How Do You Arrange Trains On Your Shelves?

I just made one last weekend 4 levels. The bottom is just under head level for me and I have my Marine Corps. Alco and B unit with the new marine cars and some other ones. 2nd is my Operation Iraqi freedom cars. 3rd is just other marines and military cars and the top is my first lionel set and some of my first cars to go with it. I plan on making another one for some of my older engines I don't use and all my old semi scale cars.

Always newest purchases in behind the older ones.

Scott Smith

my display arrangement.....

The important note is that all, all is displayed.  Trains in boxes stored is a waste. IMO.

Haven't got my engine shelves up yet, but been working on my rolling stock. No particular order, I add a shelf then change em around to my liking.

I like displaying them as complete (if short) trains even if they did not come as sets.  There is a steam loco rack and a similar caboose one for overflow.

I've limited wall space, but I've been working on that. I have my Marx in one spot...

 

except for the passenger cars, all my Prewar is in one spot.I need to hang a couple more lights to get decent shots, but on the far wall I have my passenger sets on the lower left,boxcars,hoppers and gons on the lower right. Upper level are my flats,spare tenders and Cabin Cars.

 

One wall for me is a theme....

6464s (the re-ssues)

 

 

 

Peter

I have a some organization...

 

Postwar sets

 Postwar Steam

 

 Misc Postwar cars

Postwar F3s and later Alcos

Postwar Military and Space

 

 

 Postwar Geeps and Switchers

 

 Early Postwar Alcos GG1s and FMs also some early Williams GG1s and a FM

 

 Postwar Motorized Units

 Postwar 6464 Boxcars and some Postwar Cabooses

 MTH Railking "Die Cast" Boxcars and two MTH switchers

  Lower display shelves for MTH trains

you Sir have a fabulous collection and display set up!

In trains.  I make up trains for pieces that are not part of sets.  I have very few lone pieces--one extra engine, one mororized unit, two cabeese.

Excellent strategy! As for shelves; I'm still shelf-less. I'll see how putting the new boxes under the older boxes on the stack works.

 

Gilly

Shelves?  Shelves?  I don't use no stinking shelves.  Everything is on the layout. 

.....

Dennis

Oh NO!!! Now we need a "Feng Shui" Forum! 

Caboose Corner, In The Train Room.

  Click photo to enlarge.

You must orient your Lionel (Ying) and MTH (Yang) locomotives correctly in order to achieve Qi! You are approaching enlightenment, oh great one!

 

Gilly 

Trainroomgary, I really like your display -- looks more like a multi-level layout than shelving.  What are the green fronts made from?

 

David

Here's mine. I call it the Great Wall of Hiawathas. 

 

+1

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away... when I collected trains by the number I had shelves. Now that lumber is in the layout.

Trainroomgary,

 

Great idea to power the display shelf tracks.  The illuminated cabooses look special!

 

  Joe

I arrange all my big, scale steam together, generally biggest on the top (if its little and up high it's only because it is short and fits).  

 

 

I arranged my diesels, putting all my UP stuff on one wall . . .  full trains are on very high shelves near the ceiling, and, as the one here, up to 18 feet long.

 

More full trains near the ceiling.  B&O royal Blue top, Blue Comet below)

 

Santa Fe at the top . . . . a lot of warbonnet there.

2 by 4 shelves on top of my bookcases.

 

Scott Smith

looks like someone has a fetish for Js.....

started on a set of shelves for my steamers. ran out of salvage wood. need to pick up some paint for the wall now.

and I have to find a new spot for some of my RR pics I had hanging where the shelves are, and I jokingly brought up my PRR ads, and much to my surprise I was granted permission to hang them in the living room.(in all fairness to The Boss, she has let me hang various RR pics in this room, and I had a pic of 1361 there before this.)

 I finally got my 50 year collection of old and new trains into China and I made a train room out of five 45' x 9' high containers. 10 aluminum shelves around 146' of walls and I was ready to put up 200 sets, mostly Lionel. I did not plan any groupings. Just wanted them them on the wall and out of the way. To get rid of spare cars I just put them in sets, nobody here knows the difference. However, groupings began to appear somewhat by accident, than on purpose. Lots of "R's", repaints, restorations and reproductions.

 

Of course the Hudson's made a nice stack. Note the Wanamaker's charge plate in front of the 1946 2116 set.

 

The three 1946 2400 series sets should be together, but the 1946 "O" gauge 2100 675 set is somewhere else.

 

And the articulateds, notice the 1947, 1434 2400 series set with the unpainted stack at the top of the picture.

 

MY prewar coal trains.

 

Of course, the post and prewar Madison sets. That black GG1 is so mint it has to be the greatest repaint ever, no way it can be original.

 

The 259 group including my first train set, third from the bottom, Christmas 1938.

 

The "Blues".

 

Late prewar tin passenger sets.

 

In the two forward corners are my limited American Flyer and Marx sets.

 

And some international sets, the Russian set is on the side wall.

Amazing!

When it comes to engines on the shelves, I arrange them by whatever order is needed to get the most engines per shelf. It's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle challenge to get the most efficient use of the shelves.

 

-Eric Siegel

I only ever had a 4 tier shelf my dad built which is about 3'x3.5'.  Mostly it held the stuff I wasn't running at the time, so the stuff I used the least went on top. I tried to keep them in something that could be considered sets, but space was limited so usually I'd display the front and end.  i.e. a steam engine, one car if it fit, and the caboose, or for a passenger train, the engine/s and the observation.  the rest of the cars usually sat on trays on top of bins under the layout. 

On the longer shelves, I'll put sets up, shorter ones get engines. Since I have more trains than shelves, I swap out the sets for different ones that I keep in the closets or under the board every so often 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the way you power the track with your lighted cabeese. Ingenious! 

I'm into presenting them as catalogued sets, with a few exceptions. I tend to place them so they're facing the middle of the room-not running into the corners.

 

Very nice collection!

from left to right  

 

Very carefully.

Beautiful...

Thought Mrs. Smith had banished the displays???

 

Gilly

I try to keep Military in one area and Legacy engines in another .

 

And, that is still a cluster.

 

Basically it's just where ever there is a spot.

 

I should try harder for organization on this.

 

Larry

Absolutely amazing displays!  Thanks for sharing guys.

 

AS usual these threads get overly complicated.

 

Arrange your trains with the flanges DOWN!

 

 

Larry Sr., I love your scenery and ballasting.  The trains are nice too.