shelves

shelves Shelves...
One thing that any layout needs are little shelves to put your drink or controller. I am making four shelves for my layout that will be attached to the fascia (face) of the layout. The three predecessor roads, B&O, C&O, and WM will all have small shelves, the Chessie System shelf will be twice the length of the B&O one.

Below is a how to on making shelves with railroad logos.

How to:
1. Go to Home Depot and buy a plank of Aspen wood. Aspen is a nice hard wood that takes paint well. You could do other types of wood, but Aspen is also very smooth and has little grain. It just looks good.
2. Cut the plank to whatever size you want your shelves to be. Router the edges of the plank.
3. Spray the board accordingly:
            WESTERN MARYLAND: Paint the whole shelf red, mask off around the edges, paint edges black, draw the "WM" logo, mask off around the logo, paint the logo white, seal with gloss coat.
            B&O: Paint the whole shelf yellow, draw the logo, mask so the edges and logo are exposed, paint the edges and logo dark blue, seal with gloss coat.
            C&O: Paint the whole shelf dark blue, draw the logo, mask so the edges and logo are exposed, paint the edges and logo yellow, seal with gloss coat.
            CHESSIE SYSTEM: Paint the whole shelf dark blue, draw the logo, mask off so the logo is covered, paint the rest yellow, mask off so that only the edges are exposed, paint the edges orange, seal with gloss coat.

Below are the pics.
WESTERN MARYLAND:
This first one is actually the C&O shelf. But the WM shelf looked just like it before it got painted.

Below is the WM shelf. It has been cut, routered, and painted red and black. It is smaller than the B&O and C&O shelves (just like the real railroad was the smallest of the three). You can just barely see the "WM" and speed lines on the shelf. I drew them with a pencil to help me in masking.

Below is the WM shelf masked off and ready to paint. I use plastic bags to cover the parts I don't want painted. They are free when you buy groceries, so you might as well use them.

Below is the WM shelf done. This project really only takes a few minutes. Take your time masking and you too can have a unique railroad logo shelf.

BALTIMORE & OHIO:
Here is the same C&O shelf. It has been cut to size and the edges routered. The B&O shelf looked just like it when I started.

Below is the B&O shelf. It has been cut, routered, and painted yellow. You can just barely see the Capital Dome logo I drew on the left side. Up next, masking it off.

Below is the B&O shelf all masked off and ready to get painted blue. The B&O capital dome logo was cut out with a sharp knife after covering the area with tape.

Below is the finished B&O shelf. I am happy with the shelf as a first effort, but I will take more time on the logo for the C&O and Chessie shelves.

Below are the finished C&O and Chessie shelves.