Model railroad layouts plans

Joe’s been in touch with his 1930s HO scale layout:

“Al,

Hello from Wild and Wonderful West Virginia!

Not only are we Hillbilly’s but BIG Railfans too.

The Railroads have played a huge part in West Virginias history, from the Lumber Industry to Coal Mining. The town I grew up in is Ronceverte, WV and it is roughly halfway between Clifton Forge, VA and Hinton, WV on the C&Os (CSX) Alleghany Subdivision.

The C&O ran “Pushers” from here to Alleghany, VA to help coal drags up the grade to Alleghany.

Both places had Turntables that were 120’ long to turn the big H-4s and K2s. Today CSX runs CW4400s, two in the front and two halfway back in 200 to 250 car coal drags. Impressive to say the least.

We have a Train Show here the first weekend of May, which brings me to the project I have taken on. I Iike to call “History through Models” projects.

As the name implies, they’re models that are 3D, HO scale representations of a period, in time on The Alleghany Subdivision.

Below are photos of the Ronceverte model during the 1930s. The model is incomplete and still under construction, but I think you will get the idea.

I have to “scratch build” most all the buildings. I used old photos from the C&O Historical Society to get a general idea what the buildings looked like.

The water tank is a model kit from Walther’s.

The passenger station is the next big thing to build. The station was built in 1915, really nice too. It is a brick structure with a long platform that connects to a brick Freight House.

Enough said, here’s some pics.

Thanks

Joe”

A big thanks to Joe for sharing his 1930s HO scale themed layout.

(It reminded me of Jim’s stunning 1950s HO scale model railroad.)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, a layout with a ‘theme’ will always turn out well. I love the way he’s using the pictures to recreate the scenes from the past. Brilliant.

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

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

Dave’s been back in touch. This time he shows us how he uses his static grass applicator for his scenery.

There was a bit of a muddle between us over which video to post, but we sorted it in the end.

And what’s more, I know alot of you enjoy Dave’s videos but struggle with his accent, so I thought I’d try the format below – a few pics and subtitles.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did – I still love watching Dave’s trains run in the second half of the vid.

“Hi Al, note you did not post but it was a bit confusing as I sent the wrong video to start with.

I am away for a few days, but just looking at my vids on my phone, this is the one I should have sent first time.

It does show doing the static grass applicator, ballasting, adding rail rust , rail grime and a good few trees.

Hope to visit the railway heritage museum tomorrow

Cheers Dave”

Cover the area that you want to use the grass static applicator on with glue…

Attach to the screw…

Give the grass a good shake…

Let the area dry…

Add the ballast to the tracks…

Here’s what it will look like when it’s finished…

Another view of a finished scene with a grass applicator – so lets get the new one looking like this…

Sleeper grime…

Underbrush…

Adding the glue for the underbrush…

Adding the underbrush…

Underbrush done, now for the trees…

Use a screwdriver to punch a hole in the scenery…

Add glue and stick the tree down…

The finished scene! Now here’s the vid:

These related posts might interest you too:

Static grass.

HO scale bushes.

Add grass to layout? John shows us how

Model train grass.

Also, there’s a lot more posts from Dave in the Hall of Fame if you’d like to see more of his stuff.

If you’d like to see Dave’s vid on adding rust to your rails, it’s here.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you feel like you’re missing out on the fun, 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.

Bill’s been back in touch with a missive on his model train tunnel.

Making the inside look good is just as important as the outside, and Bill shares how he’s done that:

“Hi Al

Hope this finds you well as we move into fall weather.

I’ve been having some fun on my O/On30 layout build and recently built a tunnel liner for my O standard gauge track. I looked at different methods then settled on building a liner using sculptamold using a jig to get the shape.

What I started with was cutting 1×2’s that were glued together to the shape of the tunnel portal. On that I nailed a cut plastic soda bottle strip – roughly 2 inch in width. I then cut grooves on the bottom of the jig so it fit on both rails. I then added a long bolt to hold the jig and pull it along as I built up sculptamold around the jig.

The process actually worked well and did not take much time to do. I was very happy with the results and stained the inside to match the rock colors around it.

I hope others will give this a try if they are able to. The results are worth it.

Best

Bill in Virginia”

A big thanks to Bill for the update – clever stuff with his little wooden jig for the tunnel.

And when it comes to the outside of your train tunnels – don’t forget there are quite a few in the store.

The bridges can also double as tunnels, my fave has to be the wooden tunnel though.

Now on to Heather and Jason, who despite a house move, have cracked on with their layout:

“Hi there Alastair, it’s Heather & Jason here.

I would like to say thank you very much for all you have done for us with this site of yours bringin all these members together in 1 spot.

To able to help others start their layouts is great & we thank you for this as well. It has helped Jason & I a lot with doing our layout.

We want to give you & the members a heads up on where we are with the layout & ask if any one can help us with something we know nothing about.

We have seen lift up’s & drop downs, for getting into & out of the control centre, but don’t know how they do it & that’s where we need help. How do we do it?? Sadly we have run out of room but can make it up a bit, by doing a table on wheels in the entryway, so the wheelchair can get through.

Can any one help with how the tracks meet up for trains to run without a problem & what to do about power to that area, thank you ??

We have 6 stages for our layout & number 7 about to be built. This one is where we need the help as I have planned a return track from the far side, back to the first table rather than go all the way back the long way.

We have sorted out the power problems we had in the first stage & are working on the power stuff in the other sections now.

We are just taking our time doing things but enjoying it all as we go, thanks again mate for all you do.

Heather & Jason.”

I really admire Heather and Jason’s tenacity – they have been up against it with their layout but they haven’t been discouraged.

As for the ‘up and down lifts’, I thought Lawrence’s lift bridge post may help (pic below also links to it).

That’s all for today folks.

A big thanks to Bill for his model train tunnel tips, and a huge ‘well-done-keep-going’ to Heather and Jason.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you poke boredom in the eye, 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.