Looking for train cabinet maker (use to be at York)

Those are nice cabinets Paul,  hope you get a response to your question.  Is that glass or plexiglass? 

Dave, I believe it is glass. I understand they were made in 6 and 8 foot lengths, although I would likely need to customize an order, if I am fortunate enough to find the maker.

If you can't locate the guy, an alternative is to visit a local woodworking store (such as Rockler or Woodcraft) or hardwood lumber supplier and ask for names of people who do custom work - it's likely they will know someone.  If you can provide the key specs, any competent woodworker can build train shelves / cabinets like what you pictured.

The finest wall-mount train display cases I have--O and G gauge--were obtained from Steve Grimm's Trackside Displays in PA. Sadly, he is no longer in business, and has not been in business for some years now. He offered display cases in many sizes for virtually all scales and gauges, and they were beautifully made of various hardwoods and in various finishes. I sure wish he had stayed in business because there are more cases I would love to get from him, especially for my On30 and O gauge trolley/PCC collections. Took a while for orders to be filled, but that is because the cases were pretty much made as they were ordered. The packaging/shipping was first-rate in every respect. Not sure who is still doing high-level train cases these days.

There is a dealer at York that I have bought several on-shelf display cases from in the past. Can't recall name, but I believe he may have been in Red Hall, or that general area.

Yes, that was my plan...potentially this autumn I'll try a trip and see if I can find a couple of carpenters that did some work for me years ago.

Not a difficult task for anyone that has built residential cabinets.  You should be able to find someone local to help. The price for a project like this will be significantly higher compared to 10 years ago due to the cost of raw materials.  I’ve built plenty of cabinets and would use pre-finished oak plywood for the carcass of this project.  It saves money on the final finishing stage.  I had sticker shock when I recently purchased good quality pre- finished cabinet plywood.  Custom glass has also doubled since pre-COVID.

I’m starting  a similar project, but out of cherry.  Little more complicated since it will be under the layout and follow an 072 curve that matches the track curve on top.  I will be using a poly carbonate product for the front for safety reasons and it’s ability to fit curves.

I would like to do more of this type of work, but my day job currently gets in the way.

The glass-enclosed base cabinets, typically at one level, are sold by David Kris,   davesbasesandcases@hotmail.com. He is at the south side of the Red Hall at York. You can ask him if he can build a custom cabinet for you.  I have many of his mirrored, glass-enclosed cases on my wall.

Dave's bases & cases. I have bought several of his glass display cases. His phone number is, 989 792 1652.

@Paul Kallus posted:

Yes, that was my plan...potentially this autumn I'll try a trip and see if I can find a couple of carpenters that did some work for me years ago.

@jstraw124 posted:

Not a difficult task for anyone that has built residential cabinets.  You should be able to find someone local to help. The price for a project like this will be significantly higher compared to 10 years ago due to the cost of raw materials.  I’ve built plenty of cabinets and would use pre-finished oak plywood for the carcass of this project.  It saves money on the final finishing stage.  I had sticker shock when I recently purchased good quality pre- finished cabinet plywood.  Custom glass has also doubled since pre-COVID.

I’m starting  a similar project, but out of cherry.  Little more complicated since it will be under the layout and follow an 072 curve that matches the track curve on top.  I will be using a poly carbonate product for the front for safety reasons and it’s ability to fit curves.

I would like to do more of this type of work, but my day job currently gets in the way.

@Bruce Brown posted:

The glass-enclosed base cabinets, typically at one level, are sold by David Kris,   davesbasesandcases@hotmail.com. He is at the south side of the Red Hall at York. You can ask him if he can build a custom cabinet for you.  I have many of his mirrored, glass-enclosed cases on my wall.

It's likely that the biggest issue with obtaining the shelf units will be getting them home.  Picking them up will require a van or pickup truck (be sure to bring moving blankets), and shipping them is expensive and will be perilous if they have glass doors. 

Thanks so much for the contacts and information!

I am over-stretched financially, train budget blown, but at least now I have the contact information.

My carpentry skills are rudimentary, at best. I have thus far completed basic extra-deep train shelves for under my layout, 3 separate units thus far. I can fit two trains deep on each shelf, facilitating easy swaps on and off the tracks.