Got to work on the table last week. Being a retired machinist I’m way more comfortable working with metal than wood so I enlisted the help of my friend and neighbor Roger who is experienced in cabinet making. As stated earlier I wanted a “coffee table height” display stand since it’s going up in my loft and headroom is a consideration. These layouts were designed to sit on a floor or large table or on a store window platform so I’m not attempting to replicate or reproduce an original Lionel piece per se but rather create a unique display stand that will show the layout well while providing a comfortable height from which to operate it from a chair (I’m getting too old to play with trains on the floor). In designing it however, I did try to borrow some of the styling cues (fully skirted perimeter, tapered legs, moldings, etc.) that Lionel used on their Pre-War standing displays. In other words, I tried to style in a way that I think Lionel would have had they produced such a table.
The table is constructed entirely of Hard Maple and spans almost 8 feet without the need for a center support leg. The interlocking cross bracing prevents it from racking while the open grid design allows easy access to all the wiring. The new framework follows the factory framework, supporting it just the same as if it were placed on a floor. Wooden cleats will be added to the inside of the frame which will register against the inside of the 3 factory frames keeping them centered and preventing them from shifting.
The best part of all is the entire table can be knocked down into a stack of wood and re-assembled again using a single tool, a 1/8” square drive screwdriver. This is a huge benefit for getting it up into the loft or in the event it ever needs to be stored away (heaven forbid!)
Hard to get a good picture of it right now since I'm essentially building a 32 sq/ft frame within 50 sq/ft of shop space. A few more hours of work and I can disassemble for stain and varnish.
More to come…
Gerry C.
