No Saw Train Table(s)

That's interesting, but somewhat limiting. A couple questions:

What size layout are you thinking of?
Do you own any tools, and do you know how to use them?

If I could only have two power tools, they would be a good jigsaw and a good battery powered screw gun. A tape measure is also required. Maybe the most important thing is a plan.

All of what you see below could have been done with those tools. I happen to own a number of specialty tools which save time. Benchwork just isn't that difficult. If I lived closer I would help you, but maybe I could talk you through the process.

In my area both Lowes and Home Depot will cut wood for customers. Officially, the cuts are 50 cents each after a certain number of free ones. But I've never been charged for a cut.

If you stay with a solid top, rectangular layout, there aren't any complicated cuts and assembly is straightforward.

1/2" plywood used in the way the No Saw article shows is vulnerable to excess flex.

Moving from 1/2" plywood to 3/4" Advan Tech subfloor would be a wise move.  It will be the most rigid foundation cheap money can buy.

Building with 3/4" Advan Tech will solve all your sagging, warping and potato chip shape  problems.  Plus you will save money.

Advan Tech sub floor is much flatter and has superior ability to  resist moisture absorption.  Marketed  as Ameritech in some Home Depot stores. 

Product awareness is as important as tools and technique.

IMO, using 1/2" plywood in benchwork construction requires much better frame construction than the No Saw article shows.  That article is kinda like a Popular Mechanics article.

I would only use the No Saw example for a Christmas Tree set up.  Not the approach I would expect from RMC for a long term layout.

If you can work with a screwdriver, get some Mianne benchwork.

Check with your DelMarVa "neighbor" Greg410.  He may be of some help for you.  He is a wood worker extraordinaire.  And, you'er right, it is an island.  Never thought of it in that light.

When I saw this post I thought my buddy Tom Tee was qualified to comment on ply structures and I smiled at finding your post . As to its message Right on the money and the up side of knowing your materials and their qualities. May I add, any material used benefits by adding a beam of 1x2 or 3 just running down the center bottom(length) on edge, glued and screwed. It is light and effective stabilization to combat warpage before and after

My first O layout was just a sheet of plywood screwed onto a folding table from home depot. The neat thing about that is you can just keep expanding by getting more table and adding more plywood, which the people at home depot will cut for you. Then you can build your landscape using foam on top of that. 

I see nothing wrong with that system.  Pretty easy!

One time I was at an auction and I was bidding on an item. Or at least I thought I was; what I actually bid on and won for $5 was a kitchen table with a leaf. With the leaf in it, it measures roughly 3 X 6 feet. I've toyed with the idea of using it for the benchwork for my Marx tinplate layout, but it is kinda pretty still and didn't really want to start drilling holes through it for wiring or slapping a coat of paint on it.

If you could find a similar deal in your area (at garage sales, flea markets, Salvation Army, etc), you might be able to get some "furniture grade" benchwork. Some tables have multiple leaves that could make them fairly long too. With Sandy coming by not too long ago, there might be something suitable sitting curb side.

Or as some else suggested already, get your local lumber yard to make a few cuts for you. For example, have them cut you 2- 2x4s 8 foot long, and 5 2 x 4s 45" long. Use 16 penny nails (3 1/4" sinkers) to nail a 45" piece between each 8 footer every 24". Screw a 7/16 or 1/2" sheet of plywood to the frame of 2 x 4s and set the tabletop on a pair of sawhorses.This route would likely cost about $20 plus the sawhorses provided you have a  hammer and a screwdriver (a drill with a screwdriver tip is highly recommended)

If you absolutely cannot or will not build the benchwork, I bet there's a handyman in your area that could whip up something fairly quickly for not a ton of money.

Hopefully one of these ideas is to your liking,

J White

While the RMC concept will certainly work (as will your other options), I would go with Mianne for easy-to-construct benchwork that is expandable in any way and shape you care to go with and requires just a couple of tools:  screwdriver and small hammer.  You probably won't even need the hammer.  Easy and fun!

Pat maybe we can get together for a few weekends and I'll help you build your benchwork.  The only catch is that you have to take me catfishing in some of your honey holes in the spring.