Model railroad layouts plans

“Hi Al

Thank you for all you do for the hobby!

It has been over 5 years since I last contributed to your site having built a Marklin HO layout when I was living in Illinois. You very kindly featured it on your site.

I have since retired as a Plastic surgeon, moving from Illinois to Santa Fe, New Mexico and had to break down the old layout, trying to preserve some of the landscaping elements which you may recall relied heavily on Woodland Scenics shaper sheet and plaster rocks.

I stored the pieces in a plastic container bin together with numerous containers of track, locomotives and rolling stock before transporting it all to Santa Fe where it remained in storage for 2 years.

We finally moved to a different, larger home in Santa Fe where I had enough space to spread the wings of my favorite hobby as it had a wine cellar (basements are extremely rare out here as there are no tornadoes). Wine connoisseurs will cringe at the sacrilege of turning a wine cellar into a train room, but not being a wine aficionado, I had no compunction about the decision!

The cellar leads off an outdoor patio and measures 23’x13′ with polished plaster walls, an arched ceiling and varnished brick floors. It is dry and perpetually, comfortably cool.

I removed all of the wine racks and installed a radon remediation system as the radon levels were high and I didnt fancy glowing in the dark over time! Anyone building a layout in a basement should check the radon as chronic exposure to high levels can cause lung cancer.

My old layout in Illinois had suffered from numerous issues. It had started as a simple 16’x4′ flat layout on homasote panels and morphed steadily into an E shaped layout with serial additions that posed grade and track alignment problems resulting in running issues.

Some grades were as high as 4% which challenged some of the heavier consists. While it looked quite good in the end, I left the background til last (major mistake) and had to paint the back wall while reaching long distances over delicate scenery.

I had also started the construction on steel sawhorse trestles which left ugly protruberances jutting out around the edges of the baseboards.

So, when I decided to begin afresh in Santa Fe, I was determined to use the tried and tested approach of careful planning and better technical execution. The result has been much more gratifying.

I cannot stress enough to beginner modellers, the importance of good planning, sturdy construction and meticulous attention to wiring, reliable power distribution and smooth running characteristics.

The time spent getting it right up front will save hours of frustration and misery in the future! Learn from the mistakes of others and try not to repeat them yourself.

I have to stress that I am not a “rivet counting” prototypical modeler. I run the trains I like because I find them beautiful, interesting or mechanically fascinating.

When I was 5 my parents gave me a Marklin 3-rail AC folded dog-bone layout on a baseboard with a small DB Prairie Pony loco & 4 freight cars. It gave me hours of pleasure for many years and I sold it to help get cash for medical school. Big mistake.

In my forties my interest was re-kindled and I began collecting once more. I tend to favor eras l-lll primarily but will spill over into more recent models if I like them.

My collection consists mainly of Swiss/German locos like the famous Swiss Crocodiles that hauled freight over the Gotthard Pass and the K.Bay.Sts.B locos of the old pre war Bavarian Railways (e.g S3/6 Rheingold) and earlier German locos of the DB like the V200 diesel.

In addition I have a modest collection of American steam and early diesel locos including the famous UP BigBoy.

To further complicate matters I have a large collection of Swiss and German style buildings but couldn’t resist purchasing many of the beautiful kits coming out of Fine Scale Miniatures like those featured in the Manchester South Franklin Railroad and also some of Doug Foscale’s kits, many of which showcase 1910-1930’s Americana.

The question has always been how to incorporate all of this variety into a single railroad layout.

In the end I decided once more to blend the 2 by having 2 main limbs of the layout connected by a narrow bridge focal point.

I have always been drawn to a particular track plan in one of Marklin’s excellent track planning books and I modified it to suit my needs.

On the left or south side of the layout I have the Swiss-German border layout featuring a large through station with steam service including turntable, roundhouse, coal, water and sanding facilities.

One limb courses round the periphery to disappear beneath the town running the full length of the room as a hidden loop to emerge through a tunnel before passing over the lower of 2 bridge structures.

The outermost limb runs east then turns north to run over a large steel span bridge before crossing to the north limb. These two limbs then pass along the north wall of the room at 2 levels. The upper level is exposed , runs through a small rural station then descends to what will become a 1920’s era US town.

The lower level passes through a tunnel to a 6 lane staging yard before emerging into a double main line leading into the US town with waterfront.

Who knows how it will turn out but I love the layout and its variability in terms of running options as things stand.

First I built a scaffold to which I screwed the masonite panels for the backdrop. I painted the basic backdrop before starting the framework for track.

To date I have built the entire framework, lain the track and set up a bus wire with feeder wires. Control is DCC using the Marklin CS2 system.

I have started landscaping the extreme east end of the south limb and will gradually work west then over to the north limb. To encourage myself along the way I built out the bridge sections which provide a visual focal point on the west wall.

I am enclosing some preliminary photographs but will start generating videos documenting the process from beginning to end as time permits and forward these to you for your readers’ interest. Being retired I have much more availability so progress will be much faster than before.

North Limb

Sublayer

Finished HO scale Marklin track plan

The pics I am attaching show the basement at the beginning, the early backdrop and where the west end of the south limb currently stand. The layout track plans also shown.

More to follow and happy modeling to all!

Best wishes

Glyn”

A big thanks to Glyn – what a project – I can’t wait to see this one progress.

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming. Glyn saved the day today, but if you don’t hear from me over the next few days it’s just me putting my feet up because there is nothing to post.

And if today is the day you poke boredom in the eye and get started on your layout just like Glyn, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

“Hi my name is Herb from Melbourne Australia miss.

Not much too talk about,& i don’t model any spefic era as my son is austic.

But we get out there & have a great deal of fun & father son bonding time & i believe that’s what’s life is all about.

Plus we get out from under my wife’s feet well that’s all for now.

From Herb & Rick in the land down under.”

Now on to Jim:

“Hello Al, again.

Thanks for the daily info and stories from your readers.

I wrote my first story to you about 8 months ago. I had started on a small HO scale layout with an up and over design in December, having just retired from a teaching job and having some space and time to begin this project.

I’m enjoying the work (work?) and consider this both a challenge and a welcome journey.

The inspiration is the real world Pipers Lagoon and Shack Island in Nanaimo, British Columbia, my wife’s home town.

The curves have 18-degree radius and the grades are 3% up and 4% down running counter-clockwise.

The base of this railroad is a 1 meter plus (4 foot square) foam pallet that once held a new dishwasher!

I had gotten this far by October but the track was not reliable. You can see there are no straight sections in this design.

The curvature and grade is always changing. Using Atlas flex track was a challenge because it tends to spring back to straight, not holding the curve as shaped. I had several bad track joins and could see no easy way to smooth them out, so… let’s start over!

I decided to bite the bullet and redo the track. First step, scrape it clean!

And then clean up the now bumpy roadbed, make it ready for new track.

This is with new Micro Engineering track which can be curved to the desired radius and will hold its shape well.

I got started on some buildings and scenery. Then I was able to clear out a 2.5 meter (8 foot) closet for a permanent home for this little scene.

Here is a view of the new location with some mountains and a few “Bob Ross” happy clouds in the backdrop.

You can see “Shack Island” on the left of the lagoon, and the fictional town of Pipers Corner over on the right.

I’ve tried a few HO kits as well as your print out buildings which are perfect for this scene.

Next, some real clouds, thanks to artist and friend Tom Devine who was visiting for a few days.

I was dissatisfied with the mountains beneath the clouds so made some changes to my work, not Tom’s.

Still not happy, so another try…

And the current, final version. I modified the mountains a final time but kept the overall outline. Tom returned and “touched up” the clouds using some black and yellow paint to add some “drama” to the scene. He also framed the mountains with some very distant tree lines.

It’s a compelling look and I hope he will come back soon a time or two as there is more black and yellow paint to add to that gathering storm.

At my pace of progress, I think it will take 3-4 years if all goes well but I see this more as a marathon than a sprint.

I’ll send updates when there is some progress to report.

With thanks, Al, for all you do to keep this great web site running…

Jim”

A big thanks to Herb and Jim.

I do agree with Jim’s take on this hobby too:

“At my pace of progress, I think it will take 3-4 years if all goes well but I see this more as a marathon than a sprint.”

Going at your own pace is so important – who wants to rush? Just enjoy.

Lastly, if you don’t hear from me over the next few days, don’t worry, it’s just me putting my feet up because it’s so quiet.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout justl like Herb and Jim, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

The posts I enjoy the most are the ones that add personal touches to their layout.

In this post for example, Brian went on a cruise and loved how the trains pulled the ships along the Panama Canal. So he added a nod to that in his layout.

And there is Gary who adds signs to his layout that include his family.

So you get the idea, there are many ways to do it. I wondered if could do something to the printable buildings to make them personal.

Here’s what I came up with after seeing a painters set by Woodland Scenics.

If you’ve got a black and white picture of the old man, why not put him in your layout?

Here I’ve used Laurel and Hardy to show how it would look:

Or perhaps you are a big fan of the Duke:

It doesn’t matter what you want on your building wall – anything can go there.

A picture of you, a pet, a flag, a logo, anything!

And just to prove a point, here’s some more:

I hope the pics get across how any image can be added to this printable building (all you need to do is email the image you want on it after ordering).

The building is a brand new one in the printable buildings range.

(If you’re new to printable buildings, you just download, print and stick together. Here’s a guide of how to make them.)

Like all the printable buildings, they are HO scale. For N scale just reduce the print size to 54%.

For all other scales, have a look at the chart on this page (by the way, O scale prints fine but is too big for a standard desktop printer – you’ll need to go to an office stationers).

This print gives you lots of options, so you are able to make three buildings directly from the prints without any scratch building:

But there’s a catch – there’s always a catch isn’t there?

Each order for this bundle means there is quite a bit of faff my end: I have to get the picture or image that you mail me on the building, and then get it to you.

They may take me a long time to do, they may not. But if they do, I don’t want it getting in the way of the blog.

So if you can’t see the ‘order now’ button, it’s because I’ve taken it off because a few of you have been kind enough to support the blog and I’m busy with them.

This building (or buildings should I say, because you get three to make direct from the print) is a little more expensive than the others because of the extra work my end to add your image.

It’s a whopping $29. But still good value when you see the price of other normal buildings out there.

And you’ll get a personal touch to your layout that will make everyone who sees it smile.

Picture the love of your life, or the grandkids seeing their face being painted on a building wall of your layout. Priceless!

So, to make it really clear, $29 gets you these three buildings and a ‘personal’ wall:

Any pic, flag, logo or whatever you wanted added to the wall of your choice:

You get the buildings as soon as you order – I’ll email you a link.

Then you just need to choose an image you’d like on your building, mail it to me, and you’ll get the second part of the order shortly afterwards.

Full disclosure though, I don’t know how shortly – might be a few days to be honest.

Oh and also, this deal does not include in the Woodland Scenics Painter set either. This ebay link is your best bet if you want them too.

So if you feel like supporting the blog and adding a very personal feature to your layout, you can grab it here.

Here’s what the checkout page looks like:

Of course, I’m biased, but even if you haven’t got a layout, this printable building is a perfect way to ease yourself back into the fun.

What’s more, there is a no quibble 60 day money back guarantee as usual.

Hope you have as much fun as I did with these buildings, and I can’t wait to see one a layout – that really will make me smile.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al