@0-Gauge CJ posted:That should be easily doable. I also thought about maybe adding some 1x3/1x4 boards underneath (wide side against the plywood) to help with support. Adding boards along the perimeter shouldn't be an issue for a good chunk of the upper level either. I was planning on putting scenery escarpments with greenery and a few trees, or retainer walls along most of the lower portion of the layout, which would cover the side boards. (if stretched to 12", I think retainer walls wouldn't look natural to my eye, and escarpments would be turned into cliff faces).
Thank you!
After googling L-girder and reading about different types of benchwork, the design I want best fits the box-type. Although I just bought this house and hope to be here for years, I know I can't stay forever, so I would like to make it easy to disassemble for the inevitable move. I will save my ideas for how I am planning to build this benchwork in an easy-to-disassemble fashion for another thread, but I think the box-type design will ultimately make this easiest. But that being said, is L-girder easily moved as well? The idea is not set in stone and I am open to better ideas.
L-girder is not easily moved. However, it is easily disassembled, and the components can generally be reused to build a different configuration. I've done this several times. It sounds like this might be your first large layout - congratulations! However, understand and accept the fact that no matter how carefully you plan and how well you build, you WILL make mistakes or at least find things that you wish you had done differently. It's part of growing in the hobby.
@RDM provided some excellent perspective in his post above, and made a good point about access panels. His method of using 1/4" plywood with 1x2 bracing with glue yields a very strong and stable framework. That's actually a standard method in Britain where most layouts are portable (due to smaller homes) and many people haul them from one exhibition to another.
