Joey on Rails

Here's a picture of the benchwork for my model railroad. I'm using a 36"x80" hollow core door and plans taken directly from Marty McGuirk's book N Scale Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby. The plans are pretty simple. You need a hollow core door (they come in various sizes, mine is the largest), four (4) 1x4 boards with the same length as the width of your door, some drywall screws, liquid nails, and some folding table legs. I got all of this stuff at Home Depot (the official home improvement warehouse of NASCAR), although just about any hardware store should be able to get these things for you. As for tools I used a tape measure, square ruler, pencil, caulk gun, and a drill.

First I sanded the door to rough up the primer paint. In hindsight I probably could have skipped this step. Next I laid everything out on the door and marked off lines with a pencil. Then I applied the liquid nails to the first 1x4. I would recommend using good quality wood for this step. I bought the cheapest they had and it warped and split during installation (it still worked though). I then lined up the 1x4 and screwed it down with the drywall screws. The screws should probably be about 5/8" from the edge and I drilled pilot holes to help prevent splitting. Once the 1x4s are in place, I installed the folding legs using the manufacturer's instructions. Then I turned it over and set it up.

The working time for this project was about an hour and a half, but if you cut out the sanding and have decent carpentry skills it will probably only take about half that much (or less).