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Battery power for model trains – Keith’s

Keith has been in touch with a stunning layout – it’s a great example of how using battery power for model trains works just as well:

“My model railroad is a fiction layout based on the narrow gauge lines both Rio Grande Southern and the Colorado and Southern.

Track gauge is 3’ or ¾” in O scale. This is On3 or ¼” Finescale modelling.

The layout fills a 42’x12’6” room in my basement.

All track is hand laid including the turnouts and all locomotives are powered by battery power with what is known as Power on Board.

Control is by way of radio throttles and Soundtraxx Tsunami Decoders.

The layout is built for operation and includes approximately 26 industries or switching locations all spaced out at four separate locations.

The main yard is Archuleta, with Argo, Eagle and Pitkin.

JMRI Operations Pro is used to prepare train manifests.

All scenery is built using traditional cardboard lattice covered with paper towels dipped into plaster to create hardshell.

Rubber rock molds are used to make rock faces by overlapping and then hand carving to create a seamless joint between each mold.

About 350 lbs of plaster was used to make the rock faces around the layout.

The backdrop is hand painted directly onto the walls using store brand acrylic paints. I painted the rocks the backdrop simultaneously to ensure a seamless blend of colours.

A swing bridge across the layout room entrance door allows for trains to circle the perimeter of the room during open houses.

Much of the layout was used to earn NMRA Achievement certificates on my way to becoming MMR 767.

View the layout on YouTube at Keith Stamper On3

Keith”

A big thanks to Kieth. Battery power for model trains is something that comes up every now and then on the blog.

If you want more of a ‘how to’ when it comes to battery power, Richard’s post is very good:

Battery powered model trains.

That’s all for this time 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 More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

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

HO scale mainline

Dan’s been in touch with his HO scale mainline layout which has everything: a coal mine, a town for the miners and an industrial area:

“This is layout number 8. My layout was number 1 and the other 7 were for others. In all cases I did the scenery and for most either designed the layout or corroborated with the owner. All ways keeping their wants foremost.

The layout is mostly contemporary and no specific railroad. He did the bench work, track, and wiring. It was a good thing because I had back surgery during part of the time. He had experience working on our club layout. I designed the basic layout and did all of the scenery and buildings.

The basic track plan. HO scale DCC power.

The room is a second floor of a manufactured home. The part in this photo is 40 by 25 feet and on the right side is where we added another 20 by 4 foot extension. The add on was to correct a flaw in the original track plan. The track plan shows the add on in yellow. Once we began to set up the operation of the trains, it became obvious the yard was too small. I will explain the solution later in this post.

Looking the other way.

Viewing from near the photo in number 2. A view block will run the length dividing the layout where the gap is.

Progress. The view block shows nicely here.

Here is the alcove area. In the diagram it is to the top of the photo. There is a coal mine that is reached from the yard seen at the bottom of the diagram photo. The lower track in the photo is the return loop on the HO scale mainline.

This shows the ramp to the coal mine coming from right to left. The track with the train is the HO scale mainline where the return loop begins. Part of this will be in a tunnel to protect the trains from the operation of the coal mine. Other wise you would be reaching over active track while switching (shunting) the mine. The track just to the right of the caboose is where the HO scale mainline loop comes back.

This shows the mine and mainline tracks. From the white box on the right to far left the mainline is in the protective tunnel.

The next sequence will be the construction of the hill that the “company houses” miners lived in. Company houses were owned by the mine. On this version of the layout the times have changed and now they have been gentrified and no longer owned by the mine.

The road is made from the backing on tack board. I described this in one of my layout posts. I used cardboard strips, plaster cloth, Sculpta mold pre-colored with craft paint, and Woodland scenics ground foam.

This area represents a change in the progress of the railroad. The track to the left is the “old” HO scale mainline and goes to an industrial area. The two tracks to the right is the realigned mainline and is double tracked. I first thought I would put them in a tunnel. Then I thought it would be more interesting seeing a cut. This is the result.

Here is the industrial area and the path of the old mainline. The schematic of the area.

Two bridges on the road to the homes near the mine.

This is addition I had to add to make the operations scheme work. We also needed a town. The tracks are part of a turning loop and become an arrival and departure track. In the ops sessions a train first arrives at the yard (not shone here) and drops of the caboose. It then proceeds to the addition and makes the loop and backs in to an arrival track. The locos go the servicing area and a switcher comes and pick up the string of cars and rearranges them into another train. The new train is moved to the departure track and a new set of locos picks them up.

The main yard and the new under construction “town” addition.

The finished look.

Dan”

A huge big thanks to Hall of Fame Dan for sharing another layout!

That’s all for this time 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 More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

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

N scale dioramas

Bob’s been back in touch and added to the N scale dioramas on the blog:

“Al…good afternoon. Bob in Texas here with a new submission. I call it: Diorama of the Cowlitz River Truss Bridge to the Rescue.

Is there anything more forlorn than a model railroad hobbyist with nothing to build? That is the situation in which I recently found myself. No room to start a new project or add to an existing layout. My wife absolutely refused my request to build even a small shelf-layout in our bedroom.

As you probably recall, my last project was a Thomas Kinkade-inspired Christmas tree for the bed of my 1950 Chevrolet pickup, but that was eight months ago. I was in desperate need of a new project.

Inspiration came during a recent road trip from our home in Houston to San Antonio. Driving west on Interstate 10 just east of Sealy, we crossed the Brazos River. Immediately to our right is a magnificent triple truss bridge on a route Union Pacific still uses for freight traffic.

It is one of the few remaining truss bridges in Texas and, because of its location, one of the most photographed (as you can see in the satellite image it is right next to the interstate). I keep photographs of this and other historic bridges in an album.

If you have seen some of my previous submissions to Al’s blog you know that I much admire vintage timber trestle bridges. And…even though I have never included an iron truss bridge on any of my layouts I also appreciate their beauty and historic significance.

In their heyday, between 1880 and 1930, it is estimated by the Texas Historical Commission that there were thousands of truss bridges built in Texas. Now only a few, like the one that spans the Brazos River, remain in use.

When we returned from our trip I revisited my album and came across a photograph of another spectacular truss bridge that spanned the Cowlitz River in Northern Washington State. It is the subject of a beautiful video on YouTube called Crossing the Cowlitz: A Historic Washington State Rail Bridge.

The bridge was completed in 1911 using a Pennsylvania Truss Design…but sadly it has been demolished and replaced. While I didn’t have room to add the bridge to my current layout, I could at least construct an N Scale diorama using the photograph as inspiration.

First, I drew a simple schematic of the scene depicted in the photograph.

Next, I constructed a framework using 1×2 inch white pine, foam board, and craft foam covered with a layer of glue-impregnated paper.

I painted the rough framework with acrylic paint and glued Woodland Scenics Landscape Ballast to the river bed. I added Woodland Scenics Realistic Water, multicolored lichen, and an assortment of trees (most saved from previous projects).

The truss bridge was kit bashed and weathered to look rusted. The Intermodal container cars are coupled to three Union Pacific Locomotives. If you look closely at the photograph or watch the video you will see that there were actually four locomotives.

Of course, this is only a static display…however, I must say, building this diorama was completely satisfying and I hope you all enjoy it.

Now…what do I build next?

Thanks, Bob in Texas”