Can anyone recommend a company for wall mount racks; most “O” and some HO and standard gauge
Thanks
Larry
I attach 36-inch sections of O27 track to the wall with corner braces–no shelves:
(Pictures by David Vergun)
The braces are actually screwed into 1/2-inch plywood which is in turn screwed into the studs. This allows me complete freedom to locate the braces where I need them, on 18-inch centers rather than 16 inches. The braces fit snugly between the bottoms of the rails and the rolled edges of the ties, and the rail flanges are clamped down with screws through small fender washers. There is about 1/2-inch clearance between the widest cars and the wall.
Check the ads in CTT, there’s a company that makes extruded aluminum rack that you drill and screw direct to the studs. They have ridges that are spaced the same as track; I believe they come in 8’ lengths.
Six feet for $15.
Check the ads in CTT - there are several outfits offering wall mounted racks.
Personally, I’ve used Rail Rax for some time and they are great. They are very easy to install - and to relocate if you need too. If you have a drill and a level (oh, and a stud finder) you can make it happen. The Rail Rax website is railrax.net.
Bob:
That is a great idea; Now I know what to do with all that track that I wouldn’t get anything on EBAY.
Thanks
Larry
Larry, if it’s any help to you, I used Stanley 2 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch corner braces, #6 x 9/16-inch fender washers, and 6-32 x 3/8-inch screws, with the screw between the two rails farther from the wall and through the outer hole in the brace. Surely other combinations will work; but this might save you some trouble. I found the parts at Lowe’s or Home Depot, but I don’t remember which stores had which ones.
Bob, Do they get sturdy enough to hold a heavy loco, or just for rolling stock?
It depends on how close you space the braces. I built a mockup first and tested it with my heaviest locomotive, a Rail King big boy, even though it stays on the layout. I keep F3s and various other locomotives on the shelves with no problem. I settled on 18 inches for the storage tracks, but shortened that to 12 inches for the one track on which I actually operate trains.
The brace spacing is not exactly uniform, since they fit next to (not under) the ties. I do recommend locating a brace at the tie closest to each track joint. For the operating track, I insulated the center rail from the brace and the fender washer with a little cardboard. The fender washers I used vary quite a bit in thickness. I selected the thinner ones for the operating track to clear the wheel flanges.
A nice feature of this method, unlike a solid shelf, is that the entire piece is completely visible, right down to the wheels, no matter how high on the wall.
For your folks living in earthquake prone areas, I would suggest attaching the engines/cars to the shelf, maybe with a thin piece of wire or heavy mono-filament fishing line.
If dishes can fall off a shelf, I’m sure a train can hop off just as easy. [:(]
Good point. We’re in seismic zone 0 in the building code; so we don’t think about such things.
Larry,
I recommend tracksidetrains.com
They make beautiful wooden shelfs that are in the shape of a three rail train track. Grooves are pre-cut for various size wheel flanges. They are well constructed and don’t have to be relegated to a train room.