track building question

[Anonymous]

I want to build a train set to run along the wall of my sons room. It will be off the floor, and about 8" from the celing.

The room in 12' x 14'

1. Is it better to build a shelf around the room and put the track on the shelf, or
should i susspend it from the celing.


2. Is g scale to big for this.

I know this has been done before, and just wondering what the best way to do this is?

[selector]

Shelf would be more secure, to my way of thinking. G scale should work fine, providing your shelf is constructed in such a way that they hold the minimum curve radius for the locomotive(s) you use.

People seem to favour high placement of G-scale trains, but I would not do that, personally. I like to see things close up, so I would place the layout at waist height, as a minimum, and up to mid-chest height for the person most likely to be using it in six months to a year. Children less than about 11 are likely to drift away from any one pursuit before long...and by the time they are 12, it gets much worse for reasons that should be readily apparent....to a parent.

If you can get your son to assist in the building, he may stay interested somewhat longer, perhaps for as long as you hope.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum. By the way, there is a garden railway forum, and also a "Classic Toy Trains" forum at which you will undoubtedly get additional comments and help.

[dehusman]

Check the height of the G scale equipment, 8 in may not be enough. Also make the shelf fairly narrow so you can see the trains. What would be really cool is to use 1/4 in Plexiglas or Lexan for part of the shelf.

Dave H.

[TomDiehl]

I've seen the "G-Scale trains near the ceiling" thing done in a restaurant (East Stroudsburg) and a hobby shop (Easton) and IIRC, they were a bit more than 8 inches from the ceiling. A great effect for both uses.

[Anonymous]

There is an excellent company in Denver that make some outstanding (but a bit expensive) shelves. WWW.TrainShelving.com is their web site.

I have also seen a neat idea of using metal L brackets ON THE TOP of the shelves, so they are invisible from underneath. I think that wood bracing underneath where the ends of the shelves meet, with overlap on one end and underlap on the other end would make a solid connection.