Train shelving - is this a good idea?

I would consider routing the wood shelves to simulate track and then sealing them wood urethane or varnish. Your trains will be much less likely to tip or fall than they would be if you mount gargraves track on top of the wooden shelves. I think your concept is super.

I also think it would be easier to get to the trains and place them on the layout. If I leave one shelf empty, I can take trains off the layout before putting other trains on. It can be my staging area. It will also be easier than getting trains off the higher shelves on a wall.

George

If I had room to put train shelfs on the side of my layout bench work, I would just make one,  a ramp for underneath the layout storage tracks.   I'm still thinking on this project of mine.

If you have digital controlled locomotives, consider powering some shelf tracks to charge their batteries.

Why not just connect them to the layout as a staging yard so you can drive them on to the layout when you want to run them ?

I think your idea is sound.  You could use 1x6(5 1/2) instead if 1x4(3 1/2) for a bit more money and have a little more buffer for an accidental bump.

clem k posted:

If I had room to put train shelfs on the side of my layout bench work, I would just make one,  a ramp for underneath the layout storage tracks.   I'm still thinking on this project of mine.

Richie C. posted:

Why not just connect them to the layout as a staging yard so you can drive them on to the layout when you want to run them ?

But won't it take LOTS more space to make up an elaborate grade(s) to store as many as simple one over the other shelving would provide?  By the time you allow for the grades, switches (assuming you want more than one storage spur/shelf), it takes a lot of space just to get to the different levels vs simple shelves.  And switches combined on grades is often not considered a good idea.  You start to use up huge amounts of space, and unless the layout is NJHR sized, it will be noticeable for most home layouts.

I like the side shelf idea.  Pretty sure this has been shown on many layouts in OGR or CTT over the years.  Adding grooves as John suggested to help keep them in place might be a good idea. 

Or maybe even some sort of slide on plexiglass cover to both keep them from falling out due to casual contact and maybe even limit the dust a little.  I'm thinking something like screws driven into the wood, less the thickness of the plexiglass, then holes the size of the heads of the screws in the plexi, with a slot that is narrower than the head, but the right width for the threaded part of the screw.  The plexi can then be lowered onto position, resting on the screws and lifted up for removal.  I've not actually done this yet, but have been thinking about something along these lines for a while.

-Dave

Bobby Ogage posted:

If you have digital controlled locomotives, consider powering some shelf tracks to charge their batteries.

Excellent idea!

George

Dave45681 posted:

clem k posted:

If I had room to put train shelfs on the side of my layout bench work, I would just make one,  a ramp for underneath the layout storage tracks.   I'm still thinking on this project of mine.

Richie C. posted:

Why not just connect them to the layout as a staging yard so you can drive them on to the layout when you want to run them ?

But won't it take LOTS more space to make up an elaborate grade(s) to store as many as simple one over the other shelving would provide?  By the time you allow for the grades, switches (assuming you want more than one storage spur/shelf), it takes a lot of space just to get to the different levels vs simple shelves.  And switches combined on grades is often not considered a good idea.  You start to use up huge amounts of space, and unless the layout is NJHR sized, it will be noticeable for most home layouts.

I like the side shelf idea.  Pretty sure this has been shown on many layouts in OGR or CTT over the years.  Adding grooves as John suggested to help keep them in place might be a good idea. 

Or maybe even some sort of slide on plexiglass cover to both keep them from falling out due to casual contact and maybe even limit the dust a little.  I'm thinking something like screws driven into the wood, less the thickness of the plexiglass, then holes the size of the heads of the screws in the plexi, with a slot that is narrower than the head, but the right width for the threaded part of the screw.  The plexi can then be lowered onto position, resting on the screws and lifted up for removal.  I've not actually done this yet, but have been thinking about something along these lines for a while.

-Dave

 

On my last layout I had a loop under the layout with a transition to the upper level. If you have a lot of clear space under the layout and can easily get under there, that could work. It won't work for me now. My layout is lower than countertop height, and I did not build it with lots of free span space underneath. It's a pain to get under it, and trains will have problems in the most inconvenient places. 

George

 I wouldn't recommend doing this - the single biggest advantage to keeping everything you are not using in boxes is that the clutter from all of those boxes gives your visitors the impression that your train collection is MUCH larger than it actually is - just imaging the hit your image of a train collector/hoarder will take when word gets around the neighborhood that George's collection is a lot smaller than previously believed!

I used Glenn Snyder shelving along one wall.  They are all coupled together so if you want a special one you can just roll them along . Never had one fall. Even with young grandsons. Tstark

tstark posted:

I used Glenn Snyder shelving along one wall.  They are all coupled together so if you want a special one you can just roll them along . Never had one fall. Even with young grandsons. Tstark

I think I would need to build a wall to accommodate those. I could do that, but then I would lose my hope of expanding into the other part of the basement. 

George

Robert S. Butler posted:

 I wouldn't recommend doing this - the single biggest advantage to keeping everything you are not using in boxes is that the clutter from all of those boxes gives your visitors the impression that your train collection is MUCH larger than it actually is - just imaging the hit your image of a train collector/hoarder will take when word gets around the neighborhood that George's collection is a lot smaller than previously believed!

Oh, but I can still stack the boxes and say they are filled with trains that didn't fit on the shelves. 

George

I used routed 1x6’s mounted on 3/8 plywood and floor supported these behind the layout for my standard gauge collection.  The gap from the back of the wall is 21”. I did screw the plywood into the wall for stability.

Jim

I too, am finishing up a layout and looking at storage/display options. I'm curious as to everyone's take on the possibility of metal or spring fatigue from long-term display of trains with roller pick-ups. I run 3-rail but was considering displaying my trains on 2-rail track, letting the pick-up roller mechanisms suspend between the rails rather than keepingp them continually compressed. Any thoughts?

I favor shelves under the front of the layout, taking the place of skirting that otherwise might be used to block the view of the underside of the layout.  1x4 boards are adequate for 0 gauge and 1x6 for standard gauge.  Both can have shallow grooves easily added by running them thru a tablesaw.  Just remember the flanges are closer together than the track gauge! The shelves can be attached to a sheet of plywood with screws from the back into the edges of the boards, and the plywood can be secured directly to the table legs if they are set back the correct distance.  Leave some "toe space" by setting the shelves back about six inches from the table edge. Add a wide finished fascia board on the edges of the layout and install strip lighting behind it to illuminate the trains on the storage shelves.  

Kirk Lindvig

www.sgma.us

I used 1X4's with grooves cut on my table saw for the flanges.  A little stain and done cheaply.  I also know several people have done like you are considering by adding shelves below the layout edges.  I think Steamer Dave has  several such shelves.  They allow you to display more trains but you would need to allow for access to any designed storage behind them.  They have been hung up in four different houses now and modified from being nine shelves tall to being five shelves tall based on my current situation.  the way they are now situated allows me to display approximately 24 sets, but that depends on the sets individual lengths!

I build the room for the shelves, the layouts were an afterthought!

NWL

NWL,

Boooinnng! *

*The sound of my eyes popping out.

Fantastic displasy and neato layout.

Have fun