Around the room wall shelving

Jeff,

   Pictures as you build please!  Sounds fantastic.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks Dave!

I am planning to take pics and document the build as I go in case anyone else is on the fence about a similar build. 

I will be watching as I plan to do one in my home office. Being retired I can't seem to get anything done. I was much more efficient when I had a job. Ha.

looking forward to your build narrative and photos.

Jeff, I'll look forward to see how you do yours!  I build one in a basement family room about 12 x 12 feet with jogs in two walls.  It was hard to do because of the low ceiling, I didn't have much room to work on it above the doors.  It could be finished better, but it works.  I'm looking forward to seeing yours.

Good morning gents,

This weekend was slow in progress due to ironing out final design plans and just plain being lazy after all the renovations that we completed. 

I did manage to get one of the perimeter mounts installed. Here's a breakdown of what's going on. 

2x4's are being installed around the perimeter of the room walls today. They are installed so the bottom of the 2x4 is just above the door frames in the room. Joist hangers are then attached to the 2x4s to allow an additional 2x4 to be ran the length of the span while still being sturdy and able to hold a heavy load. On top of the 2x4s will be a 3/4" 1x8 to act as the shelf. The corners will be constructed from 2x2 foot sections of MDF board cut out to the radius of the tracks. 

So far, here are a few things I have noticed to help you guys out if you decide to do this particular build:

*Be sure to determine if the top of your wall has a double or single top plate. This can be make or break as to whether you can run the shelf high on the wall clear of any doors. On my build, I have 3/4" to spare. 

*When you are scanning for studs, use a finder that detects power wires as well. This will help when determining where to cut the pass through in the wall.

*Use 3" screws to attach your perimeter supports to the wall. Attach the joist hangers with 1 1/4" screws into the perimeter supports. 

*If you are working alone, you can use 8 foot long 2x4s for the perimeter support. This makes it easy for one person to do the work themselves. 

*If you are running the supports just above doorways, double check that the door frames are level AND that you can span the gap from door frame to door frame. Don't assume that they will be the same when you try to run a 2x4 across the top. 

Jeff,

   The one thing that I should have done while building my Train Room Shelf Ceiling layout, is list all the exact building materials I used, and just where I purchased them,  showing posted pictures of them, as I constructed the layout.  This may have given the OGR members some exacting building information if they wanted to construct a similar type layout.

You might want to do what I failed to do, if you have the time.  

PCRR/Dave

Hey guys,

Tonight has been productive! Managed to get all the perimeter supports installed and even had time to begin installing the joist hangers. 

The hangers are set to where the face of the 2x4 support is 7 1/2” from the wall. The shelf will be made from 1x8 boards which are 7 1/4” wide. The extra 1/4” I left is to ensure the boards will be able to be square, and run the bus wires around the perimeter. 

Note: The gaps between the boards isn’t an issue as they will all be covered.

Here are pics of the progress so far:

Okay Mays, now I get it with tha brackets!  Looks great!

A couple photos of my ceiling layout running in our 12 x 24 ft sunroom

Pat M,

   Way cool ceiling shelf layout, real nice engineering job!  With the FasTrack is should run smooth as Glass.

Jeff,

   Looking good, hope you left enough space between what is going to be your actual shelf, and your ceiling to work properly as you lay your track.  What is the measurement between the room ceiling and the shelf going to be?

PCRR/Dave

I used MDF, simple korbels from Home Depot, and 2 sets of floating supports to build my 24x24 shelf layout for about $250.

Dave,

The spacing between the ceiling and shelf is 8 3/4"

The questionable area will be at the crossover where the trains enter and leave each room. My measurements are still 8 3/4" from shelf to ceiling, but you lose 3" due to the double top plate in the wall. When I placed the locomotive and the tallest car on a section of track, it measured just under 5" tall. This SHOULD leave anywhere from 1/2" to 3/4" between the top of the tunnel and the tallest car. 

If all else fails, I will drop to 1/2" plywood if need be. Hoping that it will work as is. 

I will make a materials list as I go for sure. So far it has been constructed with common materials found at any big box store. The quantities vary of course based on the size of the room, but the basics apply to any installation. 

If you guys have any particular questions about the build, please don't hesitate to ask!

Jeff

Pat and Ron, those are great examples!  Excellent workmanship!

Jeff, you have an excellent plan coming to life!

Hey guys! Here’s a quick update. 

I managed to get the shelving, track, and wiring installed in the guest room! I have left it unfinished and exposed so I can do a detailed build guide for you once it’s all completed. Currently we have been testing the track and consist with various power units and cars. 

As of now, all works well! We ended up using regular Lionel O gauge track for the room with O42 curves. This is the absolute tightest curve the Legacy ES44AC can handle in a lash up. The only way it will work is to connect the SD90MAC behind it, followed by your freight. 

Here are a few pics to hold you guys over til I can get more detailed shots tomorrow. 

Jeff, You accomplished a lot in a short time!  It looks very sturdy!  I have had a lot of issues trying to run double tracks on my shelves.  With a 7' 4" ceiling, I don't have much room to work.  I have jogs on two adjacent walls.  I am thinking of just making a siding like I see you have with the other two walls and abandon the right of way on the two trouble making walls.

Great stuff, guys. 

Mark, not sure if you're willing/able, but I did all my track work on the floor and bar, before sliding the boards into their dowels.  All that was left was to secure the brackets, push the track together, and screw it to the roadbed with a short-handled driver.  I pre-drilled the holes for the screws set them into the ties, then just positioned and fastened.  Sometimes a hand mirror helped with perspective and centering on the roadbed.

I love shelf layouts and long trains.  Here are some of mine...

All are MTH engines, one TIU, one PW ZW.  They are 7 1/2 inches from top of the tracks to the ceiling.  Bracketed from the top only, with long, narrow backdrops to hide the brackets and add depth.  Lighting is rope lighting, which gives a better effect than strip LED's.  Bus wiring, 16 gauge.  Two 100 ft long loops, only five drops per loop, including one near each corner. 

I have a large table layout too, but keep these shelf layout pics coming guys.....

Jerry 

Jeff,

   Outstanding job buddy, if you want to run Tin Plate it will be real tight, however I believe there maybe just enough space to make it happen.  I Engineered my shelf ceiling layout tight on purpose because of the effect I wanted in the Train Room.  You did a great job with this particular shelf ceiling FasTrack layout, super stuff!  I especially like your Bridge Work, which I have not yet had time to build into my layout.

Gerry,

   Your stuff is always Top Shelf, simply fantastic layout, and Train Room!

PCRR/Dave

Notice the Crane Booms and how close they are to the ceiling, yours will probably be almost identical spacing.  My trick was to blend the ceiling layout into the Train Room so it looked natural to the room, in reality it was a little more work than I thought it would be.

Although the Domestic CEO deeded me the 15x32 kitchen wall for airborne shelves at our mountain cottage in exchange for getting trains off her Den carpet she still insisted I use certain materials and stain to match the cabinets. It did complicate the build time and effort somewhat but the railway operated for 15 years on 5 tracks before demolition.

Dewey Trogdon posted:

Although the Domestic CEO deeded me the 15x32 kitchen wall for airborne shelves at our mountain cottage in exchange for getting trains off her Den carpet she still insisted I use certain materials and stain to match the cabinets. It did complicate the build time and effort somewhat but the railway operated for 15 years on 5 tracks before demolition.

Dewey, you are so lucky to have such an understanding "Domestic CEO."

Ron

Dewey T,

   Now that was a way cool layout, great engineering!  Domestic CEO, I like that terminology!

PCRR/Dave

JerryG posted:

Great stuff, guys. 

Mark, not sure if you're willing/able, but I did all my track work on the floor and bar, before sliding the boards into their dowels.  All that was left was to secure the brackets, push the track together, and screw it to the roadbed with a short-handled driver.  I pre-drilled the holes for the screws set them into the ties, then just positioned and fastened.  Sometimes a hand mirror helped with perspective and centering on the roadbed.

I love shelf layouts and long trains.  Here are some of mine...

 

 

 

All are MTH engines, one TIU, one PW ZW.  They are 7 1/2 inches from top of the tracks to the ceiling.  Bracketed from the top only, with long, narrow backdrops to hide the brackets and add depth.  Lighting is rope lighting, which gives a better effect than strip LED's.  Bus wiring, 16 gauge.  Two 100 ft long loops, only five drops per loop, including one near each corner. 

I have a large table layout too, but keep these shelf layout pics coming guys.....

Jerry 

Jerry,

Your's looks great!!  My shelves are already up.  I never thought to put track on them before mounting the shelves.  Great idea!  Now that I have been made aware, it seems like a no brainer!!  Mine are about 6 1/2 inches from the rails to the ceiling.  I still want to put a backdrop and some lights in since two of my walls are dark paneling