Model railroad layouts plans

John’s been back in touch with his model railway hoist diagram:

“Some time ago my model railway – a railway on a hoist in a garage – Cabin Manor to Gardenton Railway was featured by Al and received many positive comments.

I did have queries about how the hoist mechanism works but for many reasons I never responded.

As I am self-isolating because of a Covid positive test result, I have time to respond and I hope that this brief description, the diagram and pictures will explain it all.

What I have now is the second version of the mechanism as the first didn’t give the stability that I wanted.

With the uprights from floor to roof, the table is lowered to the supports and is solid and steady and takes the weight off the cables.

When the table is raised, the length of the cables has been adjusted so that it will automatically stop at the required height.

I then move the supports to the upper position and then lower the table slightly on to the supports. It has all worked satisfactorily for about eight years.

Below is a diagram of the mechanism.

I use a 125/250 kg electric hoist (normally mounted on the ceiling and used to hoist engines out of cars) which is mounted on its side and secured to the concrete floor with stainless steel brackets.

The stainless steel cable attached to the hoist pulley, goes round a pulley secured with sturdy steel brackets, to the concrete floor at a distance from the hoist motor itself.

The cable is attached to a stainless steel cross piece to which is attached a steel eye bolt and four cables each with an adjustable galvanised fence turnbuckle to adjust the length of each cable so that the table is level as it travels up and down.

Because the photos are focused on the mechanism, they suggest that it all looks rather rough and crude but in reality the motor and floor section are all closed from view by a shelf and one doesn’t notice the upright supports or the cables.

Regards,

John”

A big thanks to John, especially for the model railway hoist diagram.

You can see John’s orginal post here.

Now we’re doing a sharp U turn, and revisiting yesterday’s post.

And here’s a pic of his layout to jog your memory:

I asked Brian about his mountains because I thought they looked remarkably ‘clear’ – almost photographic, but obviously they weren’t.

Here’s his reply:

“The mountains are a trick I learned with my previous layout.

The base is plaster cloth.

Then I paste actual photo copies of rock faces I’ve taken pictures of, especially along the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Once dry, I brush a mix of white glue and water over them. End result as you can see is very realistic and very affordable to do.

Brian”

It’s another fine example of how the simple ideas often work the best.

Who would have thought it would be as easy as that?

That’s all for today folks.

But please do keep ’em coming – my inbox is looking very sparse indeed at the mo.

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

Brian’s been in touch with his 6×12 N scale:

“Hello sir,

You are a daily read and I’ve waited far too long to send you a video of my layout.

Background:

We retired from Colorado to Lake Lanier Georgia in September of 2019.

Work began quickly on my new layout, a 6×12 duck under located in our walkout basement.

I was able to recycle so much of my previous layout in Colorado and applied lessons learned from that one to the new one.

Not the least of which is a layout height of 43 inches for easy access to wiring etc under the layout.

My video shows you a quick look at the initial framing to how the layout looks today.

So, here’s my tour:

I have two main lines, one for UP/Amtrak and the other for BNSF.

The layout is situated in Wyoming, location based on the best selling series of books by author C.J. Box.

It has lots of “inside” scenes for those who read the popular series.

Power is DC. I can operate two lines at the same time and that’s enough for me. Track and engines are KATO.

Hope you can share with your readers!

Brian Olson
Gainesville GA”

A big thanks to Brian for sharing his 6×12 N scale.

It certainly looks like he’s having fun and that’s what it’s all about.

I read a comment from one of you recently which really struck a chord with me, because there is never one way of doing something – and none of them are wrong.

The comment – I think it was posted by George – simple said:

“If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right.”

Amen to that.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming – it’s all gone very quiet at the mo.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you do what Brain did – make a start – the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Mark’s been in touch with his 10×18 Lionel layout:

“This layout is a downsized after moving its 10 x 18 the old layout was 20 x 18.

You will see a brewery that I made its from Utica, NY started in 1888 and still going strong.

I been in this hobby since my father had 027 lionel and HO Lionel as a child since I can remember.

I have over 60 Post War lionel and MTH , Williams, K-Line and MPC Lionel.

Have over 300 pieces of rolling stock and 8 Passenger Sets.

I use Tubular 027 Track and have Lionel, K-line and Gargrave switchs.

I use a few blocks to park engine and to bring on line. The best part of being a operator is having a cold beer and watching trains..

Thanks

Mark”

A big thanks to Mark.

When it comes to Lionel layouts, I always think of Bill’s stunner: Lionel track layouts.

Now onto something a little bit different.

I didn’t whether to post the below or not because it’s slightly off topic – but then I remembered who was Bob was.

You’ll remember him from this N scale layout.

Well, once I’d connected the dots, I was happy to post:

“Al…I hope all is well with you.

Here is a new post that is a little different but I hope everyone enjoys it.

We model railroad hobbyists love to share our passion. We display our layouts in museums, exhibit them at model railroad shows, and participate in blogs like yours.

Once in a while, a less conventional way to share our love of this amazing hobby presents itself. I have recently had such an opportunity.

My daughter is the artistic director of a theater program for young adults and adults with a variety of physical and developmental disabilities.

Each year, her clients write and perform in an original musical play. A recurring theme of these musicals is how the actors are often stereotyped by their disabilities and how they are able to overcome these stereotypes.

For the past several years, it has been my privilege to design and build the sets and props for these plays.

This year, the setting for the story was an abandoned amusement park that the actors wanted to restore to its former glory.

One of the main props needed was a kiddie amusement park train. Their director likes models of the sets and props because it helps her visualize how they will appear on stage.

So I make simple models of everything. She did not like the original design for the locomotive because it looked too real.

She wanted something that looked more like a kiddie amusement park locomotive. So…back to the drawing board.

The new design met with her approval. She originally wanted a locomotive and two cars; however, because of limited space on the stage, I only constructed the full-scale locomotive.

The locomotive had to move under its own power so I fabricated a wooden framework over an electric powered kids ride-on jeep .

The locomotive body consisted of plywood panels attached to the framework.

The boiler was foamboard and the original smoke stack was a plastic flower pot. The mechanical components typical of a steam locomotive are absent but that is what the director wanted.

Just before the initial performance, she decided that the locomotive looked entirely too new. After all, it was supposed to be in an abandoned amusement park.

So we did a little last minute weathering.

The locomotive’s appearance on stage was greeted with great fanfare.

The most challenging part of the build was fabricating a mechanism for blowing a large puff of smoke from the smokestack (now a simple cylinder). The “smoke effect” mechanism consisted of a canister of compressed air and a plastic cup filled with baby power.

I put the mechanism inside the smokestack and a quick pull on the canister trigger released a large plume of baby powder smoke (sorry for the poor quality of the photo…it is a screenshot captured from a video).

The actors, especially the young lad who played the engineer and the audience members loved the smoke. At the end of each performance, children from the audience could have their picture taken sitting in the locomotive.

This was not one of my most mechanically accurate builds but it certainly was one of my most popular.

And…it introduced model railroading to a whole new audience. Thank you for letting me share this with you.

Bob”

That’s all for today folks – please do keep ’em coming because I am emjoy them as much as you.

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.