Model railroad layouts plans

Dean’s been in touch with a fabulously clear ‘how to’ on something that is always popping up on the blog: wiring a model railroad.

“Al, greetings from Dean in New Mexico. Thanks for all your good work supporting the hobby!

One of the bigest bugaboos of people starting out in model railroading is wiring.

So this is a short tutorial on wiring the track, testing it out, and soldering.

To start, I recently was asked “why do you use so many feeders in your model railroads. I’ll begin there.

Here’s a simple loop layout. One of the two rails of the track is black, the other, red and the blue slash lines indicate rail joiners between the track sections. The circles with arrows represents a voltmeter measurement and they are green idicating correct voltage at any point you might measure.

A bad or loose rail joiner will limit power to some parts of the layout, but with one bad joint you still get power everywhere.

You can have up to two bad joints if they are on different sides of the track. You can see that in the diagram below–all sections of the track get power from one side or the other.

But, if you have two bad rail joiners on the same side of the track, you will get lower voltage (loco will slow down) or even no power (loco will stop) in the section in the middle (indicated with a red circle).

You have two options to repair the track: You can solder the bad rail joiners, or you can add a set of feeders, or jumper wires to the bad section.

People have different philosophies on how many feeder wires to add. Some go as far as to add a feeder to each section of track.

In my current Conejos Valley Railroad, I’ve put in four sets of feeders as you can see.

Then if a siding or other section of track goes bad in the future, I’ll add a feeder to that section.

The photo below shows the four sets of feeders coming back to the same point. I chuck the two wires in a drill with the other end held in a vise, then run the drill slowly to twist the wires together.

Here’s the terminal block where the sets of wires are connected to my power supply.

Testing the track. Here’s an inexpensive voltmeter that you can buy on Amazon for around $12.

If you are running DC power, set it as shown on 20 volts DC. I’m testing it out with a 9-volt battery, but you can measure your voltage easily at various points on your track to look for bad sections.

My railroad is DCC powered. DCC is actually alternating current, so for that set your volt meter to 200 V AC.

Soldering is easy if you have the right tools and solder.

You can get a soldering station such as the one below for $40 to $50 on Amazon.

You can vary the temperature of this one (I use 200-220 C) and it comes with rosin core solder that is safe to use for your track or wires.

The rosin in the core helps the solder to eat away corrosion on the metal. Don’t use acid core solder which will eventually corrode the metal.

To solder anything, first “tin” the solder point by touching the hot tip to the end of the solder wire.

This coats the point with a thin layer of liquid solder to help heat transfer. Then heat the metal and after it gets hot enough, feed the solder to the metal.

If you’re careful, you can add jumper wires to existing track after it is put down.

But the best way to add jumper wires to a layout is while it’s under construction – as you lay the track you can add hidden wires to the rail joiners.

The wires can be soldered onto the rail joiners at your workbench by holding them in a short piece of track. Solder a blob of solder to the joint, tin the wire and then solder it to the joiner.

Test the finished assembly to make sure its sound, then slip it onto the rail end as you lay down your track and pass the wires though holes in the track support.

I’ve put out a YouTube video that shows all of this in more detail:

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Dean”

A huge big thanks to Dean for sharing his ‘how to’ on wiring a model railroad.

I have to say, I think it’s a wonderfully clear post on wiring.

You can see more from Dean on wiring here: How to run a model train bus wire.

Please do leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

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.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

Greg has been in touch with his N scale track plans L shaped:

“You guys have renewed my interest in working on my 20×10 L shaped N scale layout that I started years ago.

It models the Union Pacific Central Division Hub at Marysville, Kansas, about 1928.

I have a lot of work to do, as you can see from the pictures, but that’s the fun part!

Overview of the yards, which I simplified and shrunk to indoor size. That’s the “old” depot. A fancy Spanish style one was constructed in 1929.

Had to get in close to show my scratch built coaling crane and sand tower. The ash pit is dug in but not constructed yet.

I must have 40 more structures to build in the yards and industrial area nearby. More track to lay also.

Here’s the short leg of the L. You can see how I built the track base with three strips of 1/4” plywood curved and spaced apart.

I hand built the turnouts on the main line to a much gentler curve so my larger engines can take them easily.

I hope they come out with a 9000 series locomotive someday, I know they had trouble with the curves around here!

One turn around end is mostly done, needs weeds and finishing touches.

N scale track plans L shaped:

There are tracks! Everyone needs a tall bridge, even in Kansas!

The corn field lifts out for access.

N scale track plans L shaped track plan:

The five story Pacific Hotel I built using DPM modular and scratch building techniques, it’s gone now so I had to do it from pictures.

Greg”

Now on over to Ray:

“Dear Al:

Like everyone else, I am thankful for all you do.

My day gets off to a good start with your post, my paper and a cup of coffee.

I am 87 years old, live in Ohio and have always fooled around with trains. My present layout is ho scale and 12 x 4 feet, and has 11 switches.

My talent level is very low and would not like some of the real pofessionals to see it.

That being said, however, i will share one item on the layout. I had a dead area between my freight yard and main line and came up with the idea of an abandoned siding, photos attached.

The caboose in the picture is from a kit that i built about 75 years ago. Might be an idea for someone with the same situation.

One other thing i found works well which some of your viewers may not have tried is using wallpaper paste instead of glue in applying landscape materials and paper to cardboard.

It is very easy to use and less expensive.

Thank you again for all you do for model railroading.

Ray”

A big thanks to Ray and to Greg for sharing his N scale track plans L shaped.

Here’s another one:

L shaped N scale layout.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you want to get stuck back in to this fine hobby, just like Greg, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.

David’s been in touch with his advice on a starting a train layout:

“Good morning Alastair and all blog members!!!

I have held off sending my pics in for awhile now. I’ve been a quiet member of this blog for awhile and every now and then, I may make a comment.

I actually start my day off every morning at 5am with my coffee and Al’s blog. It’s quite enjoyable to see everyone’s “Masterpiece”, no matter what scale or even what level of “Craftmanship”.

When I open up Al’s blog every morning, it’s like being 10 years old again on Christmas morning, every time!!!

The anticipation of what’s to come my way when I see one’s Masterpiece, is always a delight.

Many of yalls ideas have been incorporated into my layout. ( HO scale in my case) I am really greatfull of the tutorials that many of our members include in this blog. Without them, I wouldn’t gotten as far as I have, with my layout, as yall will see in a moment.

A special “Thanks” goes out to Al for providing such a great wealth of information, with a blog like his.

With all that said, I am a huge fan of both the G scale and HO scale model trains.

This post, I will be referring to my HO layout only. At least once a day and sometimes all day on Sundays, I am a 10 yr old kid trapped in a 57 yr old body, located here in Hickman County Tennessee.

The Mrs and I purchased this house 2 years ago, with the sole purpose of having a room for a mid-sized HO scale layout….yes, we had to have a room solely for trains. We call this room, ” The Iron Horse” room. This is not my first layout however, it is my first layout of my own, inside a building.

As AL states, “it’s all about The Start”!!! For some, it’s about “money”, for some it could be the “space”, and for others, it could be the lack of “imagination”, and lastly, for some, it could be all about the “when do I have the time”.

Well, for those that are new to Al’s blog, I’m here to tell you, every member of this blog has talked about how easy it is to overcome all these “objections”.

I’ve read how many members have built things, for free, with odds and ends, just laying around the house.

I’ve seen layouts that hang from ceilings, fold down from walls and even doors.

And if you don’t have an imagination, that’s okay, just open Al’s blog every morning and the ideas flow in.

As far as “Time”…well, building a model train layout is not something one does to complete in a day, a week, or even a month. Sometimes it takes years to complete.

Fact is, a “Layout” is never complete. The fun and excitement comes from building “it”.

My uncle, in Pittsburgh, had an HO layout, in his huge basement, for over 40 yrs. He was always adding something. It was a sight to see for anyone to see, especially a 10 yr old kid.

We spent many hours in that basement, when we got to go visit. It was my inspiration to build one of my own, one day. Well, November of 2022 was my day to finally get started.

Yes, after a solid year and a half of being in this house, I finally got started!!! As many of us here have once said, “we always tend to over think things and make things complicated “, when in fact, it’s pretty darn easy to get started.

Maybe it’s the “fear” of “messing up”, or maybe, “I’m gonna do it wrong”, who knows?!?! Well, trust me and others here in this blog, it’s YOUR layout…build it how you want to do it!!!! Build it for your reasons and build it for your enjoyment!!! If you enjoy it when it’s complete, then thats all that counts.

Back to my layout… I take many o’ pictures of everything I do, and with the Mrs being so big into Scrapbooking and her new Cricut machine, she will one day have a nice novelty to leave behind for the family to enjoy.

I could not even begin to choose what pictures I wanted to send AL. Please keep in mind, this is just a “Start”. I hope everyone will enjoy!!! And for those of you that are still thinking about “getting started”…well, TODAY is the best time, not tomorrow!!! Why wait for tomorrow, when you can start having all the fun and excitement, TODAY?!?!

I didn’t want to spend much time with a narrative of my layout, as much as I did about how important it is to “actually get started”!!! As you will see, there are so many pics and videos, that the progress speaks for itself.

David, from Tennessee”

Starting a train layout – the bridge:

A big thanks to David – his narrative is a tidal wave of enthusiasm, and of course, he’s right because it helps when starting a train layout.

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

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.