Quick and easy train shelf idea

I'm guessing he will like it. Looks nice. More shelves = more trains. Who's not going to like that.

MikeF: Thank you for the great idea. It is simple, but, elegant.

It looks great, and the grooved boards are neater and simpler than putting track on a shelf.

However I would be concerned that your method of attaching the shelves to the walls may not be sufficiently strong for some of the really heavy locomotives that many O-gaugers have. For multiple shelves, shelf brackets would require fewer screws, they would be easier to install for most people, would be easier to maintain uniform spacing between multiple shelves, and would be easier to adjust for spacing.

Your son has a nice tidy train table!

Mike, that looks really nice.  I have been thinking about doing something similar for our display area and like what you've done. 

Quick, easy and neat! What is not to like?

Using 1x4's.  A little easier to expand.

Thanks everyone.  I wasn't sure how sturdy it would be, but it's really secure.  I'm sure it can hold the heaviest engines.  Pocket hole joints always surprise me...I used them to build my sons train table, such a nice strong joint.  I'm looking forward to making a few more of these shelves and getting the rest of his cars and engines on display.

Very nice Mike! I love simple!

Great idea and simple is good! Thanks for sharing! Terry

Very nice!!!

Alex

Cutting a groove is a simple, inexpensive, and great idea particularly for shelves for young kids - when they place the loco/rolling stock on the shelf and work it back and forth a bit the wheels tend to slide into the groove and align themselves easily.   Quicker and more reliable for little hands to get it settled in, so to speak.

I like the look of having the loco farther up above the surface around it - more prototype as if on rails.  I also worry a bit -- perhaps uncessarily -- above storing them with the springs on the center pickups compressed all the time as is the case with grooves. 

I make cheap but utilitarian shelves for the higher places in my trainroom as shown below, using 1 x 4s as the shelf with two 1/4 by 1/4 wooden stripes glued down for "rails" - I buy those thing wood strips in the molding section of Lowes or Home Depot and just glue and clamp for twenty minutes.  For shelves not up well above eye level I still install track but these work fine up near the ceiling, as this one it.

Great looking and great idea, though I don't think I would ever trust the weight of a couple of heavy engines to pocket screws. Torque enters into this.

Greg

Pocket holes screws are a really strong.  When I screwed the shelf to the studs, the shelf was pulled tight to the wall...it's surprisingly rigid.  Like I mentioned, I first pictured just keeping rolling stock on there and keeping engines on the layout, but now I'll keep them up on the shelf as well.  Here's a photo of the shelf with two (10) work out plates on it.  I have no doubt it would hold much more than 20 pounds as it never even flexed when they put on there. 

These are the pocket hole screws I used for attachment...they're pretty rugged and are screwed right into the studs.  2 1/2" coarse thread.  Subtracting the shelf material and sheet rock thickness, they're screwed over 1 3/4" into the studs. 

Personally, I'd be a bit concerned that the wood of the shelf could fail with those fittings, when the weight is further away from the wall. As the load moves further away from the wall, the moment of the force increases considerably and could exceed that which the strength of the wood can accommodate. This is not helped by the screws being angled upwards from below, and therefore not transferring much, if any, of the load into the wall.

But having said all of that, it does look good.  Just be careful that you don't exceed the load that it is easily capable of supporting.

It is important to note that Mike used a MAPLE board.  Maple is a hardwood and a big reason why his shelf is sturdy.

Typical 1x4 pine likely need more support than pocket screws to avoid failure at higher loads.

  Joe

Hi all

Here are a couple of suggestions, the first is built from 4x1 planed pine, painted with satin paint and backed with white hardboard, the shelves are nailed to the hardboard so no problem with weight, cost about $30 and a bit of time

The second is a way of storing cars using Ikea wine rack with the bottle ends not fitted to result in storage for 10 full size cars or 20 freight cars, I have shown it with a car hanging out for illustration

I concur.  Usually when you use pocket screws it's a combination of screws and glue.  A couple of locos and you could have a bad day.  Well, in any case, let us know how it goes after about a month of use.

Rick

I think some are over-analyzing this shelf of mine.  It's just a shelf to put some trains on.  I only posted about it because it was so simple to make, and I like the clean look with no brackets.  I'm still new to trains, my son and I are just starting out, but I'm guessing there isn't a single O gauge train made that even weights 10lbs, much less twenty.  I'm of course just guessing.  I could go home and place a 50 pound weight on the shelf and take a picture, but I'm sort of done with discussing what a simple shelf is capable of holding.  There is zero danger of this shelf ever falling, and if I even thought that there was a small chance of injury to my child occurring because of a shelf then all his trains would be in plastic bins under his train table. 

The way pocket hole screws and joints work are, the screw shaft is thinner than the threaded part of the screw.  You also drill a pilot hole through the joint so in effect, the screw's washer-head holds the piece to another piece by squeeze pressure.  The wood can still expand and contract by normal allowances with no danger of splitting.  Before expansion / contraction cause this shelf to fall, you should be more concerned with your bed, your kitchen cabinets, your end tables, bureaus, etc.  I'm also a woodworker and have built many end tables with pocket hole screws and have never had one come apart.  I've even made test joints just for the purpose of tearing apart to check for strength, they're incredibly strong.  So to clarify...it was just a simple shelf idea to display a few trains on...and I liked it so I figured I'd pass it along in case someone else did too.  Nobody here is being forced to convert to "Mike's train shelves" LOL 

Most of my shelves are made to display the trains (see above).  I wanted to display some special trains in our family room but my wife wanted better looking shelving.  So, OK.

The wood is Oak.  I didn't groove it, like my others, but I could have.  No 2 1/2" brackets.  No exposed screws.  Precision (by my standards) measurements.  I think it looks good.  Best of all - the better half likes it.

Mike,

Your idea is terrific and I totally agree with you about the strength of this type of joint.  I was amazed at the strength of joints with only one or two screws and you have three per shelf.  The only suggestion I might have is to put the pocket holes on the top of the shelf.  That way the angle of the screw would be pointing downward and the pocket holes would not show from underneath as much.  I think this would work best on higher shelves where you might see the shelf bottom.  When the lower shelves are filled with rolling stock on the shelves, you would not really see them.  I know you can put inserts in to hide the holes, but this way you wouldn't have to.

Mike A.

I think if you buy good wood, don't abuse it while working on it, and use that or a similar technique that supports it fully, there is no reason to expect a failure.  I have perhaps 140 feet of wall mounted shelves for five years.  Not a single problem.  Still, checking shelves for developing weak spots if one thing I do each month, but I'm actually more worried about brackets coming out of the wallboard than the wood breaking.

I like it, and was thinking about how I'd build some shelves recently too. I now have a reason to break out my rarely used pocket hole jig! Awesome. Thanks.

Last night I churned out two more shelves.  I really like the clean look.  I think I'll make another 2 shelves, although I think he'll need more than that.  It's funny, he's 6 next month and catches on quickly.  He said we can make a bunch of shelves so we can put trains on them haha and was pointing to different places on his bedroom walls where he'd like shelves!  This could get expensive 

If anyone is ever in the area of Phoenix, visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. When there, take a close look at the book shelves he designed. They have the exact same kind of joinery to the wall and those shelves are a lot wider than 4" and have been there for over 70 years! If it's good enough for FLW, it's good enough for me.

Great idea for train shelves.  For those like me without a table saw, the idea of the strips from the Home Depot molding section as an alternative kind of "track" is an excellent idea but I thought that's what old Lionel tubular track is for!

nice going Mike, this negative crap has been going on to long. Nice shelves , nice layout, your son has 1 heck of a father . Close this thread give the naysayers something else to be critical about

Looks great - nice & sturdy, well designed & thought out.  Great looking for the purpose. 

Thanks everyone!  It was a snowy "indoor" day today so my son and I went down stairs and made two more shelves.  It's amazing how fast one can acquire trains!!  Some of you must have entire walls devoted to trains storage (or more). 

" Some of you must have entire walls devoted to trains storage (or more)."

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Don't get them started on this.....they will start to show you!

Greg