Growing up I had a train table in my basement. It was something no one else I knew had. To this day that remains true. I still have a fondness for model trains because of that, and saved the trains for years even after moving out from my childhood home.
This year, I finally got around to taking those trains out of storage. They were in much rougher shape than I remembered, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I bought some new engines and track and went to work restoring the old train cars. But there was a problem… I didn’t have a train table. Where were would I setup the trains? I wanted the train in my office, but there was no room for any HO scale layout. Or so I thought.
After some pondering, I set out to see if I could develop some type of wall mount system using my limited 3D modeling skills. The goals were simple. (1) There should be no need to modify the track itself. (2) The parts should be mountable to the wall quickly. (3) The parts should be easily printable as I was going to need quite a few for the project.
After a few days of modeling, prototyping and printing I had the basic designs down. But a new challenge appeared. My office ceiling slopes to follow the curve of the roof, so either I would have to have a inclining and declining slopes making running the train a manual process, or I’d have to create some type of bridge across my ceiling before the slope… and that’s just what I did.
It didn’t take long to install the parts into the wall using the jig system I created, and slight leveling adjustments were easy since I only needed a single drywall screw per mount. Anyways, that’s enough about the process. Let’s see the train!
I’m very happy with the result and see a lot of potential for others using this system in their own projects. Because of that, I’ve made the parts available for sale and will be selling them made to order for anyone interested.
I’d estimate around 40 wall mounts and 8 corner mounts would be required for a 10x10 room. The placement jig is optional, but it does help in the mounting process. As is the bridge truss. It’s cool, but not required for a flat ceiling. I will be selling the kit, and additional parts, like the truss, for larger installations separately. The only other parts required would be a compatible track. I’d recommend Bachmann Trains — Snap-Fit E-Z TRACK as that is what I’ve used and can confirm compatibility, but others may work just as well with or without modification.
I’ve also continued to play with the idea of additional designs for the wall mounts as well as compatibility with different scales and track types. If there is enough interest I may design and release those in the future as well. Until then, I run my train all the time and have yet to have a major derailment. That may change once my cats find a way to reach the train…