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Model railroad bridge

Rob’s been back in touch again with another missive on his model railroad bridge build:

“For some reason this particular video has proven to be relatively popular.

I am at the point now where I must create a gap for the new bridge.

The location I have chosen is on a 3 percent grade coming up from Far Cliff beach upto the back of my layout.

The tracks against the wall are a non-scenic area with just track running from one side of the room to the other. Here is a track plan:

Bridges are very interesting on model railroads. I am not sure why. When I complete this project, the new bridge, I will have three bridges on the Farland layout altogether. I have noticed it is not just me. When I see other peoples layouts, there is frequently a bridge included.

Modelers seem to be fascinated with them, I know I am. The idea of the tracks spanning across a gap in the landscape just draws us to it. This is especially true of the prototype.

Bridges are just interesting things. In a way, they are magical. There is no mystery about how the track and all that weight is supported when it is sitting on the ground, but put it up in the air and wow, it grabs your attention.

Sometimes modelers use a piece of wood to actually hold up the railroad track, to give their bridged section the strength to support itself. You will note on this bridge, I”ve used the same structual system a real truss bridge uses and my new bridge supports itself.

Thank you, Al, for this wonderful daily blog. We all appreciate what you do so well.

Rob”

Model railroad bridge:

A huge big thanks to Rob for sharing his model railroad bridge build.

If you missed his earlier posts on his bridge project, here they are:

Build a model train bridge.

How to scratch build a bridge.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Model railroad loop

Denny, has been in touch with his simple model railroad loop.

He’s building it ‘backwords’, as you’ll read:

“Building it backwards. With the help of my artist friend Stacia we have made some good progress.

What I mean by building it backwards is this. No matter how well one masks off the track, plaster slop always seems to get on the track.

And being that two sides of this layout are against walls. I decided to do the back wall scenery first then lay the track.

Being that one has to climb up on the table this actually worked out very well. We were able to do the scenery without messing up the track.

Now my layout has no theme. With small grand kids that just like to see the trains run. Or when they’re running them All of my layouts have had a continuous loop that the kids can start and stop. But also there is a branch line for switching.

I also like a purpose not just a model railroad loop. (Not just a bunch of tracks) So my branch line will be servicing many businesses and industries.

Living out here in the Desert south west, Pahrump Nevada 51 miles northwest of Las Vegas we are surrounded by mountains. (The first pic is across the street from my lower shop)

So here is a series of pictures of the work so far.

The buildings are just placed. No final placement as of now.

But as we continue I’ll keep you updated

Denny”

Model railroad loop:

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

4×8 HO scale train layout

Mark’s been in touch with his 4×8 HO scale train layout:

“Dear Alistair,

I love getting your emails and seeing what everyone is doing with their train layouts.

I’ve been waiting quite some time to send this in to you since I keep wanting to get further along before I do but I’ve realized I may never get there as I am always thinking of something I want to add or change.

Anyway, I started into trains as a young boy. My dad had bought me (or him) a Lionel train when I was only a few years old.

When I got old enough that I could afford to buy some things with my allowance, I bought an HO scale train and built my own 4×8 train layout, eventually adding on to that. I worked on that and ran it all through high school and college.

Once out in the working world, and living on my own, the trains sat in boxes waiting for the day when I build another train layout. Although there were occasional purchases of model train magazines to revive my interest, between work, family and life, it just never happened.

Until Covid came. Trapped at home, when not working, I decided to build a diorama for a Walther’s contest. Although I didn’t win anything, I certainly enjoyed it and decided it was time for another layout. I put up a 4×8 HO scale layout in the middle of my home office and went to it.

The story for this 4×8 layout is that it is modeled on the fictional town of Black Swamp in Northwest Ohio, between Toledo and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This area originally was the black swamp until it was drained in the late 19th century and became very fertile, level farmland. So I have modeled 2 loops with some industrial sidings.

The inner loop is serviced by Detroit, Toledo and Ironton which takes products from Black Swamp up to Toledo and beyond. The outer loop has a 4-6-0 steam locomotive with passenger cars that is run by an area fan club.

Along with the pictures of my HO scale I have sent you, I have sent you pictures of the railroad pass from my first layout. It was western themed. Nobody ever talks about these anymore, but back when I was young (I’m 76 now) trading passes with other model railroaders was another enjoyable aspect of this hobby.

Keep up the great work.

Mark”