Brackets for hanging permanent Train layout near ceiling level.

Mark and guys,

Try one of these.  Very light, very strong.  A lot easier than lugging my short step stool around.  Couldn't do the overhead layout without it.  Can't get the trains on the tracks easily without it.

I was trying to clear out some old train boxes and found these two old green Lionel lamps.  They were on the huge layout in our first house.  Haven't been used in 30 years.  Didn't take much to solder them together.  I used suitcase connectors to access the bus line power.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all,

Jerry

Jerry, That one certainly does the job; like you say, light but strong.  Here is what I have been using.  I 'inherited' it from my father-in-law.  It's pretty easy to stash away.

The green lamps do enhance your station area.  Well done!

Mark & Larry,

   I believe my ceiling is a might higher than yours, I had to use an 8' ladder to build the shelving, the short ladder and nice plastic type step stool would only work if I was 6'9" tall.  

Mark if you look at your smaller Aluminum ladder the main side channel is what hooked on the buckle of my shoe and caused the fall.  It will not happen again, I removed the buckles from those work shoes.

Work Continues.

PCRR/Dave

8

That's good you removed the culprit!!

Larry, George, Mark and everybody,

   We test ran the FasTrack Ceiling layout this evening, everything works great the big Scale Lionel TMCC JLC GG-1 ran perfectly smooth, pulling 8 or 10 Lighted PRR Passenger Cars, just using an old 250 ZW.  All the different Engines run smooth as silk on the 1st and 2nd Generation FasTrack we used.  I used no sound suppression and up as high as the layout is, there is less noise than on a normal height platform.    

Thanks everybody for all the advise on the construction of the ceiling layout, the OGR is still the best Forum on the Net, because of it's great members.

PCRR/Dave

Next the Hallmark/Lionel Toy Maker Santa Express for the Formal Living Room layout, needs to be worked on.

 

 

Nice celling layout Dave! cant wait to see what your doing for Christmas layout!

Big Mike G,

   Thanks much for then nice comment and I need to do a nice little village for the Formal Living Room layout for my wonderful wife.  Lana Kay gets to pick how she wants it to look.  

PCRR/Dave

Got to work this in somehow.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Big Mike G,

   Thanks much for then nice comment and I need to do a nice little village for the Formal Living Room layout for my wonder wife.  Lana Kay gets to pick how she want it to look.  

PCRR/Dave

Got to work this in somehow.

Hum Dave I think that is going to be easy for you from what I have seen fallowing you for a couple years now!

Dave,

Congrats.  Nothing like seeing those trains going around the room, running smooth and looking good.

Love to see that bar area when you get a chance to organize after the holidays.  That cool baseball stuff you have will make the room look even better. 

Jerry

Jerry, 

   It is definitely in the planning stages, 1st the DCS and Legacy Power Station and the floor type layouts need to be worked on.   Finding the time to build all this is robbing my sleep.  

Plan to add the 60's Pirate pictures and the 70's Steelers Super Bowl pictures also.  I have Andy Russell's original picture from the 1st Super Bowel, along with Joe Green's, Jack Ham's and others.  Can't find my signed original picture of the Rock, maybe I can get him to sign another one.

Need to find my originals of Bing Crosby and Phil Harris Quail Hunting pictures to put up also.  Along with Jimmy Dean hunting on his ranch, and Andy Devine bird hunting in AZ with his wife.  The original B&W Roy Rogers pictures will definitely be there also.

The original Frank and Bing Christmas show will get put on the DVD machine in the sitting area during the Christmas season.  

If you will make me some copies of your NY 60's team members I would sure love to put them up also!

 

Big Mike G,

   Working the Lionel light into the Formal Living Room layout might not be as easy as you think, the lady has some definite idea's as to the kind of look she wants in the Formal Living Room!  We will see what happens.

I need to get busy on the village and put the Lionel/Hallmark Toymaker Santa Express under the Christmas Tree, which we need to decorate also.  Maybe today I can get started on the living room project.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

Dave I am sure you can sweet talk her for a new look in a new house! LOL Good luck!

  Dave,

Well, here are a bunch.  All of these are on the train table or around the rec room.  I put in captions to indicate who/what they are. 

        

 

       

             

Here is an idea for you.  I saw this Mantle bobble-head, but it is much smaller than the ones I had from the Stadium.  I made a base, downloaded a dozen images of his baseball cards, sized them the same, printed them out on photo paper, cut and glued them on all sides of the base.  You could get a Maz or Groat one and do the same.

    

When someone says something stupid during happy hour, like the Red Sox aren't lame, we play "Ask the boys."  You say, "Do the sawks suck?," tap the heads all in a row and you have the answer.

      

 

 

 

    

               My son bought me all of the autographs as Christmas/birthday presents.  The best one is the Yankee infield of 1961, my favorite Yankee team.   For guys my age, it is Mickey Mantle that sits at the right hand of the Father.  The old joke is that St. Peter tells Mick he's got to go, but God wants to know if he'll sign two dozen baseballs before he does.

Not sure if you can use any of these images.  You'd have to cut, paste, size, and crop them.  If you really like any of them, I could try scanning them for you.  Not sure if that would produce a better image.  Either way, I always use the best quality photo paper. 

Looking good, keep us posted on your progress.

Jerry

 

        

       

 

 

 

                 

 

               

 

                        

Jerry,

That is a nice lineup.  The only problem is none of them are wearing a yellow 'P' on their caps!  ;-)

Jerry,

   Now the one I like best is the signed picture of Whitey Ford, but it's the wrong era uniform.

Great pictures all of them.

Only one Picture beats them, they put it on the cover of the Book!  (Twin Killing)  Note who Maz is doubling up in the picture.

 

Yankees World series Baseball is like Steelers Super Bowl Football, very hard to beat it.

PCRR/Dave

New Ceiling layout testing with the Lionel TMCC Scale GG-1.

Dave,

Nice.  Big engine.  Looks good up there.  TMCC works well all around the room?

The Maz pic?  The great Roger Maris.  Terrific all-around player that could do everything.   Like so many, injuries kept him down, but he had a pretty good year in 1961, winning his 2nd AL MVP in a row.

Whitey's uniform?  There are no eras.  The Yankee home uniform (white pinstripe with interlocking NY) and the Yankee road uniform (plain grey with New York and Yankee blue piping on the sleeve) hasn't changed look or style since the days of Babe Ruth.   Another reason why they're the Yankees.

No longer a football fan, but, can't believe that stinking Steeler football game.  The wife and I were screaming for that last TD.  Can't stand those cheating pats.

Jerry

Jerry,

   Yep the Maz picture, Roger was out at 2nd and Micky was out at 1st.  I really like Roger's brand of baseball, he was the real deal.  Pie would have been proud of him.  

If the Steelers had a Head Coach like Chuck Noel was, (Tony D was the right man for that job), the game would have ended in a much different manner.  We definitely have a discipline and head coaching problem, here in the Burg.  Add in the poor officiating and you see what happens.  No way the Pats should have won that game, not the 1st time it has happened to the Steelers.  

PCRR/Dave

 

 

I teased Jerry yesterday, but there is no doubt all those photographs of Yankee greats are wonderful!!  Speaking of Whitey Ford, my dad saw him play for the Butler Pennsylvania Yankees when he first started pro ball!  I saw Roger Maris at Forbes Field playing for the Cardinals.  That was late in his career of course.

Dave, the GG-1 looks great again!!  Yes, you have inspired me to do an upgrade on my Ceiling Central RR curves!

Mark,

    Be Careful on the ladder!

PCRR/Dave

I will Dave!  It’s amazing how an innocent thing like this can be a death trap to a guy who just isn’t quite what he used to be!

Any more, I’m even a bit wobbly with both feet on the floor!!  LOL

Mark & Jerry,

   I got to admit building the formal living room layout was way easier!  Isn't what he use to be?  You sound like my younger brother.

PCRR/Dave

My better half's idea of what a formal living room layout should look like.

    

Any suggestions on hanging the trains from the ceiling, rather than along the walls?   I have areas where the train has to run across a long (8') section where there is no all.  We have a suspended  ceiling.  Thanks for the suggestions.

Here is what I did. I got 1/4” anchors, couplers, all thread, nuts and washers.  The anchors are in holes I drilled in the joists.  Yes I got a couple that are a little crooked, but you can see the idea.  I didn’t need two at each location, since the shelf doesn’t wobble because of the shelves on the adjacent walls.

sandysimon posted:

Any suggestions on hanging the trains from the ceiling, rather than along the walls?   I have areas where the train has to run across a long (8') section where there is no all.  We have a suspended  ceiling.  Thanks for the suggestions.

there are tons of options for suspended ceilings. Check out the Armstrong site. Ideally you want to have the floor joists above take the weight- not the ceiling itself.

If the grid does not line up then a hanger can come down through the tile to support the track.

 

Thank you so much - this is incredibly helpful.  This is exactly the kinds of ceiling we have.  I'll check the Armstrong site.  From your experience, would you have wood running under all of the track for support?  If so, how thick?  If not wood, then what?  How frequently should the supports be?  Would you have the drop supports make a U around the track?  Any other tips?  Thanks!

Check out this website for ideas.

https://ceilingtrainkit.com/CeilingTrainKit.php

  I haven't reread this old thread yet ...

  Somethin like support would be a case by case thing, loco/cars weights, track used, etc.. eg, a light GP or 4-4-2 on Lionel O with light cars, no problem. Two GG-1s and some cast Madisons on Lionel 0-27 and you better wear a helmet and saftey shoes.  Mostly, every section needs some type of support at each joint. Long peices of track 30"-40" would likely need an extra.

Support would be a good thing for sure though.. Lateral forces are going to be present at curves so you need to mechanically secure those joints especially; float the others. The closer to the edge the better you can see it. My ties actually mostly hang over the edge 1/4". The outer loop needs to be elevated to be seen.

Some ways will block more visually.  Be mindful to go on water lever vs ceiling measurements.

 If that isn't heavy duty enough for your dreams look at "Unistrut" and it's hang/mounting hardwares. End caps (or 90° connectors), some paint, and plastic/paper/artboard filler to hide the oval holes and it makes a great indoor ceiling track.

 Like "fat track lighting". I really can't believe I hadn't thought of it before. It's almost overkill how strong the stuff is. One firm ceiling/ channel-track attachment every 6' or so ought to do it. Done right it can hold you and the train.(come in 5,10, 20ft etc.) Then each drop rod goes to the channel. You can run wire in the channel too. (I did very similar mounting some proprietary types of equipment in office spaces)  You can build a large, light,yet heavy duty "cube of sticks" frame to mirror/parallel a drop ceiling using guy cable to crossbrace the frame where needed.

sandysimon posted:

Any suggestions on hanging the trains from the ceiling, rather than along the walls?   I have areas where the train has to run across a long (8') section where there is no all.  We have a suspended  ceiling.  Thanks for the suggestions.

 

 here is an 8' span, I just made a bridge to go from wall to wall... nothing to the ceiling...

 

 

Unistrut.... "The Adult Erector Set"..welding is only optional with this stuff.

Studs & nuts slide where you need them, stay and hold...

...you and your fat brother 😂 

...Dancing Rockettes style if you crossbraced 🤣

Not mine, but real close (I crossbrace) Mine had two 727 transmissions below, three engine blocks on top and me climbing on them to access the attic at times.

Endless overall attachability, easy to work with, drill etc.. You can mount something here, but need it mounted over there...??  This is the stuff.  Multi depths, styles.  If you can attach one or two pieces to a couple of points, even many feet apart, somewhere on your building's wall, floor, and/ or ceiling anywhere nearby the project, your project it CAN happen   E.g. You might also make this horizontal in 4" shorties putting the weight on one stud or  just wide enough to span two studs for a mount between studz... I.e. you might not want or need 20' of channel but a few short ones here or there instead.

.

Side by side parallel channels work for making a wide "universal mounting plane"  Hang one beam from another mounted to ceiling beams. Drops of threaded rod to match the lower channel to a drop ceiling; above or below. (that's a trolley roller; multi wheel/stable trolleys too).  Holes thru drop ceiling are best a little large. Metal/plastic/pvc tube/pipe can replace/hide exposed threads. You could swing on this.

finishes vary, the plain channel paints and hide well imo.

You can hide well if you try

Uses are endless.

I got this idea working with my son who is a licensed plumber. Did this in order to be able and run engine which required 054 radius. Limited space to set on layout. This is 1/2 inch copper and fittings. Flanges are screwed into joists, and threaded rod used inside copper uprites. Supports weight of my body, very strong. Used acrylic clear tubing for guard rails. Time consuming but fun. 

If you are considering an overhead layout that is not exclusively wall mounted I suggest you look at one at least for ideas. Go to the smarttinc.com website. In the Model Railroads dropdown tab in the upper left click on Gallery-Model Railroads: Corporate. On that page select Ultimate Executive Toy.

Jsulli21 posted:

I got this idea working with my son who is a licensed plumber. Did this in order to be able and run engine which required 054 radius. Limited space to set on layout. This is 1/2 inch copper and fittings. Flanges are screwed into joists, and threaded rod used inside copper uprites. Supports weight of my body, very strong. Used acrylic clear tubing for guard rails. Time consuming but fun. 

Wonderful!!  That looks like something my dad would have built!  He made all kinds of hangers and brackets out of threaded pipe.  He had access to all my grandfather's plumbing tools and material after a sudden passing in 1956 short!y before I was born.

This thread gives me twilight zone nightmares. I have these dreams of old guys like Mark and $500 locos dangling precariously from ceilings.

For sure!  That is why I have on track on 12” deep shelves!  I run them slower than the slow speed I run on a regular layout!  I put my MTH Shay up there, but watched it like a hawk!  LOL

So I''m building a larger O-gauge layout, which I'm trying to make somewhat realistic.  but I want a place to run my Std Gauge Blue Comet - which I love.  So I thought a large loop up near the ceiling - but you're right - a fall would devastate me.   Acrylic guards? 

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions.

For some years I have been thinking of running trains on a shelf around my home office and I thought of using plexiglass for the shelving material. Home Depot sells it I believe in sheets. I would have them cut it in 8" wide strips with perhaps wood corners. With the plexiglass you can see track and trains from underneath. Anyone out there try plexiglass?

JohnF

Ive only had about three off the shelf derailments, all in about the first three years too. Carpeted bedroom, one has yet to suffer any real damage. Most derails happen to the outside edge of a loop, which means towards the wall; no worry there. If you image search for plexiglass or lexan ceiling train layout some really nice ones usually pop up. Lexan is stronger, but not as clear and scratches a little easier than plexi. Plexi is cheaper.

sandysimon posted:

So I''m building a larger O-gauge layout, which I'm trying to make somewhat realistic.  but I want a place to run my Std Gauge Blue Comet - which I love.  So I thought a large loop up near the ceiling - but you're right - a fall would devastate me.   Acrylic guards? 

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions.

With a SG Blue Comet, need to be concerned about having a strong way of supporting the track between hangers.  Also, be sure that the swaying and vibration won't cause the hangers to work loose.

For something that big, I'd lean towards a wall-mounted method. 

Jsulli21 posted:

I got this idea working with my son who is a licensed plumber. Did this in order to be able and run engine which required 054 radius. Limited space to set on layout. This is 1/2 inch copper and fittings. Flanges are screwed into joists, and threaded rod used inside copper uprites. Supports weight of my body, very strong. Used acrylic clear tubing for guard rails. Time consuming but fun. 

C'mon man, everybody knows that PEX is cheaper and easier than copper pipe.  

Lol. That’s true but copper is stronger imo. And looks 100% nicer. Heck I was tempted to use propress fittings, talk about expense. No soldering here though. A lot of cutting though. I saw a guy use acrylic rods to support with copper fittings. Really looked nice, but he used glue in fittings which I would not trust.

Gentelmen:  Dave started this thread a year and a half ago.  My contribution begins

on page 1.  Love my shelf/ceiling layout.  I also have a much larger table layout.

Today's contribution is to say, I've never had a problem with trains falling from my layout, which is 7 1/2 inches from the ceiling.  Only operator inattentiveness during happy hour....haha.  But, that's because I run four 25 car consists on a double-tracked 100 foot layout, running DCS.  They never run at exactly the same speed.  If you get distracted for more than 20 minutes, you might have one catch up to the other.

Just trying to help.

Jerry