Tables for Railway Layout - Folding or Not

[ten0G]

 

I'm looking for tables that can eventually be used for layout purposes, but initially for use when I move into a retirement apartment. 

Due to medical restrictions I will need supports about worktop height on which to spread out my storage boxes for sorting, hoping to find more railway reference material amongst the other contents (rubbish?) from decades ago! 

I was hoping to use the Lidl-style tables which were available before I returned to the UK, but they no longer seem to be obtainable, and I'm hoping the flat will at last be ready in the next few weeks. 

Recently, I did try some multi-purpose ones from eBay which seemed similar to Lidl's and came from Germany.  These were found to be of dubious quality from Chinese sources, with unfinished surfaces and very thin tops which I thought were far too weak to support the weight claimed.  I didn't even bother to open the second box. 

The size of the tables is 1M x 60cm.  I could actually go to 76.1cm (30") width as the narrowest part will be to one side of the window which measures 81cm (32").  As the proposed layout requires a 180º turn of double track at this end where the line descends to a lower level, the more width the better.   

I would be very grateful for any suggestions for a quick and affordable solution please, preferably available for delivery as I have no transport facilities available. 

[AlexanderJesse]

Have you considered having a look at the big swedish warehouse. For example their Ingo dining table measures 120x75 cm: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/tables/dining-tables/ingo-table-pine-art-14630009/
Or use their Finnvard trestles with shelf and a fitting (or custom made) desk top. The trestles allow for some height adjustment.

Or pass at your local Do-it-yourself warehouse and get some painters trestle and have a top cut to fit your room from the wood-department

[Newportnobby]

For my small layout intended for show, I use fold flat (well, almost flat) height adjustable trestles and then you could just add your choice size of thick plywood surface which could be stored against a wall when not in use.

[Yet_Another]

Last year, I bought a steel framed, plastic topped, folding table from these people:

https://www.foldingtablesuk.com

and it's entirely adequate (I'm typing this while sat at it, actually).

I haven't looked on their website recently, but I recall that they did a number of sizes, folding or otherwise.

[ten0G]

Last year, I bought a steel framed, plastic topped, folding table from these people:

https://www.foldingtablesuk.com

and it's entirely adequate (I'm typing this while sat at it, actually).

I haven't looked on their website recently, but I recall that they did a number of sizes, folding or otherwise.

Thanks, I've looked at their site, and found some which are very similar to a couple my sister bought in Homebase.  These are illustrated with about nine folded tables on top of an open one.  Is yours classed as stackable? 

I may very well have to go for something like this given that they need to be lightweight, as in my present condition I can't lift much at all and don't seem to be improving.  Certainly solid wood is out of the question. 

So far I haven't found anything wider than two feet, thirty inches would be ideal though.  They are also far too low, but I am going to look into the possibility of increasing the height using supports (made of rubber?) which my sister has been told is a way to increase the height of a knitting machine table. 

Lengthwise, four four-feet tables would fit nicely into the seventeen feet I have available, and another table along the adjacent wall would use up four of the remaining five feet available.  Perhaps I could find a way to extend the layout to fill the entire space available. 

I am concerned that the table corners are angled as well as being rounded, so I'm not sure if they would really make a suitable base for supporting the layout. 

Any additional information or views would be appreciated, thanks.   

[ScottishModeller]

Hi all,

Check Lidl and Aldi for lightweight folding leg tables.

I got them for only £9.00 more than the heavy duty pasting table.

They work a treat - Set of 3 in a box and cna be used either as individual tables or clipped together.

Thanks
Phil H

[Dorsetmike]

Worth keep checking Lidl, they do repeat items at intervals, I have a set myself and our area group has two sets we use for our 20' layout.

Amazon are also worth a look although not as cheap as Lidl.

[Yet_Another]

Thanks, I've looked at their site, and found some which are very similar to a couple my sister bought in Homebase.  These are illustrated with about nine folded tables on top of an open one.  Is yours classed as stackable? 

This is the one that I've got:

https://www.foldingtablesuk.com/rectangular-and-square-folding-tables/ft4-6ft-rectangular-folding-table.html

I bought it as my layout work bench, but it's ended up as my office desk. When folded up, everything is inside it, so it's stackable either vertically or horizontally. Lightweight is a relative term: it has a steel frame, so it's not that light. The width is 75cm, which is 2'6" in old money. The corners are rounded, but there's nothing raised across the entire of the top.

The top itself is described as blow moulded HDPE. It's fine in it's intended use as a table top, but not so good when other forces are applied, like the large angle poise magnifier that I clamped to it. The top began to deform where I'd clamped the base, owing to the excessive moment from the extended magnifier.

[ten0G]

This is the one that I've got:

https://www.foldingtablesuk.com/rectangular-and-square-folding-tables/ft4-6ft-rectangular-folding-table.html

I bought it as my layout work bench, but it's ended up as my office desk. When folded up, everything is inside it, so it's stackable either vertically or horizontally. Lightweight is a relative term: it has a steel frame, so it's not that light. The width is 75cm, which is 2'6" in old money. The corners are rounded, but there's nothing raised across the entire of the top.

The top itself is described as blow moulded HDPE. It's fine in it's intended use as a table top, but not so good when other forces are applied, like the large angle poise magnifier that I clamped to it. The top began to deform where I'd clamped the base, owing to the excessive moment from the extended magnifier.

Thanks, I've spent some time looking at these kinds of tables from various manufacturers, but sadly most of them are too heavy for me to move about in my present condition. 

The only ones which had any potential at all is type my sister found in Homebase before they sold out, but they are only 2' wide. 

30" width would be much more preferable, but are too heavy, so I'm wondering, in what little time I currently have available, whether having a 30" wide open-frame baseboard with an overhang on a 24" width table would be workable or not. 

It's likely that the overhang would need to be on one side rather than both, if hidden track on the lower level (ie the table-top) is to be easily accessible for sorting problems. 

I will try to give the problem more though when I have had the chance to revise the layout plan. 

[ten0G]

Hi all,

Check Lidl and Aldi for lightweight folding leg tables.

I got them for only £9.00 more than the heavy duty pasting table.

They work a treat - Set of 3 in a box and cna be used either as individual tables or clipped together.

Thanks
Phil H

Thanks, the ones I had from TecTake-UK (made in China, sent from Germany?) could be clipped together but had different, and in my opinion poorer, facilities for doing this.  One table had a bent leg so didn't stand level and the other two had surface manufacturing faults.  They did not have a container, just the box they arrived in. 

Worth keep checking Lidl, they do repeat items at intervals, I have a set myself and our area group has two sets we use for our 20' layout.

Amazon are also worth a look although not as cheap as Lidl.

Thanks, but I have not seen these at Lidl since I came back at the end of 2015. 

I have put myself on the Amazon list to be notified if more Relaxdays tables become available.  They have better clips than the TecTake ones did, but there are some critical reviews, including one with pictures of a manufacturing fault very similar to mine. 

[Buzzard]

Worth keep checking Lidl, they do repeat items at intervals, I have a set myself and our area group has two sets we use for our 20' layout.

Amazon are also worth a look although not as cheap as Lidl.

Thanks, but I have not seen these at Lidl since I came back at the end of 2015. 

@ten0G

The ones from Lidl will be available again for a week starting on July 26th, this according to the flyer I picked up in store this morning.

[ten0G]

The ones from Lidl will be available again for a week starting on July 26th, this according to the flyer I picked up in store this morning.

Many thanks for that, Buzzard. 

In the meantime, I've just received an Aldi one and ordered another, but these are much lower, so if the Lidl ones are fine the Aldi ones will go back for a refund. 

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=41878.msg516947#msg516947