Model railroad layouts plans

Rob has been in touch with some LED lighting:

“Hi Al,

I think some of your readers might be interested in this subject.

I have decided to light up my housing block. Finally? To do it, I want to control the brightness of the LEDs I plan to use. I want to vary the brightness and intensity plus the color emanating from the windows I plan to treat. I will also vary the interior color and add curtains and drapes randomly.

In the past to vary the brightness of the LEDs I have always added or subtracted resistance feeding each one. This is a clumsy method and this time with so many to do all at once I wanted to find a different way.

In my search, I discovered this relatively simple way to get the job done and once the building is lit, I can stand back and tune the lighting effect to best enhance this project.

“Alastair,

Good day! I wanted let your readers know about a wonderful new family of LED strip lighting, called COB, or Chip On Board.

What the the differences from other LED strip you might ask?

Heretofore typical led strip light were only able to be cut in 2” increments, then soldered, and placed into model structures.

But the new COB strips run continuous along the strip, and can be cut in 1centimeter lengths.

This is great news for us N Scalers, with tight spots in tiny, tiny buildings.

See my pictures and video below.

Clark”

Now on to Steve:

“Hi Al

When laying track using glue rather than track pins, you can use food cans such as soup, peas etc to weight the track down while the glue is setting.

I have attached a photo illustrating this.

My track is 00 but I imagine it would work with N or 0 gauge too – as long as it’s not 3-rail!

Regards

Steve”

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And now on to Peter.

He’s done what a lot of you do – put old kitchen cabinets to good use:

“Hi Al

I very much enjoy your site and thought I’d send pics of my HO OO project which might be of interest to people.

I decided to build a solid baseboard with plenty of storage underneath so installed some basic kitchen units which provide the perfect height (pic1).

The baseboard itself consists of sheets of OSB board with a top layer of sealed and painted Sundeala. Yes, I know that we are “forbidden” to use this material but there we are, I just wanted to use it to see what happens 🙂

I’ve put together a starting point layout with a DC figure of 8 in the centre with an outer 3 line DCC so hopefully the best of both worlds (pic 2).

Best wishes

Peter”

Now on to Charles – who is asking for a little help:

“Al,

I have a question to post to the group.

This is my first attempt at a prototype from a photo.

I hated to do the deed of destroying a GG1 shell, especially an old Penn Line vintage die cast one. I caught heck from my nephew!

Anyhow, my question is are all HO scale gondolas the same width?

As can be seen in the photos, the cut shell doesn’t fit into the gondola as it does in the real photo.

If you blow up the real photo, you can see that there are five cars loaded with one GG1 that has been scrapped. I plan on making the full load eventually.

I can continue to cut the model to where it will fit on a significant angle, but I wanted to seek more professional level opinions.

I am including an additional photo to see if anyone has any idea as to what I could use to model the brake shoes in HO 1/87 scale, for my next project. To be around my roundhouse maintenance area.

Thanks for any ideas or thoughts from all.

Charles in New Jersey”

And now on to Josie who is also in need of a little assistance – but because I get so many questions like this, that’s why I started the forum.

If you look at the forum, it’s easy to ask or answer a question, and it’s easy to search too. Fingers crossed it’ll grow into a really helpful resource for you all.

Anyhow, back to Josie:

“Hello Al,

I wonder if you might help. My name is Josie and I am planning on building a small model train installation for a BBC programme and I wanted to know what the smallest possible circumference would be for a O gauge train?

Is this something you might be able to answer?

We don’t have a huge amount of space but would like to know how small a simple 360 circle could be.

Many Thanks

Josie”

That’s all for today folks.

If you can help Joise or Charles, please do leave a comment below.

And if today’s collection of missives has inspired you to leave the comfort of your armchair, and join in with the fun the Beginner’s Guide is here.

hat’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.

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

Rob’s been back in touch with an O scale cab ride and pics.

He’s been tinkering away on his layout for 27 years now.

It just goes to show, a layout is never finished…

Rob’s sent in two videos too:

“Four of us have worked on this layout over the years and are pictured here too.

Jefry, who is on the left in the photo, recently mounted a tiny video camera on a gondola car enabling us all to go for a ride around the layout.

I hope that you all enjoy this journey into fantasy.

Rob”

(Don’t worry video play the right way up.)

A big thanks to Rob for sharing his O scale cab ride.

If you want to see Rob’s earlier post with the full narrative and lots more pics, it’s right here.

I hope you enjoyed Rob’s update as much as I did.

Please do leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

I know some of you love the 3 rails, and others, not so much. But I think that’s what makes this hobby: each to their own.

Some folk love running trains and never bother with scenery. Conversely, some just love the scenery part, and never get involved with the running, wiring and electics.

Both are absolutely fine – this hobby is what you want it to be, there is no right or wrong way of having fun.

And if Rob has made you feel like leaving the comfort of your armchair and having some fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Jim’s been in touch with his modern N scale buildings:

He’s made a that all important start and his N scale buildings are bringing the layout to life:

“Here are some pictures of the layout I am building.

I decided on N scale because I have limited space in my retirement home and the more popular HO scale wouldn’t allow me to have a very interesting layout in the space I have.

I decided to use an old hollow 30” x 80” interior door since I already had it.

I found quite a few interesting layout plains for this size door.

The first photo is a plan view of the entire layout with the mountain remote for a clear view of all of the track with the turn-outs.

I have managed to install 9 turn-outs, a reversing loop, a small switch yard with some industry along with a little town within this space.

I purchased Woodland Scenics Town & Factory kit which has 13 assorted buildings, and have started building a few of the buildings.

I am kit bashing some of them, and here you can see I have opened a couple of the doors on the factory and added LED lighting, some interior features and workers.

So far I have installed all of the track work with ballasting, installed the turn outs, ruffed in the mountain with tunnels and the terrain.

I used two inches of foam insulation for the base, then used foam and plaster cloth to built the mountain and track risers.

Here you can see I have used masking tape to test my plan for road and building locations.

I plan to have operating crossing gates with blinking lights, paved roads, grass and trees and street and building lighting.

I will keep you posted with my progress

Jim”

A big thanks to Jim and his N scale buildings – he’s made that all important start.

Now on to Bill.

“Greetings Al

Hope all is well for you and yours.

I’ve been installing a scenic divide on my O/ON30 layout here these last few days and I’ve got it painted and starting to do a little scenery and rock carving.

I’ve attached a link to the video showing how I paint and do my plaster work.

Keep doing all you do for the hobby!!

Thanks!
Bill in Virginia”

A huge big thanks to Bill.

If I’m not mistaken, his last post is here.

Thanks to Jim too for sharing his modern N scale buildings.

You can also see more of his stuff in the Hall of Fame.

Please do leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your backdrop and rockface tips.

That’s it for today peeps. Keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get going on your layout, 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.