I am looking at doing a double mainline around my sons ceiling for Christmas. I am looking at doing it like a shelf around his walls but visible. Anyone ever do this or seen it done? I might try an over and under single main with a tunnel and a bridge. Just looking to brainstorm this with the rest of you on trainboard. Thanks.
Yes, about a year ago someone showcased here a run along their walls above the door frames. I forget who and cant say what ever happened of it. I don't even know what I'd search for to find the thread. :/ Maybe someone else can help us out.
I did one in my old house. It never got farther than this when I sold. I used 1x4 and Kato Unitrack. I intended to paint the brackets white to match the walls, but never got around to it. I'm actually standing in the middle of a bigger loop than ran around the top of the cabinets. The span in front was at least 6 or 7 feet with no problems.
When I was in high school, my dad and I built an HO scale layout around the top of my room. The shelf was about 8 inches deep with a double track mainline running around the inside edge. There was also a small yard along one wall on a 12-inch deep shelf. The extra room behind the mainlines left space for a few structures (most cut in half) to give the illusion of a more complete layout. I also used the Walthers backdrops as wallpaper between the layout and the ceiling. One thing I would caution, although the trains on the inner mainline were easily visible, the trains on the outer (closer to the wall) mainline were half hidden. I don't know if double tracking would work in N or not.
Many years ago, I hung track for lionel trains to run around the top of my trainroom for my grand kids. I used mdf (medium density fiberboard) as track bed and supported it with 2 or 3 inch "L" brackets attached to the wall studs. I used 1/8" masonite to trim the front to trim the mdf and it hung just below the board to hide any wires and improve the appearance. Some things I might mention are clearances, make sure there is sufficient space for the engines and cars to make the radius without touching the wall or the second train. My grandkids enjoyed running the trains for some time, but tired of looking up and we eventually took the wall layout down. Now they are old enough to operate on Grandpa's layout. Good Luck with the project. Rich Cook
