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Train diorama ideas – Pete’s

There are quite a few train diorama ideas on the blog now, here’s Peter’s.

“greetings from central florida here are some pics of a 2×2 foot train diorama i finished a while back .sorry for the first few blurry pics hope you enjoy

PEACE PETE”

It’s amazing how much Pete has packed in to his 2×2 train diorama. Just goes to show lack of space shouldn’t stop you having a layout.

Please feel free to add ot the train diorama ideas – I love seeing them.

Now on to Steve:

“Some tips I have come up with:

1. for station strip lighting (or any cheap LED lighting) try using the 5m reels of smd leds (about £7 on ebay in 2 013).

The reals can be cut every 3 led’s (5cm)and are 12v ready – though i opperate them at 9 v as i find them too bright at 12v.

They are also self adhesive and can be painted with humbrol enamel paints if needed.

My12 platform cathedral roof station would have cost £150 to light with brand lights instead it cost about £5 (I still had 1/3 of a reel left for houses/shops). you alsohave the option of two colours: cool white for fluorescent lighting and warm white for incandescent

2. Want a panal of turnout indicator lights on your DCC layout without the expence and hassle of micro switches? (this method even shows that the frog has connected rather than just showing that the motor has thrown).

Simply add insulating plates to the “V” and solder a separate wire up from under the base board to each arm of the V. run the wires back to the control panel and add a LED and 1k resistor.

All the leds (of the same polarity) then just need 1 common return to the respective output from the control unit or bus. NB not worried about wether the frog has completely thrown – simply wire or solder the anode of one led to the cathode of another (you can even use just one resistor).

In this way you only need to run a single wire from one arm of the V with 2 much shorter common return wires to the respective polarities of the controller or bus. 1 wire being attached to all the led anodes and the other to all the free cathodes

Steve”

“Hello Al,

just thought I’d pass on a scenery tip that our club had used successfully a number of years ago and I’m sure it’ll still look fine today.

We took the flowering buds from a grove of wild sumac trees and let them dry for a week or so. You can get these in random sizes and they’ll make fine fir trees.

We used an out door oil base stain tinted green for the foliage and clipped the stem level and inserted a 2 – 3 inch long brass thin rod for mounting. Individually placed or clustered on a hillside makes a fine scenery point of interest.

thanks for your tips,

Jim”

Now on to Paul:

“Hi again Al,

Here are some more photos for you.1st is a photo of a GWR 56xx Class 0-6-2 tank loco, which I weathered the same as the Jubilee.

The other photos are of the Jubilee with a load of crushed coal in the tender.

Plus other photos of Bachmann and Hornby wagons with coal loads.

Paul”

That’s all for today folks.

And if you want to make that start – your layout won’t build itself – the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Model railway night scene – Alasdair’s

Alasdair has been busy with his model railway night scene pics:

“Thank you for the wonderful replies to the pics I sent you ,as some of you requested more night time pics here they are.

Alasdair”

A big thanks to Alasdair.

There’s something about model railway night scene – they really do make a layout come alive.

When it comes to night time pics, Fred’s posts really stand out.

He uses a backdrop with fibre optic ‘lighting tubes’ in various color LED lights, and wires for separate ‘pica’ LEDs.

It produces a very good effect indeed, quite stunning in fact.

Don’t just take my word for it though, see for yourself. Fred’s model railway night time scene is here.

And there’s Arnie’s post too:

“I have just completed part of a new LED lighting project I’ve undertaken on my N scale SV&GS Railway layout.

It addresses the issue of the valley side of the layout being too dark since there was no direct illumination there.

A prior video you posted on my nighttime operations on the SV&GS made that very apparent to me. So I decided to install LED illuminated lampposts along the park, train platform, roadways and cliffs near some waterfalls.

I also installed LED lighted autos I obtained and modified two buses I had by installing LEDs on the interior to illuminate the passenger areas.”

You can see Arnie’s post here.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget if you want to get going on your very own layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Common model railroad mistakes

Common model railroad mistakes – Michael seems to have made them all, just like the rest of us.

The difference is, he’s been kind enough to document them.

And he really has started from scratch again, as many of you do.

His last post, which is called ‘Two years of trail and error’, is here.

It’s worth revisiting it to get a feel of what Michael is doing.

He really is chopping out the bits that he didn’t like – common railroad mistakes we all make:

“Alastair –

I thought I would share a major course correction I am working for my railroad. I played with that configuration for quite a while. I learned a lot, including what I did not like.

I decided there were some significant weaknesses with the old design. That design was basically two large irregular ovals one above the other connected by an incline. The design lacked a coherent “operational story”, in other words, the railroad did not have a clearly defined job to perform.

Also the design was an island design in the middle of a large room otherwise used for storage. I decided the room itself was poorly utilized and there would be no way for me to achieve the “Wow! factor” I was really looking for.

So this past summer I tore it all down; removed all the ugly and junky storage; I had the walls and floors finished and greatly improved the lighting.

While the room was being reworked I designed a brand new around the walls and peninsula design for the railroad.

The pictures I am sharing today are of the as-built design on new benchwork before any paint, scenery or structures goes on the layout.

As a reminder, the sole purpose of this railroad is to run my fifty to sixty year old vintage Lionel O-gauge equipment. (HO is not an option!)

The new design preserves all of my original layout goals, but without the common model railroad mistakes.

There are several improvements with this layout:

Much larger footprint;
* old design was 11 x 27 feet, ~300 sq. ft.
* new design is 17.5 x 38.5 feet, ~670 sq. ft.
* Interestingly, the total amount of track is almost the same: just over three scale miles.

The uninterrupted main line is more than a half scale mile longer.

All reverse loops are removed; reverse loops on 3-rail O-gauge aren’t an electrical problem but they do take up a lot of space and can be hard to reach in some areas; they are not particularly prototypical.

Turning trains is accomplished by using a wye.

The incline is removed. This track didn’t get used much and became a source of irritation. The new design is flat all around. I will obtain the appearance of grades using scenery and forced perspective. Additionally, having a grade is not operationally important in this case.

Simplified wiring.

Larger more sweeping curves; longer straight sections.

Can reach all track easily.

Better designed aisles; The narrowest pinch point is 21 inches wide, and there are many areas where the aisle width is greater than 36 inches. So there is plenty of room to walk around. The interior main aisle is accessed using a very simple lift-out bridge.

Benchwork is about 7” higher than before.

The biggest improvement is in the operational story.

This railroad is very loosely based on the Colorado and Wyoming Southern Division.

The Southern Division carried coal from the mine at Primero, to the coke ovens at Segundo, and then onward to the Colorado Fuel and Iron steel mill at Trinidad. There were interchanges at Jansen and Trinidad with the Colorado & Southern, AT&SF, and Rio Grande railroads.

The new design includes areas on the track for Primero, Segundo, and Jansen and provides for interchange traffic using the two staging tracks labeled Trinidad. With this design the railroad has a clearly defined job moving coal, coke, steel and other products between the different locations.

I’ve worked out a good deal of operational detail (at least on paper).

The overall plan and room outline drawn in SCARM