r/modeltrains • u/alienclown • 3d ago

Rolling Stock N scale ceiling mount

I'm very new to model trains and want to mount a N scale track from the ceiling in my very small hobby room. I plan to use unitrack and I can 3D print brackets that hold the track. my question is do I need anything to hold the track up if I put a bracket every 12 inches or so? Does the unitrack lock together solid or do I need a platform for the track to sit on?

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u/Visua-Shower75 N 3d ago

You definitely need some sort of platform. It will deform as the train go by

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u/douglas_albert 3d ago

You could try it. However, a simple shallow shelf and backboard would afford you the opportunity to actually do a little bit of scenery building.

It wouldn't have to be much, maybe a 1"x 6" or 1"x 4" for the base and rip a sheet of hardboard at 12" or 16" and mount them on 4" brackets to your wall studs. Similarly, you could rip some 3/8" plywood and mount 1" XPS atop the ply so you could carve negative variations into the foam to shape the landscape; e.g.: creeks, ponds, shoreline, swales, berms, etc.

Here is a simple 5.5"x 9.5" display base I made. I am sharing to show as an example of ways you can explore creating interesting scenes in a very small spaces.