After veiwing thousands of great pictures of the tops of layouts, I’d like to get some info on how to put something great looking under my future layout. I hope to have a shelf layout, 12’ by 24 or 30" with some type of attractive cabinetry under neath. Other than few photos within the last year or so, of some wood panels held in place by magnets (by Paul Dolkos in MR I believe) I haven’t seen this topic much discussed. After the thousands of gigabytes we’ve devoted to foam vs. plywood on top of the layout, let’s give some thought to what lies beneath.
Any ideas, photos, sketches, references to how to carpentry books like you see by the thousands in Home Depot or Lowes would be appreciated. TIA my fellow microferroequinologists, Ken
It is rare to see “under layout” pictures. I have suggested this to MR a few times, along with a request to show the entire layout room so as to get a real feel for the setting.
IMHO, under layout pictures are few as so many modelers use the underneath for storage or catch-alls (I know I do). Putting up skirting or paneling on the sides is typically the last thing done to a layout.
I am more interested in viewing the wiring and construction under the layout. This is a neglected area in the mags, but the quality of benchwork/wiring can make or break a smooth running layout.
There have bene a few layouts with custom “fine furniture” woodworking below, but they are in the minority by far and each project is unique. What I have seen recently is a few more people choosing to buy pre-fab cabinets and then mounting the layout on top. But the challenges of reaching inside these cabinets (pre-fab or custom) to reach wiring, switch machines, etc. is not always easy. Things that are hard to reach will fail or need maintenance and revision.
One of the best approaches I’ve seen (and am using) is to construct the storage bins or shelves below the layout with casters or slides, so that they can be easily pulled out into the aisle temporarily when access to the underside of the layout is needed. The old standby of fabric drapes can then be used to conceal the storage units.
In the late 90s, IIRC, MR ran a O scale project layout by Mike Tylick, where Mike built simple, but nice looking cabinets under the small switching layout. I have the articles somewhere, I’ll see if I can get the exact issues. For some reason, it doesn’t show up in the MR search.
For the most part I use plastic bins, and metal utlity shelving, hidden behind a dark gray skirt.
Someone asked a similar question a couple of weeks back. I suggested contacting local contractors who do kitchen renovations. They will sometimes be replacing old cabinets with new ones, and would be happy to have someone take the old ones away for them.
Have you ever done plumbing under a kitchen or bathroom sink, though? Remember how much fun it was? I didn’t think so. The ability to get under your layout to do wiring is important, so don’t underestimate the value of easy access. Most cabinets aren’t designed for human entry.
You guys raise some interesting issues. The need to get to wiring, switch machines etc. demands better access than, say bookshelves or cabinets built right up to the foam or plywood would allow. Maybe I could run little itty bitty wires on the HO telephone poles along the right of way like the prototype. Nah, the 14 ga. bus wouldn’t look too prototypical. It sounds like it’s either curtains for me (literally, not figuratively), or cabinets/shelves on casters. I suspect more good ideas reside in the fertile minds of this forum, keep 'em coming. Ken
I’m designing a shelf layout in a spare bedroom that will have to double-duty as a guest room with a Murphy bed.
One thing I thought of is making a chest of drawers on casters that have an extra drawer front sticking up from the top. This would conceal the fascia board, switch controls, etc. while in bedroom mode.
I have lots and lots and lots of stuff to store under the layout. Bound and/or boxed volumes of Model Railroader complete from 1966 (all catalogued on computer), timetables, unbuilt kits, cars, etc. Lots of etc. I have bookshelves around 3 sides of the room against the wall, to go under shelf benchwork. But 12" depth of bookcase is not enough for my stuff. And I have more benchwork that is 2 feet rather than 1 foot deep. I have, so far, three bookcases on casters that roll IN FRONT OF the bookcases that are against the wall.
So I can get a little bit under the layout…Front 12" anyway…
A roll top desk that I use as my model building work bench.
A metal desk backed up to a dinng room table with a work table across the ends of both. Upon this I laid some foam and now have 6’x7’ test track under the layout.
A winged back chair that I sit in, in the evenings and read with my feet stretched across the aisle to a foot stool on the other side.
24’ of 18" deep shelving used to store model railroad kits, books, magazines, and other odds and ends.
A couple of miscellaneous shelves and a table that store tools that won’t fit in my tool chests and other odds and ends.
My real problem is I don’t have enough space under the layout to hold all my model railroading stuff from the 35+ years I have been in the hobby. But I am hoping to expand the layout into more of the basement so I’ll have more storage space.
Sometimes, I think my real hobby is collecting. [(-D]
Was it me, I’d stick with rollies. You have to gain access to the underside of the layout to install and service wiring, switch machines, lighting circuits, etc. Make or buy cabinets, put 'em on casters, and roll them under the layout. When you have to work on it you just roll the rollies out from under the layout and get on with it. The rollies can be as elaborate as your woodworking skills permit. It they come out a little shabby, or you go with Rubbermaid plastic stuff, a nice curtain from the fascia will cover a lot of sins.
John Olson, in his series in MR back in the 80s, built some very basic bookshelves and cabinets to go beneath a 4x8. They were pretty attractive for simple work. I think it was the Jerome and Southwestern or something like that.
One option, which I’m looking at building, is cabinets and countertops with a wiring chase above them. My train room has to store my wife’s sewing stuff as well as my hobby bench and a wide collection of books. The cabinets are only about three feet high which leaves a good foot or better for a wiring chase. With DCC and a shelf layout, there shouldn’t be too much reaching in. As far as building your cabinets, I have a pretty well equiped shop to do cabinet work, so premade cabinets from one of the BORG would be a good alternative if you don’t have the tools. The downside to cabinets is they pretty much set the layout in the room – cabinets aren’t easy to change, so I’m still considering alternatives.
… why throw away anything, Wolfgang - this is a model railroader´s heaven!
As I share my designated train room with my wife and her hobbies, everything will have to be neat and tidy. Under my shelf layout there will be shelfs and on the shelfs boxes, nicely labeled. That´s boring! [:P]
Under the layout are my FREMO modules, Naumburg, Diamond Valley, curved and straight line. And now I need some storage place for my coming Siver Creek module.
One of the smart things I did when building the new layout is set my bench work height at 48" to make it very easy on the back and knee’s. I was doing some wiring and modifications to a few risers the other day sitting in my office chair. I have shelvs and rolling carts throughout the entire ender side of the layout. When thelayout is completed I think there will be more stuff under the layout then on top of it.
There will be a few items that will be stored under my layout. Part of the deal of me getting the spare room for a train room was moving all my crap out of the living room. The computer desk and monitor will be put there. I also plan to put the pretty old radio/cassette/record player unit under it and a small TV and VCR/DVD combo. All to keep me occupado when in there. The TV/VCR/DVD is coming from our current bedroom. I don’t like having a TV in there anyways, right now it only gets used when the two of us can’t agree on what to watch, but with me in the train room building my layout that won’t be a concern anymore. I also want the VCR/DVD player in there for instructional videos. There will also be some storage with a few plastic tower bins, right now full of junk, but eventually will be filled with all MR issues and other literature I get for my layout. The only hard part will be figuring out how to get a decent depth shelf layout in front of the windows so I can still reach them to open/close them. I may also build the layout edge as a display shelf since I have a very large collection (around 200) of Hot Wheels, a nice collection of 1/18th scale diecast cars, and well the riffle gets used to often to be on display. I’m also finding I want more lokes than I need, anything WC, GB&W, MILW and even fantasy lokes like Athearns soon to come Milwaukee Road AC4400W, so I will also have a collection of train related items I would want on display. I will also most likely have models of my favorite lokes which I may or may not use, but definetly would want on display.
On a side venture here, my background will not be ceiling high, and I may not even have one. We live in an apartment so I don’t think I can just paint the walls. I recently found out however that BLockbuster Video sells some very sturdy movie posters of past movies and such, so my walls will be adorned with cardboard backed movie posters of such greats like “Breakfast At Tiffanys” and some great actors
I nominate a duck; when you submit a track plan to MRP you can notate that at a particular location there is a “duckunder here!”
I have already formulated plans for my underlayout space on my future layout. My benchwork height will be 45" off the floor. I am going to build three shelf twelve inches deep rollaway bookcases designed to hold 2" D-Ring looseleaf binders or 3" wooden magazine holders; I anticipate that each of these bookcases will hold about 18 years worth of magazines . . . . . . . . . . and I’ve got a lot of magazines. My platform width will be 54" wide which will render 30" beneath the middle of this platform giving me considerable storage area if it is needed. This area may not be needed for storage; back in the '70s RMC(?)had a construction article on building rollaround containers from a single sheet of plywood. I have not looked at this article in quite awhile but I once sketched out a modification to the design allowing for drawers instead of shelving on the interior.
I would at this point like to make a comment about storage: we tend to acquire a hodge-podge of cardboard containers and start dumping stuff in them and stacking them up one atop the other. We are lucky if they are all anywhere near a uniform size shoe boxes being an exception. I worked for a courier company and had access to the back room of banks to do pickups of administrative material. I used to rummage through the basura–garbage–and I acquired close to fifty empty check boxes. I don’t necessarily have a fetish for neatness but these are uniform size, stack very neatly and are excellent for storage. I am not averse at spending monies if it facilitates some aspect of my modeling and with this in mind I have purchased bundles of boxes either locally or through an outfit called ULINE. Most of my magazines are currently in 9X12X3 boxes and they stack very neatly.
I went to the other extreme, totally utility shelving, permanently mounted in the basement, but only extending 42 inches up. Solid 2x4 construction with 1/2 inch plywood for shelves (yes, I can stand on it, and have to work on and below the layout). It was the compromise that allowed me space for the layout in our cluttered basement, since we have a Cape Cod style house (no attic). Once some scenery gets done, I’m planning on installing some dark curtains over the stored items.
