Thanks as always for your input John.
If somebody can't schedule things so that they cut and mount their table top in one or two days, or they are building ramp and grade sections, which take a lot of time, then Birch is definitely the way to go!
It makes zero sense for folks to plan on building a layout, and devoting several hundreds or thousands of dollars to it over several years, to try to "go cheap" and save $50 on the most important structural feature, being the table top. :-)
And, particle board is definitely not the way to go. If it ever gets wet, it likes to promptly blister and dissolve.
Mannyrock
