Yes, please do share how your layout is supported and what if anything is under it. That is a pretty broad open ended question. Is it just on legs? Are they folding legs? Is sitting on cabinets? Did you build special shelving? Do you wish you did it differently? Can you get to your wiring? How far off the floor was it? Um, anything else that makes it crude but effective? As always in my threads all polite answers, relevant or off topic, humor and positive or negative comments are welcome. At this time my layout is on 39" 1x4 legs with several inches of foam on top. Currently there is lots of room to finish the wiring but even as I type this I am planing on some form of home made cabinets with shelving.
The last actual layout I built was a shelf type, around the room. It used a 2 by 4 set on edge along the base board. The shelf bracing was angled up from that, so there were no legs in the way. It made things very strong, (I could support my 200+ pounds on it easily), and wide open for wiring work, etc.
My layout height is 54". I strongly believe that N scale trains looks much more realistic at close to eye level. Since I am 6'1" 54" allows me to achieve that with a slight tilt of the head and still is low enought to work on while standing upright. One side of my layout has stock steel wood looking shelves and a couple of L girder style shelve to store freight car boxes. The railroad on this side is box style benchwork (I model the flat southern New Jersey country). The center "leg" of my layout has some L girder benchwork and has several inexpensive vertical plastic storage box units. The other wall of my layout burrowed through build in desk and shelving units (to the dismay of my wife). To answer your other questions: Except for the desk unit the layout is on 2x3 non-folding legs The desk unit qualifies as cabinets I did build special shelving to hold 400-500 freight car boxes I did what was necessary in each unit and would probably do it the same way again Wiring access is accessible just not convenient; most of the 6' modules were done in the garage before moving to the loft. Hope this helps. (Browsing my blog would give you more pictures and a better sense of how each "leg" differs.)
What's Under Your Layout? Cheep plastic storage cabinets and access holes for the tunnels and for the wires inside the hollow-core-doors. There is also dust and a few dead bugs; I haven’t cleaned recently. Bob
My layout is on 40" 1 x 3 legs. Easy access to all wiring under the layout without being able to see it standing at the layout. There is nothing under the layout but carpet. The layout is on one end of our finished family room, therefore nothing under it. (She who shall be obeyed woudn't allow it.) I keep thinking I need to add skirting, but haven't done it yet.
Thanks for the replies everyone! My wife pointed out that I omitted the fact that at the moment there are piles of lumber and blue foam under my layout. Sigh.
I have room for almost everything, especially since now it is hidden by grey cloth hanging from the fascia.
Shelves supported atop bookshelves at 57 inch elevation, to clear lower half of window. This is an old picture. Layout further along but lots more stuff under and in front of. How I store cars in rollaround shelf unit in frontof bookshelves that hold up layout shelves. N scale cars by car type on their side. Passenger sets are in a silver foil covered double-width box for the stainless-steel all-streamlined Texas Chief set, a "train blueprint" wrapping paper covered double-box for the heavyweight mail and express train, and a box decorated with pictures of fruit labels for the California Special.
My layout is for the most part an around the wall/shelf type layout. I used an old carpenters trick using rigid electrical conduit for support. No legs on the ground to stub your toes on and extremely strong, easily holding over 250 pounds. This makes it easier to work underneath the layout and with the top level averaging about 48 inches leaves plenty of storage underneath.
Well since you ask ....:teeth: About 3 weeks ago I built new benchwork and slid it under the old layout . It's basically a 2' x 3' x 36" high shelf unit on wheels , with 2 L girders on top to support the layout . My layout is against the wall and with the old support system I just couldn't get to the back side to do any work or maint. Now I can wheel it out in less than 30 seconds without derailing anything .
Ive got 3 short, 3 shelf bookcases under my HCD right now. Provides storage for magazines, books and a few other odds and ends. Nothing against the wall, since I need to keep an HVAC return vent open! In a seated position, it's just about perfect height. No wiring to worry about at this time. Haven't quite gotten that far yet! Will be starting on that before too long. Once I find out where all my wiring ended up, after doing some work on my truck! Maybe different seating downstairs, if I had to do anything different. Lucky to be able to squeeze in what I have and still have decent space available!! Sits about 36"-40" off the floor. Whatever bookcase height is!
This is the original benchwork for Phase 1 of my layout. It's a basic box frame made of 1x4 lumber on the outside and 1x3 lumber inside. I use pink foam, which sits on the cross pieces set down 1 inch from the outer frame. The legs here are 2x3. I put casters on the legs so I could roll it around. Phase 2 was done a little differently. I didn't put casters on the legs, as my daughter had gone to college and the train room was "liberated" from being a playroom. Here, you can see why my layout is so low. With a 45 degree roof line, every inch I add to height is 2 inches narrower the room becomes, as there's the same roof on the other side. On to Phase 3. I am now using 2x2 legs instead of 2x3, as they're perfectly adequate for these smaller sections. As on Phase 2, I built smaller chunks of benchwork in the garage and assembled them upstairs in the train room. The legs are held to the plywood gussets with screws, so they get removed and re-attached after the move. So far, I've been very good about running all the wiring between modules through terminal blocks, so when and if I ever move, this part should be easy work. I added 2 more modules since the garage scene. Good stuff I did: 1. I built light. Minus the legs, even the original big rectangle of Phase 1 was a one-arm carry from driveway to train room. Of course, with a layout on top of it with scenery, it's a lot heavier now. 2. I finished the exposed wood. My train room is heated and air conditioned, so I don't worry much about warping, but it's a good idea nevertheless. Also, it looks much nicer and "promotes domestic tranquility." Sanding, staining and applying polyurethane doesn't take long and doesn't smell up the house if you can do it outdoors or in the garage with the doors open. 3. Starting with Phase 2, I planned ahead in case it ever had to be moved. That means smaller pieces. I installed my wiring buses before laying down the foam, and used terminal blocks when modules had to be crossed. I labeled the bus wires. There are too many wires to do that with all of them, but I use a thick-head Sharpie to label the underside of the pink foam with turnout locations, and I tag the wires with the same numbers so reassembly shouldn't be a problem. Not-so-good things I did: 1. That original Phase 1 benchwork is 5x12 feet. It could be an issue to move. 2. It's really too low. It is awkward to work beneath it, particularly as I'm getting older and less flexible. The railheads are mostly at 39 inches (the layout is very flat) and, with 2 inches for pink foam and 3 inches for the benchwork cross-pieces, that puts the top of the free space at 34 inches. Another 6 inches up would be more comfortable. 3. Despite my best intentions, the wiring, particularly for Phase 1 before I saw the error of my ways, is much messier than I would like.
Alternate Reply: What's under my layout? Another layout! I have subways. Penny Lane station, with the street above: Here is the Saint Anne Street station, beneath the cutaway model of the Strumpet Brewery: For those who like video and/or Duke Ellington: [video=youtube;jQ5OvZtI-QU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ5OvZtI-QU[/video]
I built my layout benches out of 1/2 plywood cut into 4" wide strips. The gussets where the parts come together as well as the legs are 2x2 stock. Whole thing is held together with screws and liquid nails. The legs are held in place with 1/4" machine screws and T-nuts so as to make all the modules portable. All the cross braces have multiple holes drilled through for wire runs. Other than getting on my back :startled: its easy peasy to get to all the wireing. Bench heights are 37" for lower and 59" for upper. I recently started trying to figure out how to fill up all the space under the benches. I'd like to build custom storage drawers and cabinets but have settled for some basic plastic containers and cheapo cabinets. I did construct a computer control station that holds all the transformers, PR3, DCC system, etc. My temporary programming track sits on that until I get my yard (directly above) finished. Overall I've been very happy with the bench construction. Would probably do a few things different on the layout plan tho. Brian
