Benchwork Received

The benchwork for the first side of my new layout is here. Yup, it is all in that box.

I don't mind building benchwork though it is tedious. I have used both L-girder and open-grid styles in the past and I much prefer the later but it requires a lot of precision cutting. I am usually good with my chop saw but it does take a bit of time to do. Which, because of my young son, I don't have a lot of. And, over the past couple of years (perhaps longer) the wood available at the local big box stores has gotten worse and worse.

For this layout, I decided to try something different: commercial benchwork. I looked online at various companies and one stood out for both its price and available options: Model Railroad Benchwork. The owner, Ondrew, also has a Youtube channel showing many of his custom layout builds. I was especially drawn to his quarter-circle and half-circle benchwork options, useful for making nice end-of-layout turnarounds.

I reached out to them in 2022 and asked about purchasing some of their benchwork kits to have in storage until the time when I was ready to use them, but he suggested I wait. Fast forward two years, and I was ready to order but his 3x6' sections weren't available anymore. Apparently, they are too difficult to ship. But, they worked with me and let me order them which I am grateful for.

I like the fact that the wood is plywood and not warp-prone like pine, and it uses Kreg pocket holes to hide the hardware. If I had a table saw and a friend to help I could probably build the equivalent for half the cost, but I don't. And, at the end of the day, perfect square benchwork is much more important to me than other layout things I could spend money one.

To be honest, I ordered my benchwork about 10 minutes before this NENR blog went "live" on June 30. I had drafted many posts in advance, but until I pulled the trigger on the benchwork my future layout wasn't official. 

The benchwork was received on July 09, 2024, but I am setting it aside until I take my September vacation. I can't wait to get started!