Doug,

With a 1916 house, I feel ya here.  If you don't want to attach to the walls, then some variation on the Domino concept would probably be useful.  Dave Barrow rolle dthe idea out in Model Railroader about a decade ago, and we have several excellent variants here.  Scarpia's Blog about building 22 Stories Up here at MRH contains another excellent idea for doing modular benchowrk atop Ikea shelf modules.

The only issue I see is that there is not a lot of room to pull cars out of the feed mill, so you won't be able to get more than 2-3 cars at a time.  If you have more than than in there, it could involve a lot of moves.

A suggestion: You could put a peninsula in and extend the main line a little further, either with a reverse loop or at least a longer main line and more room to pull out.

As for the benchwork, just build (or buy) tables that can stand on the floor.  The benchwork does not have to be attached to the wall, as long as it is sturdy.

Doug,

I look at your plan and my impression is that it will be very flat track without grades.  You could buy luan doors from your local home store for table tops.  The doors are finished smooth, lightweight, strong and cheap, @$32 for wide doors. There have been many layouts built on luan doors.  You can easily expand the layout by adding another door.  All you have to do is build the support structure to make these doors into table tops.  The doors come in various widths.

I have seen folding metal leg sets, also from the home stores, attached to 1x6 boards which were glued and screwed across the width to the now underside of the doors.  PVC pipe was cut to lengthen the metal legs to bring the layout up to a decent height.  You slide the PVC pipe over the legs up to where the metal legs bend.  This adds strength.  Threaded feet were glued into the PVC caps, which were then glued to the PVC pipe, to provide a way to level the layout for uneven floors.  you can paint the PVC pipe as well.

I have seen the doors cut shorter and Styrofoam sheets were glued inside to re-brace the luan surface.  You can glue roadbed and sheets of Styrofoam to the luan surface.  You can actually do a lot with the laun doors to build a layout.  You can expand the layout as you build each section.  It will give you a Domino type layout mentioned above.  You can get clamps in the doors too by cutting a half moon hole near each edge.  Remember that the luan door has a 1x1 inch wood frame along the outer edges so, you want to be behind that frame on the adjoining doors.

This will give you a portable layout as well.  While describing this method to you I begin to think of the MR Beer Line.  You might want to look up that track plan before you start.  You just might find that interesting.  It is something that can be expanding and rearranged when you want.

Just something to think about.

Den

If you want to pursue the IKEA shelving system further, read the article in the MRG mag Nov/Dec 2010 issue. The article is titled "Benchwork without tools – 22 stories up!". Written by Tom (Scarpia). His adventure actually starts in the previous issue, Sep/Oct issue titled "Modeling 22 Stories up". There is more in this forum on the Nov/Dec article at this post: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh-2010-NovDec/22nd_floor_benchwork

 Much better start. After having googled on the Bethlehem branch, I also thought Perkasie might be an interesting point to model.

  Your three staging tracks seems to be about 6-7 feet long, with the runaround at Perkasie being about 7-8 feet long. How long trains are you planning to run? Are all trains turning at Perkasie?

 Do you have a track schematic showing prototypical track arrangements at Perkasie?

Smile,
Stein

Folks were nice enough to mention the method I've been using for my layout, but based on the plans you're put forward so far, I'd really consider hanging wall shelving as a "base".

I wouldn't worry that much about the walls on a hundred year old house; plaster can be patched easy enough.

As an aside, the shelving base I used, "Gorm" is no longer being sold and I believe it's been discontinued, but certainly there would be similar products out there somewhere.

Bad news for me. I will now need to find an alternative method for expanding my layout-in-process. Ouch!!!

Thanks for the heads up, Tom.

EDIT:

After reviewing Scarpia's (Tom's) latest posts on his modules 6&7, I find that GORM is still available, but only the taller product (as Tom states). The individual shelves are still listed along with the steel braces. In acquiring the uprights, they could be cut down to the size Tom and I use.

That's true, Bill, you could easily cut down the higher posts. I think what's more valid about the process I used though, is that it really doesn't matter what's under the modules as long as the height is the same.

My modules are not attached to the shelves, they simply sit on it. With that in mind, any similar product, or for that matter wall mounted shelving brackets, should work.

If I end up going around the room, I'll be forced to look at other options as well (I knew I should have purchased more than I did!). Maybe even get the full size Gorm, and run the layout through it?