Model Train Table

Is this where you plan to put your toy locomotive layout?  That looks pretty good but did you say it floods a bit in here when in Winter.  Yeah that’s the problem, isn’t it?  It’s good to carefully consider where we place our layout.  Let’s think this through a bit:

Just throw it on the floor like your laundry in college:  

Some people just set up their locomotives right on the carpet. This is not a good choice for little guys like N and HO gauge trains.  Bending over and kneeling down do not make for the best hobbying experiences for adults.  This sort of an overview of the smaller gauges just makes them look tiny and uninteresting.  It also addes to the possibilities of taking unexpected trips when you accidentally step on your trains.  You really need a display hobby train table for the HO and smaller variety trains.  Even O trains look better on a train surface.

Pre-existing shelves, the blessed lazy man’s choice  

In some houses there are natural display areas or elevated spaces that lend themselves to model locomotive layouts.  This pre-existing shelf answers the problem of elevation perhaps and if you are extremely lucky can find the perfect location for our model locomotives.  This is certainly better than putting your locomotives on the ground for the visual aspect of things.  There are some obvious s to most accidental display spots.  These spots tend to be too tiny for a model train setup and they tend not to be configured in the right way.  So, such areas dictate a host of limitations to your model locomotiveing.  Even if you are into the most miniscule kinds of toy train these spots tend not to work all that well.

Using a pre-existing table:  

Sometimes you get lucky and serendipitously come across a table at home.  This helps in that you can move it to the spot you would like, but the majority of areas that are not specifically built for hobby training have other negatives.  These spare tables are often not as strong as enthusiasts would like and even when they are they have a single inconvenient shape and size which requires you to limit your model train track plans to the table’s measurements and not to the plan in your mind.

Home-made hobby train areas:  

Since lots of us hobbyists are good with our hands a very popular choice of model trainers is to make a surface ourselves.  Often we handymen and women will extend an existing spot to make it work for the toy locomotive layout we had in mind.  This is a wonderful choice because it gives your model locomotive a unique platform and because you can create it as you would like.  This isn’t for everyone.  If you aren’t that into making furniture then you’ll want to avoid trying this.  Just as large of a drawback is the fact that such tables tend to be permanently one size and as your hobby training empire expands you have to go through the trouble of building yet another area to increase your surface area.  Such a project can be a very inconvenient drag on our time.  These homemade surfaces also tend not to be as portable for those of us who like to show our trains around.

Hobby surfaces, the choice if for those who are willing to shell out the clams:

If you’re willing to spare the expense, the best kind of hobby train tables are probably the domino style areas.  They are called “domino” areas because that can be connected on any side to form any shape, no matter how idiosyncratic the shape.  These surfaces do away with many of the spatial limitations that you might have had with other area options.  They let you realize your mental plan as you saw it.  Because they are so easy to layout and move they are ideal for taking to conventions and for moving out of the way if you do not have a permanent place to display your trains in.  Also great if you want to make a train for school project and would like to transport it without undoing too much of the track.  For this reason, these areas are really the best choice for model train displays.

With your table option out of the way you are now free to really embark on your hobby locomotive adventure.  Good blessed and happy toying!   

Here is more information on Model Train Track. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.