Bill’s been back in touch – he’s being having fun with his N scale double tracks.
His last post is here (which is HO scale) – but now he’s busy on his N scale:
“Hello Al!
I hope you are doing well in these continuing days of uncertainty. My work is still restricting travel so I have had plenty of time each day to enjoy going to the garage and working on both layouts.
I enjoy switching on my HO Scale layout and I have been making much progress on the N Scale layout I started a couple of months back.
For the 3×15 N Scale I wanted continuous running and I landed on a single track main that loops around so in some areas it looks like a double tracks main line.
This one is DCC and I have a small assortment of engines running on it already. Like the HO Scale layout I quickly got tired of looking at pink foam board so I already have some scenery in place to make it look more visually interesting.
I’ve attached some pictures showing some of the progress since the last video showing how I made the space saving benchwork.
I used 1.5 inch foam board as my base and left overs for scenery shapes. I’ve included a link to the most recent video I took this past week.
The scenery is made from foam board covered in mesh drywall tape. This is then covered in sculptamold and then areas of that is covered by plaster of Paris and then carved into rock faces.
I topped off the scene with plenty of trees and ground cover.
All in all I’m staying busy enjoying the layout! Never does one get board with our hobby as there is always fun things to do 😀
Take care!
Bill in Virginia”
A huge thanks to Bill for sharing his N scale double tracks layout. It’s great when I see his name in my inbox – I know we are in for a treat.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget The Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to grab the bull by the horns, stop dreaming and start doing.
Best
Al
PS More N scale layouts here if that’s your thing.
Hello William,
Wat a great N scale layout even beutiful as jor HO layout and good video again.
HC Treintje Belgium Herman C.
I wake up every a.m. and look forward to seeing what’s new at Al’s place. Bill presents so much to see and learn. He really knows his modelling and technics. I’m upgrading trucks and couplers on both H.O. and N pikes. Bill does inspire me to use more trees. I would like to see more of Al’s buildings being shown. I have a dozen or so placed within my scenery. I revisit the building tutorials frequently. Modelling is great. Something for everyone. Never get bored.
Where does he park his car? I hope he lives where there are no snow storms!
Great layouts and, yes, lots and lots of trees! Beautiful. Cheers! NJ Mark
Bill
Wow. I cant believe what you accomplished since we heard from you last. Ho & now N – awesome. The layout is so well planned and interesting. Some more specifics please like all manual switches, DCC type, power blocks, etc. I suspect that you are getting so good at this it will be time to build a climate controlled train shed so it can house miles of track and put your wifes car back in the garage. LOL.
Great to see your work
Stay safe
George from NY
COOL!!
Al…
Your page is my every morning “must read”…
In the crazy times that we are living in, it is your blog that helps keep me “grounded”.
To Tony Banks… I love Al’s buildings too. I think that they are the best “deal” in model railroading today. Each one that I build encourages me to try some new idea on the next one. They have sharpened my eyes when it comes to detail.
I have built several in both HO and O scale… And the ideas come faster than I can build them!
One of these days I may “follow the instructions”… But I doubt it.
On a side note… When ever I am feeling “down”, I search for one of John’s videos… His enthusiasm gets me out of every funk.
Is your garage climate controlled ? A must for model trains.
The Critic
Bill I guess you don’t have any cars for your garage. Great layouts, like the way you used the foam board.
AL just an idea, people can post where they live. Great to see all the different places around the world. Only if they want.
Why use sculptamold and the plaster, why not just plaster. Also, what kind of plaster?
Very imaginative layouts.
Hi all Bill from Virginia here. In response to the questions. I still can get the wife’s car inside the garage. When the layouts are out in storage position a full half of the garage is free to park her car in. Mine stays outside all rear :D. The garage is somewhat climate controlled as one furnace/AC combo is in the garage and puts out some heat in the winter and cooling in the summer. As long as I keep the garage door closed most of the time it stays comfortable.
The layout is run on on a NCE DCC system. I can run two trains at once easily off it and that is really all I need. All turnouts are manual. I found that I could cut the point off a track nail and it will fit perfectly in the atlas code 55 turnout throws. I super glued them in and it’s easy to throw and is simple to do.
For the question about the scenery. I use the sculptamold as the base as it’s lite weight and I can easy push a nail thru it to set trees in place. The sculptamold is easy to paint and cover with ground cover scenic materials. I use quick set non shrinking plaster for the parts I want to carve. In the US I use a DAP product. I mix it thick and only do a small area at a time. I will use a putty knife and put on a thick blob at the top of the area I’m work then pull it down to get the shape I want and then carve it using a variety of tools to give it the texture I want.
His n scale layout is so impessive. I envy all of the layouts I see. I wish I could afford to something like all that I have seen on these vidios. I always look forward to seeing the layouts.
Fantastic, that is all I can say…