I have been working on an N scale layout which is 4'x3'. I decided that the perfect place to and safeguard my layout would be inside a coffee table. It is on a 4x3 piece of particle board and I would like to build a coffee table around it. Does anyone have any information or websites about doing something like this? I would like to gather all the information about this topic that I can. Any help is greatly appritiated, Thanks, Brian
Hello Brian, a warm welcome to Trainboard. I have seen articles about coffee table layouts in several magazines over the years, but not one as big as 4 x 3 You are really getting into furniture building, but I would suggest a glass top (and maybe sides) so that the trains are visible from all angles. But don't forget to make the panel(s) removable for maintenance, etc. If I find any of the articles, I will post them here. Good luck
Brian, go to any book store and look in the wood working section. There are many magazines there complete with ready made legs, picture frame molding (for the glass top cover) and other moldings for the side rails. "The WoodCrafter" had an article in it about how a guy made an "N" scale layout in his coffee table. It gave a lot of tips and showed drawings of how it goes together to be strong enough to hold up the weight.
2 tips: Either make the trackwork as flawless and smooth as possible, or make the tabletop with handles to remove it all the time to clean up a derailment!!! Also, use mostly cars less than 60 scale feet long, and 4-axle locos. This will greatly add to the realism to the layout, and prevent derailments.
Welcome, Brian! And to help you with your request, I would recommend getting your hands on a copy of the September 2001 Model Railroader. They have an article, titled "N Scale in a Coffee Table" that might be of interest to you. If you don't have a subscription, or if your local hobby shop doesn't have the back issue - try your local library. Beyond that, you can order the issue from the trains.com store, but the shipping is usually a little overkill for a single back issue (trust me ). --Joseph [ 11 June 2002, 19:24: Message edited by: JosephFerris ]
Thanks for all the tips so far everyone; that should give me a good start. I also found a couple of websites, but they don't include much helpful information to build one. I like the design in the first site a lot and the second seems to be a ready built layout you can buy. 1. http://my.en.com/~danp/train/train.htm 2. http://bakatronics.com:8080/coffee/ Thanks again, Brian
