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If you have no table, you can set the layout on two 20x24x36
moving boxes from U-Haul, (wardrobe boxes), which you can
paint black for a more cosmetic look. With this method you
could scale up the layout to approximately a door-size or 4x8
with little change in cost. I would use 4’x8’ foam cut down to
the desired size, and laminated together. The resulting layout
will weigh a lot less and be more portable than using a hollow-
core door or plywood. If you want to use this method for a 4x8
layout glue a couple of 1x2 wood stringers underneath the
foam to provide enough support.
The foam boards laminated together become very strong. Glue
any excess foam to the top of your layout to form hills. The
foam can be carved into whatever landform shapes you desire.
I generally do this with a keyhole saw. This is very messy pro-
cess, so keep a garbage can and vacuum close by.
When done with the carving the shapes, cover the foam with
wet paper strips, and then cover those with plaster. You will
have a very strong layout, and the foam is a good base to insert
trees into later. The last step is to buy a sheet of hardboard
and cut out a fascia that you can glue to the sides of your foam
board for a finished look.
Track
The track is determined by the turnouts we will use. For such
a small layout, I would use Peco code 80 small-radius turnout
with insulated frogs. These small turnouts are only 3-1/2” long
with a 12” radius through the turnout.
These are power-routing with insulated frogs, so they require
no special wiring. The switches are also sprung so they can
be flipped with your finger, so no special turnout controls are
needed. For track, I would use the old standard – Atlas Code
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