looking for information, photos, links and ideas for an "along the wall" type layout

MrVinny,

I found this picture on the internet and thought it was a clever way to support a narrow layout.

Charlie

L-Girder Benchwork will do this much better without any drilling into the walls.

Google it...

Hi MrVinny,

Here is a layout thread on a build around the walls in a 12' x 14' room.

I think you can use up to an 18" bracket and support a 24" deck with no problem. You can see from the thread, the width of the deck depends on what you want to do. You can also build pylons for the wall, simpler than TomTee's elegant versions. The deck can extend 6" past the bracket end.

The standard shelf brackets from the home stores are plenty sturdy, usually rated at a 100lbs. Even if they are the 50lb rating, it's tough to get that much weight on one spot.

One devil is to learn a technique for marking a level  line around the wall at the height that you want.

There's a book by Kalmbach (Model Railroader magazine) that may be of some help. It is titled "Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads" by Iain Rice, and it offers some good ideas and things to think about. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-89024-690-0.

I bought the book recently to stimulate thinking/planning for my next layout.

A few more things to keep in mind if using wall brackets...

The strength of the bracket is only part of the equation.  The strength and quality of the anchoring method is equally important.

Personally, I wouldn't drill into a block or poured basement wall unless absolutely necessary - too many things can go wrong unless you have a lot of experience with that kind of work.  Even if everything goes well, you'll still have a mess to clean up later on if you decide to reconfigure the layout or sell your house.  Although it somewhat defeats the purpose of having a shelf layout, in a basement I would use legs - maybe just an occasional lightweight wall anchor to keep it from walking away from the wall.

For mounting in studs, be sure you know where any wiring or plumbing is located before driving screws. 

Run - don't walk - to Mianne Benchwork.  You'll get the best free-standing benchwork out there ... no tears/struggles/exasperation about drilling into anything.

BTW, MY experience is that layouts that are secure to a wall tend to be noisier - especially when attached using 2x4s or other wood.  MY experience.

Check out my Youtube videos.  The Glacier Line is an around-the-walls layout style--perfect for linear realistic design.

rthomps posted:

Run - don't walk - to Mianne Benchwork.  You'll get the best free-standing benchwork out there ... no tears/struggles/exasperation about drilling into anything.

BTW, MY experience is that layouts that are secure to a wall tend to be noisier - especially when attached using 2x4s or other wood.  MY experience.

I agree Mianne bench work is the way to go. I have moved 3 times and moved the bench work 3 times and it is still like new. Of course I lost the scenery but the bench work could be reassembled in a short of amount of time.