Model railroad layouts plans

Will’s made his own benchwork for his folded dogbone layout:

“Alastair,

Just checking in with a few pictures of a different take on base construction.

I have been studying all of your contributors and collecting ideas. I don’t have a basement and so my space is limited to my room over the garage.

I ended up with a folded dog bone layuut base that 25 feet long with a 5 ft loop on one end and a six foot loop on the other end.

I had to build it modularly because I was limited to a 32″ wide entry door. I built sections 30″ and 24″ wide to .

I also needed space for storage so I opted to build it as cabinets instead of on a wooden frame.

The cabinets are 26″ tall so as to not interfere with the pool table or block the window on the far end.

Here are some pictures showing how I built it in cases others are interested in a folding dogbone layout.

First 3 shots show one of the seven cabinet bases.

Will”

A big thanks to Will, it reminded me of Rob’s: Folded dog bone layout.

“Hi Al,

Thought you might be interested in my modelling skills, I started on my latest layout after my Daughter left us to go and live in Australia.

I already had layout 6’x2’ in a small room upstairs so I moved into her room which was some 18’ longer and decided to add to it.

So I bought two 6’x3’ boards and started to build.

The layout of old was called Meadow Falls and is a small end of line station and surrounding countryside.

I decide to join it to the larger layout I was building so that it would run to a small station at the other end of the layout with a small station and turntable, the gauge for both being N Gauge.

Then I when on to my main board which I am still working on but have at present got Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my Right hand so it is making the job very difficult

The Mill is based on the one in Battlesbridge, Essex but the remainder of the layout is form my imagination and with the help of input from my Daughters, hence the riding stables.

I still have a lot of work to do as the far end at the left has scenery and a stone etc to build. But until I have had and operation on my wrist it will all have to wait a while.

I run mainly Graham Farish and Dapol on a DCC unit by GaugeMaster on the extension , but Meadow Falls is DC. The track and points are all Kato.

Hope you have enjoyed my pics if the want to see more please contact me.

Keep up the good work it really helps us to get so enthusiasm to continue with our work.

Yours Sincerely

Barry”

A big thanks to Will and Barry.

I know some of you will wonder why I post pics of benchwork. It’s because, if you get your bench / table / platform wrong, you’ll soon give up. Too high, too wobbly, too low, not level, too wide (access!), the list goes on and on… and they all drive you nuts.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here -is today going to be the day you make your start?

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.

Rob’s been busy on his N scale 10×4:

“Hi Al,

Here is a new video your readers might be interested in.

I am building an n scale 1:160 layout based on my home town Longmont, Colorado as you may recall.

I have built buildings and sidings for the now-closed Gibson Tractor factory and the Kuner Empson cannery.

This time I decided to try and create a nod toward a miller that used to be here.

The business was called the Golden West Milling Company and had a fairly long and interesting history.

There are a couple of buildings left on the site and they piqued my interest. I did not try to duplicate the exact set of buildings, rather I tried to give the flavor of the place since I did not have the room to create the entire complex.

Model train layouts usually can never duplicate to scale any large areas of geography due to space limitations. We all must use selective compaction to provide a meaningful reflection of reality.
My Colorado and North Western n scale layout is no exception.

It is 10 feet by 4 feet which is about 1,600 feet long. The real town is more than two miles north to south and much more east to west so as you can see it would be impossible to map it and build the whole thing.

People familiar with Longmont, Colorado have said they agree the layout does give the feel of the area.

Rob”

I was having one of my wobbles earlier in the week, but then I got this in from Dave and it cheered me right up:

“Hi Al,

I just wanted to write to you and tell you how much i appreciate these newsletters and updates.

Let me tell you how it touched my heart and inspired me. I started back in late 2018 and 2019 getting back into the hobby. Went to some train shows bought a lot of O gauge locomotives and track.

The benchwork really put me off because i’m just not a good artist or carpenter. So i got overwhelmed with everything i wanted i mean i really wanted it all. I wanted mountains, water features, tunnels etc.

I wanted some thing that would resemble remote locations that is spectacular in view and somewhere a locomotive is the only thing around and then maybe a small town with some crossings and just neat things. I also wanted to have a snowy side to it and christmas for that time of year but i wanted realistic and real track.

So what happened, well it all ended up in a crate in the house. Wife had a better plan for my train room and my dreams where shattered.

What happened next well i talked to her told her how i felt and she gave me my train room back. What nudged me to relight that fire well for one i also look over at my iphone and read all your emails and pictures of peoples builds and it started that fire kidnling of how much i wanted and loved this hobby so that fire turned into something bigger i talked to the wife and got the room back.

It’s about a 12×11 room but it is a start. I want to run O gauge but i know HO gauge can fit more and do more so i’m stuck in between but O gauge is more realistic with the rail cars and engines that’s what i appreciate about it.

But again thanks for all you do and i pray that this continues for the long term i seen a few almost shutdowns from you and my heart sunk but it seems to be going along still and i will love to see it prosper for a long time.

Dave”

And emails like that, my friends, keep me going.

It appears to be a happy arrangement too, because I know the blog helps a lot of you take that first step.

A big thanks to Rob for sharing (his last post is here).

And a big thanks to Dave too for putting a smile on my face.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming – just email me if you’d like to share anything.

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

When it comes to N scale train layouts, it’s always a pleasure to see Sal’s name pop up in my inbox:

“Hi Alastair

I have been enjoying and appreciating what you do for some time now.

I love seeing other layouts, what people are doing and how they got there.

I retired 2 years ago and have now turned my shop into my train room. It’s small – N scale 14×5 – but with N Scale you can do a lot.

I was out of the hobby for almost 20 years and I am now back. I attached a few photos if you would like to share them.

Again thanks for what you do, you help make Model Railroading “The Greatest Hobby In The World”.

The Lighthouse was scratch built as were the freighter and the tanker ships.

The fishing boat at “Captain Haddock’s Seafood” was also scratch built. Also scratch built was the Bates Motel scene.

Sal”

A huge, big thanks to Sal for adding to the N scale train layouts.

And it’s always nice to read that folk are enjoying the blog too.

Sal’s layout reminded me of Bob’s: Bob’s N scale layout.

I’ve been having a tough time of it at the moment. When you get to my age the technical side of running a blog can be a bit mind numbing.

But I am encouraged to go on – it’s amazing what a few kind comments can do to spur you on.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming, it really would put a smile on my face.

Oh, and don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide, if today is the day you start your railroad adventure.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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