There are some drawbacks to living here, Not one hobby shop in the country (that I have found), all imported goods are subject to +/-
100% duty, plus whatever "arrangement$" are needed to get these luxury goods through Customs.

One of the major benefits of living here is the price of lumber and labor. For my birthday at the end of last year I contracted to have a train table built. The hall we set aside for my trains is about 20 feet long by 3 feet wide.

Through 'the old boy network' (I went to The Citadel) I found a company here in Abidjan owned by a fellow alumni, who could make a train table for me. In general I decided on an HO switching layout, using the plans for the 'Southside Switching" found in one of the Atlas books. The plan calls for roughly 10ft x 2 ft.

I asked my friend to throw together a table 2.5 ft x 18 feet. I showed him a photo of my USA layout of a 4x8 sheet + some pine 2 x 4's.

Well in 3 days from my ordering it, they delivered it to my house. It is constructed of furniture grade plywood, 3x4 mahogany beams and legs, and is crossbraced unbelievably. It bolts together, and when we move it will come apart in about 10 minutes. Okay, it will take a team of mules to lift it because it is so solid, but someday when my daughter gets married I will be able to use it as a dance platform, I am sure it won't even have a bit of wobble.

(as a side note, the company threw the table in for free because I ordered some other furniture from them)

(I know Big John would be posting a quick response to my situation, after reading this message)

Anyway-now to my question for the group.

Does anyone have any favorite projects of woodworking which are useful to model railroaders? Other than benchwork!?

I have the book "railroading in small spaces", in the back it shows a small cabinet which can be used to store paints, and tools. That is the kind of project I am looking for. If anybody has plans for workstations, storage cabinets, etc, etc I would appreciate hearing about them.

Any good woodworker can work from quick drawings of size required for this or that spaces and do a nice job of it. Plans oftentimes get in the way as the woodworkers often have basic ideas of how things go together and they often feel the need to copy more than just do when solid plans are given. If you want a space for your paints and compressor, give the guy a bottle and let him know how many bottles you plan to have and how big the compressor is and he can make a box/table that will hold all of your paints in drawers and a space for the compressor under the table and out of the way. He will probably also provide you with a nice switch box to turn the compressor on and off if you ask. Your result will be different than anybody else will have and will probably set a standard for quality for others.