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[Anonymous]

I have an 18' X 12' living room with one open end and would like to run a lionel train i just recieved from my grandfather...would like to either mount it to the wall or suspend it from the ceiling any ideas on how i would accompli***his task...any help on this topic would be appreciated...

Jon

[Overmod]

You'll get much better results posting in one of the Model Railroader forums.

I assume that you're talking about running this train on track, not just on rollers.

Your best bet is to assemble a light frame, decked with thin plywood and Homasote (etc.) where the track is to run and done with scenery (e.g., chicken wire covered with newspaper strips dipped in brown-tinted plaster, then trees, grass, rocks etc. added). You will then tie this to the STUDS in the wall, or hang it from the joists or beams in the ceiling -- locate them with a stud-finder. If all you want is a narrow shelf allowing the track to run around the room, you can use pressed shelf brackets to hold up the frame; wider frames would benefit from legs or angled struts tied into the studs lower down. With some care you can design standoffs and caps so that if the frame is taken down the wall still looks fairly intact.

From the ceiling you can hang the frame from plant hooks, with cable or even heavy monofilament line (made for deep-sea fishing). Use weights to make the frame hang true and even once you've suspended them; you can use turnbuckles in the support lines to get the track end-to-end level after you have all the segments mounted.

Again, there are people on the model forums who have actually done this sort of thing and can give you detailed examples and good ideas that work.

[spankybird]

You should check out this thread from the CTT part of this forum

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5898