Model railroad layouts plans

Mike’s been back in touch with more of his fantastic scratch builds:

“Good morning Al:

Here are more of my scratch builds.

The church and Merchantile are for my cousin in the Midwest. The others are on my small layout.

Everything except windows and doors are materials I have in my wife’s art room art room. Until I can figure out a jig to make the windows, I’ll buy them.

The Union hotel is a building that is in Union Nebraska. It was a place that train crews stayed half way between Chicago and the west coast.

The Post Office is a small town in Nebraska. Both buildings use the same technique you employ in your structures.

The Mercantile is actually a mill in Nebraska, but the layout needed a small town merchants shop…so it became a Mercantile.

The best part of modeling is the flexibility and diversity in building structures that fit a layout’s theme and era. It was through your site the first time I followed you that a modeler right her in Central Florida reached out to me to get involved in his potentially new club.

One of his friends has a Lionel 3-rail scale layout. I am helping him get his buildings and landscaping up to a finish. He likes what I do and wants the same detail, just on a larger scale. It took me a while to get use to building on big boy’s scale…😬.

It is always good to see what others are doing as they share on your site.

I only wish that I had started many years ago while my father was still alive. He had 40 years with the CB&Q railroad, a wealth of knowledge. Because of his extensive knowledge, he road with the Flying Scotsman when it toured here many years ago.

Recent comments/criticism of my layout after your last post missed what my layout is intended to accomplish.

My study model was just that, a study of space availability. The space was used to showcase my builds and run my trains.

I sent you an overhead of the layout and the wall display cases built to store my trains. The small covered case holds most of my engines. I have always contended that a small space can contain plenty of detail and interest.

A couple of the comments on the last post wanted to know/see how the raised rib roofing is made.

Here are three pics of the jig I made and what it looks like and the materials I used to make the roofing.

The jig is a piece of MDF with two piano wires drilled in at both ends, parallel to one another at a 12” O Scale spacing.

I use the same one for HO…. All of the buildings I sent photos of had the roofing made on this same jig.

I use Coke can aluminium and copper sheeting to make the roofing panels… each panel will be what ever I want to make it, but usually six ribs or about 48” in scale.

I would estimate that I have spent 40 hours per week working to always improve what is there. I have built 20 structures for my cousins 8 by 20 layout in the Midwest.

I have plans to build a dozen more for him. Each building are models of actual structures I find traveling the small towns of America…. No plastic RTR that can be bought in a store. That is not meant to be critical, but to say… they are all one-offs… no other layout has them. Again, my passion for preservation of the past.

Cheers mate and a Very Happy and Blessed Christmas to you and family.

Mike
Clermont, FL”

A huge big thanks to Mike.

There’s one particular line in his narrative that jumped out at me:

“My study model was just that, a study of space availability. The space was used to showcase my builds and run my trains.”

Amen to that!

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.

Daniel’s been in touch with his Model Christmas train layout.

(and don’t miss Gordy’s Grinch pic below too – loved it).

“1955 was to be a tipping point in our family railroading experience.

As I was only 8 years old, I had no idea about this, but Doug, my 14 year old brother, was wiser in these things, especially since he knew that the deep well of our parent’s art deco wardrobe could hold wonderful Christmas treasures.

For decades I only knew part of this story, but my brother told me the rest of the story a few years ago at the last time we were together, but I had no idea about that, and maybe he was wiser on that as well.

In the late fall of 1955 Doug started scoping out the favorite parental Christmas hiding places, and in the wardrobe he made a marvelous find. A Lionel O gauge F-3 double A unit Santa Fe locomotive, one A unit powered, the other A unit a dummy.

As there was only 1 set, he assumed it was for him, the older son. He said nothing about his find this due to my focus on Santa.

On Christmas morning, at first light, we awoke our parents (I doubt that they had actually fallen asleep) to see what Santa had brought.

My dad was a minister in Salem, N.J., and the Christmas season was very full of church activities, so Christmas Eve preparation left very little time for sleep.

Tradition held that we could not go down the stairs until dad had checked it out and that the tree lights were turned on.

When we came down the stairs, our usual temporary train platform was set up, the gifts were assembled and staged, perhaps as magically as if Santa had done it himself.

My folks anticipated a special Christmas, so they set up the church’s Wollensak reel to reel tape recorder. I did not pay much attention to that as there were gifts to open!

During his tale of that Christmas my brother told me he was anxiously awaiting opening his gift, but as it happened, I was told to open a long square ended box that was quite heavy.

When the gleaming red and silver Santa Fe slid out of the box, a seismometer could have registered my brother’s heart dropping. “I was totally disappointed,” he told me. The folk’s must have realized this so they quickly directed him to the box that held his Santa Fe.

That was to be the last year for the temporary Christmas layout, as we were now into it big time. A permanent layout was set up on the 3rd floor of the Victorian parsonage, only to be moved and enhanced 9 months later in a move to Haddon Heights, N.J.

As we made our way to our new home, the very last item attached to the back doors of the moving van was our train platform.

Many Christmases have since come and gone, with my own sons and grandchildren, but my recorded yell of delight, “Look Doug, a Santa Fe!” still rings in my ears.

Daniel”

Now on to Gordy for his Model Christmas train layout:

“Good Morning Al… Gordy here and I had an HO layout in my basement, which was fine, but I also had a collection of the Dickens Village houses & figurines which we put up each Christmas.

So I decided to combine them and I made a Dickens Christmas HO Railroad layout….

I am now RVing and have a fifth wheel and I am now putting it up in my RV basement. The layout is 4′ x 8′ so it just fits.

By the way the Grinch’s sled was made from scratch by wood & paper etc. Hope you get this OK, Looking to hearing from you….

Gordy, Naples, FL”

A big thanks to Gordy for sharing his model Christmas train pics – loved the Grinch, and to Daniel for sharing his Christmas tale. Loved that he’s stil got the loco.

If you have a Christmas story that you want to share, please mail me or leave a comment below.

Here are some more for you:

N scale Christmas train.

Christmas model railroad layout.

Dept 56 model train.

More Christmas layouts here.

Model train Christmas village.

Mor Christmas thoughs and pics.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you want to stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Remember, it’s the start that stops most people.

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.

Denny’s been in touch with his Department 56 model train:

“I wanted to send you my Christmas ( 3 train layout).

We set it up every year.

But, Al, we then have to take it down.

Therefore, I am making a 2 train layout in my out building. It will be permanent. Soooo, fun.

I will send updates, as I progress.

I think your viewers will like what they see here.

A lot of department 56 houses, collected over the years.

Thank you, very much.

Denny”

And now on to Hall of Fame member, Dave:

“Hi Al,

just a short video of Diddy Dave on the layout again, bit of fun , maybe post to have a laugh.

Not sure if shall be posting any more before Christmas now , so like to wish you and all members the Very Best For Xmas and The New Year.

Regards 

Dave”

A big thanks to Denny for his Department 56 model train and to Diddy Dave too – it all looks like a lot of fun.

I hope you are all feeling festive, I did wonder whether there would be many Christmas layouts this year.

We’re going to finish with Old Taz today – he’s the gift that keeps on giving. If you missed his Christmas model train layout, it’s here.

“Gooooooooooooood morning Al 

This is just a little something that I made-up here a while back.

After seeing the layout, the gentleman in his office brought this project to mind.

The tubing is the tube that covers the florescent celling lights for safety. I started out going to use the tube for display purposes on the wall, but you didn’t want to sneeze while you were trying to move it or move it the cars you come off the track. There’s another good idea that went astray! 

So, here’s a little project for those of you that want to take your train to work with you. You don’t have to worry about the cleaning lady. The boss probably won’t say much about it. And the secretaries are going to go nuts over it because it’s so small or like one lady told me it’s itty bitty.

I think the pictures are probably self-explanatory. I used a piece of Styrofoam on the end. I’m sure that you could use whatever you wanted to use on the end of it like a block of wood finished off.

I even thought about taking two books and cutting a hole in each of them as a bookend. Probably there are a lot of different things you can do with it.

Just an idea, something more to make this hobby fun. You’ll never get bored with model trains, there’s always something more that you want to do around the corner.

Hey guys and gals, you have fun. Merry Christmas and a clickety clack 

OLDTAZ 

PS I used white glue so if you want to take the train out of there soak it, wash it good and put it back on the track.”

Thanks to Old Taz (again!).

That’s all for today 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.