Std. Gauge Shelf Spacing?

I've gotten away with 8 inches between the top of one shelf and the bottom of the one above it, for most SG rolling stock and smaller locos. But there will be a lot that will not fit in that.  !0 inches  will probably fit 80% of SG comfortably.  There are a few pieces that will need closer to 12, but spacing all the shelves that far apart is wasteful of space. Usually there's a top shelf with the headroom to accomodate the bigger stuff.

david

Rob,

I used a spacing of 6 3/4" with the Glenn Snyder Shelves.  It gave some head room for the trains - all American Flyer Wide Gauge on this wall, and it looked pleasing to my eye.  I started at the bottom and used blocks to position the next shelf up. 

Rob,

*There was a thread covering this within the past two weeks.* The poster asked for both, Std & O-gauge. I responded using basically the same measurements as David (hojak)

  *The Forum Beastie must have devoured it*

Thanks David, Greg, and Pappy!

Very helpful thoughts and photo. Sorry for the repeat thread -- guess I need to use better search keywords -- "shelf" and "spacing" didn't do the trick.

Anyway, when I get a little further along, I'll post some photos of my progress!

I went with 7.5" spacing; that allowed space for my larger SG such as State Sets and JAD Hiawatha. Once I had the first row up, I made 2 7.5" 2x4 blocks for spacers and went up from there. I drilled a 5/32 hole in the back plate of the shelf and installed them with #8 2.5" GRK cabinet screws in every stud, and it worked great. A 4-ft. and 6-ft. level are a must for this project. Good luck!!

My shelves have a little different method of spacing.  At eye level and a ways lower, I have just 7" between shelves.  But the father down the shelves are, the greater the spacing, for good viewing as well as easier access.  The distance ranges all the way up to 10" between the bottom two shelves, the lower being about 6" from the floor.

Rob,

In my old train room, along the walls I used 7-3/4" as my usable shelf space (8-1/2" bottom of shelf to bottom of next shelf, 3/4" board). This gave me room for some of the MESG trains.Which I know you have a few!

Under the layout, I used 6-3/4" (7-1/2" bottom to bottom spacing). This worked well for most things I had, like my Forney and McCoy cars.

Also, I groove my shelves so the flange is not part of the measurement for the trains.

If you are doing all prewar SG trains, you can use smaller spacing.

ARNO

now that's just stunning !!!!!

Yes, but you still have to lift the train out of the grooves to take it off the shelf, so you have to allow headroom for that.  Same with the Snyder shelving.

I'm really surprised you guys are getting away with less than 8" between shelves.  Yes, there's a lot of low SG rolling stock that will fit in 7, but I've got tons of stuff for which that would be awfully tight.  Of course, I'm using vertical standards with brackets to support the shelves, and the brackets get in the way, that makes a difference. 

david

David,

Having had the privilege of meeting you last summer, thanks to Arno, and seeing your amazing train room and layout, I know in your room the aluminum shelves would be a challenge. However, that's one more benefit to parting with a little extra $$ for the aluminum shelves--no brackets to get in the way.

Yes David, you still need room to get the flange in the groove, but I can make 98% of my collection work in that method. I know the spacing is just enough for a McCoy Chief Cle Elum loco as I would scrape the smoke stack to get it in the grooves! I will probably use a slight gradual change in spacing in the new train room, maybe wider the lower you get. But this would only be a 1/2" at the most... with one shelf, top or bottom having extra head room for the 2%'ers. When I made the lower layout shelves, I figured out what I needed based on what was going to be displayed there. Since it was a majority of McCoy and Forney, I made the shelves with less head room.

As for brackets, since I used 1x6's I wanted to have a support system that was not readily noticeable. I opted for 4" angle brackets mounted from the top with the shelf sitting on top of them. This way, the trains cover most of the vertical bracket and the bracket under the shelf is only noticeable on the upper shelves above eye level. I actually painted some of the brackets white to match the shelves and this helped, but it turned out to be far more work than the result offered. You notice the trains, not the brackets.

The shelves under the layout are made like bookcases and have pocket screws in the back to attach the shelves. No brackets here.

ARNO

If the Chief Cle Elum fits, then practically anything will fit, that's one of the taller pieces!  Sounds like you guys have the system, provided you have straight walls which I guess most of you do.  As John says, my train barn has some, errr.... irregularities.

David, your train barn may have some irregularities in the walls, but I'd trade my flat wall space any day for the real estate you have so these trains can do what they were made to do....

RUN!!!

In my case the layout was certainly the priority, and got a lot of planning.  The shelving came later and has been pretty haphazard, squeezing in another shelf wherever I can.  You guys are smart to be planning out the shelving ahead of time; the results can be pretty stunning as shown in the photos on this thread.

Like hojack, I use vertical "standards" (mine are "hanging" ones), with brackets to mount my shelves.  Yes, the brackets get in the way occasionally but with my "hanging" standards I was able to make quick and simple adjustments to either standard and/or shelf spacing to overcome every problem I encountered.  This capability was a real benefit for my "growing" collection of Milwaukee Road trains, which now includes a variety of both large and small trains in numerous gauges and scales. 

First and foremost, with my "hanging" standard system I only had to drill one set of holes on each of the walls over which I would "hang" shelving.  These holes were used to physically attach to each wall the horizontal "hanging" rod/bracket from which I would then hang the vertical standards.  In my case, I attached the hanging rod/bracket just below the ceiling on several walls.  From this horizontal rod/bracket I then hung vertically several standards spaced at intervals ranging between 3' to 4' along the wall wherever I thought they were needed to support the wooden shelves.  However, since the standards were hung from the rod/bracket and not attached to the wall, I could and did occasionally make quick adjustments to each standard's location by simply sliding it along the hanging rod/bracket.   

I then quickly clipped the brackets into the hanging standards at the shelf spacing I desired.   Since each bracket was not attached to the wall, I could and did make changes to their interval up or down the standards to adjust the spacing between shelves.  To do this, I simply unclipped the brackets from the hanging standards and then clipping them back into the standards either higher up or lower down as needed.

The above and other quick and simple adjustments can't be done with shelving systems, which physically attach each shelf, bracket, and/or standard to the wall.  Needless to say, I came to really appreciate the "flexibility" inherent in the hanging standard shelving system as my collection of trains grew over time requiring me to make several quick and simple adjustments to the spacing of shelves and/or brackets in order to accommodate more or larger or smaller trains.

Bob Nelson

Bob, that is one impressive Milwaukee Road collection. Your JAD Hiawatha looks especially good with a 5th car.

Thanks, I agree!  And you are only seeing half of that wall and I had two other walls displaying only Milwaukee Road trains and hundreds of more Milwaukee Road cars not on display. 

As for the JAD Hiawatha, I actually have a sixth car for that train but it's not in the photo as I had run out of room on the shelf to display it.  Both the 5th and 6th cars were made by Dick Mayer, who I believe may have been subcontracted by JAD to make some of their original passenger cars but I am not sure.  Arno should know.

Bob Nelson

PS.  Arno, Your "Modern Era Standard Gauge" book will likely answer the above question.  How is it coming along?  Do you have a date, ideally in the near future, when it will be published?