Model railroad layouts plans

Wayne’s been back in touch again with his HO scale mine.

If you missed his last missive, it’s here.

“Well I going to post a couple of pics to see if my neminis the critic has to say.

It started a couple of post ago when I showed my hills after I had placed my rocks on them. His comment was like a metor shower had hit the hills. He was right it did.

As time passed I keep thinking about the metors. Another post said the bolders were too heavy, another idea.

Now I will start my story about metors. Yes the town and all the focks that lived there suffered from that metor shower.

Like most people they reached down tightend their boot straps and went on living.

The old gravel HO scale mine was up for sale, and was going to close down. About that time the goverment found that these metors had some very strange propertys when refined down to their basic elements.

These metors were very light, very strong, and would float in the air when refind.

As you can see we now have the COMET MINE, owned by goverment.

To my critic, yes the gate over the tracks does open, and the gate over the road opens also.

I want to thank you all for your coments. I would never have thought of this without your comments.

I have a little yard work left, weather the power shed/ water flushing pumps. A 16 cyl. Diesel cat powers the 10,000 volt generator.

The flushing pump has its own power . A 8 cyl. Cat powers the 1,000 gpm pump.

In kit bashing this shed I brought in a fuel line, water line in and out plus shut off valves on both.

When I finish this I can continue the mountins around to the coal mine.

Thanks

Wayne”

Next on to Dangerous Dave:

“Hi Al… Just running a few trains, not gardening weather yet, so what better than to spend a few hours in the loft running a few trains.

Regards

Dave”

Next, Heather and her son, Jason.

It always get a kick when I see people making a start, and that’s exactly what Heather and Jason have done.

They are both train lovers and Jason has designed the track plan and table height so Heather can help in her wheelchair. Brilliant!

I also love what Wayne has done – I know I go on about making a start, but once you have, make your layout your own: it’s yours, your rules, your imagination. Want a meteor shower? No problem!

That’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.

Jack’s been in touch with his HO scale layout 13×8.

“Hi Everyone

My layout is located in the corner of my garage in Venice Florida and is modeled after Chesterville, a fictitious town somewhere in New England in the late 50’s and 60’s.

It measures 13’ on the long side and 8’ on the short side.

We are in Florida in the winter so I get about 6 months to work on it. This is my 4th winter.

Because it is in the corner I built the table on casters so I can wheel it out into the middle of the garage to work on it. The table is framed in 1X4 with 4X4 legs. I attached the casters to the bottom of the 4X4’s.

I covered the frame with 2” ridged pink foam. That kept it light and is easy to carve out for the river, easy to add trees and drill for wiring etc.

The mountains were constructed of layered white Styrofoam (mostly packing material that I salvaged), and then carved.

The white Styrofoam is easily carved and some bits can be broken off. I coated it with inexpensive premixed joint compound.

I put on two layers spreading it with my fingers. If you put joint compound on too thickly it takes a long time to dry and tends to crack.

The back of the mountains are open in case of problems with trains in the tunnels.

For the sky I used 1” ridged pink foam boards which I attached to the garage walls with Velcro thereby avoiding any visible attachment hardware.

I have three voltages (6-9-12) available for accessories and lighting. This allows me to use various voltage lights and balance out the brightness if needed. This also avoids the need for resistors on lower voltage lights.

There are 3 loops. There is one for the trolley, one for the outer loop and yard and one for the inner loop and siding.

I created a cross over to be able to bring a train from the outer loop to the inner loop and vice-versa. Because it is such a small layout I went with DC control. Many of the buildings are Walthers kits and prebuilt stuff I acquired along the way.

The layout has basically 4 areas on three levels. Main Street is on the upper level on the left. There a trolley that runs along Main Street, around the park, behind the buildings and through the mountain.

The park features a lunch wagon (named after my wife Tracy) which I build from a non-working trolley I picked up at a flea market.

Below Main Street is a small rail yard and a passenger station accessed by a pedestrian walkway with stairs down to the platform.

Moving to the right on the next level between the fire tower and the shack up on the mountain is a flat area which is a future farm.

Down below will be a rural street leading to the oil and gas depot. I am still figuring what is going to be on that street. For sure there will be a church with graveyard and various houses and buildings.

The river is crossed with four tracks and a scratch built covered bridge and foot bridge.

In the back there is a pathway down from the farm area over the foot bridge to the water tower at the far right. I created a chain railing along that pathway by drilling a small hole through some square stock. I then put a long round head pin through some jewelry chain and the square stock and stuck it in the foam. It is a little tedious but I think it looks great. I have another section to do when I get the patience There is a detail photo at the end.

That’s it folks, still very much a work in progress but just thought I would share what I have so far.

Lots to do including ballasting the track.

Thanks for looking and thanks to Alistair for the blog. It’s been great to follow along and see what others are doing.

Jack”

A huge thanks to Jack for sharing HO scale layout 13×8 – wonderful pics and a wonderful narrative too.

It reminded me of Dan’s: 35×15 HO scale.

Over the years, the blog has gathered quite a collection of HO scale layouts.

Long may it continue!

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming, it’s all a bit quiet at the mo.

Don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day you make that start.

Best

Al

Andrew’s been back in touch with his model railway 12×7.

He has ‘finished’ his layout and sent in these pics and a video (his last post is here).

They’ve been hiding in my inbox for a while. How I overlooked them is beyond me.

Have a look at his track cleaner too – another fine example of a simple idea working well:

“Dear Alistair,

It has taken almost 12 months to the day to rebuild my layout and it is now as nearly finished as it can be – there are always refinements and improvements.

It works well and despite their age – some locomotives are now over official retirement age of 65 – it gives me many hours of enjoyment and relaxation away from all the troubles in the world today.

My model railway 12×7 feet is in my garden shed.

Also, here’s my track cleaning system using kitchen paper, elastic bands and a heavy coach with flat bottom.

A bit of trial and error on to get the thickness correct – too thin and no cleaning power – too thick and the coach lifts off the track and derails.

Very handy for the tunnels and avoiding the need to dismantle scenery above.

Best wishes

Andrew”

A huge thanks to Andrew for sharing his Model railway 12×7.

I take great delight in seeing your ideas and inventions – loved his track cleaner.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

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

Best

Al