Suspended Layout

[Anonymous]

I am planning a layout for my garage that will require suspending the layout from the ceiling. Does anyone have any experience with this and maybe describe how they did this? I am presently looking into a pulley system but would like input from others.

[nfmisso]

Do a search on the magzine index.

It must be very rigid, or the track will become a maintence night mare.

How much verticle height will you be able to get?

Think about a spine style construction, where the central spine is plywood with 2x4 caps on top and bottom. This spine should be as tall as you can get it, preferably more than 2 feet. From the spine, use 1 x 3 ribs on edge made out of ¾" plywood, with a sheet metal shelf bracket mounted up side down to connect each rib to the central spin. The ribs should be no longer than 30" (allowing ~30" radius curves at the ends). preferably under 18". Use two layers of ¼" plywood as a facia connected to all of the ribs.

Use foam or spline style roadbed on top of the ribs. Cookie cutter with ¾" plywood is a bit heavy. Use foam for scenery.

The spin can be C shaped (plan view) to wrap around the door opener on a 16' garage door.

The whole layout should be counter wieghted, and MUST have redundant positive locking mechanisms to hold it up and down that are independent of the cable/pulley system(s). If it fell, it would kill people, and seriously damage the vehicle underneath.

E-mail me if you want to discuss this more - just click on the icon below.