Model railroad layouts plans

Henry has put a big smile on my face by adding to the model railroad dioramas on the blog:

“Hello Alastair

Today I had the privilege to bring some joy to someone. I delivered the diorama I built, but I asked the lady for whom I built it, if I could photograph it with the locomotive her late husband had wanted to put on display on the diorama.

I’ve had some requests to show my model railroad dioramas with the locos in place, so here are a few pictures of the diorama with a class GMAM garret of the South African railways and its permanently coupled water tanker.

(The water tankers were used so that the onboard tanks could remain full and increase the tractive effort).

Henry”

If you missed Henry’s first model railway diorama post, it’s here.

Also, when it comes to model railroad dioramas, Ben’s springs to mind:

Model train Diorama.

And these:

N scale diorama

railway diorama

Train diorama ideas

Model railway dioramas

Model train diorama

Now on to Dallas.

He has been in touch with his N scale in a shed:

“I have for several years now read your daily missives with great interest and gained a lot of ideas and information from the submissions of all contributors.

If my eventual layout ends up anywhere near some of those I have seen I will be very pleased.

Like a lot of people, I received a Triang windup train set as a present, not sure if for Christmas or a birthday. I have no idea whatever happened to it.

In the 1970’s I worked out a design for a model train layout which I carried around for the next 30 years, still have it, in fact.

I located it some 15 years ago and on examination found that I needed a room about 6 metres (20 feet) by 4 metres ( 13.5 feet) which I didn’t have or was ever likely to have. I went looking for a plan that I could use or adapt.

At some point I acquired a book of model railway plans. One of the plans in the book was the Granite Gorge and Northern plan, a HO plan. I liked it because it looked interesting, looked challenging and I like challenges, even if it is my first actual build, and had elements in it that I wanted. I decided to adjust it for an N scale layout.

Through some calculations I determined how to reproduce the plan in my desired scale.

Using my multifinction centre I photocopied the plan to A3 and then progressively enlarged the plan section by section until I had the whole plan at the required size. I then matched up the individual sheets and taped them together so that I had a complete plan at N scale that I could transfer directly to the base.

About 10 years ago I commenced construction of the table. The table is approximately 2 metres by 1 metre.

The frame is made of 100 x 19 (4 x 1) and took several weeks to construct with having to adjust the sizes of the individual pieces to suit my requirements.

The based was a sheet of 2400 x 1200 MDF 6mm thick. The plan was transferred to the base sheet and cuts made for adjustments in levels wherever appropriate. The cuts were made and the base attached to the frame.

This then stood for a year or two in its basic state and then I started to develop it further. I laid down foam road bed and started placing items around the layout to see what looked best. The layout has slowly progress from there to where it is today. I have not done much on it, for one reason or another, for nearly a year now.

I retired about 10 years ago but that did not assist much in the construction. Much of my time has been devoted to illustrating children’s books. I use construction of the railway as a relief and distraction from the books and my other artwork. It is progressing extremely slowly.

For much of the past fifteen years I have been slowly buying up rolling stock, engines and building/structures when I saw something that took my interest and I could afford. As a result the final product may be a hodgepodge of styles. Time will tell.

The main theme is of the 1950-60s with an abandoned coal mine. Some of the buildings have been placed to give me some ideas

I am constructing my layout in a large shed,12m x 7m, that I have divided in half. The layout is in the studio side of the shed.

The other side is supposed to be a workshop for airbrushing vehicles. My property is a rural holding of a little under 4 acres.

Opposite me is a beef farm and bordering the forest to the south is a dairy farm. This all bodes well for visits from friendly wildlife from the forest.

We have regular visits from carpet pythons and from time to time they try to assist me with my construction as can be seen from the red circled area in one of the photos

The following photos show my current situation.

Dallas”

Well, I stared at the pic Dallas had circled in red, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see a python.

So I asked Dallas – the circle is just the damage the python left.

Suddenly spiders and mice aren’t so bad.

Now on to Dangerous Dave, who has shared his latest youtube:

“Hi Al…

No doubt like a good few many members and most model railway modellers I get track problems.

I have had to re lay a few parts of my layout with new bits of track, and put new joiners in to try and get all running smoothly again, something that most of us have to do from time to time.

I have also shown ballasting the track with one of those small plastic ballasting gadgets which do help to make the job a bit easier, then to finish off I have added some rust paint to the tracks to make them look more realistic, all easy to do, and could be of some help to those starting out in the hobby…

Regards

Dave”

A big thanks to Henry for adding to the model railroad dioramas, and to Dallas and Dave.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you decide to battle with pythons, lay track and build dioramas, 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.

Malcolm has been in touch with his Z scale model train.

And his layout really does highlight how different life is for folk with different model scales.

Now that may sound dramatic, but here’s a pic from yesterday’s post, Bill’s stunning O / On30 layout:

Bill hired a truck to get his layout to his model railroad show.

(And if you watch his vid, you can see the whole operation.)

But Malcolm?

He models in Z scale, and only has to pick up his display up:

“Al,

I’ve attached 8 photos of the Z scale (1:220) layout that I take to train shows.

The layout is about 46″ x 26” (~ 117cm x 66cm) and can be carried by one person, although it’s easier with two.

I like the Santa Fe so I model the mid-1990s and I prioritize SantaFe, Burlington Northern and BNSF, which gives me maximum flexibility.

The track and turnouts are some old Marklin materiel I had lying around.

The scenery is obviously nothing special, but the kids love watching the trains go through the tunnel. The plexiglas enclosure prevents little fingers from clutching at little trains.

What you see in these pictures is mainly, though, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National locomotives and rolling stock.

The CP and CN rolling stock includes a covered hopper, 53′ well car, gondola, flatcar, bulkhead flats and boxcars.

Why the emphasis on CP and CN in these photos when I model the ATSF and BN merger period and have mostly American rolling stock and locomotives?

That’s because some time ago somebody told you that they considered Z scale but couldn’t find any Canadian models. I think that this demonstrates that they may not have looked very hard.

In N. America it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference because shipping mixes up the rail cars, so you can see BNSF, Norfolk Southern, UP, CSX, etc. up in Canada and CN and CP down south on the Gulf Coast.

We also have “run-through” where locomotives are handed off to other carriers, just switching crews, to save time in forwarding a train.

I’ve seen pictures of Ferromex (Mexican rail line) locomotives up in the Canadian snow and BNSF locos on the East Coast. How the RRs handle all this is a mystery to me but it is done every day and apparently the locomotives find their way back eventually.

By the way, the containers in the well car are made for me by the Chinese (incredibly precise pad printing) and I make the Walmart (and other) 53′ trailers. I have a small (joke) business making and selling Z scale accesories.

Best regards,

Malcolm”

A big thanks to Malcolm.

For me, Mal’s layout and Bill’s layout demonstrate admirably how it’s worth thinking long and hard over what scale to choose.

Over the years the blog has been littered with posts from folk starting in O scale, running out of space and then trying again with HO scale.

The same goes for HO scale, it’s still just as easy to run out of room – Mike’s HO scale post springs to mind.

But in the same light, there are just as many folk who have tried N scale, found it was way too fiddly and also tried again with HO scale.

Personally, if I even tried Z scale, my eyes would go squiffy within days.

That said, HO scale isn’t the answer to ‘what scale to start with’, but I think it’s a very safe bet.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on scale – please do leave a comment below if you’d like to chip in.

In fact, as I write this, I’m reminded of a post from a bit ago that went mad in the comments – you all had lots to say:

How to start a model train layout.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you decide to build a layout to take to a show, 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.

Bill’s been back in touch with his O/On30 train layout – and my word, it’s a stunner:

“Hello Al and fellow modelers!

Been a while since I sent in an update on how my O/On30 is progressing. I still have scenery and some buildings to make for it but major areas are complete.

In fact it was far enough along that I displayed it at a local model railroad show in Richmond Virginia this January.

This layout I have built for the purpose of talking it to shows and hopefully spark enthusiasm for model railroading in future generations.

I still have a year or more before I retire or at least soft retire (do something I want to do for work lol) so this first show was a test to see if the layout would transport well and more important if I enjoyed doing it.

Thankfully the answer to both is yes.

The layout moved well and worked like a charm at the show and I loved every minute of the show.

I was blessed to see the kids faces light up as they watched the trains run. I had added port holes in some of the facia so I could get my hands in if needed but those turned out to be the perfect height for little ones to peer into the layout and see the trains blast by them lol.

The smiles on their faces made it all worthwhile.

I’ve added some pictures of various scenes on the layout. As noted I still have a ways to go but I’m getting there.

I’ve also added a video that shows what was needed to get it to the show, the show and then some afterthoughts once I hit back home.

You will note in the video I talked about engines that bite the dust while running. Be happy to know I have them resurrected already and have added more to more engine roster.

Happy modeling all!

Bill in Virginia”

A huge big thanks to Bill for sharing his On30 train layout progress – an absolutely stunning layout.

If you’d like to see his last On30 layout post, it’s here.

I have to say, if this doesn’t inspire the young folk to take up this fine hobby, nothing will.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as me.

It also made me think I’ve overlooked somebody, when it comes to the Hall of Fame. So later today, I’ll share who the new and latest member is.

Lastly, time’s nearly run out on the silly deal for the Beginner’s Guide, the three new buildings, and the new track plan PDF.

At the moment, it’s only $9 – saving you a whopping $47.

There are 3 new buildings and 1 new track plan PDF in the latest sale – you can grab them all for just $9.

Here’s John, showing what they look like.

If you are unfamiliar with the printable buildings, you just download them and stick them together:

(Watch on youtube here.)

Here are the three new buildings:

All the buildings are HO scale. Just reduce the print size to 54% for N scale.

You can print as many as the buildings as you like.

When you mix and match the buildings, you can get some really nice effects.

And best of all, you can get these three new buildings – and the latest track plan PDF – for just $9 over the next few days.

Volume 3 of the track plans is made up of another 20 track plans – all new, and featured on the blog, with the links to the posts.

If you’ve enjoyed the blog over the last few months or years, please do help it out and grab the new buildings and track plans.

To keep things simple, I have bundled the new buildings and new track plans PDF with the Beginner’s Guide, so even if you’ve already got the Beginner’s guide (I know many of you have), grabbing it again gets you the new buildings and the track plans.

It just makes it loads easier for me to do it this way.

And of course, if you’re new to the blog, and you’ve not got the Beginner’s Guide and all the bonuses, now’s the ideal time to grab it.

You’re saving $20 on the Beginner’s guide, and $27 on the new buildings, and $10 on the latest track plan PDF.

That’s a whopping $57 saving, and you’ll be directly supporting the blog too.

So there’s big savings to be had, and you’ll also be helping to keep the show on the road too.

Don’t forget, there’s a 60 day money back guarantee on all of the products – the buildings and everything else – so you really have nothing to lose.

You can grab the new buildings and the new track plans PDF here.

Best

Al

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