Model railroad layouts plans

Steve’s been in touch with some model train workmen pics – and a strange blue light too…

“Just a little surprise on the layout.

The other day I heard a grinding noise coming from the train room so I went in to see what was going on.

Well I found a blue box all lit up. The strange part is I never put it there. I am still trying to figure it out. Pictures attached.

In the meantime I have some crews running water lines to the community.

Will be sending more soon

Steve from Toms River.”

Strange blue light? I had to look at Steve’s pics twice before I twigged. Did make me smile though.

Liked the model train workmen pics – a nice scene.

Now on to Rob:

“Hey Al,

Loving your website. It has been very inspiring! A lot of great folks with great ideas. Thanks to everyone.

I have attached a photo someone might find amusing. First I must apologize for some flaws in the photograph (ie: no balast yet, etc.).

When I was changing my bass guitar strings I was thinking what a waste to throw these away. So for now I chopped them up as a junk load. One could do many, many different things with this so called garbage. And in my case they are about 3 feet long. And guitar players have much thinner strings so there is even more options there. That’s all for now.

Cheers and thanks again,

Rob!”

“For N-Scale lighting I use the chip LEDs. With a handriveting tool and a rivet, I can punch exterior light shades out of a brass strip. Predrill the center of the light shade before punching it out, then solder the shade to a piece of 1/16 X .014 round copper tube. The wire from the anode of the LED goes down the center of the tube.

The cathode gets soldered to the underside of the lamp shade. So the ground wire from the power supply gets soldered to the tube, and the hot side goes to the wire. The chip leds are great for interior or exterior lighting. I’ve used an Arduino computer to adjust the intensity of the LEDs for indoor and outdoor lighting to make them more realistic.

Ben”

“Hi Al,

I just finished building a grandstand for my hockey rink. For once I remembered to take pictures as it progressed. I took half a styrofoam box that a building came in, cut it to fit, painted gray for cement. Glued the people onto plastic strips then glued the strips onto smaller strips of styrofoam, painted then glued in place. Glued a picture of our Pittsburgh Penquins on the back. Here are some pictures.

Linda”

Linda’s last post is here – and it’s a cracker.

And now on to Kevin, who asks a question that I really thought worth posting:

“Hi Mr. Lee:

Kevin here, from Savannah, GA, home of the Kamikaze mosquito.

I’m not an experienced modeler, nor am I officially a train layout guy… yet.

Briefly, my wife and I lease our home and we’re not rich. I’ve been sketching out ideas for a modest den, 10′ x 15′. Needless to say, I must design a modular system that can be moved at some point.

Being I am on a poor-guy budget and coming from scratch, I have an idea of documenting the construction and sharing what ways I am able (and not able) to save money.

I want to go with detail that would have Luke Towan nod approval while sharing where I could economize, and sources of savings I find.

For instance, I found a great guy in Minnesota that is very helpful and pulled a bunch of new and used Atlas track for me at a huge savings.

(I’ll attach a picture of a pen/ink I did to demonstrate the detail I can at least put on paper).

So, I am curious of your opinion on this best bang-for-the-buck approach.

Thanks,

Kevin”

All I can say, Kevin, is if your layout is as good as your drawing, I can’t wait to see it.

But who can help answer his question? Please do leave a comment below if you can. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

A big thanks to Steve for sharing his model train workmen pics, also to Lind and Rob too.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you press the fun button and decide to join in, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Fred’s been in touch with his N scale Canadian layout:

“Hi Al,

These picture have been a long time in coming and my friends and I are nowhere close to being finished.

We are in the process of an N gauge layout on a very large scale probably not to be finished in the near future but to be done with a lot of love and a sense of accomplishment.

The layout is under a two car garage with lots of room. This is a Canadian layout “Canadian Union Rail Road—CURR the Dog Line” located just north of Port Perry Ontario Canada.

We are not rivet counters nor are we using any fancy power systems. There are three separate lines and a yard with transformers for each. We just like to watch the train go round especially when they tend to pass each other.

Although tracks are powered they tend to be set up as static scenes (our choice). My friends, who deserve a lot of credit are John and Joe. We get together once a week when possible and “play trains”.

John has done most of the work on Johnstown and Joe has spent valuable hours on the prison called “Joeville Arrest Haven” I have been responsible for the ravine, the park, the campsite, the nursery, the storage area and the parts of the farm that have been completed.

The city will be called Frederickton and every one will be making a contribution.

The hills you see are made from cans of insulating foam covered with plaster cloth and paint and of course scenic materials. We are trying to use as little bought material as possible. That is why your web site has been a gold mine. At the end of the pictures I have included a set of Christmas led “white” lights; cheap and easy to setup and work on batteries that will last quite a long time if you were only using then for sometime night effects (I will supply more information if any wants it).

Fred”

A big thanks to Fred for sharing his N scale Canadian layout.

It really reminded me of William’s: N scale Canada.

Now on to Joseph, who has a question:

“Hi Al,

A question for you and / or the subscriber community. I’m going to have an almost 20′ by 20′ space to set up my first big HO layout.

I have a track plan idea for a 12′ x 14′ layout. I’m thinking of semi modular table construction using 1×4 perimeter framing with cross braces on 2 foot centers, a sheet of 1/4″ ply to keep everything square (and level hopefully) and 1″ foam board on top of that for a working base.

My question is will that give sufficient strength and rigidity for the layout?

I’m planning on putting the 2×4 legs 2 feet in from the ends as the plan is for 4 such tables joined in an open semi circle which would give fairly even spacing to the legs rather than having pairs of them next to each other.

Attached drawing shows the table arrangement – the small rectangles on drawing are 2×4 legs with casters so the entire layout can be pulled away from wall for layout construction access, then pushed back against the corner of the room for operation (the 1′ x 2′ foot section in the upper left is to accommodate a 2′ x 3′ HVAC duct in the corner of the room). The four tables will be bolted together.

My big question is this construction strong enough or do I need heavier lumber or go 16 inch on center for the cross bracing?

Any suggestions or comments are welcome.

Joseph”

Lastly on to Dave:

“Hi Al, just had a day up at NYMRailway, and managed to capture some good footage with A 4 Sir Nigel Gresley back on there.

And of course a few more pictures and footage of this Steam Gala

Regards

Dave”

A big thanks to Dave and to Fred for sharing his N scale Canadian layout.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming – and who can help Joseph? Please leave a comment below if you can.

And if today is the day you get going on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

“Hi Al.

I finally completed and installed the PRR Main Line Signal bridge that I have been working on for a while and also installed Crossbucks and a Pole Light in the parking lot of the south Yard Master Tower of my layout.

Before I get into the particulars, for those of you who saw my blog to Al about adding PRR signals, I had a major concern about the number of wires that would be running down the bridge. It was solved with the help of fellow modelers.

I want to thank Earl, Les, George and Kelvin for their suggestions and info on the wiring of the signals. BUT I have to give Charlie S. a very special thank you on solving my wiring concern. Charlie provided me with a schematic of the wiring of the signal (see PIC 1).

This basically wired the LEDs in a series configuration which reduced the ten wires down to three.

This made the installation of the signals onto the bridge very easy. Charlie…again…. Thank you.

This was not easy for me as the wires were very thin and the LEDs and connections were very small. I had to be very careful not to have the wires touch each other. The following pictures show the making of the signal.

Pic 2 is the back of the signal with the wiring completed and I used Liquid Electrical Tape (Pic 3) to protect the signals from shorting out.

Pic 3 – The Liquid Electrical Tape I used.

Pic 4 – Horizontal signal (STOP)

Pic 5 – Vertical signal (PROCEED)

Pic 6 – The signal bridge with the holes drilled through to accommodate the wiring running down the bridge to under the layout for connection and power from a toggle switch.

Pic 7 – The mounting of the signals onto the signal bridge

Pic 8 – The signals installed and working.

Pic 9 – Installed on the layout with a work crew.

This is the first PRR Signal Bridge that is completed. I have two more to build and install on the layout.

What follows now is some pictures of the layout I hope you like. I also installed Crossbucks to the layout as you will see in the video and I have a picture of one of the many Pole Lights I will be installing throughout the layout.

Here is the video on YouTube:

As you can see from the video, I still have a lot of work to do on my layout; ballast of all the rails, ground cover, complete the passenger yard with trains and I have to replace some turnouts with underground switch machines.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Al for creating and hosting and maintaining this site for us. And I want to thank all of the modelers who send tips and pictures and blogs about model railroading. I have learned a lot from all of you.

Happy modeling. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Regards,

Gary M from Long Island”

A huge big thank you to Gary for sharing hsi model train signal lights.

His previous post, which he mentions above, is here: HO scale signals.

You can also see everyone of Gary’s posts in the link above too. It’s wonderful to see a layout take shape from day 1.

And thank you to everyone who has helped, emailed or commented on a post to help someone out. Without you lot, there wouldn’t be a blog at all.

Gary’s post also reminded me of these:

Signal lights for model train switch.

How to make signals for your layout.

Simple model train signal circuit.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you join in on the fun and start your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.