Model railroad layouts plans

Dave’s been in touch with his N scale winter layout:

“Good day Al,

My name is Dave and I read and review your daily emails with much enthusiasm.

It’s refreshing to see how creative some modelers can be as well and the ideas they spark in my own mind. With that said I thought I’d share my recent creation in N scale.

I call the attached two pictures my “Winter Scene”of a winter scene. The brighter one is with a flash, the other is without.

The details of the scene are made up of one continuous N scale track on a 40″ wide by 30″ deep foam board layout.

The mountains and hills are all hand made and painted by yours truly.

The incline is as near to 2% as I could keep it. The houses are actually Christmas Tree ornaments with battery operated lights, the street lights, pine trees and cars are N scale off the shelf items all purchased on Amazon.

My intention was to create a portable layout that could be moved into the family room during the holiday and this takes up a small footprint yet provides an appreciable level of detail.

I still have to add more trees, some decorated for Christmas, more snow and figures such as ice skaters on the pond (a small mirror), kids having a snow ball fight in the park and some wild animals among the trees.

You might note the locomotive is not actually a locomotive but a German steam car. Unfortunately, the steam locomotive that matches the passenger cars is unable to pull all three up the inclines so I’ve had to find one that could.

I will eventually replace it with a vintage Arnold 0-8-8-0 steam locomotive.

Lastly, in the one picture (i.e. #2) you will notice there is a portion of an HO layout in the background. It’s also a representation of the area around CASS Scenic Railroad in Cass, WV.

I run various locomotives on it to exercise and test them, but primarily I run the old 80 Ton three truck Shays that are actually used at Cass. They are exact replicas and one has the Cass logo and number of old #4 that had a head-on collision many years ago.

If you are interested in seeing more of either one or should anyone have any questions regarding the layout just let me know.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do your postings.

Regards,

Dave”

Now on to Cassio.

He keeps sending me pics and videos with no narrative or anything.

Normally I discard these, but I think in this case, it’s a language barrier.

Also there is a real charm about his stuff:

“Hello Al, and thanks very much for a daily dose!

Not much to add, other than an interesting photo of 1942 CNW engine house in Chicago – one of my favorite photos

Best regards

Scott”

“Dear Al,

I have seen several ways to add white lines to roads, the simplest and cheapest that I have found is to cut thin strips of paper and glue to the roadbed. Photos attached.

Best wishes
Andrew

Andrew
Queensland Australia”

A big thanks to Dave for sharing his N scale winter layout. And to Andrew, Dave and Cassio.

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.

PPPS But maybe it’s N scale? More N scale layouts here if that’s your thing.

Mike’s been in touch. He’s shared his layout and the HO scale buildings from scratch that he’s put together:

“Hello Al:

Here are some shots of what I have built in just over a year.

Benchwork is built and painted like furniture (my other hobby is woodworking) and blends in with the room decor (my wife’s influence 🤓). The layout is small by most standards, only 7’x7.5’ with a corner cut to hold my control panels.

All buildings except two are scratch built. I only buy what I am not able to make yet, primarily windows. That may come later since I make a lot of jigs to do other things. There are four buildings that use all or part of your technique. Photo copied wall materials glued to Matt board.

The barn on the farm is a building from your stock, made by my cousin. The other is in the area of the engine house. Can you guess which one it is?

I mentioned my focus is to encourage the beginner and intermediate modelers to be encouraged and try. Quality is a matter of some skill, ingenuity and patience. I learned much as I went. Not everything I built made it to a layout. Some were scrapped or revamped.

My layout now is working on details, adding to the character of the layout by creating interest in seeing the details that are not obvious at first glance. Half of my buildings are inspired from actual historic buildings I find driving around the country. There are so many great structures still standing in small towns that are not torn down yet.

Well, enough rambling..

Cheers mate and blessings to you.

Mike
Clermont, Florida”

A huge thanks to Mike – I loved his narrative, I couldn’t agree more with him: it’s all about getting started. It’s also great to see HO scale buildings from scratch, especially when they are from the printable buildings range.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Please don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide, if today is the day when you get off the starting blocks and get going on your own fab layout.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

If you’re reading this, the chances are you’ve thought about Starting model train hobby.

Of course, I’m biased, but it’s a wonderful hobby.

All you need do is pick a theme, pick a track layout, and get going.

Start small. Start simple. And then it all falls into place.

Jeff’s a man of few words but look what he’s put together in such a small space:

“Here are some pictures of my layout.

As you can see I don’t have a lot of space to work with, but I made the best out of what I have.

Jeff”

Jeff might not have a lot to say, and there’s only a handful of pics of his layout, but he’s made a start, and that’s what it’s all about.

Over the years there has been quite a few posts now on how to make a start – and I really enjoy seeing them in my inbox and I take great delight in posting them.

Here’s a few of them:

How to start your HO scale

How to start a model train layout

Starting your train layout

Jim starts his HO scale

You get the idea… it’s all about the start.

In fact, it’s the start that stops most people.

And if you want a little bit of help in making that start, just pick a theme. It can be anything you like – an old holiday destination perhaps, or where you grew up. Or maybe it’s the era that interests you? The 1940s?

Once you have them that you know you’ll enjoy the rest will slot in to place and you’ll be laying track in no time at all.

Now on to Dangerous Dave.

He sent me this, which I have to say, did make me smile:

“After been challenged by a fellow Youtube Modeller in Germany to try and see how many cars and trucks could be pulled by one Locomotive ..(and to compete with American Rakes)

I did a quick video yesterday showing I got 45 on the back of one Locomotive, and not a problem, think I could manage another 5.

On the description it shows the lead to Andy`s Trains who sent the challenge.

Regards

Dave”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Nice one Dave! A big thanks to you and Jeff.

And if you’re still thinking about starting model train hobby, jump on the newsletter and you’ll be laying track in no time.

That’s all for now – until tomorrow – when I have a cracking HO scale for you.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al