Layouts and layout building

MisterBeasley:

I've got a sloped ceiling in my train room.  The kneewall is very low, so when I start Phase 2 of my layout, I'll be attaching the benchwork directly to the underside of the ceiling.  I'll be using a simple box frame with rafters, and putting pink 2-inch foam on top of it.  The benchwork will be mostly 30 inches wide, with a balloon at one end for a track loop.

Does anyone have experience and/or suggestions for attaching the frame to the wall / ceiling?  It's a 45-degree angle.  Currently, I'm thinking of a 1x3 run horizontally, angled with the wall and attached with screws drilled through into the studs.  Then I'll use angled cross rafters out to a 1x4 piece on the front edge, with 2x3's for legs.

Have you considered simply getting some 4x4's (old railroad ties would also work) and floor jacks to lift up the front part of the house by 45 degrees and then cribbing it?

I'm always for the simplest, most obvious solution. Which in this case would be removal of the 45 degree angle.

Alternately, you could fashion custom hangers from 1/2" - 3/4" plywood-- with the top segment along the 45 degree angle and the bottom segment (presumably) at a 90 degree angle (straight out horizontally). The vertical portion would need to correspond with amount you've alloted for height. Spaced at about 2 foot intervals, you should have plenty of support for a suspended shelf. To anchor it to the sloped ceiling, secure some 2x2's or similar to the ceiling and then attach the brackets to the anchors. You could use nails, screws, or bolts. Then you can hang whatever backdrop you'll be using directly to the hangers.

However, I mostly agree with the other respondents that unless you have some special need for a suspended configuration, you'd probably have a better bet with just building up the benchwork from the floor.

jwhitten:

However, I mostly agree with the other respondents that unless you have some special need for a suspended configuration, you'd probably have a better bet with just building up the benchwork from the floor.

Yes, after consideration of all the ideas, I think that's the way to go.  I was thinking I'd save myself some lumber and construction, but all I will save is about 20 linear feet of 2x3, and it will probably be simpler to just build the legs than to work out some elegant way to mount it on the wall.

Since it's 19 feet long, I'll be building it in 3 separate sections.  It's not meant to be truly "modular," since there are far too many tracks crossing the section boundaries, but it would allow for a one-time separation if it had to be relocated at some point.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.  Time to buy lumber in a few weeks, so I can have the benchwork upstairs in the warm train room by the time winter sets in.

MrB, you will also find that even built sections with a 1x mounting ledger that the rafters will not be on a level plane for attachment.  Any crown/ sag of the rafters will pronounced for mounting a level ledger. This is not to say it can't be done, but any framework attached in this fashion would have to be stick built in place. Preconstructed frame sections on supports would be the easier way to go as shown by Lee wm3798. These could be attached to a few rafters for added stability, any irregularity of the bottom rafter line could be shimmed at the mounting position if needed.

MrB, 

 If you are attaching to the rafters, this would be a good place to use your Bragdon hardshell to save on weight.

Sue