Benchwork: open frame or solid baseboard?
Benjamin | TrackDrawer.com · published 7 November 2026
Choose a solid baseboard if your layout is mostly level: it is quick to build, equally flat everywhere, and you can lay sectional track on it straight away. Choose an open frame if you want track to climb and dip, or scenery below track level such as a river or a valley. Many layouts combine the two: a solid board where the station sits, an open frame where the line heads out into the scenery.
The solid baseboard
The simplest benchwork is a wooden board on a frame of battens, on legs or trestles. Everything on it sits at the same height. That has big advantages:
- Quick and predictable. A board is done in an afternoon. You can mark out your plan on it full size and start laying track right away.
- Flat everywhere. Turnouts and rail joints dislike stress. A flat, stiff board is the best protection against derailments; a board that sags or warps is a classic cause of trains that keep leaving the track at the same spot (see train derails at the turnout).
- Free to rearrange. On a board you can move track without tearing anything down. Ideal for a first layout or for anyone still experimenting.
There are downsides too. Anything that has to sit lower than the track, such as a stream under a bridge, has to be cut out of the board. A gradient means a strip you cut free and lift. And a large, thin board acts like a sounding box: running noise gets louder. Cork roadbed under the track damps that, especially with track that has no moulded roadbed of its own, such as Märklin K track and Roco Line. Track with roadbed, such as Märklin C track, Roco geoLine and Kato Unitrack, usually goes straight onto the board.
Plywood stays flat and is light for its strength; chipboard is cheaper but heavier and more sensitive to damp. Which thickness and which frame spacing you need depends on the span and the load. If in doubt, ask at your timber merchant.
The open frame
An open frame has no continuous top. You build a grid of battens and fix risers to it. The track sits on narrow strips of trackbed that follow the exact shape of your line, each at the height you want. The scenery goes in between and around afterwards, first as a landform shell of formers, mesh or foam.
- Height is free. A gradient is simply a strip of trackbed rising gradually over the risers. One track can pass under another, and a valley can drop well below track level.
- Light. There is less timber in it, and the underside stays open. That makes wiring and turnout motors easier to reach from below.
- Convincing scenery. The line runs through the landscape instead of sitting on top of it. That is what makes open-frame benchwork so popular with anyone modelling a real stretch of railway.
The price is work and planning. Every strip of trackbed has to match your plan, and you cannot simply move a track afterwards. So draw the plan completely first, heights included.
L-girder
A special kind of open frame is L-girder benchwork: two long girders with an L-shaped profile, with the cross members resting loose on top. You can slide those cross members and fix them where you need them, even after the frame is up. That gives a lot of freedom for large layouts with free shapes that do not fit a rectangle. For a layout of a few square metres it is usually more than you need.
Which benchwork for which layout
| Layout | Logical benchwork | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Oval or station on a fixed board size | Solid baseboard | All level, quick, sectional track fits at once |
| Figure of eight with a bridge | Board with a cut-out or raised strip, or open frame | One track has to pass over the other |
| Layout with long gradients | Open frame | Trackbed strips follow the gradient naturally |
| Helix to a second level | Its own supports all round, beside the board or frame | The turns need their own structure |
| Scenery with a valley or river | Open frame | Ground below track level without sawing |
| Layout that moves house or has to come apart | Modules: small boxes with their own top | Each part can be carried separately |
How long a gradient gets, and why a board often does not give you that length, is covered in gradients. How a helix gains height on a small footprint is explained in the helix.
Size, height and reach
The size of your benchwork follows from your plan, not the other way round. What fits on common sizes is worked out size by size, for example in an H0 layout on 240 x 120 cm. Three things apply to any benchwork:
- Reach. You must be able to get at every piece of track. How far you reach depends on your arm length; a board or frame deeper than that needs a second open side or an access hatch.
- Working height. A higher layout is more comfortable to work on and gives a more realistic eye level; a lower one is better for children. Under an open frame there is also room to stand up through a hatch.
- Walking space. Leave enough room around the layout to stand and walk. A layout pushed against the wall can only be reached from one side.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start with a board and add an open frame later?
Yes. A board on a sturdy frame can be extended at the edge with an open frame, for instance for a gradient that runs off the board into the scenery. Let the gradient start where the frame starts, not on the joint between the two.
Does the benchwork have to be level?
Flat matters more than level, but on a layout that slopes, uncoupled wagons will roll away on a level stretch. Adjust the legs with a spirit level before you lay track, and then check that the board or frame does not sag anywhere.
From plan to benchwork in TrackDrawer
In TrackDrawer you choose the shape of your table: a rectangle, an L or U shape, or the floor with no boundary. By default the app keeps a 5 cm margin clear at the table edge. With Pro you can also draw your room: walls, doors, windows, cupboards and a sloping ceiling, plus your arm length (65 cm by default) and the table height (90 cm by default). The check then reports which pieces of track are out of reach from an open table edge, and warns when a walkway is narrower than 60 cm.
Once the plan is done, you print it full size with Pro in A4 tiles. Lay those on your board or trackbed and you see exactly where each piece goes, including where you need to cut. Enter your track, let the Auto-designer suggest a plan and then choose the benchwork that goes with it.
