Shelf Type Layouts To Run Around A Room Perimeter

February 17, 2009

I’ve had several people ask about constructing a shelf layout, or ceiling platform, to run trains around a room. If anyone out there has got such a layout, I’m sure readers would like to see a photo and hear about what you have constructed. You can either add your feedback using the green comments link below or submitting details of your layout at http://www.model-railroad-resources.com/my-layout.html

Building a small shelf layout can give you time to focus on on operation and detail and be less expensive than a larger layout. However, at a glance I can see some issues that need to be considered before building a perimeter layout:

1. What scale? Carefully consider the size of the room and how you are going to support the baseboard and layout. Obviously HO or OO would carry less weight than larger trains. As a guide – N scale trains with 20 cars will be about four and a half feet long. With Z scale you would have even more space but they are more fiddly if you have unsteady hands.

2. How visible or accessible will the trains be from a child’s or adult height. Safety needs to be a consideration here too.

3. Do you need to put up a wire guard rail, or see-thru perspex plastic (flexi-glass) to stop the trains crashing on the floor from a great height? Trains don’t liker being dropped!

4. Will the trains run in one direction or will you be running parallel track?

5. Locomotives and rolling stock can derail on curves so you might want to install track rerailers after every turn to help rerail.

6. Would you be best to paint the baseboard black to help things stand out? How are you going to incorporate scenery and structures?

7. A shelf layout can attract dust and humidity can build up causing rust. You will probably need to clear the track more often and consider a track cleaning car for easy access.

8. Consider how trains will enter and exist the scene. You may want to adding a staging area at either end of the layout. You could make it removable and store it when you are not using it.

9. You might want to consider starting with a simple shelf layout before expanding it to run around the entire room perimeter in a continuous loop.

Building a shelf layout can be a lot of fun and a shelf layout can be an excellent solution if space or finances are limited. The important thing is avoid potential mistakes and carefully plan your layout before rushing in.

If you have a shelf layout add your comments here.