. Unfortunately you are going to have to count on the topside creeper to access those areas that are 4' deep. The 3' reaches could most likely be made standing on a 6" high platform. Scaffolding in the stairwell is an option for that side!!!
i didn’t think of scaffolding but now you mentioned it that could do it for that side that’s a good idea
 
As far as casters, where are you going to roll it to? It appears the layout almost completely fills your space. If you disassemble it, to where will the pieces be moved? You might be able to roll the parts into what appears to be a hallway from which you are taking pictures, but if you are doing a project that will take days or a weeks to finish, will your family want to have the pieces blocking the hallway for that long?

To make it sectional, you will have to disconnect the track. If you use the track connection method across the joints in the sections that has a removeable piece of track or removeable rails, that means you will have to be able to access the track to put it all together. If the problem is you can't reach the track when the layout is together, then connecting the track when the layout is together could be an issue (as will disconnecting the track to take it apart).
yeah i dropped the casters idea after looking at what you said so it’s across hatches unless i can get ontop and work
 
Depending on what you're planning the end product to look like, you can put in some access holes from underneath. You'd just need to either make covers for the holes, or find a way to hide them.
Access hatches is on the table for sure i am working with my carpenter but i need to lay the track first i’m site then do then trying to find some examples to show him how to build them to make them
 
To keep things simple, build one or two access holes and cover them with a piece of foam or plywood with scenery on top. Fiddling with your benchwork will be more complicated, and as the others suggest, once this is constructed, it's not designed to be shoved around. You don't want to shove something with many abutting seams across a floor of any kind, least of all a garage or basement slab.

You can sacrifice a joist, build a 1X4 square frame around a suitable hole, say 22" square so you aren't banging against it when you stand or retreat, and set a slab of something-with-scenery atop the framed hole. About 1 hour's worth of work, plus the scenicking.
 
To keep things simple, build one or two access holes and cover them with a piece of foam or plywood with scenery on top. Fiddling with your benchwork will be more complicated, and as the others suggest, once this is constructed, it's not designed to be shoved around. You don't want to shove something with many abutting seams across a floor of any kind, least of all a garage or basement slab.

You can sacrifice a joist, build a 1X4 square frame around a suitable hole, say 22" square so you aren't banging against it when you stand or retreat, and set a slab of something-with-scenery atop the framed hole. About 1 hour's worth of work, plus the scenicking.
Makes sense i probably should figure out my track layout i have no idea what i want yet except i would like an 0-72 circle but i may need to lay it out first then build access panels around that
 
i’m done with plywood for now i need to figure out how to make a swinging door in the entrance with drop down track this is just so i can have a big outer circle. The carpenter guy was trying to figure out how we could do this too
 

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Hi Dave, welcome to the forum, bench work is looking good! Did you do a Google or youtube search on model railroad liftgates, swing gates, liftouts? Maybe some ideas there.....
 
Not sure what kind of distance you will have between track and edge of bench work, remember that’s a long drop down those stairs if a derailment happens…
 
You will probably hate this suggestion but here it is any way :) I think you need to discard some of the benchwork and thin down the layout in some of the parts.
Apart from the fact that it will be very hard to reach some of the far areas from the control area in the middle, it also appears that you have not made any provision for a backdrop on the outside of the layout.

My suggestion is to trim the benchwork and make it an island in the middle of the space you have which appears to be quite generous.
 
Dave. I don't think you stated what scale your layout will be in... O, S, HO, N ? Then, what is the width of each plywood piece on either side of where you are thinking about a "drop-down door", "gate", etc.? Depending on your answer, you might want to consider eliminating that center piece of plywood. I know you said you want a wide continuous circle, but my suggestion would be, dimensions and scale permitting, to go with a "folded dogbone" layout, with return (NOT reversing) loops on the plywood on either side of the opening (where you now have it closed off with the gate). Granted, in O-scale or even S-scale, this would make for some tight radius loops. But in HO-scale, if the plywood is 48" wide, you could easily manage 22" radius curves. I have such an arrangement and can easily run 85' passenger cars around 20"-22" loops.
 



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