Benchwork???

[Anonymous]

Hello this is my first post and I was wondering if I could get some help...
My previous set-up was sectional tables but due to lack of space in our home I needed to relocate my entire railroad to a different room of the house. I would like to build a shelf type railroad following the walls in our spare bedroom. Here is the question.... How high should I build it from the floor and at what angle should I put support brackets. I am going to tie it into the existing wall studs with 1 x 4's and was thinking either 1 x 4's or 2 x 4's for support on the down angle. I want to have the entire thing high enough that I can have a bed underneath. I will be coming out from the wall 3'8" at the most. I hope this is enough info to give you a good idea of what I am trying to do. Thanks

[GerFust]

bigbopper299:

The best height for viewing is eye-level. For working on it, then about chest level (so you can reach in). The angle of the brack probably depends on the weight of the shelf (which is likely proportional to the depth). With good, strong joints and serious anchors into those studs, you won't need much. Hitting the old nogging has to be a concern. If you want to get sneaky, you can put the brackets above the shelf, hidden inside buildings, landscape, etc.

-Jer

[orsonroy]

Height should be whatever you're comfortable with. If you're going to stand and play trains, do you want to look down at them, or look at them from a realistic height? If you want to sit down to play trains, you'll need to make the layout lower still. Personally, I prefer layouts that are higher than 50". But I'm 6'2" and prefer walkaround layout design, too.

As for building a shelf layout, don't bother building fancy wood brackets. Go out and buy yourself a bunch of 10"x12" U channel shelf brackets and screw them directly tot he studwall. I found mine at Menard's for a whopping $0.92 apiece, and it took me no time to put them up. My time is NOT free, so I chose to spend it wisely. (my entire layout, a three-level wraparound, is suported by over 300 brackets, and no other "benchwork". It took me one afternoon to snap the chalklines for the three levels, including grades, and two more afternoons to install the brackets. It's FAST!)

[nfmisso]

I am with Ray on this, and as Jer said, you can put them above and/or below the layout. Alternativing above and below will increase the rigidity of you layout.

[Jetrock]

The main problem with a layout attached to the wall is reaching the back--make sure that you can comfortably reach the back of your intended layout width without smushing everything in front of the layout! One could feasibly work on the layout from a stool to increase reach on a high-mounted layout, but this gets old and if you're a clumsy oaf like me it can be hazardous.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for their advice!!!! I am going to begin this weekend.

[Anonymous]

I will provide a link to a pic of my double decked layout. It is larger than it looks in the pic. The one long benchwork on the left wall is around 11 feet long, it looks about 6 feet in the picture. I did make my own L brackets out of MDF - everything you are looking at is MDF. But I made the brackets out of MDF because I got a deal on the "wood" and I had a band saw. I probably would have used commercial L brackets instead.

What you are seeing is a reversing loop (this area now has track in it) and the second long piece of MDF is now in on the top deck.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/ricknicholson/aac

[Anonymous]

One suggestion. (I learned the hard way) Leave yourself enough room at the back of the layout for backdrop you may want later. In other words, don't build it tight to the wall.

[Anonymous]

You need to get the Kalmbach book "Building Model RR Benchwork" and read up on this subject. Everyone will give you different, good and conflicting responses on this subject. There are so many options and a lot depends on your height, thickness, skills, space, type of railroad and many other variables.

My layout has a top of rail height of 58". It works for me pretty well as I'm 6' tall. I have a friend who's about 5'3" and he thinks it sucks. I also have got to have a duck-under due to the size and shape of the room. I don't like it and certainly don't recommend it but it's an unnecessary evil I have to live with. Building a layout is all about choices and compromise.

Get the book!

Roger

[Anonymous]

All this talk about brackets made me get on the net and then E-mail a cabinet shop I've worked for. I used some brackets that were designed for commercial laminate counter top in offices, these thing held a ton of weight and were only about $ 20.00 a piece. Time is money and with lumber prices on rise It would a good choice. The bracket I used also had a hole for a wiring loom. When I find them I will post again.


Carpenter matt

[orsonroy]

Matt,

Load rating of a ton apiece?!? Wow! What are you building your layout out of, Portland cement? My 10"x12" U-channel shelf brackets have a load rating of 300 pounds, and are mounted on 16" centers (the studwall). They'll hold up any sort of layout you want, and will do so at only $1.08 apiece. The wiring loom bracket is nice, though.

[Anonymous]

ray, A ton was sarcasum. I have seen them hold copy machine and other heavy office equipment. they can be spaced four foot on center.

Carpenter matt

[Anonymous]

Orsonroy - Out of curiousity, how wide is your bracket-supported layout? Did you extend it out past the 10X12 bracket? How?

[orsonroy]

Most of my layout is around 12"-14" deep, so I just let the 2" foam overhang the 1/4" thick plywood that I had ripped to 1' wide. I do have some areas that are considerably wider, including 3' at Bloomington, 4' at Peoria, and around 2.5' at one outside corner.

For the outside corner, I ran one 1' shelf out to the edge of the layout, and glued down foam. The 12" brackets and the strip of plywood are enough to keep the foam, which is actually up to 6" thick on the edges, well supported. My lower level has been in place for 10 months without any sagging problems.

Peoria, on the lower level, is where my one big yard will be. Since I also wanted storage shelving under the layout, I supported the Peoria area with a simple box built out of 2x2's. This box framing supports all of Peoria, which is around 38' long, and up to 4' wide. It's not permanently attached to anything but the shelving that runs the length of the rest of the layout. The 2" foam, as witht he rest of the layout, is glued to 1/4" plywood screwed to the box frame. I weigh 210 or so, and it can fully support my weight crawling around working on the upper two levels without any sagging or movement.

Bloomington is at the end of my third level, and presented an interesting engineering challenge, because I wanted it to be workable from both sides. I ended up building a T-section of the layout here, 12' long and 3' wide, screwed to the stud walls. The top of the T is Bloomington, the first and second levels are hung from one side of the T, and one staging yard is hung from the other side. The T is built out of 2x2's, 1x2's and 1/4" plywood for the backdrop and top deck. 2x2 joists screwed to 1x2 stringers and 2x2 uprights keep the top deck fully supported and solid, while being cheap & easy to build, and fairly lightweight. Vistors are amazed at how strong the T really is, especially people who are prone to using 2x4's for everything!

I don't have a way to post pics online (OK, I don't want to pay for webspace), but I do have my digicam up and running. Let me know if you want to see any pics of my layout, and I'll be happy to pass them along!