John,
Don’t confuse benchwork with the type of roadbed used. For the purposes of this discussion, there are 2 types of framing, one is L-girder and I’ll called the other “Standard”. There are also 2 types of roadbed, one is cookie-cutter and I’ll call the other “Tabletop”. You’ve seen photos of L-girder framing with cookie-cutter roadbed, so here’s one of Standard framing with cookie-cutter roadbed on risers. Note that the only difference is the type of framing to support the risers and roadbed.
Here’s a simple example of L-girder with both cookie-cutter and tabletop roadbed.
Here’s an example of Tabletop where they cut out sections they wanted to raise and supported them with risers. What’s underneath could be L-girder or Standard framing, it doesn’t matter.
There is no right or wrong way to do things, just as there is no right or wrong in what materials you decide to use, it’s whatever works for you.
