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I have an N-scale model train (N-scale is about half the size of HO scale). It's so small I could set up an entire layout on something the size of a coffee table. Put a glass top over it and I could use it as a coffee table. Problem is that people bump into coffee tables and whenever they do, the train will jump off the track, and I'll have to take the lid back off in order to put the train back on the track. So I'm wondering if I could make a shockproof mounting for this small model train layout.

Chuck Pergiel
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  • Springs? Pendulum? Electric fence around the table? Magnets? What kind of restrictions do you have? – hazzey Nov 07 '16 at 00:55
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    best bet may be simply to make the table really heavy – agentp Nov 07 '16 at 01:27
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    Building on @agentp's idea, float the train platform in a pool of mercury, held in alignment by weak springs at the corners. What could possibly go wrong? – Dave Tweed Nov 07 '16 at 11:49
  • Is there no concern of the glass breaking if someone bumps it hard enough to derail the train? I vote for @hazzey 's [idea](http://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/12186/i-want-a-shockproof-table-for-a-model-train-that-is-protection-from-physical-j#comment21585_12186), or maybe barbed wire. – Chuck Nov 07 '16 at 21:51
  • A pool of mercury! Brilliant! And shiny! – Chuck Pergiel Dec 04 '16 at 16:56
  • Why not adjust the train by adding some rail holders? – Gürkan Çetin Dec 07 '16 at 18:03
  • Do real trains have rail holders? No, they do not. I could add rail holders, if I could find such a thing, but then it wouldn't be a 'model' train anymore. It would be some hybrid, mutant, possibly steam-punk monster confabulation. – Chuck Pergiel Dec 07 '16 at 23:03

2 Answers2

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Build two tables. The outer table will have a hole in the middle and only hold the glass plate. There should be about 10 cm of free space between the tables. The train will be placed on the inner table:

  ================== <-- glass plate
   ||   ______   ||
   ||  ||    ||  ||  <-- train platform
   ||  ||    ||  ||

This way people won't bump the inner table directly, and hitting the outer table will serve as an early warning. Then after a bump, you just have to move the outer table a bit to re-center it.

jpa
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How much money do you have? You could buy, for example, an air-suspension table such as those sold for optical lab work.

You could make the table out of half-inch forged iron and bolt it thru the floor to the foundation, and then isolate the train/track setup with some rubber pads.

But if you want a "sensible" coffeetable and don't want to mortgage your house to do the isolation, there's not much you can do. Us old folks remember going thru this to keep our Thorens or KLH turntables from skipping when someone jumped up and down. The problem is that stereo turntable arms, like HO-gauge railroad cars, are extremely light and have a very small acceptable range of motion before jumping the groove or track.

Carl Witthoft
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