My Mom said I can put up a model railroad layout in my bedroom. I got rid of all the junk and I want to build a layout along one wall in my room. The wall is 10 feet long and I would like it to be 2 feet wide. But I don’t understand how to make it shelf type. I don’t think that there are shelf brackets that are 2 feet wide at the hardware store? Do I have to build brackets out of woood? And I screw them into the studs behind the wall? And then I just lay wood on the brackets, or use foam that everyone on this forum is talking about?
Thank you very much. My uncle gave me lots of track and turns - switches from atlas mfg but he lives in Louisiana and I live in New Jersey with my Mom and my sisters.
A “normal” metal L-shaped shelf bracket will support a 2 foot wide shelf, so long as there’s not a lot of weight pushing down on the side of the shelf that doesn’t have a bracket under it, and IF it’s made properly.
I’d really suggest 1/2" plywood and 1"-2" of foam on top of that. My rather large layout is built with 1/4" ply and 2" foam, and I have some areas that are 2 foot wide.
Basically, all you need to do is to screw the 10"x12" shelf brackets to the studs (one bracket per stud) behind the drywall, screw the 1/2" ply to the brackets, and glue the foam on top of the plywood. So long as you don’t bash into the layout a lot, it shouldn’t go anywhere.
i just built an around the walls layout 2’ wide, i just used standard brackets with 24" 2x4s on them plywood or foam on top. Foam is better but just standard brackets into the studs
If your whole wall is clear you may want to consider buying some inexpensive 2x4’s and borrowing a book on basic carpentry from the library, then build a quote table unquote - 4 legs with bracing to keep a rectangular shape. Put the layout on top, held down by gravity.
You also might want to find some sort of shelving set - maybe a bathroom stand - that is about 36" tall. To hold up a 10 ft long plank buy one for each end.
You are a step ahead of me - I am still clearing out the wall along my garage to make room for a 2x6 board with track on top. I’m going to build a support table because I don’t trust my ability to hang anything off a vertical surface. [B)]
Billy01: I’ve gone for the steel brackets. I use the 12 inch or 14 inch, that’s plenty big enough for even a 24 inch shelf. I prefer to put a 1x3 lumber on top of the bracket the full width of the shelf. In your case that would be 24 inches long. Then I screw my 1/2 inch plywood shelf to those 1x3s. My extruded foam goes on top of the ply, and I use white glue to fix it. (wieghed down while it dries - books, cans of food, anything that weighs a bit. I even clamp the edge sometimes.) In my album at http://www.railimages.com/gallery/JohnWood you’ll find about 3 pics that show the brackets. In there you’ll also see a bookcase unit being used for support as BRJN has suggested.
(if the link doesn’t take you right to the album, go to page 4 of the album listing at www.railimages.com/gallery and scroll down to John Wood.
Hope this helps.
Billy, believe me I’m no carpenter, but I built an L shaped wall unit, 10’ long on each leg, 24" wide with a 30" dogbone on each end for the turnarounds. I bought everything at Home depot. I used 12" long U channel brackets, spaced every other stud or 32". I then used 18" brackets ( $4.95 each ) Make sure there is one on each end, and then every other stud in between. I made my benchwork out of 1/4" Birch ply, on a frame of 1x3"s . Then I glued an 1" thick piece of pink 2’ wide Foam on top of this for my roadbed. I used good old Elmers White glue, and held it down with books until it dried. Others use 2" but I went “N” scale and honestly didn’t want to spend the money of 2". If you go this route you could build a steady shelf for under $50.00. Buy or borrow a stud finder so that your brackets are well secured on the studs. Mine is plenty sturdy, and was constructed using all hand tools, except for an electric drill. If you look around this board and the net you’ll find plenty of ideas for such a layout. Good luck and wlecome to the hobby. Dave
Billy01: Had a further though about those metal brackets. They dig into sheetrock with all the weight of the layout on a small surface area. Also, the holes in them don’t quite match the width of a stud inside your wall, most of the time. [B)] So here’s a fix. Use a 1x3 vertically on the wall at each stud that you are going to hang a bracket on. The screws for the 1x3 can be directly under each other, so you shouldn’t miss the stud. Now you’ve got much more area for the weight, and no damage. Also, you’ve got 2 3/4 inches of width to place your bracket on. [8D]
i used the sam brackets as john (except mine were white) and they hold the weight fine. But it is sort of tricky to get all three screws into your studs. 2 is more then enough thou so dont worry about it [;)]
It’s not that tough to get drywall screws through all three holes and into the stud securely. Just tilt the angle of attack inwards slightly. I missed a few times when I was installing all my brackets (well over 100!), but they all have three secure screws each.
Billy01, all the ideas above are good and will work, I just thought I would give you another option. This is cantilever supports. Probably a little overkill and more labor intensive, but extremely strong. My around the wall is 30" wide so I needed a little more support than brackets would offer. Check out the pictures at: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/johncasey , good luck and have fun. John
JCasey: Really good looking benchwork John. Wouldn’t mark the walls up either. I have shelves and workbench, my office desk etc. under my bracket supported shelf layout, so your solution would be less favourable in my situation, but Billy could sure use it, I would think. Are you in HO for that EL layout? 30 inches would be a lot of country in N. Regards, John.
Hi Billy01, here is yet another idea. Your mother may have said you can have a set-up in your room, but I don’t think she knows yet you will be making a lot of holes in the wall!! This “may” not be acceptable with mom. So “if” this becomes the case, here is another idea based upon a layout that I set up each holiday in the Family Room (you KNOW there will be no holes in THOSE walls, right guys?)
I used 1x4 #2 pine from HD and made FREE STANDING tables that bolt together every 4 feet. I used carriage bolts, washers and WING nuts, This made it very easy to assemble and disassemble (or expand Billy). Just use the same technique to construct the table/s as the previous MRR folks have outlined above, they are right on the money!
Linn H. Wescott’s book, How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork, is still avaliable on eBay and at train shows . It has a section on around the wall benchwork supports. It is a very good book to have in your model railroad library.
Check out some of the other great articles on Layout Construction.
You can adjust the dimensions to suit your shelf width.
I used this same type bracket on my layout and they work great.
Billy:
You might study the photo. These are 20" STANLEY shelf brackets installed on each stud (16"centers). They are about $5 each at Home Depot. The fram is made from yellow pine 1x4 at about $1.68 per 8’ piece. The track is supported on vertical risers.
