Note: The links on the left side of this page and the other Model CT-3 pages will take you to detailed information about the new coffee table's design and construction.

It has been almost 40 years since Coffee Table #3 was conceived, and now this state-of-the-art computerized N-scale layout is close to being operational. Many of the original design concepts were so advanced that they could not be built with the technology available 40 years ago. But all of that has changed in recent years. Coffee Table #3 is being constructed with a wide variety of exciting and powerful off-the-shelf components, all housed in a unique one-of-a-kind table sculpture.

Building the layout's trackage was by necessity the first major step of the construction process. That's because the layout's dimensions (length, width, and height) would be used to establish some of the coffee table's internal dimensions. Until the actual trackage had been laid and tested, I could not be 100% certain of the layout's final size.

An equally important step in the construction process was the design, assembly, and testing of the layout's lift mechanism. This mechanism also has an impact on the coffee table's internal dimensions, so the mechanism was designed, built, and tested very early in the project.

Scenery, electronics, wiring, and programming could be worked on after the furniture's dimensions were finalized. In fact, it is very desirable to construct much of the scenery after the table sculpture is finished. The table will have a uniquely sculptured form, and the scenery should be designed to complement that form.

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