One of the best kept secrets has been a 5ft x 9ft ping pong plywood that was easily bought in the 1950s and 1960s. My father was a good builder and woodworker and built our childhood train board from a 5 ft x 9 ft ping pong table. That extra foot in each direction allows many more track plans and just more room. He later bought another sheet and made us a ping pong table. I think in most cases it would have to be special ordered but could be had.
It is not necessary to be limited by the size of the plywood to make any size train layout one wants. It is hard to move even a 4 x 8 so to move it around it is easy to make two smaller layout boards.
Charlie
