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In lugnet.trains, Matthew Miller writes:
> Eric Kingsley <kingsley@nelug.org> wrote:
> > http://www.thekingsleys.net/nursery/zgr/
>
> That's completely awesome, Eric.
>
> Hmmm, I wonder if I could do something like that in my apartment....
Thanks for the wonderful response to this both online and off. I have taken
several of the questions that have been asked and tried to answer them below.
I have also included some of my experiances and insites into this type of
project.
First the questions...
1. How much did this cost?
I would estimate about $150 for the lumber, screws, and paint. Then another
$200 - $250 for track. I also spent $175 on a power miter saw but that can be
depretiated over time and used for other projects so I tend not to include it
in the cost. I would say that most of the cost involved in a project like this
is in time, sweat, and a little bit of blood.
2. Is the train loud?
It makes noise yes but that was part of the plan. I think that the train
itself will make a great white noise generator for the baby. I don't think the
train is that much louder than if it were on the floor.
3. What have you done to protect from falling brick?
Other than to tell my wife not to go past the second speed level nothing yet.
After the finish coat of paint is on I do plan on screwing down the track for
added stability. I will probably also put a speed governor on the controler at
some point as well.
Being in Eastern Massachusetts earthquakes are not a concern and there is
nothing else that shakes the house so I am not concerned about the train just
"falling off". Speed is my only concern for falling LEGO. When my son is old
enough to run the train himself there will be rules but seeing kids love to
break the rules at least once he will be doing it with his own trains by then.
4. How long did it take?
Well the first thing I did was buy the track and lay it out on the floor as a
proof of concept. Then I determined that other than in the 90 degree corners
none of the track was more than 4.5 - 5 inches from the wall. With standard
dimensional pine coming in standard 6 inch widths that determined the width of
the shelf.
I then preprimed all the wood and let it dry for 2 days. Then on one day I
built the first 3 shelves which included rounding the leading corners with a
router and puting on a coat of finish paint. I then abandonded the finish coat
of paint before hanging when I realized that I was going to have to put on
another coat after hanging anyway.
Then I alternated sides going around the turret until I got to the 2 long
walls. I then had a hiatus until I could get some help from my father-in-law
and we did those 2 shelves together in about 3 hours. Finally I put on the
extended shelf over the door and the extensions on the 90 degree corner.
All in all I would say I did all this comfortably over 2 weeks and a simpler
rectangle of a room with less corners could be done faster assuming you have
some help to hang the shelves. I would say that beyond about 4 feet I would
recommend help hanging shelves. It gets hard to hold up the shelf, keep it
level, and screw it into studs.
5. Did you have to cut any track?
No all the track I used was standard LEGO lengths.
Experiances and insites...
Like Larry said, we are all doing more and more using of model railroading
"standard tricks" in our LEGO displays. I would like to add that I have wanted
to do a shelf railway for a long time and only decided to do it when I
discovered LEGO as a medium. Thats mostly because I am comfortable with LEGO
as a medium which I can't say for more "traditional" model railroading mediums.
I also found this a tremendously satisfying project and unlike some of my LEGO
projects had the full endorsement and encouragement of my wife who loves the
shelf railway.
That being said I have found that the one unexpected thing about this project
is that it seems to have increadible crossover appeal. My in-laws love it, my
parents love it, my wives freinds love it, and my non-lego freinds like it too
(including having some possibly serious requests for help building their own).
I feel that my hobby has now gained much more acceptance with my freinds and
family now then ever before and in that this experiance is more than worth it.
If anyone is considering this type of project I say go for it. It is not as
hard as it looks and the feeling of accomplishment is increadible.
If anyone has any questions or insites please let me know as I am more than
willing to share my experiances in building this layout.
Thanks again for the wonderful responses,
Eric Kingsley
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
View My Creations at:
http://www.nelug.org/members/kingsley/
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: A real live working LEGO Shelf railway...
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| (...) Just a bit of followup on this point. It turns out that the trains noise is quite soothing to the baby and will help him fall asleep about 75% of the time. The rest of the time it just doesn't matter what you do. The noise also seems to help (...) (24 years ago, 27-Oct-00, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.people)
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