Don't Damage the Walls

[nkalanaga]

You could do like I did, as a pre-teen, in a small trailer, in the very early years of N scale.  My layout was 3x4 feet, and slid under the bed.  To run it, I put it on the bed.  Limited the height of scenery, but the only problem there was I couldn't have much in the way of trees. 

I built it on a scrap of Homasote, that came with a shed kit from Sears.  Better would be a piece of half-inch plywood.  No need for major framing, just some 1x2 strips underneath, to protect any under-board wiring.  It will spend most of its time on a flat surface, so won't warp.  A strip along each side, and cross strips on the ends and every foot between, should do the job.

And, as has been suggested, I'd suggest Kato Unitrack.  For a layout like this, durability is more important than prototype appearance!

The same idea would work with an HCD, lean it against the wall when not in use. 

[POVC]

Build it, and they will come! Whenever the Free-mo subject comes up amongst N scalers I know by me, (Chicago area) everyone always seems to be waiting for someone else to make the first move. It’s just inertia. Look at how quickly the Nebraska group took off as soon as it had an enthusiastic champion, @Mark W

Anybody know what's up with Mark W?  He hasn't posted anything here since last July...

I miss his updates on his Free-moNebraska modules and his 3D printing efforts.

Tim

[Philip H]

At the time he mentioned moving if that the case it can take over for a time.

[glakedylan]

i find these from IKEA to work well with my hollow core door, unless you desire more height as they are limited in that respect but, if i remember correctly, last time i had it set up i could raise door to 40".

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/mittback-trestle-birch-30459997/

sincerely
Gary

[basementcalling]

i find these from IKEA to work well with my hollow core door, unless you desire more height as they are limited in that respect but, if i remember correctly, last time i had it set up i could raise door to 40".

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/mittback-trestle-birch-30459997/

sincerely
Gary

I could see those working, Gary. They are out of stock however.

[bman]

in an apartment I rented around 14 years ago I used a hollow core door that was discarded from a house that my brother in law was contracted to rehab. I set it on top of 2 of those cheap pressboard you assemble shelving units you get at Wal Mart or Target. I stored my locos and rolling stock on the shelves when not in use. Just had to be sure not to lean on the thing since it wasn't attached.

[nkalanaga]

For easy attachment, drill a hole in each corner, through the door and top of the shelves, and drop a bolt in.  No need for a nut, you won't be lifting it, and it will keep the door from sliding.  With a little creativity, you can disguise the bolt heads as something that fits your scenery.

[Maletrain]

For easy attachment, drill a hole in each corner, through the door and top of the shelves, and drop a bolt in.  No need for a nut, you won't be lifting it, and it will keep the door from sliding.  With a little creativity, you can disguise the bolt heads as something that fits your scenery.

I have done the same thing with a door I used as a desk in an apartment.  But, I did not want to mess up the shelf units with a hole in the top.  So, I just screwed some small strips of wood on the undersides of the HCD along the edges, such that they captured the book cases under the HCD.  That way the HCD was easy to lift off, but would not slide.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

i find these from IKEA to work well with my hollow core door, unless you desire more height as they are limited in that respect but, if i remember correctly, last time i had it set up i could raise door to 40".

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/mittback-trestle-birch-30459997/

sincerely
Gary

Those are nice.

I had used a pair of Billy book cases on my old HCD to provide storage under it too. Worked well.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

For easy attachment, drill a hole in each corner, through the door and top of the shelves, and drop a bolt in.  No need for a nut, you won't be lifting it, and it will keep the door from sliding.  With a little creativity, you can disguise the bolt heads as something that fits your scenery.

You can likely also use some sort of grip tape on the bottom of the layout as well.

[Rich29]

I have a roughly 3 1/2 x 7 1/2 layout constructed with 1x4's, plywood and 2 inch foam.
Because space is tight I put castors on the legs so it can be rolled out from the wall
as needed. No wall attachments.

[EJN]

This is what I do. A 30" by 66" N scale layout which sits on top of a dresser. I live in a second floor condo, technically I can drill holes on the wall but I don't want to. The only space I have is in the spare bedroom, which does have a bed and furniture in it.

[mark.hinds]

Lots of good suggestions in previous posts.  An additional advantage in not attaching it to walls is you can take it with you when you move out.  FWIW, my N-scale layout was built to fit in a small studio apartment, and I still have it 2 moves later. 

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28831.msg305681#msg305681

MH

[nkalanaga]

Maletrain:  That would work too.

[squirrelhunter]

One suggestion- use the T Trak module dimensions but do t follow the standards for laying track except for using unitrak at the ends to join the modules.

I'm doing this with my Airlawn Industrial Lead
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=51959.0

It makes it easy to build the benchwork, but avoids the issue of having to conform to the double track, curve radius and alignment with the front of the module. And if you get tired of it or want to make it match the T Trak standard you can scrape the track/scenery and you already have benchwork that conforms to the modular standard.