Looks really good from my house, and I can't hear it, either.

Kevin, it all looks great!  You are much more steady with the video than I am on mine.

Looks great. Thanks for posting progress updates.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Kevin, it all looks great!  You are much more steady with the video than I am on mine.

Mark, the real fun was (1) holding my cell phone steady with the right hand, (2) using the left hand to aim the IR remote "somewhere" to the receiver beneath me to operate the horn & bell, and (3) keep my balance on the ladder while turning around without falling off

@Amfleet25124 posted:

Mark, the real fun was (1) holding my cell phone steady with the right hand, (2) using the left hand to aim the IR remote "somewhere" to the receiver beneath me to operate the horn & bell, and (3) keep my balance on the ladder while turning around without falling off

Kevin, yes that’s the problem in a nutshell!!  And I get dizzy!  😄😄

Here is the full YouTube video that I did on Sunday of the setup.  Pardon the construction dust.

Looks great, Keith!

Well done, Kevin!

Excellent work and great video!

Peter

I like it!

                  👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍⭐👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

                 Beautiful'...😃

[UPDATE 3.7.21]

One of my thoughts last year was to make the ceiling layout multi-scale when I considered using G Scale on the outer loop before determining that the ceiling clearance from the track bed was not high enough and went with double O Scale loops instead.

So now there is a “course adjustment”, this time using an HO Scale track replacing the O-63 Inner Loop.  My Bachmann Amtrak Acela (yes, not a Lionel O First Generation one ) arrived in the mail yesterday so I put it up for a look see.  Used the Bachmann E-Z Track that came supplied with the Amtrak Acela box for the photos, but have no intention on using it.  I prefer and use Kato UniTrack for my HO and N scale pursuits so will be using Kato's 790mm (31-1/8 inch) radius track on the curves. I took some shots of Atlas HO Flex Track concrete ties for noise level comparison by pushing the coaches back and forth.  Not interested, however, in repeating the trying to keep the track straight, fighting with rail joiners, etc., effort while craning my neck to look upwards.  Not to mention soldering.  Lesson learned the first time - Do all of that track laying on the boards before putting them up high. I’ll take the plug and play approach with Kato here.

Keeping sectional track straight is hard enough, the flex track bending be very evident here.

I like how the scale of the HO train blends with the MTH arch bridge making the distance between the top of the arch and the train look in realistic scale almost like the **** Gate bridge in New York like in these photos at this link:

https://www.123rf.com/photo_82...n-new-york-city.html

Maybe I should two sets of posts at either end to resemble the **** Gate’s masonry towers

No “Front End Photos” of the Acela locos here.  I will reserve those for the next rendition of Front End Friday.

Kevin,

Looks real good. As a frequent traveller on the Acela between DC and NYC, I was highly interested in the new Lionel Acela until I realized it would cost $3000. That's far above my benchmark for either play-value or display-value. I've been looking at the HO Bachmann Acela which is literally a fraction of the cost of the Lionel version. Reading the reviews, quite a few people are complaining about its couplers. What are you finding? In my situation, I would just put in on the wall for display anyway.

Kevin that is very cool and unique modeling'... Nice job'.....👍😉

@Bruce Brown posted:

Kevin,

Looks real good. As a frequent traveller on the Acela between DC and NYC, I was highly interested in the new Lionel Acela until I realized it would cost $3000. That's far above my benchmark for either play-value or display-value. I've been looking at the HO Bachmann Acela which is literally a fraction of the cost of the Lionel version. Reading the reviews, quite a few people are complaining about its couplers. What are you finding? In my situation, I would just put in on the wall for display anyway.

Bruce, the drawbar couplers are garbage.  Having to lay the entire 5-unit consist down on its side in order to couple them and make sure they're coupled and then put it in on the track is awkward.  I've been reading online on various sites and the couplers people say to replace it with at Kadee #17, #18, #19 or #20 couplers.  I'm looking those up to see which ones I want to get and will go that route.  I'm going to buy the other 3 cars to in order to make the full 8-unit set.

OK thanks. It's amazing Bachmann would sell a product with such an inherent defect. Let me know how the coupler replacement works out. I agree that the full 8-units with the cafe, 4 business class and and 1st class cars comes closest to the real thing.

The Acela on the O scale bridge is killer! It does look just like the picture.

Kevin, Your Acela looks great!!  I wholeheartedly agree it would be far easier to lay the track on the boards before putting them up on the brackets.  I learned the hard way as well.  In fact, I never did screw the track down to the cork covered shelves.  Working up there is a literal pain in the neck!

[UPDATE 6.4.21]

Got around to placing clear lexan shields around the edges.  I love the look and the sense of security that I now have (mostly for the HO) especially when I'm doing anything up there.  Came across these lexan pieces by accident on an internet search.  They're actually corner guards meant for walls and I repurposed them.  Got them from Koffler Sales Company www.kofflersales.com in the Chicagoland area. Was able to order the guards with custom cut sizes and pre-drilled so that all of that elbow grease that I had to do in the past doing those two tasks were taken care of.   I will definitely use get some more of these for my main layout and the holiday layout.

Here are some before photos:

Here are some photos after the install:

Kevin,

Looks great! What are the dimensions of the guards you found?

@Bruce Brown posted:

Kevin,

Looks great! What are the dimensions of the guards you found?

Bruce, the standard lengths are 4 feet and 8 feet and sides range from 5/8" to 3 inches. I requested free samples of of edges that were 2.5 inches and 3 inches to see which one I would like best. There is an option of having them pre-drilled or with peel and stick.  I chose the 2.5-inch one and pre drilled for this ceiling layout.  For the holiday ones with larger trains running right against the edge, I will go with the 3-inch ones.

https://kofflersales.com/p/cor...d-colored.asp?cid=56

Keith, The Lexan guards are great!  I didn't know they were made in such wide dimensions.  The ceiling layout looks great with them.

You can hardly see them in most of the pictures.  That’s great because you want to see the trains.  Looks like a high quality product and a great addition to your layout.

Thanks gentlemen.

For anyone thinking of using this method, I should point out that as the original intent is for corner guards on a wall, the pre-drilled ones comes with holes on both edges. For my model railroad purposes,  I requested in my custom order that the holes only be drilled on one side.

By the way, I should mention that Koffler provides the requisite screws with your order,  so you're not thinking of which size to match and buy on your own.

Great safety feature Kevin, and they really look great'... Nice find'...

Looks awesome. Great find on those lexan shields.

Installed some LED lighting last night.  Still some fine tuning to do but I love the looks that it provides.  With the remote, I will have 20 light color settings and can have the lights colors change automatically, etc.

Kevin,

That's a great idea to mix indirect lighting with your elevated track.  Even a plain white "color" would probably look good.

Those lights are awesome!

Love the lights, they look great.    Would you share some details about the lights, like source, are they rope lights or individual ?  Pictures would be great.  I would like to light up my ceiling tracks.

Doug

@Amfleet25124 posted:

Installed some LED lighting last night.  Still some fine tuning to do but I love the looks that it provides.  With the remote, I will have 20 light color settings and can have the lights colors change automatically, etc.

The lights are awesome Kevin'.. I love any kind of colored light that enhances a model railroad'...  Nice work'.. And don't forget to thank your wife again..... for her support'''''....😃😍

Thanks for the compliments

@boomer0622 posted:

Love the lights, they look great.    Would you share some details about the lights, like source, are they rope lights or individual ?  Pictures would be great.  I would like to light up my ceiling tracks.

Doug

Doug, I purchased the LED light set off of Amazon.  Here is the link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S...dt_b_product_details

Its two rolls of 32.6 foot LED strips and comes with clips to attach to the surface either with screws (provided) or peel and stick adhesive. The reason why I chose this particular set is that it goes into a regular AC plug.  I'm not a big fan of wiring so anything that simplifies the process for me I go for.

@Quarter Gauger 48 posted:

The lights are awesome Kevin'.. I love any kind of colored light that enhances a model railroad'...  Nice work'.. And don't forget to thank your wife again..... for her support'''''....😃😍

Ted, I showed your comment to my wife and she laughed.  She told me to let you know that she enjoyed the way the lighting came through the windows into the back yard at the high school graduation party we had for our youngest last night.  Here are some shots that I took Thursday night.

Kevin,  Thanks for the info,  I'm going to order some.

Doug

@Amfleet25124 posted:

Thanks for the compliments

Doug, I purchased the LED light set off of Amazon.  Here is the link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S...dt_b_product_details

Its two rolls of 32.6 foot LED strips and comes with clips to attach to the surface either with screws (provided) or peel and stick adhesive. The reason why I chose this particular set is that it goes into a regular AC plug.  I'm not a big fan of wiring so anything that simplifies the process for me I go for.

Ted, I showed your comment to my wife and she laughed.  She told me to let you know that she enjoyed the way the lighting came through the windows into the back yard at the high school graduation party we had for our youngest last night.  Here are some shots that I took Thursday night.

👌🤩 Wow kevin, that is so cool...they look great  through the windows'... Perfect atmosphere.. for a party'...

I will be ordering a set for around the layout'... The blue is perfect for night time shots... The other colors for trick/art photography....

@TrainGuyMcGee posted:

AMFLEET,

I'm currently running a ceiling/shelf layout just like the one you're looking to build (see the link below for a video of mine).  Regarding your first question, yes.  It's probably going to be louder than a table layout.  When I built mine, I used MDF for the shelf, Woodland Scenics foam roadbed and then Atlas Track ontop of that.  The mistake I made was not adding a layer of Homasote or soundboard above the MDF.  This coupled with the fact that I may have screwed my track down a bit too tight makes running my trains at 35 Scale MPH or faster really, really loud.

When my trains run at those speeds, it's ungodly loud.  The sound travels through the walls and into the living room and kitchens.  Having said that, if you ensure that your actual "shelf" is isolated from the vibrations from the trains/track, yours should end up being much more quiet.

See video below and good luck!

TrainGuyMcGee's Shelf Train

PS... I don't have any switches on my track so I can't help you out there.  I wish I would have added some though.

Did you consider running two parallel tracks? From everything that I read, i may have to scrap mu fasttrack and move to Atlas. Bums me out, I have a small fortune invested in Fasttrack and switches.

@George Mason posted:

Did you consider running two parallel tracks? From everything that I read, i may have to scrap mu fasttrack and move to Atlas. Bums me out, I have a small fortune invested in Fasttrack and switches.

Good morning George and thanks for your inquiry.

I do run a set of parallel tracks. Originally it was 2 runs of O with O-63 (Inner Loop) and O-72 (Outer Loop) Atlas track. I have since replaced the Inner Loop with Kato HO Unitrack (31-1/8" radius aka 62-1/4" diameter) so that I can run my HO trains.

Thank you for the response. I guess that I’ll be selling off my fastrack in the future. Still want to do two loops in a 12x12 room. The front has a bay window that is going to require a rather long bridge. May have to suspend that section from the ceiling. Thanks again! Good job on the layout!