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Hall of Famer Glyn has been in touch with some stunning pics of his HO scale waterfront buildings:

“Dear Al,

Thank you again for the privilege of joining the Hall of Fame gallery on the site! I am deeply touched and will do my utmost to continue making contributions to the site as we all enjoy our wonderful hobby.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have started working on the depression era coastal New England component of my layout in order to incorporate some of the Marklin US locomotives I have accumulated over the years.

I had originally planned to have two separate layouts, one being the Swiss German border town layout and the other being the New England coastal component, but with spatial considerations I decided to blend the two, however much it may not seem prototypical.

I have several unbuilt model kits I had accumulated over the past 20 years from George Selios’ Franklin and South Manchester railroad which as you know are simply superb in their detail. I was awaiting retirement to start my dream layout and have now built out several of them.

Recently I started working on the harbour which is the anchor scene for this side of the layout and I have looked forward to building it with much anticipation.

The key element was Georgia's imposing Seafood Emporium wharf anchoring the layout on the left of the harbour and on the right side I will be building Doug Foscale’s Red Hook Wharf waterfront scene.

I built a plywood base which I tinted blue-black to mimic the dark water of a harbour but have not yet added the acrylic water surface to give texture. This will follow later once I've completed all the pilings that will support some of the structure kits.

I scratch built retaining stone walls for the jetties out of pink 1” construction foam creating the individual stone-work by carving with a hobby knife and then spray painting with a mixture of military grays and camouflage greens. It gives a nice weathered look and some dry brushing with white paint adds relief and contour to bring it to life.

The harbour tug and crabbing trawler are both resin models from Artitec models which add tremendous character to the scene. These models are beautifully detailed and come to life with the addition of a few crewmen working the decks. I'm about to embark on the Red Hook Wharf construct and will send pics as this evolves.

I hope this provides some help and inspiration to our fellow modelers.

Best wishes

Glyn”

A big thanks to Glyn for sharing his HO scale waterfront buildings – they reminded me of another Hall of Famer’s scenes, Brian’s.

Next up, seeing as it’s nearly the last day day for the silly sale, I thought it would be fun to show you just some more scenes made from the printable scenery in the silly sale.

I’ve never given away so much for so little – just $9.

You get 33 printable buildings and the Beginner’s guide for just $9.

Even if you already have the Beginner’s Guide, there are still three brand new buildings.

What’s more, you also get the warm and fuzzy feeling of directly supporting the blog, which at the moment, is struggling somewhat.

Course, I’m biased, but the three new buildings on there own are worth $9 each – that’s what they sell for in the store.

So please don’t miss this offer – you are saving over $300.

What’s more, It will never, ever, ever be this price again.

Grab it right now before it disappears – it’s just $9 for the lot.

Are you really going to miss out on this crazy offer?

Here are some of the buildings on your layouts:

“Al, like you I have been retired for some time now.

I have gone back to my American Flyer, s Guage boyhood train.

I have had “n guage, HO, G scale”, and this American Flyer has been the most fun of all. I guess it takes me back to my parents basement where my 4 x 8 foot layout was back in the early 50’s.

I resized your wonderful old barn and had so much fun building it. Here are some pics. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have.

Jerry from Illinois, USA.”

“Al,

Great project and a lot of fun. The barn is on it’s way to the Railroad Club.

Charles”

“Al

I have enjoyed your site for a long time, since I have retired had to find something to fill the spare time, I purchased one of your bundles and printed out one of the Engine sheds among many others.

I have created my own version of the Engine shed as shown in the pictures.

Side walls have ventilation fan vents.

I have dreamed to set up a model railroad layout for a long time and when I started to make it a reality one thing came up after another, like kids, education, weddings and now I have time and room to finish the dream, but not much of a budget.

Best to all talented people like Hall of Fame Dave, talented hobbyists and their many beautiful layouts.

Ryszard”

And of course, there’s lots of the printable buildings on your layouts.

Here some pictures of them:

Mike has used a lot of the houses and grain elevators (not featured in the bundle – just using a print out example).

You can see his post here.

Rick’s has also made quite a bit of the printable buildings for his layout:

Here’s Rick’s post.

Rob has also created quite a few of the houses:

You can see his post here.

Cecil did a fab job on the Church:

Again, the church doesn’t feature in this bundle but you get the idea.

Lita has started the scenery with the houses.

Gene adds a light to his engine shed and houses.

Rob’s barn looks fab.

Bob’s low relief engine shed.

Rob adds a tunnel to his layout.

Nick’s simple layout looks fantastic.

Fred’s engine sheds

Lawrence’s barn.

Dana’s engine house (It’s on the bottom one of this one).

Peter’s Viaduct (it’s on the bottom of this post).

Richard’s layout has lots of the printable buildings!

Mike’s layout also has lots of the printable building on.

Stephen’s layout is another one with the Engine House.

Michael has done a great job on the houses.

Lots of the printable buildings on Bob’s HO scale

Bill’s houses.

John’s printable building street.

There are many, many more on the blog. It really does make my day when I open my inbox and see some on a layout.

Also, they are a great way to make that all important start – and that’s what it’s all about.

Right now, until Monday, you get 36 free printable buildings with the Beginner’s Guide for just $9!.

Here’s what you get:

And these are the buildings made from them:

All of these buildings are made from the same print.

And in the one below, a different building has been dropped in to make a back drop:

This building has been added to the free bundle too:

So you get 33 printable buildings and the Beginner’s Guide for just $9 – but only until Monday.

And here are some better pics of what you get – all for $9.

The prints make up a ‘scratch build kit’, and you are only limited by your imagination.

Here’s an example of the backdrops you can build.

(Watch on youtube here.)

But don’t forget – it’s not just the printable buildings you get – it’s the Beginner’s Guide too:

Of course, I’m biased so here’s what others say about it:

“Al,

I really like the Beginner’s Guide. As a true beginner it helped me quite a bit. The Guide answered questions I didn’t know enough to ask.

I haven’t gotten to the building prints yet, still working on my terrain.

Bruce”

“Hi Alistair,

Your print out building kits have saved me hundreds of dollars on buildings and they provide the unique option of being able to customize the builds most any way I desire.

Until I came across your kits, I was very limited on what I could add to my planned N-scale layout. Commercial building kits are way too expensive for a retired person’s budget.

I now have the ability to not only build nice scenes, they don’t require weathering. Something I’m not terribly adept at accomplishing. Also, as a 70 year old kid, working in N-scale can be challenging for clumsy arthritic fingers. Your kits eliminate most of those issues. All I need is a sharp blade, scissors, glue and my imagination.

Also, your beginner’s guide is invaluable. I’m a retired network systems architect, so tech is not scary to me yet surfing the web for information can be tedious. I was a pre-teen the last time I played with model trains, and a lot has changed in the hobby since the early 60’s. You’ve solved all of that by providing one source for virtually all my basic needs, plus your daily email blog covers it all. What an incredible resource you are to this hobby.

Thanks for doing all of what you do.

Best Regards,

Ken”

“Hi Al

I really enjoyed the beginner’s guide book. I’m new to the train world. I have just retired and trying to make an attempt to start a hobbie with HO scale trains. You and your followers have encouraged me for the last two year’s. I Thankyou and your followers for sharing their train world

Sam”

Of course, I’m very biased, but I think the Beginner’s Guide and all these printable buildings bundled free are a real steal – just $9 for the next day or so.

I think Ken’s quote above puts it best:

“Your print out building kits have saved me hundreds of dollars on buildings and they provide the unique option of being able to customize the builds most any way I desire.”

You get 25 printable buildings with the Beginner’s Guide (although with a bit of imagination you can make, many, many more).

You’ll see these buildings sell in the store for $9 each or more.

And the Beginner’s Guide sells for $27.

So you are saving a massive $342 on this deal.

You’re also getting the track plans PDF too.

What’s more, have a look at throught the store and you can see it’s a real, genuine, saving.

But please bear in mind, this silly sale is only for a few days, and then it’s all goes back to normal.

I do like to think that when I have a sale it’s genuine, and there is real value.

So if you fancy this bargain before it disappears like a shadow in the night, grab it right now.

Or, I know some of you good people just buy it to support the site. God bless each and every one of you.

Whatever your reasons, the Beginner’s Guide for $9 and the free printable buildings make it easy for you to make that all important start.

And that, my friends, is what it’s all about. Making that start.

If I can help you do that for $9, this sale will have been entirely worth it.

And whatever start you make – have fun.

Best

PS This offer will end abruptly – please don’t sit on the fence if you are mulling it over.

PPS There is also a 60 day money back guarantee, you have nothing to lose!

Steve’s been in touch with his steam era rolling stock:

“Hi Al

Thanks for the emails. It’s always interesting to hear what other railway modellers are up to and to pick up ideas and tips.

I’m probably not alone in being guilty of acquiring rather more stock than I can justify (especially locos – but then if you’ve bought a loco from a different region, company, era or even country(!) it needs some rolling stock to match 🙂).

My justification for having such a mixed bag of stuff, amassed over some 60 years of interest, is that the layout I am building now is a “heritage” line – a preserved railway based in ex-LMS/LNER territory, which covers my main areas of interest, but which also has a main line connection plus a reputation as a centre of excellence for repair and maintenance so that stock from heritage lines all over the U.K. (some of which operate European stock – think Nene Valley) can appear.

I have attached a few photos. A couple feature classic car/traction engine events, which are the sort of thing one sees hosted by heritage railways as fund-raising efforts.

In others, you can see a mix of pre-grouping stock which in real life would have been rarely, if ever, seen together (Midland Railway, Southern Railway and South Eastern and Chatham Railway).

Thanks again for all you do,

Steve, Lincs, UK”

A big thanks to Steve for sharing his steam era rolling stock. It just goes to show (again!) your layout can be anything you want it it to be.

Steve’s post reminded me a lot of Peter’s post:

Model train layout ideas.

And now on to Terry, who has been busy with his backdrop:

“I decided to make my own back drop for my Oil City Railroad.

I used a piece of foam board and decided not to purchase a photo back drop but instead to use woodland scene products and make it myself.

I have about 12 inches in the middle to finish.

I am waiting for a particular flat building to create a wheatfield and a grain building. I will send you pictures of the railroad with backdrop installed.

Terry”