Metal Trestles for 2ft wide baseboards

[hoffers]

Hi all, I need some recommendations please. I'm about to start on a portable layout using 2ft x 4ft baseboards and wanted to support it with adjustable metal trestles. I've looked at a couple online but they seem too wide and will stick out under the boards. Ideally I'd like something that's near 2ft wide - any suggestions will be most helpful. Thanks

[Paul H Vigor]

18 minutes ago, hoffers said:

Hi all, I need some recommendations please. I'm about to start on a portable layout using 2ft x 4ft baseboards and wanted to support it with adjustable metal trestles. I've looked at a couple online but they seem too wide and will stick out under the boards. Ideally I'd like something that's near 2ft wide - any suggestions will be most helpful. Thanks

Design the layout to suit the trestles you can actually find?

[DCB]

Buy some trestles, cheap. shorten them to suit with an angle grinder and get the bloke at your local garage who welds your car back together for the MOT to weld it back together.  If you don't have a car which needs welding, then you can probably afford to have some trestles custom made. 

[08221]

Screwfix trestles are excellent value. Height adjustable, fold almost flat and very sturdy.

 

I’ve used them for my exhibition layout and they are ideal for my purposes.

 

 

[ikcdab]

Add a shelf along the back where the trestle is too wide. Shelf is then used for control panel, spare stock or cups of coffee.

[billywhizz]

I’ve used the Screwfix trestles to support 2’ wide baseboards. Yes, they are slightly wider than the boards but all helps with stability. As said above, sturdy, almost fold flat and height adjustable. 
Only downside to the trestles is they are noisy when being transported in the back of a car / van. Little tip is wrap the chains that the attach the pins to the frame in a piece of bubble wrap (or a sock, preferably a clean one!)
hope that helps. 
Bill. 

[Mike Bellamy]

Several examples of the Screwfix trestles in use at our show on Saturday - they were supporting 3 out of 7 layouts - examples shown below copied from Neil's topic about his Elsbridge layout - just realised you can see the cash he collected from our second hand sales table to be split between Neil and myself !!

 

Also see here from Andy Young - more photos of another layout using the Screwfix trestles.

 https://melynvalleyrailway.blogspot.com/2023/01/making-exhibition-of-ourselves.html?m=1

 

 

[Free At Last]

The welding on the cheap trestles is done in the workshops for the visually impaired. I have a couple where none of the welding is square.

[spenc]

I use screwfix trestles and my baseboards are only a foot wide I have the layout to the front of the trestles upto the stop bars.if that helps

[dasatcopthorne]

Here's how I've done mine.

 

The layout is 7' 6" long and I already had two of these trestles. So the two longitudinal members have notches cut into them so they lock onto the trestle cross members. The cross member tops have small 'tabs' that stop the longitudinal members from slipping off the ends.

 

Three 'deck' boards lock in-between the cross members and form a table. Holes cut out so wiring can pass up to the layout connections. The table boards are the same width as the trestles and thus give a small shelf at the rear.

I also use the lower trestle cross bars to lay a sheet of ply on for an off-floor shelf where I have power units etc. and any other items needing to be hidden away.

One person can erect this 'table' in less than ten mins. 

 

Dave.

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by dasatcopthorne