Model railroad layouts plans

The talented Ken has been back in touch with his HO scale switch rebuild:

“Hey Al,

It’s been about a year since my last update. I really thought I was done with my layout, but there was something bugging me about how the (3) industries on my industrial section were laid out.

The only way to spot cars into these industries was to back in and drop them off.

That created a problem in that if I had 3 coal hoppers backed into the power plant, how would I get the front and middle hopper unloaded. Same thing with the wholesale grocery supplier as well as the feed mill.

So, I decided to extend the layout out so I could bring the locos in from the back side and drop them off that way.

Plus I created a run-around track to give me switching opportunities. I always wanted to have a grist mill on my layout, but there wasn’t enough room. By creating this extension it opened up the opportunity to build a mill pond along with a grist mill.

I’ve posted a couple pics here but I’m also posting a link to a YouTube video of my layout showing several trains running. It is a compilation style. Please forgive me for its length, it’s 23 minutes long.

So if you have time in the morning having your coffee or tea please check it out and give me a like if you would. No narration, just trains and photos. Thanks a bunch.

Ken”

A huge big thanks to Ken for sharing his HO scale switch rebuild. What a layout!

You can see Ken’s last post here: HO scale layout plans

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Is today the day when you make your big start?the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Remember, it’s the start the stops most people…

Best

Al

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

See this building in the store.

Dave’s been back in touch, this time with an update on his HO scale train yard layout scene:

“Al:

Like all of your followers, I enjoy reading your blog every morning. I get so many ideas for my layout and enjoy seeing the creativity that your readers bring to their layouts.

You may recall, that my basement HO train layout is 20 ft. x 30ft., of which 4 ft. x 8ft. is my O27 scale Christmas Village and Chicago Wrigley Fieldd and Soldier Field.

The rest of the room contains my HO scale layout which can accommodate 14 trains. The HO layout is divided into distinct sections:

* City of Chicago, Illinois
* City of Greenfield, Indiana (upper level)
* City of Cumberland, Indiana (lower level)
* City of Fortville, Indiana
* Old Town
* A waterfall feeding a lake and river with a logging operation
* Cambria Mining
* Cambria Train Yard featuring grain silos and farming warehouses and supply houses
* City Harbor
* City Train Yard

I just remodeled my City Train Yard after acquiring some neat buildings at a recent train show.

This yard is full of Train sheds and maintenance buildings, a grainery, a foundry, a steel mill, he harbor, and an automotive factory.

There are 7 lines/spurs within the train yard.

Some viewers may think that my layout is too busy, but remember that I am a kid from the city. We don’t know what a vacant lot is. All kidding aside, there are numerous green spaces and parks on my layout, along with a 3 story mountain.

One tip that I will share is that if I had to do it over again, I would have a cutout or another aisle in the center of my layout. I can not easily get to the center lower level of the layout very easily.

Hope your readers enjoy the pictures.

Dave”

A huge big thanks to Dave for sharing the update on his HO scale train yard layout scene – I do love seeing the updates and developments over the months and years.

(You can see a much earlier post from Dave here: David’s HO scale layout.)

Next up, some more news on the printable buildings.

I ran a competition to see if we could come up with a better name for one of the buildings, Carl’s brick store (it was a little dull compared to the others).

I got some wierd and wonderful suggestions, but I’ve decided on ‘Clipboard Carl’. So Tom, thanks for the name, and if you check your mail, you’ll find the link to all four of the new buildings.

Lastly, I’ve finally managed to start on ‘the store’. There’s just a handful of products at the moment, but I’ll keep adding to it.

That’s all for this time 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 store. They’re great fun to make too.

Houses:

The Smith’s house – yellow	The Miller’s house – blue
The Johnson’s house – gray	The Davis’s house – green

Lock ups / store houses:

Smokey Joe’s lock up	Carl’s brick store
Fat Bob’s store house	Big Tom’s timber store

Bundle deals:

Big Kahuna bundle deal

Silly discount bundle