Only option right now for running my subway trains appears to be along the top of room that is only 11x14. Anybody know how/if I should pursue this, hopefully with suspended fiberglass platforms so I can see the Atlas track and trains clearly? Anybody done it with pictures?
Thanks guys.
Steve VP

Hey Steve,

Good to see you are not giving up on the subways completely! When I first got married we lived in an town-house style apartment in White Plains. I built an around the room shelf layout near the ceiling. I needed a cheap solution as I knew we would be buying a house soon and this ceiling layout wouldn't be used for long, but it still had to look good - or the wife would have a fit. All items came from Home Depot. My living room was roughly 13.5' x 10.5'. I purchased 1' x 8' pine boards - roughly 1/2" thick. The wood you use will determine the quality of your shelf, but the design ideas are basically the same. I went the cheapest route (within reason - I could have used plywood, but I wasn't going that cheap) I could for this project. I also bought (4) 2' x 2' x 1/2" thick pine boards that matched the 1' x 8' boards - these were for the corners. I'm sure there are better ways to do the corners, but this worked for me. There are many ways to hang the shelves, but the walls in my living room were strange near the top with a molding at around 8' and another foot above that with another type of wall treatment. This meant I had to hang the shelves from underneath.
I would have liked to use L brackets on top of the shelf and into the wall as you would not have seen them from below, but this was not possible. I bought white metal shelving brackets which I used underneath like any normal shelf. These were placed roughly every 16 inches or so for support.

For the corners, I placed the 2' x 2' square in the corner. Since the shelves were 12" deep, I measured from the wall to 12" on one side, and the same on the other side. Then using a couple pieces of curved track, I placed one end at one mark and the other end at the other mark, and sketched a rough curve on the board. Using a jigsaw, I cut out the excess. This gave me a nice curve for the corner which lined up with the shelves on both sides. (Don't make this curve to sharp - it will be difficult to finish later). I used the first piece as a template, and cut the other three. After painting all pieces white, using a level I hung all the shelves - Not attaching any of the boards - just setting them on the brackets which were screwed into the wall. After some fudging for fitting, I used short metal braces, and put a brace on the top side at each seam both at the front of the shelf and the rear of the shelf. This holds the whole thing securely, and I didn't have to screw the shelves to the brackets. Because they were all against each other, there was no way for them to fall. A lot of wood moldings have a lot of play in them, so I bought 1" molding which I nailed to the front of the entire shelf with paneling finish nails. This gave a slight lip on the bottom and top of the shelf which I painted grey, to match decor. The play was necessary of course to conform with the curves. This created a seamless looking edge for the entire shelf.

The inner loop was O-45 Atlas track laid on top of cork roadbed. The outer loop was elevated, and was O-63 track. To elevate the outer track, I bought (2) sheets of the 4' x 8', 2" thick pink insulation foam. I cut each sheet into (6) 3" strips. I glued sets of 2 strips together, giving me a 4" elevation, and painted them white using the same latex paint as the shelves. These strips were lined up on the shelf and cutting part way through so I could flexibly shape the curves. The Atlas track was laid on top of this, and screwed into the insulation using long Gargraves screws. I do wish I had put the cork roadbed on the insulation as well, as the upper loop was definitely louder than the lower loop, as the insulation was not as good of a sound deadener as the roadbed.

Sorry for the lengthy post - I hope it makes sense. Any questions, please ask - I'll be happy to help anyway I can. One other note, I cut off about 1" of the rear corners - this give me a place to run wiring down to my Z-4000, but you could make a hole wherever you can conceal the wiring best or wherever it will be closest to your transformer.

Pics aren't very good as they were from about 9 years ago, but they should help you get the idea. Certainly you could improve greatly on these ideas, but hopefully it will point you in a good direction.

WOW, Chris, talk about a how-to, complete with pictures...you are an awesome source (not to mention a helluva nice guy). THANKS for sharing this, and all your contributions to this site.

Actually, it was two things that got me back on track, so to speak. New job which basically allows me to stay put (at least for awhile), and some recent experiences in selling off my collection (too tough to part with some of it, and too much of a hassle to sell it in-person, you know how I feel about ebay and craigslist).



Steve

No problem Steve. Congrats on the new job. Post plenty of pics of your progress! Looking forward to them.

HI STEVE, GLAD YOUR BACK WITH US (NOT SELLING OUT COMPLETE) I AM STILL GLAD THAT I PURCHASED THE R1'S FROM YOU, AND YOU WERE 100% CORECT IN SAYING THAT IT'S THE BEST SET MADE BY MTH FOR THE MONEY. GOOD LUCK ANTHONY M

Thanks Tony. I think it'll be a little while before I'm up & running around the top of this room (gotta work above and avoid damaging all the music related stuff). But, I'm sure gonna miss those R1s...

HAVE A GREAT 4TH EVERYONE,

Steve VP

quote:

Originally posted by NYSubway18:
No problem Steve. Congrats on the new job. Post plenty of pics of your progress! Looking forward to them.

Chris, moving beyond the planning stages and procured shelving, couple of glitches & questions.

Busy Walls
Unlike your solid painted walls, I have a somewhat busy wallpaper and very busy border at the top. So, plan is to mount same shelving up against the wall with shelf in an "L" shape/angle. Thankfully, shelving was on hand, so it's being diverted from delayed garage enhancement project.

No 2x2's
Home Depot did not have matching pine 2x2's for the corners, so I opted for straight lines and will fudge the corners to fit curves. Any other ideas on how to manage?

Raised 4" Level
Although it appears to be an inexpensive approach to a 4" elevated track, I'm not too fond of working with that insulation you used. Are there any other quick & inexpensive ways to approach this?

Steve

Hi Steve,

Are you planning on painting the shelves? If so, matching the wood is not that important - just the thickness. For the corners, you could cut down a larger piece of wood or even a sheet of plywood - they have good quality oak or birch plywood that would work - just a matter of trimming out the edge. If you're handy with a jigsaw you could cut curved shelves that are just slightly thicker than the roadbed which will give it a more open feeling on the back side. I've seen lots of people do this.

For the raised outer loop, how about a 2nd, thinner shelf mounted above the lower wide shelf. This would even allow you to put some scenery behind the lower track as buildings and such would fit under the upper shelf. If the lower shelf is 10-12" deep, you could probably do a 4-6" deep second shelf. Keep us posted.

Basic shelving is up around the room, but not yet bolted to wall (with EL's) or together (with mending plates). Leaving the wood raw for now, but leaning towards Lt. Gray because room has a Lt. Gray carpet w/black & hint of red wallpaper (and because wifey is starting to add her input). BTW, she is not quite thrilled with this whole thing just yet, but the usual pattern has her eventually get onboard.

After basic bracing is completed, will decide on how to do the upper level and get that done.

Who was it that made those fully decorated building faces? Thought they might come in handy for my project, since I'm working with limited space and very little depth to the layout.

I think I'm starting to see the lights of the trains not too far off...

Steve VP

Basic 11x14 shelf layout & support work completed. Elevation method for outer track has been decided and put into place. Curved radii are 54, 42 and 31 (yes, I will be trying to add a second track on the lower level for a total of three loops instead of the originally planned two). Starting to lay track tonight, so it won't be long before what's left of my collection (R1 add-ons, R12s, R17s, R26s, R38 add-ons, and R62s) will be on the rails again along with a new set of R40 slants coming soon. R11 blue doors and R142a's are on order. Hope to be able to also do pics soon...

Oops, almost forgot the R21 maroons and the R42 D train to Coney Island, wouldn't want to forget these two, they really stand out (each for its own reasons, as I'm sure you guys know).

IT'S A-LIIIIVE!!! Brought power to my two-track bi-level shelf layout and test ran it with my R17 Gray-Blue Graffiti and R12 Two-tone Grey sets. Worked OK, but all track is REALLY grungy. Won't be running my new R34s, R40s, R62s and R26s until I get this track sparkling clean and of course, lubed up the new sets.

Also in the works are mounting the station and tunnel graphics, and adding the rounded corners.

This project has me transforming the room such that ALL of my subway trains can be displayed.

Pics as soon as I can get to it.

Excellent Steve. Looking forward to the pics.

Thanks Chris, but when it comes to pics, you set the bar awfully high...

Hey, all pics are good. I don't care if you throw up a few crooked shots from a 3 year old cel phone. Let's see the trains and shelves!

In that case, I guess I'm gonna have to look into getting messaging activated on my old AT&T phone which happens to be, believe it or not, about three years old! I've been too cheap about it in the past, but for the sake of the trains, hey, what the heck...

hoping to get some pics posted soon, can't seem to get it done...