So where are you thinking to place your hobby train anyway?  That looks pretty good but did you say it floods a bit in here when it rains.  Yeah that’s the drawback, isn’t it?  People have lots of varied spots that they place their model trains and each has its different benefits and drawbacks.  Here’s some suggestions:

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

Some people just put their locomotives right on the ground. This is not a good option for little guys like N and HO scale trains.  It is one thing to have a g size train on the carpet or in your back yard, but it is another to stare down at the smaller build of an HO locomotive set.  This sort of an overview of the smaller gauges just makes them look tiny and uninteresting.  It also increases the possibilities of taking unexpected slips when you accidentally step on your locomotives.  A higher display level tends to foreground the strengths of HO and N gauge locomotives.  The more you consider the point of view the better you will be able to control the effect your model locomotive track plan has on viewers.

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

If you’re really fortunate there is a location in your house that is already elevated and big enough that it can play a dual role as display area.  Again, the main benefit of this is that you don’t have to go through the extra work and cost of setting up a toy train table.  This is certainly better than putting your trains on the carpet for the visual aspect of things.  There are some obvious s to most random display areas.  Unless you’re incredibly blessed, these places are usually too tiny and not shaped quite in the way that we would like to successfully setup an interesting track display.  So instead of designing a area for your layout, you are altering your track plan to fit the awkwardness of your area.  This is never a good way to grow your toy train empire.

Using a pre-existing table:  

Some model trainers just use an old table they had lying around unused.  This helps in that you can carry it to the spot you would like, but most areas that are not specifically built for hobby training have other drawbacks.  These spare surfaces are often not as sturdy as model trainers would like and even when they are they have a single fixed shape and size which requires you to limit your toy locomotive setups to the surface’s dimensions and not to the plan in your mind.

A table that screams “I’m cheap but I know the value of hard work crafting”:  

Since many of us model trainers are good with our hands a very popular option of model trainers is to create a area ourselves.  It is incredibly satisfying to plan out a surface that exactly matches the specific requirements of our track design.  This is a great choice because it gives your model train a unique platform and because you can configure it as you would like.  This isn’t for everyone.  If you aren’t that into creating furniture then you’ll want to avoid trying this.  Home designed surfaces also tend to be too hefty to move easily.  Such a project can be a very inconvenient drag on our time.  I won’t put down homemade tables except to say that if your engineering talents don’t extend beyond hobby trains, trying to build a surface can really be a black hole of time and effort that you may not have much to show for on the other side.

Domino style tables:

There are these special kind of hobby surface that is just perfect for toy training.  They are called “domino” areas because that can be connected on any side to form any shape, no matter how idiosyncratic the shape.  The tables also can be adjusted to sit at more than one height so that you can customize it to the specifics of the surroundings you’ll be displaying your train track plan in.  They let you realize your mental plan as you saw it.  Because they are so easy to setup and move they are ideal for taking to conventions and for moving out of the way if you do not have a permanent location to display your locomotives in.  You can also more easily transport your table if you want to show your design around.  In short, this is perfection in hobby surfaces.

With your area choice out of the way you are now free to really embark on your hobby locomotive adventure.  Good blessed and happy hobbying!   

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

Here’s a part of the model train hobby we haven’t spent enough time on, the surface where we’re laying out our locomotives. Even with N gauge this can be important. You could just set these trains on whatever table, you say.  But hold on. I can change your tune. The kind of surface you have your N gauge locomotives on can really be very important.  Here are some reasons why:

A sturdy table is a necessity:

You should have a surface that can resist the minor bumps. You don’t need your trains to be retrofitted against a the “Big One” but they shouldn’t fall over when the mail truck rumbles by outside. One horrible moment and your trains could be in pieces tossed around the ground. What a disaster!  No, you definitely need a cool sturdy surface. You’re practiced with your hands, you could possibly construct the table yourself.

Cool Tip: Here’s a cool suggestion. If you happen to own an good ping-pong table you don’t use any more, then stop thinking of it as your ping pong table and start thinking of it as your new train table. Ping pong tables give you lots of room for any but the highest scale lay outs.  Think of how complicated you could make your HO circuit design on a table of these dimensions.  This is perhaps the easiest most cost and time efficient way of getting a great surface for your train design.

Portable tables for travel:

If you plan on lugging your N gauge toy train layout around and showing it for others, you may want to spend a little bit on a portable hobby table made exclusively for arts and crafts. There are a few different sites that specialize in designing these kinds of hobby tables that are sturdy but light weight and easily portable.

Cool suggestion #2: Use ceiling space instead of floor space.  If you’re good with your hands and pressed for space, the best way to save floor space is not to use it.   You can use pulleys to raise and lower your train whenever you would like.

Interlocking tables:

Domino tables are you best choice. These tables can be united in any configuration or layout.  What these wonderful domino tables let you to do most however is to grow your locomotive setup in any way that you would like.  Unlike other kinds of tables that force you to alter your design to fit their shapes, these tables allow you to control the borders of your circuit design. The light weight design is ideal for model train lovers.  If you want to take your model train down in the basement, you can just carry the table down to your work area.  If you want to take this over to your brother’s house to show his kids your track, it is light enough to be carried.  They are so easy to change that you might actually have difficulty keeping to one track plan.

A good toy locomotive lay out is only as good as the foundation it is constructed on.

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