Have you used a ping pong table for your layout?

I think it's a great idea if you want to have a temporary, but on-a-table-top layout. 

Sure have. Back in 1950 I had my American Flyer Blue Comet trainset running on it. A little shaky, but it worked great. Bill

My grandparents on my fathers side, who I haven't seen or spoken with in a decade, had an old ping pong table that I set up a layout on when we still associated with them. It worked out well and is very easy, especially if benchwork isn't your strong point. Cheap, sturdy...they can really work well. 

Do you have tall ceilings where you are putting these?

 

Some ping pong table when folded up are taller than some basement ceilings .

 

Your idea is  great . 

 

If you glue down blue or pink rigid foam  to the surface , make sure the table will fold up right.   These are precautions to think about .

That was my first layout off the floor. Of course it didn't fold up, and once I started, it never came down. 

 

Once you set up a layout, are you going to want to take it apart to fold it up? Not sure what the folding mechanism is like, but mounted fastrack doesn't really lend itself to this task very well.

As long as you understand that kids tend to bump things, so rolling stock and even engines might get dislodged, $50 ping pong tables are certainly cheap and easy. However, based on my experience with RealTrax, I would not attach Fastrack directly unless you are willing to accept the noise. I would cover them with some kind of carpeting or something and lay the track on that. If the layout is not going to be moved, you probably won't even have to attach the track or maybe attach it in only a few places. If you want elevated track, you'd obviously have to secure the supports. At $50 it's cheap enough to lay some track on the table and check the noise level. You probably have a few rugs around, so you can test those too.  I assume there is no return on the tables? Just FYI, I built a simple 4x8 frame out of 2x4s for $25, so I'd be inclined to use wood even though covering them with plywood will raise the cost and still need covering. If you're looking for ease and are fairly careful, the ping pong tables should be okay. Are you thinking of a 9x10 or 5x18 configuration?

I used a train table to play ping pong; if you used a ping pong table for a layout, how would you get the trains to jump over the net?

 

 

 

 

What, me worry? 

When I was a kid, we had a ping pong table top, 2 piece, that sat ontop of our billiards table.  I set up many Lionel layouts on it before grandpa and dad build up my 4x6 table in the kids side of the basement rec room.  I can see the advantage of a fold up design.  I would rather have a layout that hinged down from the wall, with a frame work on the wall to allow some lower buildings ect to remain if fastened down.  A childhood friend had a 4x8 in his bedroom this way, dropped down over his bed, folded up when not in use. Was all us kids could do to fold that heavy table up and latch it. The bottom had cork board panels, removable to access wiring, that could be used to hang posters ect when the table was folded up.   Mike

I believe the ping pong tables are 5' x 9'.  They used to sell plywood that size to make ping pong tables.  

 

This size is much better than the standard 4' x 8' plywood and will allow two circuits of track vs. usually only one with 4' x 8'. 

 

The ping pong size is my minimum for me for a small layout.  My Dad built my childhood layout in this size and I added to it for my layout.

 

Charlie

I used an old ping pong table for a layout.I would not purchased one for layout use.

  tj