Pointers/advice for simple shelf layout

Mark wrote: I've found a couple of links with pictures and tips on doing something like this, but thought I'd ask the forum if anyone has tips, suggestions, or examples that I might find useful?

---------------------------------------------- "Highline" might have some useful info:

=>I've found a couple of links with pictures and tips on doing something like =>this, but thought I'd ask the forum if anyone has tips, suggestions, or examples =>that I might find useful? =>

=>Thanks in advance! =>

=> Mark Schellhorn

How old is your son? If he's two or or thereabouts, a Brio style wooden tarin set will have much more play value for him. Children love these - they can arrange tracks any way they want, they can "operate" the trains by pushing them around the track and make suitable noises, and so on.

Not that I want to discourage you from buying the Thomas set, I assume your son likes the little blue engine. :-) It's just that watching Thomas go round and round, without being able to do anything about it, gets to be rather a bore, especially for little boys.

So my 1st suggestion is, put it lower down, to make it easier to see the train, and later on, when your child grows older, to actually play with it. You can put shelving below, and a kid's room never has enough shelving. :-) There are many ways to build a reliable removable section where the shelf crosses the door, with electrical interlocking so that a train can't plunge into the abyss.

3rd, the support system you propose works very well for shelves up to about

4th, electrical matters: the run will be long enough that you should run some heavy gauge wire around the shelf with some extra connectiosn to the track to reduce voltage drop at the end furthest from the power pack (controller.)

Wolf Kirchmeir ................................. If you didn't want to go to Chicago, why did you get on this train? (Garrison Keillor)

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' I agree with Wolf's suggestion otherwise your son will lose interest fast. And as he grows he will much more enjoy the hands on interaction and may create the spark which will grow into wanting more as he ages, which of course can lead to a satisfying life long hobby. Of course, I'm a bit prejudiced in this regard!

Paul - "The CB&Q Guy"

-- "An important part of this hobby is building things, and the fun of building is nearly always more important than the mere possession of a model" ~ Linn H. Westcott ~

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Gents,

Thanks for tips!

My boy is three weeks old today, so there's no immediate danger of him wanting to take the train down and play with it :-). I've heard that infants like motion and repetition, and I've always wanted to have a model train, so I figured why not install one that he can focus on and watch while it goes round-and-round? Besides, with a basement full of scale models, model rockets, and R/C airplanes, Dad needed an excuse to try another hobby!

Mark

Paul K - The CB&Q Guy wrote:

Hi Mark,

At that age he can't see more than a few feet away, and he definitely won't be able to see an HO model next to the ceiling unless he is sitting on your head. For the first few months you'll be better off with a wind up mobile hanging just out of his reach.

So you have time to look around and check various construction options. I would put in a five sided corner shelf , large enough to hold the curve without obscuring the train. Might even put a concave cut on the inside of the curve so it doesn't dissapear around the corners.

There are also various hanging kits for trains, usually an open lattice that the track sits on. I have seen several hobby shops with trains hanging from the ceiling. One grocery store in town used to have a G scale track running above the register line. They took it down after they had a dozen cashiers quit because of the noise.

Bob McC>Gents,