Creation actually began in January of 2008 as part of a New Year's resolution to get my trains up and running. I had looked at book and magazines for years dreaming and planning but finally time to make a reality.

I decided on a lightweight bench work with a quick set of supports that I could embellish later if needed. Most books seem to lean toward about 50" as the ideal height but I opted for something a little lower (42") because I thought it would be easier to work on and a better height for my kids to see.

The framing was done with 1" x 4"s topped with 1/8" plywood. 1" x 3" cross braces were added about 18" apart for a little extra support. The plywood was left over from another project so I build the frames to match and ended up with two platforms, 5'7" x 2' and 5'10" x 2'. The legs were 2" x 3" screwed to the underside 1" x 3" supports. An addition 1" x 3" frame was added 6" from the bottom of the legs for increased stability.

All screws were pre-drilled with a counter sink bit to keep the wood from splitting and provide a smooth finish. 1" x 4" were attached with 1-1/4" drywall screws, legs with 2" drywall screws and plywood with #8, 1/2" wood screws. Corner clamps were used to ensure everything was square.

I added 1" pink foam board on top and secured it with Liquid Nails. Not the best choice as it is rather thick and it was difficult to compress the foam against the plywood and force the Liquid Nails to spread out. As a result the foam stood off the plywood a bit in some areas.

I arranged the tables in an L formation and that is where they stood for nearly a year until Ifinally decieded what to do.