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I have some ho trains from a while back that I'd like to display. Problem is, I live in a relatively small condo and don't have a ton of space. I do, however, have a 21' long wall in my living room/ dining room that screams "shelf with trains". Ideally I'd like some sort of shelf the length of the wall, perhaps a little more than a foot from the ceiling (I have 9.5' ceilings), that is wide enough for two sets of track; one that runs the length and has the train going back and forth, and another that is essentially switches leading to sidings for trains not in use.
My questions are: is there a shelf for purchase that could accomodate my needs or would I have to construct my own? What would I need to have the train go back and forth in a straight line (I'm assuming some kind of reversing thing?)? Is the idea of the switches doable, or should I just have "dead" track and manually lift the trains over as I want them to run? What type of power pack do I need to make all this happen?
Sorry for the long first post. Thanks very much for all your help. I'll post pictures as the project progresses.
Let me make sure I understand what you're asking. You're saying you have 9.5 foot ceilings and you want to mount a shelf one foot below that? That means the shelf would be 8.5 feet off the ground? If that's the case, we need stop right here and rethink this plan. You'd have to be on an 8 foot stepladder to do anything with your trains. I don't even know how you could see your trains from floor level looking up 8.5 feet. Is there a way you can run the shelf at a lower level, say 5 feet? You need to come up with another plan - this one won't work.
Yes, the shelf would be about 8+ feet off the ground. I'm thinking just a straight line of track that the train can run back and forth on, nothing to elaborate. I really can't go too much lower than that because of the windows on that wall. I don't think visibility will be too much of an issue as the room is pretty large and you can easily stand back and admire the train going back and forth, no scenery or buildings. You are correct about needing a ladder everytime I do anything, which is why I was thinking the switches would be a good idea.
Can't U make it pass from under the window sill, make a 2 feet deep shelf layout and try to make an inset to 1 foot, so U can reach and open the window easily? I'll try to check if I can find U a 1 foot deep layout ( shelf )
if I understand what you are saying, then no, I can't. Space is at a premium and the appeal of the high shelf is that it can display my trains better than the box they're sitting in can, and not disrupt the room. All of the space at window level in the room is already spoken for, regardless of if I still have acsess to the windows or not. I've seen straight line shelves done with larger scale trains, but never HO. I can't really go too deep because I don't want to have more than just a shelf hanging off the walls.
So basically U only need a shelf 8 feet high, going around the room, so U can just run your trains around, I guess U understand as well that if you are going to make it run around the room, U will need curves in the room's corner for the train to turn, and these will protrude from the corner itself. You can also set a couple of bridges up there so the trains will be more visible when passing over them.
I really like the bridges idea, I'll look into that. The shelf will not go around the whole room, but rather just a straight line along the one wall. That's my main question; what device do I need to have the train change direction when traveling on a straight line of track?
Well you could pass your current through a DPDT .,....( can't remember the name "contactor") and put a type of spring switch on both ends, and every time one of these switches is pressed, the "contactor" will switch the polarity in the rails ( by having the wires cross souldered from the DPDT ). That's what I could think of fromt he top of my head. Obviously U will only have a train going back and forward.
