Glen Snyder vs Dechant

Well, if you're putting mostly locomotives and passenger cars with center rollers, I'd go with the Dechant, the GS shelves are a PITA to get the rollers on the useless center rail!  If they lost that rail, I'd recommend the GS shelves.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, if you're putting mostly locomotives and passenger cars with center rollers, I'd go with the Dechant, the GS shelves are a PITA to get the rollers on the useless center rail!  If they lost that rail, I'd recommend the GS shelves.

I keep reading that but is it any different then putting it on a track? The issue is clearance and I have room. I could go 7 or 8 inches between shelves.

GS shelves at 6 foot lengths for a space that requires 6 foot lengths and cheaper, go with that all day long. Any of the shelves are cuttable but getting them to align cleanly on the wall when you need multiple sections is extra work. You'll want to find two studs for the 24 inch section if you decided to cut 4 footers to make a 6 foot run. If you ever decided to change out the shelves, 6 foot Gs shelves will be easily resellable verses some 2 foot sections of anything.

@ftauss posted:

I keep reading that but is it any different then putting it on a track? The issue is clearance and I have room. I could go 7 or 8 inches between shelves.

When you're putting them on the shelves, you can't get to the back of them to align wheels, etc.  Trust me, it's not as easy as setting them on the tracks!  There is no clearance to to the wall side of the shelves, it's not an issue of shelf spacing.  However, I wouldn't want to have to space them at a wide distance just to accommodate the shortcomings either, so that would be a non-starter for me anyway.

I've actually considered grinding that center rail off, but it would be a major PITA for a lot of shelving.

5.5 inches between shelves is good. It allows for double stacks or enough room to put hands in to fiddle with the rollers or moving trucks. If you know that you are doing 027 stuff, then you can get more shelves in for more stuff by reducing the space between. Yippee........

Yes, I am concerned about doing 4' + 2'. I just don't trust myself to line them up perfectly. I'm looking at 60'. The cost becomes a factor $200 vs $330.

Frank

5.5" is the spacing I used on mine.

My Staging Area has Glenn Snyder shelves on both sides (one on the backdrop divider and one on the back wall).  I was rather generous with the spacing - 6".  The clips to make abutting shelves level are a total PITA.  But overall I am happy with the product and the pricing is reasonable.

I don't put locomotives on these shelves.  It's not that I mistrust them, I just prefer:

• to handle delicate steam locomotives as little as possible.
• I have a small, but select fleet that I store in the Staging Area.

The Staging Area is shown below.  Items of note:

• The thick light blue line at the top of the diagram is a window with a fan unit in it.
• The black squiggly areas are places to stand to reach the window.
• The white rectangular areas are pop-ups (no covers) for Staging Area Operator to do his/her work.
• Shelves are installed on the green divider (thick north-south line) and the end wall (black line at the extreme right hand side of the drawing)
• Through trains (those already made up and stored intact to run through the layout) are kept on the 2 tracks between the pop-up openings (at least that's the plan right now).  These tracks are accessed via Switch # 30 (at the north) and Switch #21 (at the south).
• The track immediately parallel to the green divider is for making up / breaking up steel-related trains (ore cars, hoppers, etc.).  The Glenn Snyder shelving above it is reserved primarily for these types of train cars.
• Tracks nearest the east wall, including spurs and the double cross-over, are intended for locomotive storage.  I think the capacity is 8 locomotives.  The layout proper has 3 engine pockets, which should suffice for switchers and/or road engines.
• The Glenn Snyder shelving on the east wall is not reserved for any specific types of cars at this point.  It's exact usage is still to be determined.

Hope this helps,

George

Very happy with my GS shelving. Have had them for many years now.

I used to pick them up at York to save shipping. Always fun carrying them out to the car and loading.

Dechant 48"/4 ft/$21.99  = $5.46/ft.  There is a cut charge.   4 ft items, standard shipping cost.

Glen Snyder 72"/6ft/$20.00  = $3.33/ft.   There is a cut charge.  Note: 6ft items are usually more money to ship.

24" Center framing is acceptable. The 6 ft shelf needs at least (4) #10 X 2" Pan head screws.  Holes can be drilled anywhere along the mounting flange.  I purchased a 6" X 3/16" drill bit to drill holes in the flange, with the shelf held in place temporary on the wall.  Start at the bottom, with cut block spacers, the next shelf is much easier to install.  There is some layout/planing time for the shelf display. Shelving can be spliced, split roll pins were provided for the splice.  End plates were also available.

I used the Glenn Snyder shelves for my collection. When I had to cut I just used a chop saw with a large cutting disc. I haven't had any issues so far.

I’m like my Glen Snyder shelves.  The center rail is a bit of a pain, but I can live with it.  I do like the end plates.

The Dechant shelves look like they would work, but the price difference would make my decision easy.

As for other options, I thought there were a few other shelf manufacturers, but after quick search, I didn’t see any that are still in business.

I have the GS shelves and like them and don't mind the center rail - I have enough track sidings to store most engines, so it's not like I'm taking things on and off frequently.

I started with the bottom shelf and used wood spacers and empty beer cans of the appropriate height as spacing blocks - worked well, but if I had to drink 'em as I went along in order to empty 'em, I'm not sure how straight those top shelves would have come out.

I looked at the shelves that you mentioned and others.  I chose those manufactured by Trainshelf https://trainshelf.net/ for my train room.  If you go to their website you'll see that they want to retire and sell the business.

BUT, they are still in business.  I had expressed and interest in their shelving at the last real York prior to Hurricane Michael .  They contacted me last April to see if I was still interested.  They had received a new production lot.  I ordered 32 shelves and received them a couple of weeks later.  I paid $20 per shelf.  Shipping to Florida was expensive.

I thick that they are superior to the others and if you are going to use them down low, the addition width protects the models from being bumped or having details knocked off.

Contact them through their email.

Jan

Here's my  solution. The top shelf is 34x21x2 the bottom is 34x7 spacer is 21x2 with groves for trucks. Painted same color as walls so not displaying shelves but everyone notices the trains.

@Jan posted:

I looked at the shelves that you mentioned and others.  I chose those manufactured by Trainshelf https://trainshelf.net/ for my train room.  If you go to their website you'll see that they want to retire and sell the business.

BUT, they are still in business.  I had expressed and interest in their shelving at the last real York prior to Hurricane Michael .  They contacted me last April to see if I was still interested.  They had received a new production lot.  I ordered 32 shelves and received them a couple of weeks later.  I paid $20 per shelf.  Shipping to Florida was expensive.

I thick that they are superior to the others and if you are going to use them down low, the addition width protects the models from being bumped or having details knocked off.

Contact them through their email.

Jan

I have trainshelf brand shelving as well.  As Jan stated, the owner is retiring.  At October 2019 York, the owner stated he was doing 1 last production run and was taking orders.  I ordered a group of shelves, as I needed some additional shelving.  I ended up picking up my shelving while in the east for a business trip and saved on shipping.  Here is a picture of their shelving. 

It displays very well.

The above shelving is made for ?? to O gauge.  They also make larger sections for O to Standard Gauge.

The lower shelves are the standard gauge shelving and upper shelves are O gauge shelving. 

I was lucky enough to get most of my shelving used at a Stout auction over 10 years ago.

NWL

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

When you're putting them on the shelves, you can't get to the back of them to align wheels, etc.  Trust me, it's not as easy as setting them on the tracks!  There is no clearance to to the wall side of the shelves, it's not an issue of shelf spacing.  However, I wouldn't want to have to space them at a wide distance just to accommodate the shortcomings either, so that would be a non-starter for me anyway.

I've actually considered grinding that center rail off, but it would be a major PITA for a lot of shelving.

Yes - I have a lot (whatever that means) of GS shelving, and the center "rail" is indeed a PITA. Nice product, though, and I do not remove/replace pieces on these shelves very frequently.

I have the Glenn Snyder shelving and don't find it a problem with the center rail.  Just place the rollers on first then lower the loco till the wheels make contact.

I bought four 4' Dechant shelves and hardware when he had them on sale, and I picked them up since he isn't that far away.  Then the wall I was going to mount them on was commandeered by eminent domain, so they are still leaning in a corner.    I appreciate the tips given here on spacing of the shelves whatever brand is used.  I am still in search for a wall that is at least 4' long.  I may be forced to give up a section of backdrop over the layout, just to mount them.   

Sometimes geometry favors circumstances. In my case, the brick wall in my train room was a bit longer than 10 feet, so a GS 6-foot section and a pre-cut 4-foot section fit nicely with a 2-foot section "left over" - which I'll probably never use.

When I learned how to install the split connections for rail alignment, that process was easy to perform. The result -- shelf alignment was "right on."  The center rail matter wasn't a issue for me.  Vertical spacing of the rail sections was "pre-ordained" by the brick mortar joints of the wall - no need for measurements.  Photo of the installation is attached.

Bonus: the stout mailing tubes from GS were reusable and "recyclable."  I cut them to a designated length and then sent my long-length Lionel O-gauge track sections to e-Bay auction buyers.

Mike Mottler    LCCA 12394
mottlermike10@gmail.com

   

I made all my own shelving out of 1x4’s Grover them for the wheel flanges dadoed out shorter section for the shelves to fit in glued and screwed from the back.

Yours look great Rick and Lyle!!  My problem is I don't have anything but basic power hand tools and, I have gotten too clumsy over the years! 

I am  huge fan of the GS Display shelves.  The center rail is not a problem for me with rollers.  I have over a hundred sticks mounted on the walls.  They are easy to cut with my Dremel cut off saw, the same one I used for cutting track.

It made smooth even cuts that were straight.

Since my walls are not perfectly straight I had to shim behind them.  After the mounting hole was drilled I used scotch tape to hold the washers together to keep the shims/washers in place.

We used Glenn Snyder shelves and are very happy with them.

I use Trainshelf, I didn’t like the raised rail used by GS and I’m not familiar with the other company. Mr Wachter was always a pleasure to works with whether at York or by telephone. I would plan my purchases around York since I attended and it saved shipping. I purchased a dozen from him at the last York since I knew he was looking to retire. If he’s still producing them and you can, I recommend buying them.

Mike

Is Glen Snyder in business anymore? Earlier this year I called and e-mailed about buying some of his shelves and there was no reply.

I have used Glenn Snyder shelving for many years and have installed, removed and re-installed in three different homes - so far. Cutting is easy, installation is easy and I think the look is great!

Here is my wall of trains in my office:

Here is where I cut shelves to length to fit the perimeter sides of my latest train table:

@Mark Boyce posted:

I bought four 4' Dechant shelves and hardware when he had them on sale, and I picked them up since he isn't that far away.  Then the wall I was going to mount them on was commandeered by eminent domain, so they are still leaning in a corner.    I appreciate the tips given here on spacing of the shelves whatever brand is used.  I am still in search for a wall that is at least 4' long.  I may be forced to give up a section of backdrop over the layout, just to mount them.   

WUT????   

Don't do it.  Put the shelves underneath the layout, exposed to the user.  See stangtrain's post above.

You don't want to do anything nasty to that nice backdrop.

George

@Paul Kallus posted:

Is Glen Snyder in business anymore? Earlier this year I called and e-mailed about buying some of his shelves and there was no reply.

Still running ads every month in OGR and CTT.

I have the GS shelving also, I bought them from one of the Forum Members and I'm super happy with them.   When I mounted them to the sheet rock walls, I went in to over kill mode and even though I mounted them to the wall studs, I also drilled small holes and used the screw in wall anchors, they are the one's that actually become a part of the sheet rock.  I used the 60 pound ones as I had a great fear of my larger locomotives overloading the shelves and I could just see coming into my room some morning and my trains would be laying all over the floor and broken into tiny pieces.  Needless to say, the shelves didn't move at all when I got finished.   Maybe in the not to distant future I'll be able to mount them to the walls of the new home.  My vote would be for the GS shelves if they are still available.

Great topic, just looking at everyone's pictures, tells me I don't have enough trains. (don't think my better half would agree with that)

Have a great weekend.

@G3750 posted:

WUT????   

Don't do it.  Put the shelves underneath the layout, exposed to the user.  See stangtrain's post above.

You don't want to do anything nasty to that nice backdrop.

George

George, I can appreciate your concern.  I'm sorry I wasn't clear that I was thinking of the one wall beside the exterior door, where I didn't have enough of the excellent backdrop left.  I put up a blank piece of hardboard to make sure it would work.  The trouble is, that wall is only 30 inches wide, so if I cut the 48 inch sections to size, I wouldn't use up my 4 sections and it would be awkward lifting something into the corner.  I think I will have to consider something like Stangtrain did on his beautiful layout.  Right now it is all open storage, so I will have to think about what I want to do there. 

As an aside, George, I need to hike up the section of backdrop beside the engine house now that I have that second level in place.  It won't be hard, since I left the backdrop unattached to the brackets behind it.