Model Train Display Cases question

[Bernard]

Has anyone purchased or any knowledge of these two model train display cases?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CSNZR4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A25NXKGCOVWWK9&th=1

28"W x16"H x 1.75" D

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UKRLNW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2E4AR5NPCCQ1P&psc=1

38"W x 18"H x 2.3"D

[roadstar_na6]

Hm I reckon if you asked your local carpenter for something like this it‘d be much cheaper and in a size that‘d best fit your wall 🙂

[cteno4]

Actually a decent price. Building cases like this as a one off is not hard but would be more time for a decent carpenter at even a cheap rate than the cost of these. Making thin shelves and thinner smaller frames with glass that hinge is actually more fiddly work than building bookshelves with doors! I’ve built and had built a lot of casework for exhibits and they get expensive fast even when simple to have custom built. Sadly also not as many folks around that want to do little projects like this for hire.

 

going custom built will be more expensive for a finished case, but if you want a particular design, style, finish or size it’s the way to go! I’ve had a case design in mind for a long time here, but i have not attempted doing it physically as I know it’s going to be a lot of work to get the first one worked out and built.
 

jeff

[gavino200]

I agree with roadstar and Jeff. I don't much like the framing style of these two cases linked. A custom case would look much better. The best one I've ever seen is the one that @JR 500系 had made for him. I bet he can find pictures to show you. I had a look but they're buried in one of his gigantic threads. I'm tempted to have one made myself. I'll have to wait and see if I have a spot for it. 

[Drunkenclam]

I can see access being a headache. Although it hinges up. I hope it has some sort of locking safty stay. That falling on your head could be nasty.

[Kiha66]

A friend has that case in black, it looks nice enough but can only store short trains.  I believe it has latches on the bottom to hold the case closed.   The best looking case I've see are the showcase express shelves.  They look great (especially with the optional mirror insert), but can get pretty expensive if you want to show off a lot of trains.  A local modeler has a whole wall of them to display their brass collection, that single wall probably has more value than the rest of the house!

 

https://www.showcase-express.com/

[Sheffie]

I want a wall-mounted shelf unit to store and display trains that aren’t on the layout. 

 

Im thinking of somewhere between five and ten shelves, wide enough for one train, and about a metre long. 

 

I think dust protection is key, and so I think it’s going to need glass or Perspex doors, hinged or sliding. 

 

Not sure if if I can buy something or whether I’ll need to make it myself. 

 

So!

 

Give me your experiences, suggestions, recommendations, or thoughts, please!

Edited January 20, 2021 by Sheffie

[gavino200]

22 minutes ago, Sheffie said:

I want a wall-mounted shelf unit to store and display trains that aren’t on the layout. 

 

Im thinking of somewhere between five and ten shelves, wide enough for one train, and about a metre long. 

 

I think dust protection is key, and so I think it’s going to need glass or Perspex doors, hinged or sliding. 

 

Not sure if if I can buy something or whether I’ll need to make it myself. 

 

So!

 

Give me your experiences, suggestions, recommendations, or thoughts, please!

 

Look at page 21 of this thread.

 

 

[roadstar_na6]

Here‘s a discussion about it that started earlier today 😄

 

If money is no object, get a TrainSafe.

[gavino200]

Weird, I thought I was in the same thread.

[gavino200]

Here's a link to JR's train case. It's a beauty.

 

 

[roadstar_na6]

A small note for custom made ones, get some groves cut into the boards that act as rails, makes staging a lot easier and improves the looks 🙂

[cteno4]

I’ve actually played around with this instead of using track on the shelves. It works well, but you need meatier shelves. One thing I hate in a display like this are really thick shelves as it just draws your eye away from what’s on the shelves to the shelf itself! Also you need a mini table saw in order to cut narrow flangeways. Regular table saws will put pretty big grooves in the shelves even with the smallest kerf blades. Not horrid but it does look clunky. Nice narrow slits look great as they pretty much disappear to a little line, not big slots.

 

In the end I like the look of using track on the shelves. Without the track it looks just a tad too minimal. I think Tomix track looks best here being very low profile. I still am interested in doing the removable shelves so you could run the train on and off the layout and easily store in the display.

 

main thing Thats stoped me from making a large one is the cost of the plex face and frame. That I need to have fabricated and it gets expensive... framing the plex front with a frame tends to make things feel a little closed in, but I may try a large one as a test as it’s just the cost of the plex then. If big enough the wood frame if done as thin as possible may not feel heavy on a larger expanse. But with big cases you need big walls spaces...

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Admin note: just merged the two display case posts we had today into one.

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

Thanks Gavin! 

 

Yap i toyed with the idea of a really nice display case for my trains, and the idea came from the Popondetta shop front in Shinjuku that i saw when i was in Japan in 2015:

 

 

But quickly realise most of the off-the-shelf 'shelves' couldnt fit more than 6 cars... 

 

So i decided to make a custom one instead... I also wanted to display full consists of 16/ 17 car shinkansens, and that was LONG (almost 3m)... Eventually i had to settle for 2.4m due to the stairway that the contractor had to move the shelf up by, hence i'm not able to display full 16-car consists..... (Yes FULL consists are LONG)

 

 

Here's an updated picture with the addition of a few more Shinkansens (EVA/ Hello Kitty/ Mickey)

 

4 hours ago, roadstar_na6 said:

A small note for custom made ones, get some groves cut into the boards that act as rails, makes staging a lot easier and improves the looks 🙂

 

This is a REALLY good point as i missed this one out previously... cause, placing all 14 cars (max length) to be straight in order is no easy feat!  😛 

 

Having said that, i discovered i actually had enough width and height between each level to make a 2 tier display, so in the event of increment of rolling stocks (which almost seems to happen unknowingly) i can actually have 2 tiers on each layer, but it would be harder to see the one on the inside tier.... 

 

I really like what the carpentors did for my display case, the laminate was nice and the dimensions were prefect, except for maybe the shorten length.... 

[Sheffie]

Okay, I was really quite taken by the Train Safe , and I got as far as pricing them up. I didn’t think I’d really end up buying a display made of plastic, but they did look really nice. It seems like the most basic product starts at 70 Euros per metre... and at that point I find myself saying no, money is not no object. Money is most definitely an object. 

 

I considered the Showcase Express cases. At around $30 per metre they’re quite a lot more affordable, although the loading/unloading process looks like it wouldn’t be very elegant, since the front panel needs to slide out to one side. Also, I don’t really like extruded aluminium as a material. It’s fine for practical purposes, but not for display. 

 

I’m waiting to hear back from a carpenter who’s offering custom sizes, and is apparently doing a delivery run / convention tour through the eastern US in spring. I’ve asked for estimates for a unit with eleven shelves of almost 40” each. This will be red oak with a walnut stain, sliding glass panels and ‘N’ gauge grooved shelves just over an inch deep. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Sheffie

[Bernard]

Thanks everyone for the advice! The display case JR500 is extremely nice! I wonder the weight of the case it?

I measured the HO/N scale case and it just short for my 500 Shinkansen which measure 38" which is the exact length of the display case...drat!

 

[toc36]

Came across this 2019 post.

[Bernard]

toc36 thanks for posting! I checked paolo's thread but I didn't see information on the German company that makes the custom kit.

 

[roadstar_na6]

@Bernard, here you go! 🙂

[Bernard]

On 1/23/2021 at 2:00 PM, roadstar_na6 said:

@Bernard, here you go! 🙂

Thank you roadstar_na6!