# Basement train shelves, and access to outdoor RR.



## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey everyone, im starting a new project!
Basement storage shelves for my trains..and then! a method to run complete trains from the basement storage, out to the Garden Railroad!








without lifting up and carrying locos and cars one at a time up the stairs and out to the yard. This build log will cover both parts of the project.

February 25, 2017:

First up, the wall in the basement..
Photos before beginning and before moving things out of the way:



















The window in the upper-left corner is a key component of this project!








this is going to be fun..









Everything cleaned up and moved out of the way:









And the wall freshly painted..









My wife and I have been in our house 10 years now! and this is a project I have wanted to get to all those years..

Next step: shelf brackets will be installed. Im going to use 12-foot long shelves, and create grooves in the wood for the wheels, rather than use actual track. 
more to come..

thanks,
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Update! March 11, 2017
Vertical supports installed, the top shelf determines the overall height of the whole system:


















Experimenting with shelf height and distances apart:


















Video:




 
thanks,
Scot


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## derPeter (Dec 26, 2010)

Hallo Mr. Scot,
yes, simple + effective store..
greetings derPeter


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Hi Scot,

You have done a very neat and clean job for your train storage. Well done.

Just a thought:
Out here in California where I live we have earthquakes from time to time, so I would use bungee cords across the cars on the shelves to prevent them from falling on the hard floor. But I suppose where you live, this is not an issue to be concerned with. 

-Ted


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

thanks derPeter, yes, grooves like that in the shelf is exactly what i'm planning on doing..im running battery power, so the trains can run by themselves in the grooves.

Ted, yeah, I might add something on the side for protection..we don't get any earthquakes to speak of 
(any that we do are almost never even felt)..but still, it cant hurt to put in at least a rudimentary safety system..I will probably add something! not sure exactly what yet..Probably a single wire about an inch high on the outer edge, just to prevent cars from sliding sideways...

Im thinking eye-hooks, with a wire threaded through them, would do the job:










If I could find some with a very tiny opening, that would be ideal.

thanks,
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Short update! today's progress:










I bought-out Home Depot of brackets! 
I still need 7 more for the bottom shelf..

I will update in more detail once that bottom shelf is up, and I will make a video about what I have planned for Garden Railroad access.

thanks,
Scot


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## Tomahawk & Western RR (Sep 22, 2015)

scott we installed similar shelving last month, we lso took all the brackets from the local store.about 40 feet of storage. system works real well.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Update! 
The main portion of the shelves is complete..
Seven shelves, 12-feet long each.
the bottom six will be used for storage, the top shelf wont have trains stored on it.
Two new photos, and a video:

























The next update will be a detailed video about the plans to get trains from the shelves out to the garden railroad in the back yard..I have three possible methods under consideration to control the system..
I will talk about all three ideas..

I would have that done already, but we got 2-feet of snow a week ago! some of it has melted, but not all of it, so the backyard is still a slushy mess..I'll make the video once the yard is clear, probably in another week or so.

thanks,
Scot


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Living in Florida and being from WV, there isn't anything I miss more than basements. But, while I'm looking at a 3% grade getting down to ground level from my train table inside my shop, you've got to climb out of that basement up to what ever level you plan to set your layout at. Either way, being able to put a train together without carrying each pc out to the layout is so much better.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Randy,
The top shelf is at ground level!  its actually slightly above ground level...but the main loop of my garden railroad is raised...I havent measured it out yet, but my trains will need to probably go up 2 or 3 feet vertically to reach the garden railroad, and maybe 40 feet horizontally to get there..I'll measure it all out soon. 

Scot


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## OldNoob (Apr 30, 2016)

Looking good. Now make one shelf go around the room  jk


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## domer94 (May 4, 2015)

did the same thing when moved to my new place a few months ago. its so nice to be able to view the collection. im still impressed by these large scale models


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

2 feet up in 40 feet vertically is a 5% grade, pretty steep. If the actual is 3 feet up the grade would be 7 1/2%, yikes. Hope you plan on short trains and/or geared engines for that.

Just saying I would do some serious planning on the connection, maybe trying to get the first foot done in the basement.


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

Maybe you could parallel the main line for a distance while gaining some elevation to lessen the grade?


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I understand the concern, but the grade on the access track is a total non-issue!  because that track will only be used to get the trains from the basement to the railroad, then to get them back when the operating session is over..its not a part of the operarting railroad at all..I can run a cut of cars, 4 or 5 cars at a time, up and down the grade by hand if necessary..im not at all concerned about it, to me its a complete non-issue..I'll explain it more when I can make the next video, probably in a few days..
Thanks,
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I know I mentioned possibly using a diesel switcher, I had my LV EMD SW1 switcher in the video...that might not be realistic!  I might have to move cars by hand instead..im not opposed to using the classic "0-5-0 switcher" ..thats fine with me..the cars will still be moving on rails, rather than physically picking them up one at a time and carrying them, and thats the main goal...whether the motive power on the access track is a locomotive, or myself, is a minor concern.
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey everyone, here is video No. 3! Shelves are done:






And below, are the ideas for getting the lift built:

Ok, here are the three ideas I have considered for creating the shelf lifting mechanism, The “Vertical Transfer Table”. From the simplest and least expensive, to the more complex and more expensive:

*1.	A Bicycle lift:*






The “block and tackle” system of pulleys makes lifting the weight of the shelf and trains “easy” (it takes less force to raise the weight because of the block and tackle)

This one would technically work! But..there is no good way to “index” the shelves at the different levels, its “too manual”..when you reach a shelf, to make the tracks align you would have to try to get it at the exact level before tying off the ropes. Seems like it would be difficult to align exactly.

One thing I didn’t mention in the video: for whatever method I use to raise and lower the shelf, the shelf itself will need “rollers” of some kind on the wall. The shelf won’t be hanging loose in the air, It will have rollers traveling in some kind of vertical guides that are mounted to the wall.

*2.	A manual winch/crank:*

https://tinyurl.com/l5q88fc

These could work! Again there would be a block and tackle system attached to the crank, similar to the bike lift above, but instead of just “pulling the rope” manually, the winch would be used to raise and lower the shelf. This has potential.

*3.	A motorized winch:*

http://tinyurl.com/mp55n4b

the most expensive option, but it also seems the most “fine-tuneable” when it comes to lifting..this is what is used on most of the videos..speaking of which:

Something like this could work, but instead of a larger rectangular platform, it would a narrower shelf..but the rest of the system is essentially the same..motor wouldn’t need to be as large!











And here are some actual model railroad lifts:











So, its been done!  there are multiple ways to do it..now I just need to figure out the best system for me. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
Scot


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## FrankMatulewicz (Dec 27, 2007)

I was wondering how you progressed with your plans for the vertical transfer table? Quite some time back I remember seeing an article in Garden Railroader magazine where someone built a vertical carousel with the trains entering at the bottom most caddy and exiting at the top most caddy. It was an impressive and complicated setup. It would require 3 times the depth of a simple vertical wall shelf.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

FrankMatulewicz said:


> I was wondering how you progressed with your plans for the vertical transfer table? Quite some time back I remember seeing an article in Garden Railroader magazine where someone built a vertical carousel with the trains entering at the bottom most caddy and exiting at the top most caddy. It was an impressive and complicated setup. It would require 3 times the depth of a simple vertical wall shelf.


Frank,
Thanks for the interest, but sorry, no progression yet!  the previous posts in this thread were last winters project..Then winter ended, and it became the outdoor garden railroading season..
Now its winter again, and the indoor building season in back..

But this winter will likely be devoted to the LV passenger train:

https://sites.google.com/site/scotlawrence/BDE129

And next summer should see the first tracks laid outdoors..
Which means, continuation of the vertical transfer table is likely a year away yet. 
Next winter..I wont need it before then.

Too many projects, limited time..but the shelves will be worked on some more, when the time is right..

Thanks,
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Update! 
Spring 2020, work on the outdoor track to the basement window continues.
The black steel "ladder" will be the removeable bridge.
It's going to have a set of wheels, and will be rolled into position when in use, then rolled away and stored when not in use:





































thnaks,
Scot


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Scot,
Is the plan to make it actually look like a bridge when finished?
Also which window is it aiming for?
Cheers,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

If I had the ability to make up a train and go directly out of the house I would run more often. I think others would also.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

David Leech said:


> Scot,
> Is the plan to make it actually look like a bridge when finished?
> Also which window is it aiming for?
> Cheers,
> David Leech, Delta, Canada


David, no, the outside removable "bridge" isn't going to look any different than it already looks in the photos in this thread, in fact, its going to look even less like a bridge because I'm going to add large wheels to it.  its purely functional, not decorative. It will only be in place when in use.

I've been brainstorming and working on the basement portion of the system this winter.. a big change to the plan is underway. More on that soon.

Thanks,
Scot


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## MGates (Mar 16, 2016)

I know I'm resurrecting a 4 month old post here, but I figured this would be of interest to Scot when he logs back in next time. This is a similar idea of a lifting storage deck built by another fellow and he seems to have done some custom engineering and programing to make it work. Very neat design.

The video of this design is hosted on Reddit, I do not think you need an account to view the page... (EDIT 6/30/2021 The video that was hosted on Reddit got taken down, but I found the same video on Youtube:






The design seems to me made of aluminum extrusions and a center lift track which may or may not be an off the shelf part. The video is a good source of inspiration at least and may help with whatever design you eventually implement.

Best, Mike


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The one by switchcrafters solves the additional issue of being able to break up a long train into pieces for storage.

This is what am building in my garage except it will be 5 tracks wide and use a 5 way stub switch


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