Shelf Layouts-Maximize Your Space

[@ElDarren]

Excellent insight into making the most out of limited layout space. Lots of great info here!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks so much!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Glad you found it helpful, thanks for watching!

[@jerrysimonoff2021]

Very informative regarding economies of space and materials.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching. It really works for all scales really

[@jasonganis4033]

Your backdrops and buildings look great. All these are excellent ideas too.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for your comments and watching!

[@creambob1]

Excellent! Love the plug for Bob Ross😂

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching! Loved Bob!

[@TheyCallHimDietSeth]

Just stumbled on this video while working on planning my next N scale layout. Thanks for sharing your various tips!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@perreyalsdam7994]

Looking great. It really added a lot of depths to Your layout.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks so much, I appreciate you watching and commenting.

[@Running-with-skizers]

This video was great my uncle passed away and left me he ho railroad based on the Bessemer and lake erie. Dozens of locomotives, hundreds of rolling stock and and what seems like miles of track age. I have a pretty large basement but don't want to take up a ton of space. I really like the concept of your shelf layout I think this is the approach I'm going to take. Because the Bessemer was known for hauling iron ore and long coal drags. But his coal mine setup took up a 5 x 10 area just in itself. That not including the rest of his layout so being able to take building apart and even just using pieces of them for the backdrop will greatly shrink the size. Thankyou so much for this video

[@5minutemodeler650]

That should keep you busy for a while. Have fun and thanks for watching!

[@cotochris]

Hi from Northern Portugal. Some very useful tips especially with the backdrops. I am currently taking down my old model set because being younger I was optimistic on the the depth, now that 90cm depth was too much and a real hassle now. what you are showing is that all it takes is some imagination and you create a real depth of space. Even though I'm colour blind I prefer to have something of my own imperfections (maybe brown trees, beige lawns etc) than a 'picture' perfect shop brought card. (afterall it's my world and no one else 🙂)

[@5minutemodeler650]

I’m glad you found the video helpful . Good luck with your new layout. We get better with each one we build. Thanks for sharing

[@allenkotlan3606]

I too enjoy making my own imperfections. 😮😊

[@robertkartechner5850]

I never had the chance to get into model railroading and I enjoy immensely seeing some of the layouts on line. Your ideas of halving buildings is a fantastic way to not only get it all in against the backdrop but have a building be more than one prop. Fantastic !!! Thank you so much for sharing all of this.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for your compliments. It’s almost never too late to start even with something small. Best wishes

[@sams2960]

Don't forget Bruce Chubb and his unbelievable Sunset Valley and Sunset Valley Oregon layouts WOW You have great ideas for backdrops, thanks!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching! Yes Bruce has built excellent railroads over the years. Definitely a trend setter in his own right. And a master of the electronics.

[@HartfordWhaler]

Great video. I’m a huge fan of the shelf layout.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thank you for watching!

[@SantaFeBob]

Great layout and excellent suggestions. I just started rebuilding my layout and it will be a shelf layout concept in my basement. Thank you for sharing your ideas.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching. Good luck with the new layout!

[@johnpetrovitz935]

Great tips and suggestions, Fran! Enjoyed viewing your great layout! Thanks!!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!

[@luissayshi]

Stretching out a kit to make more than 1 building is a great idea. Thanks!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Cool! Glad you liked the idea. Thanks for watching!

[@allenkotlan3606]

Great collage of scenic techniques.Beautiful.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for your comments and for watching!

[@davidstaples8511]

Thank you - your video has given me ideas.

[@5minutemodeler650]

That’s great to hear. Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@thomplacier677]

Great video, Fran. Looks like many people agree, too. Thanks for the link to my channel. Shelf layouts are the way to go, I think. My first layout was a 4x8 HO layout, as well.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks Thom you are one of my inspirations

[@christophetardivat234]

thanks for this great video, and clear tips and visual proofs! very useful!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching too!

[@MRR_Shadowolf]

Great video and commentary. Glad YT recommended this video. Subbed.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching and subscribing

[@bncsystemsshortline]

Great video and great tips. I model ho and use n scale buildings in the back. I also only use the sides of the buildings that are only seen. Your Layout looks awesome!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching! I’d love to see photos of your forced perspective using n scale buildings. Great tip!

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

I had forgotten about that idea. Thank you!

[@allenkotlan3606]

Forced perspective is very useful.( Smaller details in the relative illusion of distance.)

[@bncsystemsshortline]

Exactly, and no corner or straight edge's. @allenkotlan3606

[@danielfantino1714]

You give good tips and i like your removable buildings. Thanks

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thank you for watching!

[@derekalexander4030]

A lot of great tips, thank you.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Awesome glad you found it interesting

[@jdmills4370]

You either live in West Michigan or have spent a lot of time there because your layout definitely creates the feel of being there. I can’t describe it better than your buildings definitely have a GR feel to them. The brickwork, the age, the weathering all definitely help set the time and place.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for the comment. My wife is from GR and I’m originally from Detroit area but have spent a lot of time both on the west side of the state as well as up north. Thanks for watching

[@tonypetts6663]

It always interests me when I watch videos such as yours as it shows how approaches to layouts vary from country to country. Here in the UK where we usually don't have the big spaces to model (a general lack of basements etc) rigid board layouts built to walk around seldom exist. The majority of layouts here are - and have been since my youth some fifty years ago - to all intents and purposes shelf layouts, against one or more walls around an often smallish room. Solid baseboard layouts only tend to be used for first attempts based on an expanded train set like the 6 x 4 I had as a child. If we're lucky enough we may be able to run it around all four walls, which in a room say 12ft square could still give a decently long run should you wish to create a tail chaser.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching and your insightful comments. I think most modelers face space limitations. We all would probably rather have more space. But too much space can create its own set of issues. The point to point layouts offer an option to avoid the tail chasing for those that like to operate too.

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

Indeed it can. My last one, abandoned due to tornado obliterated roof (what can I say- Oklahoma!), was around an 8 X 8 75% of our family room at the rear entrance of the house. Rest was mud room and wife's reading spot in front of the big picture window!

[@andystrains4335]

Great video I just dismantled my old layout which was a couple of 4by8 plywood pieces in an l shape basically.I have a small room to work with however my electrical panel is in the way don’t know if I could do the shelf layout

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching. I’ll bet you’ll figure out a way to build that layout perhaps with a backdrop that opens up so you can access your electric panel. Where there’s a will there’s a way!

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

Yeah, I had a huge 4 x 8 with duck unders. It didn't last long, and I will by choice and a bad back, never have another one!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Not a fan of duck unders myself. Maybe a hinged lift up section. Thanks for watching

[@pbjlinemodelrailroad]

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@jeffreyrule8143]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your layout. 😊

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@jacko9759]

Great idea, I like the idea of just modeling the railroad not the intire world! :-)

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching, it’s all about the trains isn’t it?

[@allenkotlan3606]

Another idea that surprised me recently, the train operators typically don't care if the detail is right up to the track edge, they are running the trains, not strolling through my townswindowshopping. So, start the details a small distance away from the tracks to save efforts and materials in scenic.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Good tip!

[@thomasdecker7631]

The layout I'm now building (HO Scale) will be a combination of a 5' Diameter island with double sided backdrop and a shelf, giving me (I hope) the best of all worlds in a space of 8-1/2' x 9". The roundy round portion won't be operated as a tail chaser, but instead will feature come and go staging.

[@5minutemodeler650]

That sounds great. I do sometimes wish I had the ability for trains to run continuously while I work on other things. Thanks for watching!

[@marka5478]

Another advantage of narrow shelf sections is that they are cheaper and easier to build, especially for those on a budget or whose time may be limited. Also, I am using the domino approach which allows the modeler to build as much as possible on the work bench.

[@5minutemodeler650]

You are exactly right. Definitely less expensive. Thanks for watching!

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

YES to both!

[@khyronthethunderhawg6577]

Tony Koester suggests having 6in from the closest track to the edge of the layout. This allows a scenery buffer for photographs, and protects equipment in case of derails that fall toward the edge. Nice work on the layout!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Yep that’s for HO scale. For n scale 4” is pretty good. Thanks for watching!

[@KandWRailroader]

Good video, coming from a fellow shelf modeler! Great layout too!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching and your comments!

[@williamdickman7917]

Good video about a great subject and a nice layout. The problem with a shelf layout for me is i model Narrow gauge steam in an out and back fashion. Turning steam locomotives, whether a Wye or balloon loop, screws up the shelf layout concept. The only turning device that would fit in a shelf layout is a turntable. I really don't want to have turntables at both ends of the railroad but may have to if I stay with the shelf concept, we'll see what I decide. Keep up the good work and good videos.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching! Peco makes a small turntable that would be well suited for at least one end. Perhaps you could have a drop leaf section that included a wye. Sounds like an interesting concept for sure!

[@Bunyip_Studios]

I discovered Boomer early this year, it's been so fascinating

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@Jeremiaha284]

Have you used any printed buildings like the type on Lance Mindheim's Layout?

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching. Are you referring to where he takes photographs of buildings then glues them to a structure? If so, I have not. I’ve tried to get pictures of buildings from the internet but they always seem to be from an angle that doesn’t work, either too far left or right or looking up. I’ve heard you can use photoshop type programs to realign things but I haven’t. I do have one building from A paper building site that I used but that’s about as close as I’ve gotten.

[@arimckeever4812]

I love seeing a fellow GT n scale modeler. Fantastic layout.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks so much and thanks for watching. Gotta love the Trunk

[@tracksidemike]

Great explanation of the backdrops and kits great video and share new here have a great rest of your evening enjoy 😎🚂

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate you watching!

[@rodgrosser9409]

Great video and great information! Really enjoyed this. One question, what is the vertical distance between decks?

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching! That’s a great question. The mainline on the lower level is on a 1% grade so the upper deck is between 9” and 6”. The helix that takes the train to the upper level has 2 1/2 loops on roughly a 2% grade.

[@generikusername]

I've been wanting to get into model railroading for quite a bit, nothing realistic though i want to make a steampunk railway with customized trains as a challenge, but ive got no idea how I'm gonna fit it in my room which is already full of shelfs upon shelfs full of toys!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching

[@Tom-xe9iq]

The great Tony Koester has a double level shelf layout as well going along the walls of his train room.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Yes he’s written a book on it. What’s cool is that he didn’t need a helix, he just kept running a 1% grade or so to get to the second level. You need a lot of space for that though. Thanks for the comment and watching!

[@southernprojectsyt6340]

what is that N scale? or a mix depending on the level. You spoke of ho scale then i see the rail seperation is only 1/2 inch. HO scale is about double that between rails.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching, yes I model n scale. My first true layout was HO scale but I got into N after college.

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

​@@5minutemodeler650I wish that I had known more about the N scale world before I sunk so much $$ into HO !

[@skywalker9265]

Amazing! Thank You!!

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@jasonminier6782]

Cool ideas. I tried to do a little of that on my layout, but I wasn't sure what I was doing yet.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Glad you found it informative. Keep plugging away at it. This is the first layout I did without more than just the blue sky backdrop.

[@sailingschooners8668]

Like it and easy set up..

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

I had a large wall layout, Multi- period, with sections representing 4 locales and 3 Prototype road names my family of railroaders worked for. All fallen flags now. But due to roof damage from a storm (it IS Okla, after all), I was forced to downsize to apartment life, an HOA Type,which has strict rules against what can be changed inside. No longer room for the big shelf. What I've settled on is a 9- foot fold- up hinged "modified shelf" that attaches to 3 , 29" shelving units I found used for my extensive books collection, firmly bolted together to form a solid unit, with 7 feet 😢 of layout track & a small "fiddle yard" that attaches as a drop leaf and folds under the main layout for storage, all out of sight behind a nice plain curtain, with a small sign stating "privacy area" for the HOA mgmt's benefit😹😹. (Your attorney can always find a loophole in even the strictest of HOA "rules". I have learned a lot from this video and others' like "red dirt and rails", by an ARMY Major friend who moves a lot. Thank you, as I dig out my extensive pile of old Model Railroader Magazines and take a memory trip down the old Non- DCC world! 🤔

[@5minutemodeler650]

I love your ingenuity! Model railroaders always seem to find a way to make it work. Sorry to hear about your house. Thanks for watching!

[@markgagnon7795]

Inspiring!😊

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@MarkInLA]

I'm being honest in that the only thing I don't take to on so many many layout backgrounds is the use of pictures, 2D structures where the side walls are showing..This causes what I call the 'vanishing point problem'. Either, modelers don't care, don't mind, or don't see it; the 2D side wall roof lines going toward a fixed vanishing point while the 3 dimensional model structures' vanishing points move as we move by them, side to side/up and down, or, vise versa, things such as trains moving past us.. At 7:45 we can see what I'm driving at: The buildings are beautifully done. But we can see their side wall roof-lines go downward toward a fixed V.P. which does not change, while the train cars' tops at their front-wall roof-lines are correct to our (or the camera's) eye, trains being 3 dimensional, not flat 2D..And, if the train were moving, those car roof-line edges would cause us to see moving V.Points of each roof line the way we see things in real, every second of our lives.. In the end, and this IS me, it's better to not have 2D pix of buildings unless we see >only< one wall/no roof; this and/or use low relief structures from Walthers and such, being shallow enough for the space we need for track, full structures and foliage..Put simply, I would not use (2D) pictures if their fronts and sides show..One exception is, buildings in 2D, say 2 or more scale miles away where it's hard to really see much of anything.. The RR's proprietor has invited scenic comments, so dis iz myne. Otherwise, I like this layout very much. It's my kind of MRRing...

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks much for the comments and in a lot of ways you are correct regarding vanishing points. For me, the trains are the focus. When I’m running the trains, my eyes and brain don’t focus on the irregularities you mention because overall the brain is tricked into seeing a more complete picture. Model railroading is always a series of compromises and use of selective compression can give the appearance of a more complete railroad.

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

Each modeler to his own time and space issues, sir. I enjoyed the memory trip into my non- DCC world this video took me to.

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@5minutemodeler650]

Mucho gracias!

[@ayurgal]

John Allen was not infamous. He was famous though. Infamous is when someone does something evil. Otherwise, a fun and informative video.

[@5minutemodeler650]

I stand corrected thanks! He definitely was a visionary

[@MarkInLA]

Not sure who is saying what, here, but infamous does not mean evil or not famous.. It's a positive adjective as in "the infamous New York Central RR, or the infamous Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe... or Bill Gates... I agree it's an odd one.. But the English language is infamous in that respect !

[@ayurgal]

@ not according to the dictionary. Please site your sources. infamous adjective in·​fa·​mous ˈin-fə-məs Synonyms of infamous 1: having a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil an infamous traitor 2: causing or bringing infamy : DISGRACEFUL an infamous crime 3: convicted of an offense bringing infamy

[@MosriteCharlie]

weathering enhances the realism of any layout as long as everything is weathered equally. To have weathered rolling stock traveling through plasticville destroys the image you're trying to portray ad conversely, having beautifully weathered structures and scenery traversed by pristine rolling stock makes the layout less believable.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching. Not sure exactly what you’re trying to say but yes some of my rolling stock is not heavily weathered. As in life there are varying degrees of everything

[@BenSharp-hu3me]

I have a friend who does nothing BUT weathering, and does all mine. He has all my info on a computer indexing program he has that suggests to him how to weather ANY piece of equipment to match what you're doing. He wrote the program, and he's actually cheaper than I could do it.

[@jablot5054]

It's just a toy, don't get so upset.

[@5minutemodeler650]

That friend is worth his weight in gold

[@AlxSupreme]

Why is John Allan infamous

[@5minutemodeler650]

Should have been famous. Thanks for watching!

[@ProfPtarmigan]

Sound words.

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks for watching!

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thank you!

[@michaelhband]

👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂

[@5minutemodeler650]

Thanks so much!