Model railroad layouts plans

Brian’s been back in touch. This time he’s added 14 turnout motors to his layout:

“Hi Al,

A lot of work done on the layout but not much to show as it is quite a long drawn out tedious of job adding 14 Blue Point Motors under the layout to match the track layout above.

First off, I remodelled the corner section on the lower level by removing the river bed and the two bridges (as seen in a previous article). It was too awkward for the track to fit where the industry’s would be. River and bridges removed as seen below.

Added a mountain in the corner to hide the wires leading up to the top level. A lot of scenery still be added in the near future.

Needed threaded rod (2mm diameter) to connect the Blue Point motors under the layout to the front facia panel. Shown here is the rod being held in the vice and cutting thread on the ends.

Blue Point Motors under the layout, one rod, left connected to the knob on the facia so far and the next one hanging ready be connected to the front facia.

Shown here are the knobs used to operate the points.

Below is a view looking down the lines to the yard and engine terminal facilities.

An overall view of the last leg on the lower level of the layout. Still have a river leading onto part of the harbour shown on the left. Can also be seen top left in the second photo below.

A view below looking in the opposite direction with the brewery in the far corner. The Seafood Emporium will be placed in the cut-out of the harbour seen below.

Once all the track work is complete and tested, I can then concentrate on the best part of my hobby – filling in all the empty spaces with buildings and lots of details.

Still have a lot of structures to build. Very easy to do as the shelf is only 600mm wide.

This is far as I am with this last section and I must mention my friend Mike, as he has been a great help in getting this far and his expertise in soldering has been fantastic. Droppers and wiring ect. as well as above and below the layout.

That’s all for now – till next time.

Brian – the HOn3 guy in Knysna.”

A big thanks to Brain for sharing how he adds his turnout motors.

I do love seeing how he turns a blank canvess into a detailed layout. As Brian says, this is the tedius part, so I thought it would be fun to make a youtube of the more finished parts.

Just so you know, it the software that adds the water ripples – though Brian’s water is spot on, as you can see in the pics.

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

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

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

Ned’s been back in touch with his take on realistic rock models for model railroad:

“Alastair,

Some folks asked for the process I use for creating my rock ledges. Here is the process I use. Comments and recommendations are welcome – I am always looking for ways to improve the process.

1. Using 1” insulating foam board create a vertical wall for gluing layers of foam board.

2. Create layers of foam board utilizing 1”, 1.5” and 2” foam board roughly shaped using my table saw and band saw. I use a combination of hot glue and Elmers White glue to glue the foam board.

3. Start creating layered rock with a wire bow hot foam cutter. I make striated layers, about 1/4” deep of non- parallel lines.

4. Make additional striations with a carpet knife. The carpet knife is very sharp but creates a much rougher cut than the hot wire cutter. I also use the carpet knife to texture areas of the foam that could not be reached with the hot knife.

5. Rough/age the rock ledges with a wire brush. This softens the edges and pulls out some of the foam loosened by cutting.

6. Create water flow paths down through the foam to break up some of the horizontal runs and show erosion.

7. Vacuum out as much of the loose foam as possible.

8. Paint a base color with an airbrush. In this case I used a Stone color for the base layer. Note that my local hardware store sells gray foam insulation so a primer coat has not been necessary.

9. Add accent colors, again with the air brush, using Black, Burnt Umber and Yellow Ocher. I often mix some white with the Yellow Ocher and a touch of Black with the Burnt Umber to achieve the tones I desire. The black is applied in the deeper crevices, the Burnt Umber in areas I believe would have soil and the Yellow Ocher as a very light tone in the stone and as a base color with the Burnt Umber as a base for grass and bushes. Dry brush with white and very light grey to accent the sun exposed rock edges.

10. Plant grass and bushes.

Enjoy!

Ned”

A huge big thanks to Ned for sharing his realistic rock models for model railroad technique.

Ned’s previous post is here: Model railroad backdrops.

And some other posts that may help:

Model railroad rocks.

N scale rock cliffs.

Rock molds

Making rocks.

Rock formations.

How to build realistic rock formations.

Model train rocks.

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

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.

Leo’s been back in touch with his HO scale airport terminal.

It’s quite a layout – it has a harbor too.

You may remember it from his first post (HO scale airport.

This time, Leo just sent in pics, so I’ve borrowed a few words from his earlier post:

“I am retired, and this particular layout is modeled after the Oregon layout with major modifications.

This layout is my fifth, housed on wheels in my garage. All lighting is LED voltage reduced via resisters.

I have no sound in any of my 50 plus locos, relying on MRC sound box (the one with about 24 different sound effects) with speakers around the layout. Sound is amazing, realistic and cost is less then “1” loco with sound equipped.

By the way I enjoyed all of readers pictures no matter the scale, I always learn. I am constantly amazed of the beautifull layouts fellow trains modelers have made (thanks to all I have learned so much, again thanks to you and your readers) .

I do not belong to any modeler railroad group for on a whole are way to serious, to specific, time specific and rely on actual time setting vs type of train usage.

Me on the other hand enjoy modeling based on little thought to anything other than what I like, what I have available to model with etc.

Leo, Langley, OK”

A big thanks to Leo for sharing his HO scale airport terminal.

Now on to Brent, who has a question I thought you lovely lot could help with:

“Thank you Alastair, these are so inspirational.

I have a question as I am retiring and looking to enjoy getting into this rail roading hobby.

Often folks who have fantastic displays often say they made the usual mistakes on the first build( or something close ) what are the mistakes a newbie should be aware of and try to avoid?

I appreciate all the info you provide

Brent”

Please do leave comment below if you can help Brent.

Lastly, please do get in touch if you have a layout you’d like to share, or an update, because it’s ghostly quiet this end.

Just hit reply to any of my mails.

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you press the fun button and get started, 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.