| One of the great joys of model railroading is | | | | amount of weight. A solid platform should be a 3 |
| building the scenery around your train track. When | | | | 8" or 1/2″ piece of plywood. If you want |
| you're tired of setting-up the train set around | | | | your benchwork to be portable, you can cut |
| your Christmas tree and storing it away | | | | sections in the plywood before you assemble the |
| afterward, you may be prepared to create | | | | benchwork. |
| yourself something more permanent. | | | | Keep point-of-view in mind when building the |
| The benchwork is the foundation for your model | | | | actual model railway scenery. The goal should be |
| railroad. Train hobbyists have the option of | | | | to make the railroad layout appear larger than it |
| purchasing a pre-made benchwork or building one | | | | is. You can try using several levels of scenery to |
| on their own. Purchasing a benchwork kit has | | | | help-out with this. Putting large trees in the |
| many advantages. Benchwork kits are pre-cut | | | | foreground and smaller trees in the background or |
| and pre-drilled. They are also sturdier than a sheet | | | | on mountaintops helps with this illusion as well. |
| of plywood on a couple of sawhorses. Additionally, | | | | Your railroad scenery should also reflect a theme |
| with a kit, you can disassemble it so it can be | | | | for your chosen landscape. For example, if you |
| moved to other areas in your home or bring it to | | | | have logging trains, you may want to create |
| train shows. | | | | some rugged mountainous areas filled with a |
| Of course building the benchwork on your own is | | | | bunch of trees. A sawmill or lumberyard nearby |
| more complicated and takes more time. However, | | | | would be a cool addition as well. |
| you have the opportunity to create your perfect | | | | Some other things you can add in your train |
| vision for your train-set. The first thing you need | | | | landscape are roads, bridges, tunnels, fields, grassy |
| to do is create a design for your train-set layout. | | | | meadows, and rock formations. You can also |
| You'll need to figure out how big you want your | | | | include towns, villages, and cities filled with homes |
| benchwork area to be. | | | | and other buildings. Additionally, you should include |
| You should determine if you'll be adding-on to it at | | | | fine detail to your train scenery. Examples of fine |
| a later time in the future. How much extra space | | | | detail are people, animals, signs, telephone poles, |
| in your house do you have to use the train-set | | | | fences, bushes, flowers, and underbrush. A really |
| layout? What is the shape your planning for your | | | | neat touch is including rivers, ponds, lakes, and |
| benchwork? Some options are square, | | | | waterfalls! |
| rectangular, oval, and circular to name a few. | | | | After all, isn't one of the main reasons we get |
| Generally, the legs for the table are approximately | | | | into toy model trains is so we can show-off our |
| twenty-eight inches, but they certainly can be | | | | artistic talent by creating dramatic and lifelike |
| changed to meet your design specs. The most | | | | landscapes? :-) So, have some fun and get to |
| important part of benchworking in ensuring the | | | | work so you can amaze your friends and family |
| benchwork is strong so it can withstand a certain | | | | with your awesome talent. |