Glen Snyder display shelves - questions

John Orwin posted:

Hello, I have been reading all the posts about Glen Snyder's display shelves.  They seem to be highly regarded.  I have a few questions, though:

1.  Do 2-rail models sit "level" on the rails?  I tried another brand of aluminum extruded shelves (Mr. Train) and they are useless for 2-rail, since the wheels fall inside the rails.  See picture.  Don't know. 

2.  Does Glen Snyder sell 5' lengths?  Every location I have needs 10' shelves, so I would end up with a 6' section and a 4' section, with 2' left over for each shelf.  5' lengths will avoid the wastage.   There is a cut charge, ($1 per cut), posted on the website.  There are also splice pins for longer shelf assemblies. 

3.  How long do they typically take to deliver?  Not long, but expect larger than normal shipping charge the 6 ft lengths in good packaging exceed UPS delivery.  Most likely shipped USPS.  

I have a call into them to find out the answers to these questions, but I'd like to hear from 2-RAIL modelers with experience using these shelves.  Not a two rail modeler.   Anchors  (#10 X 2" ) screws  at least (4) per shelf, more is better.  Screws are to be seated in 2" wood wall framing members.    

Thanks,

John

 

Here is a look at my shelves.    Click on the underlined phrase. 

Glenn Snyder Display

Hi John,

The Rockford O Scalers have many feet of the Glenn Snyder Display shelves and I have been very happy with them.  Standard O 2 rail equipment fits fine on the shelves.  I'm guessing Proto 48 might not fit as well but I have never tried that.  Attached is a picture of a Atlas 2 rail F unit.  For me, having them cut to size was worth it.  Anything cut sections  2 feet and longer I connected together to make a longer section.

The Snyder shelves have rails, not grooves for the wheels, so 2 rail models sit on them just fine. I have several MTH locos with 2R wheels sitting on mine right now. 

I bought mine at York so I dont know how long delivery takes, but if you need 5 footers and can only get 6, then just cut a foot off each one, or make yourself a bunch of 2 footers and find someplace narrow to hang a couple cars on the wall. 

John;

Here is a pic of the profile of the Snyder shelves from a leftover piece I have. I have several dozen feet of their shelving and am very happy with them. As you can see, the shelf mimics 3-Rail track. Please forgive my feet!!!

‘And I have to agree with John H. - paying for them to do the cuts is well worth the cost, especially if you plan to fit the shelves end-to-end. Their cuts are clean and accurate.

Another vote for having them do the cuts. A hacksaw will get the job done, but the ends are messy. Unless you have a good chopsaw with a fine cut blade, let them do it for you. I believe they charge $1 per cut.

At times I do wish the center rail was missing so that I could install an insulated power rail and light the passenger cars, but it's not that big of deal.

3 Rail Modellers, to power the center rail, just cover with electrical tape and add copper strip tape on top of tape for power.

Lego train modellers do this to run track powered trains on Lego plastic battery train track.

Copper strip tape is used on glass windows for alarms.

Recommend the shelves and as the others mentioned, have them cut the sizes for you. 

Although this doesn't apply to the 2-rail use, the center rail on the GS shelves is a royal PITA for us 3-railers!  There's no reason in the world for it to be there, it just makes getting locomotives or cars with pickups harder to place on the tracks, they keep jumping off unless exactly centered.  It's not like you're going to be powering the car on the shelves!

Another point- I read that one OGR Forum member recommended having the flanges rest on the flat part of the shelves- to avoid "zinc rot" that might occur to the traction surfaces of you equipment wheels.  Maybe the two different kinds of metals- zinc and aluminum react in contact??

Like Boilermaker1 said, I asked them to ship the cut 18" ends I had left over (after all, you paid for it) and then found a few narrow locations around the room where I could mount a single engine or piece of rolling stock on them.

Thanks all!  I just ordered 12 6' sections from Carolyn at GSDS.  

The shelving is great but be prepared to do a lot shimming if your walls are not perfectly flat. If not shimmed, the shelving will get distorted when all screws are tightened. 

Best shelves.  Flat walls were a requirement in the construction of the train room, so they go up well using a long level and spacing blocks to make sure they are even and level.

I have several in a couple areas. Agree on the flat wall thang. Don't overtighten- no need, and it will warp them out of shape. Agree w/ GRJ- the third rail makes it difficult to land anything with pickup rollers easily.

I'm about 1-1/2 hrs from them, so I have gone there to pick up. Had them do my cuts. Very nice people.

I hate to ask but how is the third rail problem solved? Sounds like a real problem.

hokie71 posted:

I hate to ask but how is the third rail problem solved? Sounds like a real problem.

Actually, I do not think it is that great a problem. The three “rails” are of equal height, same as all standard 3-rail track. It’s a little fussy, but nowhere near a deal killer in my opinion. I have more rolling stock on the shelves than engines, while, if I remember correctly, GRJ is almost primarily engines, so he may see more issues, but again, not difficult to overcome.

Third rail definitely not a deal breaker or major issue. Shelving is highly recommended . Just have to be careful setting heavy steamers and the like.

As reported in a recent issue of the TCA National HQ News, Glenn Snyder recently passed away.  Obviously someone else is running the business that still uses his name.

Bill

I have 120 feet of GS shelves installed and just ordered another 96 feet from Carolyn to be picked up at York next week.

All good stuff. I have been using (and re-used) the product for years.

I connect the sections together with the GS pins using a screw driver to pry them slightly apart and a block of wood with hammer to mate them.

I never had a problem with the middle rail when taking engines on or off the shelf. Yes, you need to lift up the roller a little if you have your shelves fairly tight together (height wise). I am not sure why guys are making it such a big deal. Certainly not a deal breaker in my opinion. Yes, it is a little overkill but maybe the design needed that additional "rib" area to provide more strength to the shelf. 

My shelves support all types of locomotives, passenger cars and freight cars. I currently have a Big Boy, Challenger and a FEF lined up spanning over (2) shelves. No issues.

I attach the shelves to my walls with 50mm gray drywall screws and decorative washers that fit the concave head of the screw spaced at 16" centers. 35mm of thread engagement into the wall stud is plenty. As noted above, never had an issue.

Donald

hokie71 posted:

I hate to ask but how is the third rail problem solved? Sounds like a real problem.

Like others said, it's not truly a "deal killer", it's just a PITA that didn't have to be.  They'd be a better product without it.  It's just more "fiddly" putting stuff with pickup rollers on the rails, where it should be very easy.  As mentioned, my wall has a "lot" of motive power, so every one has rollers.

hokie71 posted:

I hate to ask but how is the third rail problem solved? Sounds like a real problem.

Any machine shop could mill that off. As Donald mentions, may be a sly way to increase strength. 

Actually, I was told by someone in construction that those appeared to be commercial tub sliding door tracks, and GS just repurposed them to be O-gauge shelves.  If not, I can't imagine why he needs more strength there, and taking them all to a machine shop for modification seems to be a giant PITA, why not just build them properly in the first place.  The rib has no function!

When you get done, John,  may be a few ideas on how to re-invent the wheel.    One of the main selling features, and it has been at this price for some time is $3/per lineal foot.   It is difficult to do quality wood shelving,, or other aluminum shelving for this price. IMO.   Most aluminum extruders, even if you owned the mold, have a set minimum number of pieces, required for a production run.   The fact the price has been consistent for many years, there was probably at most a few orders placed, but a lot of product that is still being sold.    Again IMO.   Mike CT. 

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Actually, I was told by someone in construction that those appeared to be commercial tub sliding door tracks, and GS just repurposed them to be O-gauge shelves.  If not, I can't imagine why he needs more strength there, and taking them all to a machine shop for modification seems to be a giant PITA, why not just build them properly in the first place.  The rib has no function!

John,

Couldn't the extra rail serve as a dual purpose for O & HO trains! Maybe not practical but still functional for those in both gauges!

I guess you could always get the Dremmel out and cut the center rail out...     That sounds like a lot of fun!

DITTO on the annoying center rail. It's always a bother in that you have to set the roller carefully on it in order to set the truck on the outside rails.

It's really fun to set something like the Big Boy up there, it always takes some jockeying to get all the wheels straight as the rollers keep you from aligning them.  When you get one on, another roller pops off the center rail.

H1000 posted:

Couldn't the extra rail serve as a dual purpose for O & HO trains! Maybe not practical but still functional for those in both gauges!

I guess you could always get the Dremmel out and cut the center rail out...     That sounds like a lot of fun!

No, they make different shelves for O and HO gauges. No reason for the center rail to be there in my opinion.

I used a couple of the shelves for some standard gauge trains and they worked quite well.

Hello all 

The MR Train   shelving not so good for O scale ...with scale flanges etc ...I filled in the gaps with silicone to lessen the wheel drop in ...   I got a pile cheap so made it work ..

If buying new yes Synder shelving for O scale works very well ...looks good ...but as noted have shims ( washers)  ready for uneven walls....  6" is a nice length ... they are very kind about pick up at York 

For Standard gauge I prefer Trainshelf 

https://trainshelf.net/

it cost a bit more but very stable  for heavier  trains .  

Cheers Carey 

Does anyone have experience with the Trainshelf 2000 product?

Jan

Jan posted:

Does anyone have experience with the Trainshelf 2000 product?

Jan

I checked out both brands (GS and Trainshelf) and for me, the Trainshelf brand was worth the extra $$. The sections are easy to handle, easy to cut, and easy to join together using wire for pins. I like the design better, where the trains are sitting down in grooves instead of up on rails. 

Here's a shot of the end result. 

Just finished installing 60 - 6 foot sections in my train building.  I highly recommend the product and Carolyn is great, fast shipping.

Train Building? Please update the forum on the layout you build and it looks great so far.

I purchased a total of 13 pieces so far and like them. I received a shipment and I don't know if the roll pins were packed in box or some how I threw them out, but I contact the company and they sent me more so yes they are great to work with. Shipping is pretty fast too.

tynaskos posted:

Just finished installing 60 - 6 foot sections in my train building.  I highly recommend the product and Carolyn is great, fast shipping.

Now THAT's what I call "lotsa storage"!!!  Beautiful, and great that you are doing it up front before the layout goes in.

tynaskos posted:

Just finished installing 60 - 6 foot sections in my train building.  I highly recommend the product and Carolyn is great, fast shipping.

That looks fantastic.

Going to be one heckuva room! 

Mike CT posted:

John Orwin posted:

Hello, I have been reading all the posts about Glen Snyder's display shelves.  They seem to be highly regarded.  I have a few questions, though:

1.  Do 2-rail models sit "level" on the rails?  I tried another brand of aluminum extruded shelves (Mr. Train) and they are useless for 2-rail, since the wheels fall inside the rails.  See picture.  Don't know. 

2.  Does Glen Snyder sell 5' lengths?  Every location I have needs 10' shelves, so I would end up with a 6' section and a 4' section, with 2' left over for each shelf.  5' lengths will avoid the wastage.   There is a cut charge, ($1 per cut), posted on the website.  There are also splice pins for longer shelf assemblies. 

3.  How long do they typically take to deliver?  Not long, but expect larger than normal shipping charge the 6 ft lengths in good packaging exceed UPS delivery.  Most likely shipped USPS.  

I have a call into them to find out the answers to these questions, but I'd like to hear from 2-RAIL modelers with experience using these shelves.  Not a two rail modeler.   Anchors  (#10 X 2" ) screws  at least (4) per shelf, more is better.  Screws are to be seated in 2" wood wall framing members.    

Thanks,

John

 

Here is a look at my shelves.    Click on the underlined phrase. 

Glenn Snyder Display

Mounting on concrete:  The Glenn Snyder SHELVES are plenty strong- but not if mounted using plastic anchors.  After a couple of years, they began to pull out.  

I re-installed using "TapCon" concrete screws.  I used regular masonry drills of the recommended diameter (not the TapCon-branded drills), but I had a lot of breakage as I tried to run in the screws.   I am pretty sure that the drills themselves were not the reason, but the screws were disappointing.  They finally worked, but I had more holes to fill on the shelves than I would have liked.

Recommendations if using TapCons into concrete:

- use a screw diameter larger than what the hardware store recommends- don't select based on anticipated load/weight, but to (maybe) avoid breakage as you drive the screws.  So- #12's??

- After you drill the hole - blow out the dust before running in the screws- dust will also contribute to binding and breakage.

- Buy more drill bits than you think you will need- and vary the "feed and speed" to get the right technique- WHEN you are using the correct speed and feed, the drill bit feels just right.  Too fast - burn them up, too much push- a nice "S Bend!". 

- The blue color of the TapCons is not attractive- I painted using a flat silver Testors paint to more closely match the aluminum shelves.

I've used a lot of Tapcon screws over the years and learned early on: after you've drilled the hole, run the bit in and out several times to somewhat enlarge the hole. Also, ease up some when you've hit bottom, or you'll twist the head off anyhow.

I need the pins to connect the pieces together.  Where can I get those?

bbenakjr posted:

I need the pins to connect the pieces together.  Where can I get those?

From Glenn Snyder, they sell the connectors.