Railroad to military base

William sent this in – his railroad to military base.

He sent it in way back in 2012, but it’s still one of my faves.

I loved it:

“Thought you might like to see some pics of my Army base, it is 1 of 5 tables I’m working on.. Let me know what you think.

William”

army base railroad

military railroad

model railroad army base

model railroad army fort

model railroad factory

model railroad military road

night time railroad factory

railroad side trench

model railroad airfield

model railroad airtower

railroad army base

railroad army base fort

model railroad military base

model railroad factory

railroad fort

army model railroad curve

railroad to military base

railroad military

model railroad army hangar

model railroad tunnel for military base

railroad sidings

bridge

model railroad carpark

model railroad tanks

bridge

army railroad watertank

railway fort

railroad to military

It’s great isn’t it?

There are quite a few military themed layouts on the site. Here are some:

Phil’s World War 1 railway

“I thought I would share an update on my WW1 railway. If you recall it is set somewhere in the south of England in 1918.

You will see I have installed the Oxford Rail railway gun in a siding which doubles as a small military camp. I have decided it is too much trouble to actually get the gun to run with the clearances it requires.

Phil”

military model railway tank

You can see all of Phil’s pics here on his WW1 railway.

Phil’s WW1 railway update

“Thought I would share an update on the WW1 railway (somewhere in southern England 1918). The last few weeks have been about details and in particular figures.

In the gun park you see gunners working on their railway gun and watching some squadies square bash

The airdrome has now got pilots mechanics and of course an O/C!

On the platforms I have added some propaganda posters

Phil”

model railway army gun

You can see Phil’s WW1 update here.

Don’t forget to have a look at the latest version of the ebay cheat sheet.

And of course, save a fortune with this print out scenery (you just print it out and stick it together).

Best

Al

84 Responses to Railroad to military base

  1. Mike says:

    Nice one William, Al, isn’t amazing what can be done without scenic hills etc?

  2. steve gladman says:

    love the rail road but what scale is it please and where did you get the vehicles and buildings from

  3. Ralph says:

    Splendid setup William.
    Well presented.

  4. D.Milburn says:

    Very nice!Good detail.Only thing didn’t see any people or”troops”I did see a few on the cross over but overall I think its great!!

  5. Tony says:

    Not big into military stuff, but doesn’t matter here. Great stuff, William! I also really like how it was photographed.

  6. dave says:

    nice one William , you have done an outstanding job there

  7. Barry Palmer says:

    Very nice and detailed William. Quite the theme. I’m impressed.

  8. Rickey Allinen says:

    Good looking layout. Outs of work great work

  9. Barry Clay says:

    Love it,plenty of interest and something different.
    Barry.

  10. charles bartel says:

    Wonderful pictures, great modeling. I assume HO. However, whee is this layout? It ways one of five tables. Is this a display in a muesum open to the public? And what are the other four tables? Are they of the same level of detial? I sure would like to see them also. Thanks for sharing.

  11. HERMAN MOORE says:

    love the rail road
    [1] what scale is it please
    [2] where did you get the buildings from

    I would like to get to chat to you if possible please ?
    I am in process of putting together a Japanese Island Fortress
    and will be adding rail to it as well.
    Would be interested to get some ideas of the size / space you used and loads of other questions
    If you are prepared to share ?

    Regards
    Herman Moore
    IPMS Cape Town
    South Africa

  12. HERMAN MOORE says:

    Another Question would it be possible to get a better ”OVERVIEW” Pic to see the layout or some clearer Images so the content can be better commented on ?
    Not being able to see the overall layout or clearer images it is difficult to identify everything that is on the layout –
    Some items are very obscure / blurred ?

    I have slowly started to build the 1st of my ”Storyboards” which will be put away until all are done then it will be placed onto a large table and ”hopefully it will make sense.

  13. charlie says:

    where’s the rail road what road name??nice tree’s

  14. ezam75 says:

    WOW that looks inceeadible great job guy’s!!!!

  15. Bob says:

    Fantastic work. You have much to be proud of. I am interested in the scale also as well as how long you have been working on this? Are you modeling a particular era? You’re efforts and creativity are astounding.

    Bob Richards
    Uniontown, Ohio

  16. Jesse Allred says:

    nice

  17. Jeff K Sr says:

    Nice work! Makes me want to re-up!

  18. Jim Volmer Sr says:

    What a great looking layout. I wish the room my layout is presently in could accomodate something of this magnitude.

  19. Bill says:

    What scale are the airplanes? I am interested in building a German WWII airfield layout with 1:72 scale aircraft with HO gauge train (1:87). Any thoughts/comments?

  20. Glenn Roach says:

    Looks very nice. Nice with the different eras of military trucks, planes, and armor. But where was the Military train sitting on the layout?

  21. Ian says:

    very good think its great , like the theme .

  22. Paul Brady says:

    excellent layout but thought could be improved by sticking to one era, one country and more care in the use of different scales. It seems to me that the use of 1:72 scale aircraft of vehicles in a HO layout is possible if those items are in the front and visually separated from the rest of the HO scale items.

  23. Dirck Hecking says:

    I am addicted to modeling trains, but the enhancements around them make everything more interesting. And this is a marvelous example. e.g. there is a story to be (conjured-up) told about what’s was, is and will be going on for each square foot

    Thanks for the posts… maybe more

  24. Ervin S, Jackman says:

    nice William that is the best that i ever seen. you got some real talent I’m vary impressed. i just can’t say enough except that you are talented. would like to see more.
    Thank you ERV.

  25. paul Otway says:

    sure is a lot of work involved to produce such realism

  26. Jack R. Quintana says:

    I really liked this email. It’s one of your best. Great Job
    Jack

  27. John Baragwanath says:

    Unbelieveable! What a genius! Wish I had the skill & time to even build a simple table railway.

  28. Erik Kimbrough says:

    Excellent theme!

  29. that is amazing, that took a lot of time and de tale, good job, would like you to win an award, the base is out standing, hope my layout comes out partially that good, five stars

  30. Colin KIng says:

    Nice layout William, well done mate!

  31. william sigston says:

    Thanks, to all of you I have never heard such nice words.. Makes it all worth the trouble, anyone with questions please feel free to email.. But I will tell you this it is “N” scale, and it is on a 4×8 sheet of plywood, it sits on a 2″ piece of insulation on top of a 1/2 inch. And when you see a track that just ends like the one in the pic, it will go to the other tables as soon as they are done. Also, the building are bought on ebay, but the man in the pics is my camo guy, he is also my best friend. I am a Vietnam Vet. and I love this stuff, my buddy and I also built a 6 lane HO race track with 19′ straight aways, detail is my game.. Also, people will be put down before I’m done, also hard to find n scale army men, train is Army train and cars as well. Again, any questions feel free, Thanks again for all the support and comments… Siggy

  32. william sigston says:

    By the way been working on this table 3 months…..

  33. crystal says:

    siggy and sarg outstanding, job, well done and very detailed, keep up the good work

  34. karis Furnival says:

    Fantastic. will you come and put all mine together?

  35. Steve Gladman says:

    Thank you for the details I will go on eBay looking for the buildings and vehicles if I have any more questions I will come back to you

    Thank you

  36. chris says:

    very impressive, like the aircraft

  37. DAN JENKINS says:

    FABULOUS…JUST FABULOUS……….WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE

  38. Rich Lambe says:

    Really inspiring. I too would love to see an aerial shot to assist with organizing the closeups. Keep up the great work.

  39. Lee Henry says:

    Superb job, especially in N scale. I also work in N scale and know how hard it is to do when everything is that small.

  40. Dennis says:

    love “theme” layouts

  41. Frank says:

    loving it…..just started my 8′ x 8′ block…..just DC for now….bidding on some zephyr’s to add my DCC engines…but DC for now MRC power supply, for scenery i am using boxes, plaster strips and mix for tunnels. the water, roads and ground cover are left over parts from the kids mission projects for school. its an ongoing project itself…….

  42. kimo says:

    Exellent,super job

  43. Lee Barry, CEO LZPMRR says:

    I like the “ped overpass “. The people seemed to look like they are actually climbing and going down the steps. The rest of the pictures are great. Wish I had the room and money to build something like this. All I’ve got room for in this little 2 br house is space for a 37″ x 27″ x 10” Z guage layout. I have some N ga. stuff and a lot of KATO N scale track I used on my N scale layout back in 1994 to 2006. I also have an MTH N&W “J” class steam engine and tender and 4 passenger cars and an oval track with the transformer I bought in 2002, used very little. Last time it was used was in 2009, on the dining room table over the xmas holidays, sits in the closet in the box. If anyone is interested in looking at a few pictures of my Z scale layout , it is “museum quality” you can find it at Z Central Station, go to photos/galleries and look for LZPMRR, that’s for LeeZ Po’ Mans’ RailRoad. I think you’ll like them. I only run it about 1-3 times a month. Some months not at all. Wish I had a place in a lager room to display it, but it is in the rear bedroom which is small. Oh well I guess I need be thankful for having it at all. If it hadn’t been for this idiot 22 year old kid almost killing me in a car accident, his fault, not mine I wouldn’t have it. If you want to know more e-mail me!!!

  44. Steve Mittan says:

    Great lay out. How long is it? How many rooms did you use? What is the total SQ Feet.

  45. Kevin bristow says:

    Amazing, love it nice one

  46. Vernon says:

    Awesome I like it a lot. Just need more people look like a gost town.

  47. tadheath says:

    This layout is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would love to see this in a magazine!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NICE JOB AND MEAN N I C E J O B !!!!!!!!!!!!!

  48. Mark w says:

    Was looking at the printable building and noticed that if purchased to print N scale the reduction is losted as less than for HO scale. Is that a typo error? Surely the N scale should be smaller than HO

  49. Exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcellent job, great work on the detail. Would love to see more pics when the whole thing is put together with the other platform.

  50. Cheryl says:

    It is fantastic, lots of work went into it.

  51. Randy says:

    Neat, I’ve thought about doing this for years, nice to see what happens when someone actually follows-through 🙂

  52. Charlie Wray says:

    Great job Thanks for sharing

  53. Steve Rowe says:

    Well done William. And “Thanks” for you service.

  54. jim morris says:

    great

  55. Keith Carey says:

    William, you are to be congratulated. A lot of us are OCD. That makes us look for flaws and things that are not quite centered and all. So, that issue makes us fearful of attempting a custom layout. It really requires a large amount of space to do this right. I am guessing your layout is 9×18. That’s incredible. I hope you had many fun winter nights with someone else to enjoy creating this layout. I am impressed with the buildings and the equipment. Especially, the refinery or fuel depot you designed. Very realistic. You truly should have this published. I suggest you remove the highway hash marks on the short roads going against the normal flow. My last layout long ago, I had white border lines and very very short hash marks. A road only needs to be 4 inches wide to equal 32ft highway width. I like the Hotwings airport. Very nice!

  56. Ed Dunaway says:

    Bill,
    Wow really like all the detail in the layout especially the Airport killer.
    Lots of work and it shows.
    If you ever get time more pictures maybe a little bigger for my old eyes.
    Cheers

  57. Garry Keffert says:

    Glad to see some other scale than HO. What trains do you run? I run Marklin, MTL, AZL and some Japanese on a 10 sqm Z scale layout.
    Your layout is different to the rest, just fantastic!

  58. Chris says:

    Great layout gives me hope. Thank you and all the veterans for all you service

  59. rick k says:

    That’s a lot of work! WOW! How long have you been working on it. To everyone else, easy on the certiquing its probably better than yours. I like it. Are the bunkers soup cans?

  60. rick k says:

    OH, Three months, even more impressive now. More pics with the army’s trains pls.

  61. Paul O says:

    EXCELLENT layout! Love the low-level street shots.
    But, why no trains?

    Paul O

  62. Don Mullins says:

    Nice job on the Army Base layout, evenif I’m retired Navy! Layout could go either way. one question though??? From a fire fighter’s view–Where is the base fire stations? From the looks of the layout –a minimum of 3 would be needed: 2- for strucural fire fighting and 1- for the airport area! That is just my opinion with being both a current volunteer fireman and a retired Navy fireman (ABH). Still the layout looks amazing!!! Great job###!!!

  63. Steven P says:

    Great Pictures & it gave me several ideas for my layout that I am working on.

  64. Asa Simmons says:

    Hi
    Nice military lay out, but whre are the B17 flying Fortresses
    B24 Liberators, B25 Mithchel, B26 Muraders, P38 Lightnings
    P47 Thunderbolts, and P51 Mustangs?

  65. Hugo Budzen says:

    Nice job. I agree with the need for fire protection. When you get to putting more people into the scene, remember there was always a platoon of EMs being marched by an NCO to some class or training exercise. And did you consider a rifle range? Maybe little LEDs or fiber optics winking out of the barrels to simulate firing?? I think your base will be a great traffic source and switching opportunity for your expanded layout. Some posts had there own switcher.
    My only question is where does that Murphy bed fold down to??? Looks like you have usurped all the room with the model RR, not that there is anything wrong with that.

  66. Marlin L. Stevens,Sr. says:

    realism is the greatest

  67. Merlin D. DuVall says:

    It is easy to see that the attention was not necessarily placed more on the rails, but the whole scene! that makes it very impressive.

  68. Nathan says:

    It looks like you have a couple of hours billing that layout. Great job!

    Thanks for sharing z website I’ll be searching throughout it for the next couple of days. still looking for ideas on cobblestone streets Z scale ? I guess in a few weeks from now I’ll start working on the layout. Here’s an idea for some of you Z or G gauge guys out there. When displaying my G gauge trains at the mall’s a lot of times all use the Z gauge trains as the train set for the G scale figures. I just learned that there is another scale called TT. I’m getting cross eyed just thinking about it?. I haven’t quite figured out a way to post photographs on your blog when I do I’ll share some with you folks. take care Nathan on Maui

  69. wow the Army fort is great stuff
    spent a LOTTA time getting the detail right I see
    keep it runnin’ Will

  70. Richard Sappelli says:

    Not many modelers do what you have done – model a military installation. And not too many manufacturers produce military trains. Cox HO way back made some very nice military items from the Alco diesel, box car, troop car, flats with tank loads, a big gun and a caboose to mention just a few. a; cars were in OD and nicely lettered. Their tooling was sold and went to IH I think and they produced a number of the military items. So you have to kit bash a lot of stuff if you want a military base. OD paints are available so off you go.
    Nicely done and keep on modeling.
    RJ

  71. Patrick Boyll says:

    Not a big thing …….just a small bit of info.Army didn’t have bases,those are where the Navy and Air force work.The Army have Posts.I wish I had your talent and skills for doing what you have posted here.Thank you.

  72. pretty koool detail
    and the layout is perfect
    keep em runnin fellas!!
    stjohn in long beach calif

  73. Robert Shuman says:

    Great job. Looks like the one down the street from here. I sort of feel at home looking at your pictures.

  74. paul says:

    very nice set up love the detail keep adding on it is amazing

  75. Josh says:

    Now all you need is a sign that says: “Do not walk on the grass” and you will have a accurate base.

  76. David Hannan says:

    You are so lucky to have all that space! Wow! Would love to see a video of the whole layout.

  77. carl hervol says:

    Nice layout but you need to set your white balance on your camera

  78. Chris Sylvester says:

    Wow that’s a really nice job on the layout something different!

  79. Albert Luppo says:

    Yikes, it looks like Fort Dix New Jersey. The Air Force Reserves have a base in the center of the fort. Same logistics. 514th Troop Carrier Wing is based there. WELL DONE

    A/1c Albert Luppo 1954-1962
    11th Aerial Support Squadron Attached to 514th TCW. Loadmaster

  80. Anthony Speranza says:

    Very cool! You have a lot to be proud of. Tony NY City

  81. Albert Luppo says:

    Congratulatory military term= WELL DONE

  82. Mike Balog says:

    Hello William:

    Congrats,, Exceptional Well Done Details,,, Like the Airport section with the hangers, aircraft on the runway, especially the control tower. You mentioned this is all in N Scale. I model H.O. Scale and wonder who would make a similar Airport Control Tower, Admin building? Liked the Fuel Depot as well. Did you follow any plans for this “Army Post” or is this just a Generic plan. Thank you for your Vietnam War Service.. WELCOME HOME…*S*A*L*U*T*E*..

    Mike 1st Lt. U.S.A.F. ( Aux. RET).

  83. John T Banks says:

    I have used prescription pill bottles as Oil Storage Tanks. Just paint them (Iuse 0 black or white glue stickers on them that I get by shrinking the signs I get online and that’s it

  84. Arthur Rutter AKA lucky.dog says:

    What a layout , Al :I enjoy ALL you post .but lately I stopped getting them .Curious WHY.

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