Are twin slot brackets strong enough to support a shelf layout?

[Whetstone Bridge]

Twin Slot Brackets?

 

Has anyone got much experience with using twin slot brackets for supporting a shelf layout?  Any tips or tricks would help.

 

Particular issues:

 

• I'm thinking of using 470mm brackets with a 485mm base baseboard.  Is this going to be too much of a load?
• I'm assuming tall uprights so that I can get more fixings into the wall.  Does the height of the upright make much difference?
• Not sure if I need extra cross bracing.
• Is there a way to hide the bracket so it looks like a true 'floating' shelf?
• I don't want any supports underneath because I've got another layout going there.

 

It's this system that I'm planning to use (loads of it sitting spare in the garage):

 

 

Thanks,

 

WB

[KeithMacdonald]

I've got a small length of test track and storage/display shelves setup on that exact type of shelving. It's been on the wall for five years so far, hasn't fallen off yet! Perhaps the critical thing isn't the metalwork, it's what you are fastening it too. i.e. with good plasterboard fastenings.

Good luck! 😀

 

[ikcdab]

Have a look at this topic 

make a lightweight ply box baseboard.  6 mm sides, laminated cross members. 6 or 9mm top. Cut two slots in the back to take your brackets and just slide it on.  Floating shelf. 

I think it is very workable indeed.

Ian

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by ikcdab

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I have used these for many years as bookshelf supports and in the garage to carry tools, screws etc and have had no problems thus far.

A layout should be no problem.

 

Mike.

[New Haven Neil]

Yes - in O gauge!

 

[The Stationmaster]

I have used a similar system for bookshelves for years and they are carrying a much heavier weight than a model railway.  I used another similar system for shelving in the garage and the woodshed and both cope well with the sort of weight you'd expect to find from tools and large boxes of things like nails and screws - again probably light than a model railway.    

 

But a few points to remember -

1.  the height of the wall fixing makes a difference as if it is taller then it can be fixed in more places so will be more resistant to bending moments caused by weight on the shelves.

2. The spacing between the uprights is also important to help support more weight (probably not so relevant in smaller model railways scales) but equally to keep the shelf material level and stable.

3. The material you use for the shelving will make a difference to the amount of support it needs - timber, in the right conditions, will normally be pretty stable but things such as chipboard, insulation boards (various) etc need more frequent support to minimise the chances of their twisting and bending

4. Critical.  If you are fixing the uprights to a modern internal stud wall make sure they are screwed to the upright timbers in the stud wall.  You can probably get suitable fixings to use with plasterboard but fixing to the stud frame is much better.    Similarly if the wall is sold material make sure you get the right sort of wall plugs for the material the wall is constructed from - again with modern blockwork fixing overa great vertical distance will be more secure when it comes to coping with weight.

 

These photos show the shelving in my 'library' -  the pompous name a corridor with shelves on one side.  In this case it is a stud wall so the uprights had to be at the same intervals as the studding timber and will be carrying a lot of weight (they are absolutely full) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by The Stationmaster

[Whetstone Bridge]

I’ve seen another thread mention foamcore board as a lightweight option.  Could go wider with the baseboard then.

[Mark Forrest]

50 minutes ago, Whetstone Bridge said:

I’ve seen another thread mention foamcore board as a lightweight option.  Could go wider with the baseboard then.

Be careful if the baseboard is deeper than the brackets.  Leaning on the front edge of the baseboard could see it topple over and end up on the floor!  While foam board can work, I believe there is an argument for having a reasonably amount of weight in the board to help counterbalance any overhang.

[97406]

 

Most definitely. There are 5 uprights fixed firmly into the breeze block wall behind my layout. The uprights go up to the same height as the backscene. In another room I have 2 Technics SL1210s, a mixer and a hefty piece of kitchen worktop attached to the walls with the same stuff. Brilliant stuff it is. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by 97406

[unravelled]

A solid run of magazines will probably weigh considerably more than a layout. I would want to mount the uprights so that they extend well above the layout level, to give the best strength My experience is that the screws do the smaller part of the supporting, and it is the friction between channel and wall which contributes most. Try to position the uprights so that there is a screw just above the basboard height, to make the baseboard brackets less able to dip or twist. Also don't trust the brackets for level, make provision for levelling up the baseboard independent of  the brackets. A final thought, while bodern diy store offerings are compatible with the original "Spur" brand, some competing systems have been made. I came across one where the channels were shallower, and the ears on the brackets slightly shorter, which meant that, although the slots were the same, spur brackets would hit the wall and couldn't be used.

 

Hth 

Dave

[5BarVT]

Another ‘Yes’ from me.  Photos in the early part of my thread (before we moved in 2020).

However, (!) it was a house with solid walls and I used 3” screws into the wall so the supports were never going to move!  If you have more modern construction make sure you can find the right place to secure the uprights or the right sort of fixing screws if it’s ‘dot & dab’.

Agree with the comment about levelling independently of the supports and also note that spur supports are not necessarily level front to back.

I used the spur supports to support a sub frame of 38x64 (ish) CLS which supported the layout - quite a lot of depth lost to supporting.

Paul.

[97406]

1 minute ago, 5BarVT said:

Another ‘Yes’ from me.  Photos in the early part of my thread (before we moved in 2020).

However, (!) it was a house with solid walls and I used 3” screws into the wall so the supports were never going to move!  If you have more modern construction make sure you can find the right place to secure the uprights or the right sort of fixing screws if it’s ‘dot & dab’.

Agree with the comment about levelling independently of the supports and also note that spur supports are not necessarily level front to back.

I used the spur supports to support a sub frame of 38x64 (ish) CLS which supported the layout - quite a lot of depth lost to supporting.

Paul.

 

Yes, regarding the levelness front to back, I have used various thicknesses of plasticard and hardboard spacers between the brackets and the 44mm (IIRC) square pine sub frame to correct this. 

[DLT]

Yes, the twinslot stuff is heavy duty, but use long uprights with several screws into the wall.  Have used it a lot for shelving both at work and at home.  You will find out how flat and vertical your walls are/are not!  Beware of single-slot variants, they can be very light duty.

You will need a little adjustment/packing when you mount the layout, as the brackets wont necessarily be level.

[KingEdwardII]

On 09/04/2023 at 10:02, Whetstone Bridge said:

experience with using twin slot brackets

Those shelving systems will carry a lot of weight with no problem. As DLT says above, just make sure that the uprights are well fixed to the wall. I've used them both for bookshelves and also in the garage for holding tools and materials. The weights involved there are very likely much higher than you will ever get from a model railway layout.

 

Yours, Mike.

[Wheatley]

On 09/04/2023 at 13:42, unravelled said:

 A final thought, while bodern diy store offerings are compatible with the original "Spur" brand, some competing systems have been made. I came across one where the channels were shallower, and the ears on the brackets slightly shorter, which meant that, although the slots were the same, spur brackets would hit the wall and couldn't be used.

I found this out the hard way too, not all 'Spur' brackets are actually Spur (TM) brackets. Some can be persuaded to fit, others can't.  

 

The long term plan for the garage involves a second level of baseboards  at shoulder height, 24" wide and made from good old fashioned chipboard and softwood. Not light. In preparation for this I have been testing the long term suitability of 18" Spur(ish) brackets to support this by using them to support some shelves made from old chipboard, bits of old melamine shelf etc upon which are piled all the materials need for the layout currently being built in there - timber, ply, boxes of screws, tool boxes, tins of paint, the block pavers I use to weight track while the PVA dries.... they've been up more than 5 years and haven't fallen down yet. The supports run full height worktop to ceiling and are screwed into the timber framing uprights which are roughly 24" apart. 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Wheatley

[Izzy]

Like others I have found this Spur shelving to be very capable of holding high weight without issue when screwed/bolted into decent walls. The only aspect i would suggest is that perhaps a flat shelf is screwed to the brackets and any layout just slid into place on top with perhaps a lip at the front so they can't be pulled off accidently. Some brackets I have found can 'sag' a bit due to the bracket not being formed quite right or the upright being distorted a bit which then needs a bit of packing under the front fixing screw point to get the shelf level.

 

Bob

[woodenhead]

When I moved to my current house a decade ago I got the downstairs 'study' as my office, railway room and general clutter storage.

 

I put up twin slot brackets around two walls of the room - one in the party wall and one wall is plasterboard.  I ensured the party wall brackets were fixed to the concrete blocks between us and the neighbours and used heavy duty plasterboard fixings on the internal wall.  These have held a railway, plus all sorts of other items on the shelves over the years without any problems. 

 

The railway was screwed to the horizontal support to ensure no movement and when the railway got wider I did add a couple of vertical supports at the edge of the railway but that was it.  When I moved upstairs to one of the bedrooms the shelving became purely household junk and they are still as good as the day they were put up a decade ago.

[DCB]

If you have a nice brick or breeze block wall with the joints clearly visible and can screw the vertical elements securely to them at fairly short intervals avoiding the mortar between blocks and if the shelves are short and light  and if you don't need to keep the shelves super level then the system can work.    My father in law's workshop has some supporting MDF shelves  which have warped, drooping between supports, and drooping on the outer ends or not being level end on, starting a bit high on the outer end.     Most of us have wooden sheds with widely spaced  vertical supports too widely spaced to use for the vertical elements of this system, or studding walls or brick walls where you can't see the joins.  I suppose you could use 3/4" ply vertically to take the supports. 

Being metal it will distort catastrophically if overloaded, if you fall and grab it for instance, where wood may well survive.  It has its place, Especially for a narrow portable layout or section which can be lifted off for storage.

And I fancy some as the frame for multi level hidden sidings fed by a train lift.  Meantime I used one of the uprights as a track base outside, just a nice width....

[Harlequin]

I think Iain Rice used twin slot brackets to support the scenes in one of his layout designs so you're on safe ground. Unfortunately, I can't find the reference just at the moment.

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Harlequin

[2E Sub Shed]

32 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

I think Iain Rice used twin slot brackets to support the scenes in one of his layout designs so you're on safe ground. Unfortunately, I can't find the reference just at the moment.

 

Described by Iain in "Model Railroader's How to Guide - Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads" Kalmbach Books 2009 in some detail. (Also has section on foam core baseboards)

 

Also covered by Lance Mindheim in "How to build a Switching Layout"

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by 2E Sub Shed
Missing letter !

[Whetstone Bridge]

Thanks for all your comments.  Some really good advice to follow up.  Sounds like (genuine) Spur shelving will take the load of ply frame baseboard modules so I’ll drop the foam board idea.

 

WB

[bodmin16]

I hope so, or else Cliddesden gets it!  Seriously though this is my micro which is approx 3m by 0.3m, and the the biggest worry for me was fitting to dry line walls.   The wall fittings extend well above TVS and below Cliddesden, with several fixings into the wall - Cliddesden stands on it own legs.

[spamcan61]

These brackets from Toolstation are quoted as good for 100Kg 'per shelf' - two brackets? - which is an awful lot of layout:-

 

https://www.toolstation.com/white-twin-slot-shelving/p20828

Edited April 11, 2023 by spamcan61

[TravisM]

I'm thinking of using twin slot shelving but I was wondering using Pine timber shelving brackets as an alternative, with foam insulation boards instead of timber to keep the weight down.  I appreciate that foam boards are more fragile.  Would be great to hear people views, both negative and positive.

[ess1uk]

I had bookshelves on them for years no bother and the books were not light.

I had thought of doing something similar for a small shelf layout myself but have never gotten around to it.

I may have to try it out now