I have installed about 150 feet of wall shelving made by mrtrain.com (www.mrtrain.com). These are aluminum shelves and they DO NOT flex if you install them the way I do. I am not going to compare these to the other brand I also have (Glen Snyder from Buffalo, NY), but will compare the construct/design/size.
These have bends in the metal that replicates the O gauge track. See the pictures.
Each shelf is 4ft long. This ensures that the shipping is cheap. The seller charges a flat $6 shipping rate as of this posting. Snyder shelves are 6ft long and as a result must go by a commercial carrier (due to length) and it is potentially expensive since at that length they are considered 'oversized'. Just a factor to consider in your all-in costs. If you bought a lot of shelves from Snyder, then it would not be a large part of the total cost.
So Mr. Train will do the following as part of the $17/shelf:
- Make as many cuts of the shelf as requested (Glenn Snyder does charge for cuts. )
- Drill mounting holes as requested
So, using the recommended hole spacing of every 16", I nearly double that and go with a hole every 8". For the holes that cannot mount into wall studs, I use the 50lb wall anchors that you can get at Home Depot. They screw into the drywall.
Because my shelves have 7 mounting holes, they do not flex - at all. I can put a heavy GG-1 on it and you see no movement. I have also made the mistake of mounting my first shelves with just 3 mounts, and I definitely could see the flex. I learned and I recommend at least 7 mounting holes.
The design of the mrtrain.com shelf is such that it is more prone to flexing if not having at least the minimum recommended mounts (4). The Glenn Snyder shelves have an "I" beam design, so flex is nonexistent. And the Snyder shelves have a slight angle back toward the wall, so it ensures any light bumps of the shelf will likely cause the item to move back away from the edge and not fall off the shelf.
I like the mrtrain.com shelf. Have no problems at all, have been happy with the service and recommend them to anyone looking for aluminum shelves.
