Model railroad layouts plans

Dan’s been back in touch, this time with pics and advice when it comes to making a model train river:

“Al,

In a previous post, long ago now, I mentioned that I did not do a river on my Santa Fe layout. I chose the “dry” season because I did not know how to do the water.

Here is the Inland Pacific Railway and the first rivers I ever did. The owner was a railroader and the layout was a three level very large layout. The lower level was storage and run through. It was a fully sceniced and signaled operating railroad. It had a working 11 track hump yard!

My first river turned out to be 6 feet long. Here is the beginning. I don’t think I have photos of the progress. I will say that once I poured the plaster bottom, I used my hand to smooth out the river bed to get a little 3-D effect. Very subtle but in real life it looked like a slightly uneven river bed. I also used my hand to smooth out the paint.

Finished look

Under the bridge

A Hobo camp

Camper under the bridge

Drift wood detail

A closer look

Model train river:

This train is on the lower level of the layout. The train continues to the right to the bridge over the river in the photos above. The train is on a curve from left to right. I made an Ox Bow bend scene.

I made the rapids with kitty litter and dry brushed on white and blue paints to get the daylight glint.

River level look.

Another river. Here there is dam holding the water at the rear of the photo. I made a pond there with the dam.

The over flow is interesting. I painted the dam’s over flow with tempera paint that was not fully wet. I mean not fully dissolve. This when brushed on gave it texture. Once everything was in place I made two pours of EnviroTex. I made sure there would be room for the second pour. Starting at the pond I let the “water” flow over the dam. The photo does not do it justice.

Another river. I taught driver ed for about 10 summers. I saw rivers in all manor of runoff. Here is chose a nice summer clear water look. Notice the raft some kids have put in the water.

There are 5 rivers on the layout. Here is another. The rivers were for scenic internist.

A different river.

As I prepared these photos, I realized that I should at least show the layout diagrams. General look at the layout foot print. I do not recall the size of the basement. It was a full sized basement.

The diagram.

The dispatch room.

The owner standing at the helix. This gives some idea as to the room size. There is as much room behind him as in front.

Thanks for looking. I have other layout rivers to post. If you want more of this layout let me know. Alas, as with all layouts this one is no more. A lot of it went with him when he moved to another city.

Santa Fe Dan*”

A huge big thanks to Santa Fe Dan for sharing his model train river pics and advice.

There’s quite a few posts on lakes and rivers on the blog now:

HO train layout with rivers.

Model railroad river scene

N scale river

HO scale river

How to make a river for your railroad

How to make a pond for your model railroad

HO scale water ponds

HO scale waterfront layout

Model train waterfall

N scale waterfall

Mode train water effects

That’s all for today folks. Please do keep ’em coming. And you all know how I’m going to end:

If you’ve enjoyed this one as much as me, please help keep the doors open and support the blog.

You can:

1. Buy the track plans PDF and Beginner’s Guide here.

2. Or you can dive straight into membership here. Stay as long or as little as you like.

(You can cancel directly with the payment provider at any time, or just mail me and I’ll do it for you. There’s no fuss or questions.)

I would dearly love to keep things going, and I promise to let you all know how things pan out.

Best

Al

Joe’s been back in touch – this time he’s added a model HO scale coal processing plant – and logging operation too:

“Hi Al; back when I began planning the layout, I decided that I wanted no less than 36” radii on the two main lines with a minimum od 34” on the short lines.

I did not want to place the engine yard/facility in the middle of the layout nor the main passenger station either.

I also wanted the yard to be outside the mains. That would mean more room inside for sidings and the town.

I had a 14’ x 30’ room to build in and came up with a 12’ x 8’ table.

Anyway, you’ve published 100’s of my pics in the past but here are som of how I utilized those corners.

This first group is the “west” side.

Over the back “West” corner is the coal facility. The engine is now operated by “San Juan Coal”

This is the Santa Fe Depot at Grants, NM

Here are photos of the “East end”

The logging operation supplies the sawmill on the outskirts of town.

Overview of the engine facility – sand tower and coaling tower

Engine facility with 2-8-0 over the ash pit.

Loading logs for the sawmill

Overview of the “East end”

Keep posting Al! Great to see what others are doing.

Joe”

A big thanks to Joe for sharing his model HO scale coal processing plant and logging operation too!

As you all know, I do love an update – and you really get a sense of what’s invloved in putting a layout together with Joe’s earlier posts:

HO scale lumber yard (Joe’s previous post).

12×8 HO scale (Joe’s very first post).

That’s all for today folks, except for one thing… thank you so much for all your email and words of encouragement.

Most of all, thank you to everybody that has supported the blog by buying the track plans PDF and Beginner’s Guide.

And thanks also, to the very kind people who have just jumped straight in and become members.

With membership, you get lots of printable building downloads, volume 1 and volme 2 of the track plans, and more posts.

You can stay a member for as little or as long as you like. No tie ins. No questions. Cancel direct with my payment processor or me with zero fuss.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Just so you all know, I’ll run the track plans PDF offer and membership until Sunday, then I’ll draw a line in the sand and decide what’s best.

Thank you so much for all your support, I really, really appreciate it.

Best

Al

Got a model train question?

Peter’s been in touch with an update on his model railway village.

I loved looking at his pics – but what really made it for me was looking at his previous post too, because it gives such a strong sense of what this hobby is all about.

I suspect you’ll feel the same – here it is:

“Hi Alastair,

It has been a while since I sent any pictures to you so thought I would show you what has been happening in my model of Tyseley, Birmingham.

As you can see traffic jams existed even in the early 60’s mainly because of all of the buses!!

I must thank my wife for her work in painting a lot of the people like the bus conductor and the animals. In particular the chickens in the coop which were so small. She also painted the nuns and the wedding party!

Can anyone spot the interloper from North America?

Peter”

Here is a copy of my layout created on an app called Train Design. I hope it is clear enough for you. The different colours indicate the phases when the work was completed. The dark gray being storage and orange an upper level to a branch station and coach sidings on top of the two main lines in the tunnels below.

Model railway village:

A huge big thank you to Peter for sharing his model railway village update.

You can see Peter’s previous post at the bottom of this one: Model railroad blacksmith shop.

Also, if you enjoyed Peter’s layout, you’ll probably like Gavin’s too: LMS model railway.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if creating your own model railroad is an itch you just have to scratch, the 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.

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.