Author Topic: Phatty's Train Set!  (Read 3366 times)

Offline Phatty

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Phatty's Train Set!
« on: December 30, 2009, 08:44:01 PM »
When I was about 10, I got a pretty big train set for Christmas.  It was large enough to cover a full size pool table, and was very detailed.  I loved that thing.  I'd come home from school and start it up and watch it travel around, check out all the cool people and buildings that were in it.  Then, one day, I came home from school and it was gone.  My dad had decided that the family needed money, and chose to sell my train set.  Oddly enough, the very next week, he got 2 brand new fishing poles outfitted for catching musky.  Nice, I know.  So, I've always said that once I get a house of my own with a basement, I'm going to build a train set.  Well, for Christmas this year, my wife bought me a starter set, so now I am building the table for it to go on.

I went and bought 3, 2x4x96" studs and 4, 28" ornate table legs, with hardware.  I bought stain in the shade of Gunstock to stain it all.  Today, I've taken wood filler and filled in all of the dips, cracks, and knot holes in the studs, then sanded them down.  I put them off to the side and stained the legs.  Tomorrow, I'm going with my parents to pick up a sheet of plywood that I'll prime with a light grey color.  Then I can cut the studs to size, mount the legs, and begin to sketch the layout to my train set! 

I was really wanting to go with a Star Wars theme to it, but they don't make any Star Wars items in the "HO" scale.  I thought about the Star Wars miniatures, but they're still bigger in scale.  Still, I may pepper the scenery with them as  I can collect them.  So, anyone who has Star Wars miniatures and looking to unload them, hit me up with a PM and I'll make you an offer!

Here's the shots of my table legs thus far.




Offline Phatty

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2010, 06:24:09 PM »
Ok, I've finished my train table!  I have the legs mounted, the supports mounted to the table top and legs, all of them stained and varnished, and table top primed.  All I have to do now is sketch out what I want on there and where it'll all go, and then start placing parts, piece by piece!  I'm very pleased how things came out, even though I am a HORRIBLE woodworker.












Offline Reconsgt

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2010, 07:14:34 PM »
Looks good so far Pat,  I had a small train set as a kid, and always loved them, It will be cool to see your set up all complete.

Offline Phatty

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2010, 07:21:41 PM »
I'm thinking of placing 2 more legs in the middle of the long sides.  The table is slightly wobbly, so I want to shore it up so it doesn't go anywhere, but I'm not sure if that will fix it or not.

Offline Clonehead

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2010, 07:29:38 PM »
Looks like you are just about to the fun part of this project. Man, doing that much groundwork at once would be a fun challenge.
You certainly gave yourself plenty of area to work with. I do believe that I'm jealous, Pat. I too have fond memories of a trainset that I had as a kid and was always impressed by the big layouts that the masters would put together.

Offline Luke Sprywalker

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2010, 07:41:06 PM »
Another project that is coming together nicely. I envy you on this one. I have a few older and newer Lionel sets I wish I had room for.

Offline Phatty

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2010, 08:08:54 PM »
I've been browsing different layouts online, and mine would be considered SMALL by most standards!  I just looked at one that is 50'x12'!

Offline TheCloneCommander

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2010, 03:01:28 AM »
Pat i am looking forward to seeing this project come together.... i too still have my old HO scale train set up in my parents attic and it was so much fun putting it together that the best part for me was working out all the street lights and lights for all of my building but once done i got bored with it and went out and got a N scale train set which i have yet to even start (i might wait even longer so i can do it with Jaspa when he get older, a long time away i know) i have every thing i need to build it and have layed it out a few times just to see what i could come up with, i find that the N scale is small but fun to play with as it gives you more track to watch your trains go around on.

looking at the base of your table i hope it is soft enough for you to nail it down to because if not you will be in a world of hurt... i ended up getting a soft ply, and a device i wish i could remember the name of, that you line the nail in the hole and then sit the palm hammer (for lack of a better word) and pushed down on it to nail it down.... if you ever need ideas or anything just give me a PM i would be happy to help with anything you need...

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Offline Mando Commando

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2010, 05:02:22 PM »
Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Offline hangarbay94

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Re: Phatty's Train Set!
« Reply #9 on: May 07, 2010, 07:01:59 AM »
Pat, my father used to spend a lot of his spare time in  a large self built shed in the back of our garden building the most amazing train layouts, sadly he passed away a couple of years ago. Seeing your start up images brought back some pleasant memories...

great post, and looking forward to seeing things progress.