Eric’s been back in touch with the latest on his 4×2 N scale layout:
“Hello Alastair
Part three update of my N scale layout “Flying By The Seat Of My Pants ” which is DC.
We have moved on to permanent track placement and scenery.
I have used Kato #4 switches to use less space on table. This is a Thomas the Train table and the size is approximately 32″ X 48″. I think I mentioned in part 2 that it consists of 7 switches.
After completing the mountain tunnel with ground cover ,trees and water drainage from snow cap we then moved on to track fastening hole placement for switch wiring.
In picture #10 was gluing track in place and using hand weights to hold in place. Sometimes if more weight is needed can veggies work also.
The white cutout was the area I needed to figure out what I was going to do there. We’ll have to come up with something. That’s Flying By The Seat Of My Pants.
Enjoy, part 4 will be in the near future.
A Big thanks to Alastair for all the time he buts into this Blog, 🙌 I hope many of you purchased the Beginners book and some building cut outs. We need to keep Al busy by supporting this great Blog of all of our layouts and ideas.
Thanks to Everyone for Sharing.
Eric The Retired St. Louis, Missouri Area Firefighter”
4×2 N scale layout:
A huge big thanks to Eric for sharing his 4×2 N scale layout update, and for his kind words too.
Joe has been in touch with his HO scale layout DCC:
“This is my newest HO DCC layout. It measures 12x10x11 FT. I use a lot of balsa wood in my buildings and scenery, running 2 tracks all around with sidings.
It’s built on plywood covered with 2 inch insulation boards.
Note the 7-11 store appears to be looking inside but it’s just a pic with lights behind, all my buildings use this.
All my curves are 18 and 22 radius with lots of flex track. The roadways have 1/2 inch balsa sidewalks and roadway is wallboard joint compound in a convex shape. The trees are bush cuttings with pillow fiber sprayed with glue and fine turf grass sprinkled on.
When I bought my first DCC HO set i traded out the snap tracks since I think it looks like a toy set. I use atlas track with a bead of Elmers glue then sprinkle on fine ballast, patted down then brushed when dry.
I stride to make everything look like real life.
I’ve seen many modelers have lots of buildings but no place for cars to park. Each of my buildings has a parking lot with lines which are strips of cut printer paper.
I run two BNSF/SantaFe freights and Two Amtraks.All my trains are Bachmann.
A couple of facts i left out. There are over 200 cars and over a dozen trucks and over 200 people throughout the layout.
Here is a video and some pix. Sorry about the shaking I’m 77yrs old and using my cell phone to record it.
Joe”
A huge big thank you to Joe for sharing his HO scale layout DCC. His video had me smiling from ear to ear.
What I liked about it best, as you can see how much fun he’s having: his layout, his rules. I loved it.
Liz has been in touch with the story behind here HO scale small layout – and I have to say, it really does show what this hobby is all about:
“Hello from Texas, Al.
I’d like to share a story about my father, and how it took me nearly 50 years to realize that I, too, should have loved model railroading all along.
My father and grandfather (both named Windsor) were hobbyists all their lives. And while they each collected a good sized inventory of trains, neither ever managed to build a layout on which to run their toys.
My grandfather passed shortly after he retired at 65 and never had time. My dad made a couple of good starts on a layout (getting the bench work started) but never followed through because he had no one to share it with.
A couple years ago my dad started exhibiting signs of dementia, and sometimes struggled with daily tasks. He often forgot I was his daughter but he always knew my face. The one thing that brought his memory back was talking about trains and modeling.
So, in December of 2022 I decided to build a small HO scale layout for him. I hoped it would help his memory, but also felt it would grant his lifelong wish of having his own layout on which to run all his trains.
I had to learn everything from scratch… and also picked up a few shortcuts along the way. I don’t do carpentry, so bench work was out of the question. But I once saw in a product review on Amazon that someone used a ping pong table as their platform and laid a foundation on that.
For Christmas that year I got dad a Woodland Scenics Mountain Valley kit…most of what we would need to create a basic 8×4 layout. Most importantly, it came with step by step instructions.
I started out with building structures…and that’s what hooked me. Detailing the interiors became story time and many of the scenes were intended to rekindle memories from my father’s life and my youth.
Windsor Valley is a fictitious conglomeration of one and a half lifetimes of memories. It’s far from professional, and a long way from being finished. But dad’s not doing so well lately, so it will eventually become a legacy project that I carry on with on my own.
My father was always a fan of your site, Al, and he always looked forward to seeing your emails in his inbox. When he stopped reading and checking his emails, I took over and started reading them daily… and this small layout wouldn’t be much at all without everything I’ve learned from your starter’s guide and all the amazing contributors. For that, my dad and I both thank you all.
My apologies for rambling on so much. The details for anyone who might ask:
Size: 8’x4’
Scale: HO
Power: DC (though I do have a DCC controller—but with dad’s dementia, I wanted to keep operations as simple as possible)
All the structures except two were made by me, including the rough attempt at a scratch-built curved deck bridge.
I’ll include a few photos of the evolution of the layout, but also will include a video link showing what it’s like now.
The last photo shows a man and his young daughter walking to the local hobby shop. It’s reminiscent of the occasional Saturday morning trips to Bobbye Hall’s Hobby Shop dad used to make mom and me accompany him on. Now I so wish I could get those days back and enjoy them instead of fussing.
Thank you, and cheers,
Windsor and Liz P. in Texas.”
A big thanks to Liz for sharing her HO scale small layout – I absolutley loved the narrative behind it. It’s heart warming stuff, so many of us have fond memories of trains and the old man.
So thank you, Liz!
Quite a few small HO scales on the blog now:
If you have a story behind your layout, please do mail me or leave a comment below, it’s what really makes this hobby in my eyes.
