Thinking about taking The Canyon out in public, it would be nice to have something better than a folding table to put it on.
While napping on New Year's Day, it came to me: a 1/8 size trestle.
2x2s for the posts (1.5 actual) scales out to 12 inch in 1/8 scale. Probably 1x1/2 bracing.
A 10' top cap would scale to 15 inches, probably adequate to support a 24 inch layout. If it's 42 or 48 inches high, standard batter would bring it out to about 28 inches wide at the bottom.
M4 or M5 hex bolts are available from Amazon in lengths up to 60 or 70mm, which would probably do the job. Or #6 washer head sheet metal screws for the ones that don't need to be removed.
I'd permanently assemble the end bents, transport them flat, then bolt on side bracing on site.
4/9/25: I finally got started building this today. I'm using (nominal) 2x2's for the post and sills (1 1/2 actual) and ripped some 1x3s to 1 inch wide by a bit over a quarter inch thick, for the bracing. The sills are attached to the posts with 3 1/2 inch construction screws. I'm attaching the bracing with 1 inch roofing screws, which have hexagonal heads and come with washers, so they look somewhat like prototype bolts and are about the right size, and are a lot cheaper and easier than using real bolts.
The side bracing needs to be removable for transport, so I will probably use bolts there. I'll mostly likely use 1/4 inch bolts, even though they are oversize, because they are readily available and cheap.
I got the posts and sills cut and assembled today, and ripped the bracing material. Tomorrow or the next day I'll get the bracing installed. I need to build a "cradle" to hold the layout on top so it doesn't slide around. After assembly I'll stain the whole thing.
4/10/25: I got a lot more done today than I expected. It's close to complete, except for staining. I may add another set of cross bracing on the lower sides.
The side bracing is temporarily assembled with roofing screws. I ordered a box of M4 bolts, washers and t-nuts, but it's going to take a couple of days for them to get here. In the mean time, tomorrow I'll apply some stain.
4/11/25: I added those other cross braces and stained the whole thing.
4/12/25: My M4 bolts arrived, so I'm working on swapping them out. In the picture, an M4 bolt (pre-blackened) is on the left, roofing screw on the right. Looking at them here, it's pretty obvious that they're different, but in person it's not really noticeable.
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