# Union Pacific Soggy Bottom's Division



## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

The construction has begun on the layout!
This what I plan to build:








The bottom will be the industrial area, the top will be the town with a passenger station, the right side will have the yard. The left side will have a swing bridge near the top as that's where the door to the room is.
The benchwork will be in 4 sections, the longest being the one on the bottom. That's the one I just finished.
I started with two 10' long 1x4's, cut to length. 









Next I marked where the 2x2 cleats would go, and the 1x4 cross braces. I wanted to avoid having to run screws into ends of the 1x4s. I also measured in from the ends 3ft each side for when i cut the 3/8" plywood top.









Then I clamped the two pieces together and drilled pilot holes where needed. Every screw in this bench has had a pilot holed pre-drilled. That's a *LOT* of pilot holes!! But I didn't have a single board crack while building this!









Next, I laid the pieces of the floor and installed the cleats and cross pieces. This only shows the 3-1/2" long cleats. The legs are also 2x2s. They will go on each end, and in the empty spots between the cross pieces. I screwed the cleats to the long 1x4s, and then screwed the cross pieces to the cleats. I did the same with the legs, and screwed the end cross pieces to the legs.









Then I installed 1x2 shelf rails, and a 2x2 cross pieces between the legs. I had to use 3" gold construction screws for this step to go through the 1x2 rail, the 2x2 leg, and have enough thread left to secure the cross piece. I also used 5/16 tee nuts and bolts in the end of each leg so I can level everything out.









Then I flipped it right side up to check the fit between the walls.









It fits, but not by much!









I also added some 1x4 cross pieces between the legs on the ends to stiffen up the assembly and provide a bit more support for the 1x4 shelf boards.

















Then I added the shelf boards. The boards on the front and rear edges were notched to fit around the legs, then screwed to the 1x2 shelf rails. I then added the 3/8" plywood top, and leveled the assembly. I'll check it again for level when I get the 2" pink foam over the plywood.









The track height of the layout should be around 43-1/4". One down, only 3 more to go!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Great bench build! Very nice step-by-step photo sequence.

TJ


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