Home-bound modular design question

[sirenwerks]

I am inching ever closer to building a modular switching layout along the lines of the Modesto & Empire Traction, but an East Coast version. I am leaning towards a self-supporting modular system, rather than one on wall-mount brackets, since I live in an apartment and want my security deposit back when I move, and also because one wall of the spare room the layout will live in is pretty much all window at the height I'd like the layout to be at. And I mean wall-to-wall window, thanks to the buildings Cold War era architecture.

So, all you structural engineers out there, I need your informed opinions... the self-supporting designs I've seen have two sets of legs on every module, one at each end. This seems a bit redundant for a layout that will make infrequent moves. Could it be one set per module - except the 'last one', which would have two sets? Or maybe every other module has two sets, and the others are supported in between by them? I have a desk I would like to keep in that room and it looks like I will need a 6 foot span to keep it where I want it. That's probably two modules bolted together end-to-end, held by the modules on each side. Since there are windows there, there's no chance of a wall bracket to help bridge the span.

I am also considering a track plan with an island, maybe two, which would break down between operating sessions, and am wondering if a leg set on the end of each will hold them if the other end is bolted to the main layout section against (not secured to) the wall.

[asciibaron]

pickup the latest MR and have a look at the Beer Line.

[TiVoPrince]

Waaaay
back when, I built a 14 foot long switching layout with legs only at the ends.  For the joint at 7 feet I reinforced it with steel angles running 4 feet.  NOT exactly pretty but a rather 'industrial looking' result.  In the end it worked well but was not fully satisfying as a cramped and contrived HO layout and lasted only three years with irregular use.  Thinking back it would have been an excellent size (1.25x14feet) for an industrial district in Nscale...

[wm3798]

Shelf brackets are a whole lot easier than a bunch of apartment bound carpentry.  People put up shelves in apartments all the time...

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I actually even put up shelves in my dorm room back in college. I drilled a few holes into the back of one of the giant free standing closet things and went to town. It worked out really well.

[wm3798]

In a house we rented, I punched two holes through the wall between the laundry and the family room.  When we moved out, I dropped a beer bottle with a note into the wall cavity describing that a cool layout once existed there.
Patched it up with some chunks of homasote and spackle.  No one was any the wiser.

Lee

[tom mann]

Years ago, I spent more time designing the portable benchwork than I did on anything else.  I ended up building two dominoes based on David Barrow's design.  These are very heavy.

I would build a lightweight foam-based layout with minimal shelf supports braced with aluminum L-shaped spans.

[DKS]

While living in an apartment I got a bunch of cheap modular bookshelves from Ikea. The modular design allowed me to build them to the height of a layout, most of the way around the room, and I simply placed a sectional foam-based layout on the top shelf. I then also had loads of shelf space for books and such.

Years later, in a condo, I built my White River and Northern on extruded foam sheets sitting on heavy-duty shelf brackets.

[harrym]

My present layout is made up of modules.  I haver legs under every other section.  The 30" - 42" modules without legs are supported by two 1/4" bolts at each end.   They are irregular sizes to fill the wall space.   I have never taken them apart, but I know that I can if/when necessary.

[diezmon]

So, all you structural engineers out there, I need your informed opinions... the self-supporting designs I've seen have two sets of legs on every module, one at each end. This seems a bit redundant for a layout that will make infrequent moves. Could it be one set per module - except the 'last one', which would have two sets?

Oh sure.. think of the dock at the lake.  They're constructed this way.. each module hangs on the one next to it.    Also,  you could use the fold up table legs that are found on those portable tables.  I used those, with leg extensions.  Then you can fold them right up.  The engineering is done for you, you just screw 'em on.

[Walkercolt]

You can even "free-hang" 4-6 feet of layout between alternate legged "modules" if you use say 5/16" dia. bolts to hold them in place, if you don't build "modules" you can walk-on. Look at the way hollow core doors are made. Many people have them for outside entry doors(I do). If they're made right, they're as strong as the door jamb. 99% of model railroaders WAY over-build their layouts. I've seen a group with N-TRAK modules that are made of 1/4"(6mm) birch plywood, that weigh almost nothing that a 300 lb. man can stand on. I've tried to convince some of our club members of the thoughts of "engineering" rather than brute force, especially as my back ages and our lay-out gets bigger. One of our memebers is an areonautical engineer, and I've asked "Sir Fig's" help on this. He just shrugs his shoulders and says "They'll do what they want to do, but I won't help carry it." :

[sirenwerks]

Thanks guys. Definitely food for thought and I will revisit the bracket idea. I was just rereading a back issue article on the design benefits of them. The window breach will be the issue there. As I said, the windows begin at roughly 36" off the floor and extend from one adjoining wall to the other, so there's no place to lay brackets across this 10' breach. I will have to get over my desire to keep my desk where it is @ the window to accommodate a set of legs in the middle of that section.

David, I believe I am using the same Ikea book shelf system you speak of to hold my library in my living room - 49" tall unfinished pine. I've considered using them in some way but their narrowness is an issue, as I would like 2' wide modules for the majority of the layout.

[wm3798]

Put short legs on top of your desk...


Never mind the "aesthetics"...  I built this flyover around my workbench.  Works quite well!
Lee

[davefoxx]

On my layout, I recently added a staging yard, by installing a 12" wide hollow-core door on two shelf brackets.  The good news is that when it comes time to remove the layout, there will only be four holes to patch and paint in this area.



Dave

[sirenwerks]

It's not the aesthetics I am worried about Lee. The desk is a 1960s Scandinavian design, where the top actually moves from side to side to reveal storage underneath. So whatever's on top of it has to be mobile as well. And, there has to be not just space to fit the desk, but adequate space to allow the top to move some so I can make use of its design.