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One suggestion for the GS shelves.  Lose the middle 3rd rail!  It is useless and only makes it harder to put stuff with center track rollers back on the shelves.  I have no idea why they think you need that center rail, clearly I won't be powering anything up on the shelves!  That's really my major complaint with the product!

That would require a change to the extrusion die which may not be possible or might cost a lot of money to do.

I've enjoyed seeing all these displays.  Surely is a better way to appreciate the treasures than as stacked boxes on roll-out dollies beneath the layout.  While the train room (basement) is basically all layout along the walls, eliminating convenient space for creating this sort of mass display, we have quite a few items...engines, cars, structures, small vignettes...on display throughout the house.  And these get changed out periodically as mood, money, and the moment dictate.

OTOH, there is this other problem...D-U-S-T.  I dislike having to deal with it.

We do what we can with filters on the home HVAC system.   And, really, there's nothing special that can be done re dust on the layout and everything on it.  I know it's a whole different topic, that 'dust'.  But to put up more shelves and openly display more of the trains....well...it ain't gonna happen.  Couple that with this septuagenarian having to get on a step ladder, or down on the knees to dust floor-to-ceiling jewelry is akin to self-flagellation.

And my better half, my wife, is not about to take on the task, either...and we're both into this hobby!!

We could hire a 'duster'...

duster maid

or...

duster minion

But it's not in the 'infrastructure funding' plan for the household.

So, while mass displays of this sort are a better way to appreciate the hobby's investment, the flip side is to wonder why we have so much 'hidden' away?  Too much for the layout, too much for open celebration.  Too much to dust.

IOW...a reminder that, for us at least, it may be time to think about 'unvesting'.

But, as we all know, that'll never happen!

So.....time for another cup o' Joe.

KD/DK

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Last edited by dkdkrd

Rails or grooves on shelves are fine for rolling stock, but for engines I'd much rather their weight be on the flange of the wheels and not on the traction tires. I've been wanting to purchase some, new or used, but would like to know if the grooves are shallow enough or rails low enough to keep a gap between the tires and the shelf?

How did you remove the 3rd Rail?  I'm about to put several hundred feet of it up, and I'd like to do that if it's not a ton of work!

John - instead of wasting track do you have a friend with a table saw and dado blade? Have your friend dado two grooves from end to end then plug the ends with a 'bumper'.
I made one shelf and put some old Lionel track on it before buying Snyder shelving. I had to end up gluing the track to the wood to stop it from moving around.

@NJCJOE posted:

How do you do that?

Well, not how I did it, but some chap who sold us his room full of trains...including a wall of GS shelving.

He put a layer of thin tape...of some dielectric sort...on top of the 'center' rail.  On top of that he had put a strip of thin copper foil...the stuff Micro-Mark and others sell...that has peel-and-stick adhesive on the back side.

Then he soldered wires to the foils and to a buss strip on the left edge of a simple wood frame (1x3's stained/varnished) that served as left/right 'bumpers'.  He screwed wires w/ring terminals to each shelf for the common polarity, all likewise soldered to another buss strip.  A 12 v DC landscape lighting transformer w/on-off switch powered the whole shebang.

I suppose there are more elegant ways of doing the same thing.  Maybe it wasn't "code"-acceptable.  They had no small kids in the house.  But he demonstrated the effect with the room lighting dimmed....totally awesome!!  Talk about mood lighting for the hobbyist!!!!  Heck, I'd have put the bed in that room and had no problem drifting off to sleep staring at that wall!!

Not having any empty wall for the whole shelving shebang, I sold it to a local fellow hobbyist...who removed all the electrical-ities, not having the same interest.

FWIW...

KD

Last edited by dkdkrd

I’m a big fan of Glenn Snyder Display shelves. Attached is a photo with shelves in the wall boxes I had the contractor add when the basement was finished. Also, I just ordered more shelves by phone. (Caroline called back same day I left vm) They will be in the Orange Hall at York so saving on shipping and picking up at the show.E4BD9BE7-E5EF-42DA-8891-98D369243A34

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Last edited by John E K

These are my shelves. I packed them in so they would fit in the space. Have almost every engine on it less 2 traditional 4-4-2s and a 4-6-4. And a PRR 44 tonner (MPC era) that needs some work. And the Southern Crescent on the track. Mainly I just wanted them out of boxes and off the utility shelves they were jammed on.

The room is the new extension we put in for me. Still in a state of chaos after bringing everything out there but improving steadily. Sorry the camera was tilted. That's 8 6' and then 2 6' joined with the clips they give you. They are close but they fit easily and come out Ok. I still have more passenger trains plus maybe 3 boxes of freight. I may try building some wood shelves for them since they are much lighter.

I dithered quite a while but once I started they just went up so easily. I drilled one hole in the center and 2 more towards the ends of each shelf. I just spaced them at 5" anchor to anchor in the middle then marked and drilled the side holes using a long level to to keep the shelf level. When the bubble was dead center I marked the walls through the screw holes, used a punch (the spring loaded kind) and drilled there. Seemed to work.

GS shelves

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Last edited by ftauss

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