Model railroad layouts plans

Lawrence has been back in touch with some on details on how he has wired his train lift bridge.

But first, another update from Dave:

“Hi Al, Here’s a vid of my Deltic, I call the Beast from the East.

I have shown in the past but so many have said its one of the best sounding Loco`s they have heard, so did this one yesterday of it doing the circuit, it is a Bachman version with a EM2 speaker fitted, the sound is very good.
 
Regards 

Dave”

Now on to Lawrence and his lift bridge:

“Al 

None of us can thank you enough for all the time and work you do for us. 

A little history first.

When I was about ten years old Dad and Uncle Frank built a train layout that fit on a sheet of plywood. My two sisters and myself could watch (during the day) as they build the layout and ran the trains.

I think it was a double figure eight that crossed tracks a number of times. When we were sent to bed on the bottom floor, we could her them running the trains. And whooping with joy as they crashed the trains at the crossovers. 

When we moved from Massachusetts to Florida the trains and tracks were stored in a thick cardboard barrel. The barrel moves with us and went into storage.

Years later when I was in the Navy and Dad passed away the barrel came into my possession. What a thrill was it to open and see the treasure. 

I was an Electronics Technician in the Navy. In the Navy you move a lot. When I got out and as a Government Contractor with a couple of electronic companies, I also moved a lot. Lived in four countries (in Europe, Middle East, and Far East). Traveled in 32 different countries. The barrel with all the train treasure stayed in storage. 

Finally, the travel ended and the barrel came out of storage every December. The Lionel train ran in circles or figure eights under the Christmas Tree for a month. The back into the barrel.

When the wife and I retired we got a one level house. That means she got the main level and the full basement was mine to do as I wanted.

First project was a DC track around half the basement hanging from the ceiling. Then added another track that was DCC. I started basically knowing nothing. Learning from chatting with the local train store.

Next project was a two track HO DCC U shaped layout. Using three sheets of plywood at about 43” off the floor.

Digging through the storage I found the barrel again. Took apart the HO layout and started on the O layout with the Lionel Train and tracks. Got three new larger engines from an auction. Now I had four engines that took four minimum track curves (32”, 45”, 54”, and 72”). Designed the layout on AnyRail6.

Built the track base (ten inches off the floor, 30 feet long and 20 feet wide) and put down the track for all four engines. Bought four transformers, one for each track. Time to wire it now.

After talking to the local train store was recommended to split the track in half with plastic rail joiners. And put a Booster SB5 on one side and a Booster DB5 on the other. 

To keep the resistance down on the Buss Wires, broke the layout into four sections.

The output of the transformers went to four terminal strips, one for each track.

Displayed in the next picture is the distribution of the Buss wires to the four track sections and the lift bridge. Just the 32” track distribution is displayed. The other three terminal strips respectively match the first one except for the respective track.

With the layout so close to the floor all the wiring had to run on the side of the layout. For that I installed terminal strips at specific points for feeder wires to the tracks. Drilled a hole at the track and dropped the feeder wires and pulled them to the front to attach to the terminal strips.

I used split wire plastic conduits to distribute the wires between the terminal strips. Refer to the next two pictures. The third conduit and terminal strip is for accessories.

The last picture display the power to be applied to the lift bridge. When the lift bridge is up there is not power to the bridge and to six feet of track to the west of the bridge. When the bridge is down the micro switches applies power to the bridge and the track displayed in the picture.

Thus, if the train is running, forgot the bridge is up, the train will run into the bridge from the east and will have no power on the track from the west.

I hope this answers all the questions on the wiring.

Lawrence”

If you want to catch up with Lawrence’s layout and his lift bridge, have a look at this post.

As always, a big thanks to Dave and to Lawrence for sharing his train lift bridge.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you leave the comfort of your armchair and join in with the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

It’s all about making that start…

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Rob’s been in touch with a very helpful video on his N scale curve radius.

Have a look at how much time and effort he’s spent on getting his curves just right. It’s clever stuff too:

“Hi Al,

When I sold my n scale layout, I retained a very considerable collection of cars and engines.

I let my California Zephyr cars and my Kato EMD E5 engine go with the layout, but I retained other Burlington (CB&Q) cars and engines.

All this has been sitting in drawers since the CONW was sold. I have had no way to run this stock. I decided I wanted a small compact layout so that I was able to run my n scale trains on it occasionally.

I got to work on the program AnyRail and created a simple compact layout for running with some sidings that I can add in the future when I feel like it. I will include a graphic of this layout.  

About a week ago, I started putting the benchwork together for the running layout and recently completed the benchwork on which to lay the track.

The next challenge was to transfer, full scale, the track plan to the boards. That is what I demonstrate in this video. Before I could do this layout work, however, I realized I needed to know exactly how far apart I need to keep the curves.

This is important so that two trains running on adjacent tracks will not rub or touch each other.

In the first part of the video, I determine this spacing and then go on to draw the entire track plan on the boards as a guide for laying the actual track. Track laying and roadbed setup will come in a subsequent video. 

Rob – Farland Howe”

When it comes to planning a layout, have a look at what Wayne has done: N scale layouts

You can see more of Rob’s layouts in the Hall of Fame.

And here is his previous post too.

Now on to Henry:

“Hello Alastair

As is my custom, here is my annual layout update video, and I can hardly believe that my current layout is already 6 years old.

I will also enclose a few photographs, as I have recently invested in a 3D printer and have been printing small detail parts for my layout.

Henry”

A big thanks to Rob and Henry.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Stephen has been in touch with just how much fun he’s had with his Tyco HO trains

“Mr Lee,

Thank you for all you do for this amazing hobby. Your dedication and effort are without compare and we all greatly appreciate all you do sir

Growing up our parents always had the old Lionel trains under the Christmas Tree with the plasticville town lit up. Was a joy to see and always anticipated.

Eventually they gifted me an HO Tyco train in the early seventies. I played with that train every chance I had, ultimately my dad built an 8’x4’ table and I was off.

Fate intervened as my grandparents required care and the basement was converted into living quarters thus putting my trains in a box where they stayed for forty five years.

I didn’t realize how fond I was of trains until my children and I would set up Thomas the Tank Engine throughout the house on a regular basis . They’re grown now and have urged me to revisit my enthusiasm for trains .

In collaboration my wife and daughter each gifted me with a Bauchmann train this past Christmas, as well as my brother discovered my box of trains going through stuff , my old train still runs and is part of my display . 

The New year began at the lumber yard and soon enough i constructed a 10×6 table to house my display . Keep in mind I hadn’t discovered this website or come to understand the current fervor the hobby inspires . I thought I was just reliving my childhood . 

These trains weren’t sufficient so one by one I kept adding . I’ve got six trains, analog, there again a hadn’t yet realized the DCC and so forth . Didn’t set out with high hopes , mostly just wanted to have fun and have trains.

Had no experience with scenery, very little electronics or electrical background… on / off was about it. So I remained simplified in my approach , after all I didn’t want to complicate things and not be able to just enjoy watching the trains . 

My goal was to create as much effect as I could and have trains coming and going in and out of tunnels and over and under passes and several tiers of track.

I’ve allowed total access to all the track with removable panels for maintenance which I do regularly.

The trestles are hand made and most of the rocks are real.

Some kits are as designed, some I “bashed”. A lot of stuff was altered to make it work . 

Enough said , I used my resources and my imagination and in the spirit of Frank Sinatra, I did it my way . 

Thank all of you for your tips and posts and kind comments and compliments. One more kind thank you to Mr. Lee for all you do . 

Please enjoy , thank you ,

Stephen”

Now on to Dave, who has been having fun running 8 trains at the same time:

“Hi Al…

I have just uploaded a video showing why most of us now run our layouts on DCC , as I show you can run multiples of trains at the same time.

I have 4 main circuits so I ran 2 to each circuit giving a total of 8 trains running at the same time , and do say on here though its not advisable , as unless they were all running with the same CV settings and on Consist you will get accidents.

Its not really possible to keep your eyes on 8 running and control them all at the same time, bit of fun though.

I will admit it took a good few shots with the camera to try and capture without showing a few accidents…as they do in Film studios ..scene 2 take 10. LOL..

Also like to say to You and all the members A Very Happy And Healthy New Year for 2023

Dave”

A huge big thanks to Dave and Stephen – I did enjoy his narrative on his Tyco HO trains.

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

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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