Kitchen Table Lionel 2003.WMV

Back in the 1990s I used to set up my Lionel every December by simply screwing track to the living room carpet around the Christmas Tree and running the Lionel Scout set I got in 1962. As I accumulated more track, switches, accessories and trashed & bashed engines & rolling stock, favorites I wanted while growing through boyhood, this expanded year to year to the point that I was running 5 lines on crossovers, switches, elevations, spiral ramps and bridges around the chairs and sofa, in front of and behind the TV, under pianos and so on. The final track plan running around the edges of three rooms and the hallway of the ground floor was a culmination of the set-up I intended to build around the perimeter of the Attic Renovation.
In 2003, with the attic reno on hold, I still wanted to run trains over the Christmas Holidays.
Using two 12 foot 3/4" marine plywood shelf boards with bridging sections at each end I took over the Kitchen table and created the 4 track layout seen here - just for the fun of running several engine consists and operating various accessories. The two main boards separate with the track, supports and wiring attached and are now stored on end...ready to be set up at a moments (ok, a few hours) notice on the floor or again on the kitchen table.
It's not pretty but it is noisy crowded fun...and no derailments at high speed because the curves are all banked.
Space now being limited up in the attic space I hope to use this basic setup again in the attic but will double it's fun factor by adding automatic switches and ramps to interconnect all the runs and use it as the central unit for single lines running around the attic walls.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Vintage
• Lionel
• Table
• Layout