This is the story of a quest, and how it succeeded:
Around the middle of this last winter (2011) I finally realized that the motive power collection of the Flint Hills Northern was far too large for a single 24 x 46" shelf in a closet. Accordingly, my wife and I began searching for a suitable display cabinet, where the locos could easily be seen and would be protected from the elements (e.g.: dust). We looked at all sizes and shapes of knick-knack cases and cabinets in the local furniture stores. All seemed entirely too flimsy, with thin glass shelves which would not, it seemed, stand up to 1- and 2-pound chunks of metal being plunked down on them. The imagined resulting crashes were too horrifying to contemplate.
Months went by, with no apparent progress. We are also, in a minor way, antique collectors, so we were not limited to new furniture. We browsed and scoured antique malls and shops all over the Kansas City area. Finally on Wednesday, Oct. 5 (our 37th anniversary!) we were in one of our favorite malls, the River Market Antique Mall in Kansas City, and spotted an antique legal bookcase. Legal bookcases are modular, stackable shelves, each with its own protective glass door. These are often found in law offices and law libraries, where they are used to store law books and keep them clean and useable. They can be somewhat pricey, where a short 3-shelf stack on a base can cost upwards of $650 or $700. For
Nice Looking piece, just about good enough to have in the family room with the wife’s stuff; OK maybe better not push it [swg] Still, a very nice setup!!!
I believe that is called a Barrister’s Bookcase. I used to see similar items at the local unfinished furniture store. If you Google Barristers Bookcase you will come up with a bunch of websites, some selling plans. An example: http://www.plansnow.com/bstbookcase.html
Maxman, great info! I found out some other facts about my bookcase I didn’t know: it’s over 100 years old, and though the name “Barrister’s Bookcase” might lead one to believe they originated in England, they in fact were invented and were and are still made in America. I also verified we got ours at a great price!
[:)]
I still think they’re the greatest train collection display devices ever invented!
BTW, when I started building the “stairsteps”, I had a qualm or two over the weight of the lumber in an antique, until I considered what the weight of a shelf of law books would be… (“Weighty tomes”, in more ways than one! [(-D] )
I can say we have a knock down all one unit 4 shelf barrister’s book case.
I can attest to the fact the dust and dirt are kept out quite well, as you would not believe how dirty the glass and doors get as it is kinda in a high traffic area. Also the cat’s dishes sit on the floor in front of it and that kind helps keep the bottom door dirty when they splash their water to see if it is in the dish!.
What do we keep in ours? Books on 3 of the shalves, natch. The top shelf is reserved for other things like mailing supplies, a few knicknacks, and packing sealing tape gun, along with a few “keepsakes” cards in a box.
I really wish we had two as one could easily be filled with MR and TRAINS mags!!!
Ours in neither antique, nor could we afford an antique set, but I do like the fact that each shelf is a separate unit in the old ones. ALso, the antique one as you have shown it sorta “sets off” the trains as an important piece of art, rather than just a collection of “things” that happen to be trains!
I have frequently recommended an apothecary chest to organize scratchbuilding supplies, etc. Another classic piece of furniture adapted for model railroading use:
