Display Tracks

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Recently I finished my Ho scale display track that holds some of my more fragile pieces of my collection. Here are some pictures.

20230619_110145 by Edwin’s Trains, on Flickr

The track placed on the foam board base

20230620_105244 by Edwin’s Trains, on Flickr

The finished product with ballast and grass

20230620_105554 by Edwin’s Trains, on Flickr

An Ambriod balsa wood kit from the 50’s I assymbled recently and 2 Roundhouse old-timer kits on the track

If anyone has display tracks, or sidings for the same use, feel welcome to share them here.

2

I kept a few models on the alluminum display tracks on the wall of my bedroom.

-Photograph by Kevin Parson

Sorry about the low quality of the image, It was cropped from a small section of a scanned photograph.

That is a very old picture… look at all those “real world” road names! Those have been gone for years and years.

-Kevin

3

Ed,

Are you moving the cars? They appear VERY close to edge. I hope you put up something to prevent them from careening down the edge.

4

Ok, I built these things to prevent that from happening.

20230620_181442 by Edwin’s Trains, on Flickr

They are on both sides of the display too.

5

Those bumpers will keep cars from rolling off the ends.

But maybe the concern is what keeps the cars from rolling over off the track and into the aisle if hit by one of the lanterns being removed from behind?

6

Nice collection of railroad lanterns. [Y][Y]

Wayne

7

That area is mostly for display, and I probally won’t move the lanterns. If I do I will remove the cars or locos being displayed then.

8

I would also be concerned about the display being so close to the long edge of the cabinet.

A year or two ago I was admiring a painted brass caboose that I had just purchased. It was sitting on the layout and my fleece jacket inadvertently caught one of the ladders as I was walking by and it plummeted to the train room floor. The result was that it bent & deformed one of the rear platform stairs.

I was able to straighten out some of the bent areas with smooth-jawed pliers. However, it’s still noticeably creased. I ended up putting the caboose back in the box and haven’t looked at it since. Still bums me to this day to think about it. [sigh]

Tom

9

Tom,

Correct about the cars being too close to the edge. I bet if there’s a way for a car fall, it will find it. Who hasn’t had accidents happen on layouts, esp. at the worst time or place.

Tom, thanks for sharing the sad story. I can only imagine the amount of foul language used. Even if not into that, I bet you were upset.

10

No language - just very disappointing. I didn’t have it out longer than 2 minutes then…boom! And it was a less common variety of a NYC caboose (Big 4 center cupola) that I specifically wanted for the layout. [:S]

Tom

11

I am sorry to hear about your caboose incident. I don’t think anything similar would happen to the cars on my little display. The photos don’t really show it, but the set of shelves it is on is over 5 feet high. I gave it the universal shake test, in which none of the cars fell, or derailed. Once I get a new desk put in, I defintally will move it. The risk of things falling from there is defintally there, as I found out with my caboose whistle.

12

13

I always park my trains at spots on the layout where they will not hit the floor if we get a little shake. We get the occasional small earthquake and I have found a car off the rails afterward.

14

A couple of ways I avoid having cars potentially falling off the layout:

  1. Have tracks at most 1-2" from the edge of the layout;

  2. Put up fascia slightly taller than the foam to prevent the cars from falling;

  3. Only keep a limited # of cars on the layout and away from where I’m working.

While not full-proof, such ways help avoid any issues.

15

I feel your pain Tom.

This is the “standard” caboose for the Stratton And Gillette. It is a Gulf Mobile And Ohio prototype that was imported in brass by both Hallmark and Sunset.

-Photograph by Kevin Parson

I wanted ten of them, and it took me four years to finally get them all. I found the last one at The Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena, California in 2019.

I took it back to the hotel room to admire my tenth matching caboose. After I inspected it I went to put it back into the plastic “bag”… but it was not a bag! It was packed in a plastic tube, and when I dropped it into the tube it fell out the bottom and hit the coffee table on the way to the floor.

[:‘(] [:’(] [:‘(] [:’(] [:‘(] [:’(] [:‘(] [:’(] [:‘(] [:’(]

The end was damaged, and I was so mad at myself.

-Photograph by Kevin Parson

The damage is minor, and I can probably fix it, but I surely didn’t need a repair project.

-Kevin