Model railroad layouts plans

Phil’s been back in touch with an update on his WW1 model railway:

If you want to get up to speed, here’s his last post.

“Thought I would share an update on the WW1 model railway (somewhere in southern England 1918). The last few weeks have been about details and in particular figures.

In the gun park you see gunners working on their railway gun and watching some squadies square bash

The airdrome has now got pilots mechanics and of course an O/C!

On the platforms I have added some propaganda posters

Finally we see the ambulance train unloading the wounded to ambulances that will be taking them to a temporary hospital to recover (the hospital is still under construction)

Finally you might see the MPs are “taking that mans name”

Oh I nearly forgot there is a new LSBC loco hauling some Royal Navy wagons

Best wishes

Phil”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thanks to Phil for his WW1 model railway update – it just goes to show (again) a layout is never finished.

What’s more, I do like it when a ‘scene’ is added to parts of a layout. The MPs “taking that man’s name” did make me smile – and all adds to the war theme.

For me, having a time and a theme on a model railway really does set it apart from others. It literally glues it all together, visually, and in your imagination.

It is something I’ve noticed over all the years of doing the blog.

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 stop dreaming and start doing.

Best

Al

PS If you missed the earlier link, Phil’s first WW1 model railay post is here.

PPS Phil’s post made me fall down a bit of rabbit hole – I started googling WW1 model railways and I did find it all fascinating:

When Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, trains moved huge numbers of troops and equipment between the Home Front and France.

Trains also transported rations, water and coal across Britain and continental Europe in a way not previously possible during conflict.

Britain declared war on 4 August 1914 and by the end of the month, the railway had transported almost 120,000 servicemen to Southampton, where they would board boats to France.

Over the next three weeks, a train full of troops would reach the docks every 12 minutes, 14-hours a day.

And Phil’s ambulance train grabbed my curiosity too:

Trains transformed into mobile hospitals – in Britain and abroad – treated injured personnel. During the war, these trains moved about six million wounded servicemen.

Ambulance trains, which became the primary mode of transport for the sick and injured, even had operating theatres and tiled floors, walls and ceilings for better hygiene. Surgeons would perform emergency operations mid-journey, despite the movement of the train.

I should point out the above snippets came from this site.

And then there’s Pinterest – always a great resource when you’re planning a theme, or just looking to pass an hour or so.

Have a look at these images.

Brent’s been in touch with his 4×8 HO scale layout.

“Hi Al,

I saw you had posted my large layout a while back, that layout now belongs to the City of San Jose, CA for Christmas in the park. I was a junior in high school when it started, wanted to give back, so I donated it.

Which brings me to my little 4 x 8 that has been stored for over twenty years!

I live in the Sierra foothills of Northern, CA, known for gold and logging operations. As you can see by the pictures, this is the theme I was looking to recreate. Still putting it back together, going to add a shanty town and small lake on the upper right ridge. Will eventually go DCC, having fun with my old Heisler’s & Shays (DC) for the time being.

All of the trestle, bridge work and engine houses are scratch built. I found the saloon and train depot kits (Ayres) I purchased years ago, they are in various stages of completion and will be added soon

I hope you enjoy the pictures, will send more as progress is made.

Salud,

Brent”

(If you’re after more HO, have a look at the HO scale train layouts

And now on to Stephen, who has sent in pics on a subject I’m always going on about – starting!

“Alistair,

Some pictures from the early stages of my platform. Started with your buildings, then Your Beginners Guide, and every post you send out.

Will show you as it progresses.

Stephen”

And now on to Mike, who has also made a cracking start:

” Hi Al –

I’ve been a faithful reader for a few years so let me start by thanking you AND all those who have contributed so many pictures, tips and advice!! It is all more valuable and appreciated than you can imagine.

Your persistent support of beginners has given me the courage to submit my project.

This is my second start in three years as we have moved to Hatteras Island, a rather remote NC location…my nearest club is nearly 3 hours away. I am applying a lot of lessons learned the hard way and have incorporated as much storage space as possible into/under the layout to satisfy the boss…

Details first – the indoor layout is 9×7 feet. Trackwork is Atlas 100 flextrack with some sectional inserts. I use 1” foam, cork roadbed and primarily yellow carpenters glue. I love working with foam as no mistake is unfixable!

I have found it to hold securely but easy to remove if needed. It was planned using RailModeller Pro for Mac (heartily endorse!). Equipment is a mix of every manufacturer that every existed except Marklin. Turnouts are Atlas #4s. I don’t count rivets nor is the layout intended to be prototypical.

You will see mistakes and repairs as I softened a few curves – lessons learned from the earlier layout. My major achilles is the electrical system. I’m using a Digitrax Zephyr DCC system.

Following a long career in telecom, I’m comfortable with DCC communications tech. It’s the wiring and connectivity that gets me fussed. So, I have decided not to implement blocks at first but I have run 2 distinct bus lines for future use.

I have joiner feeds dropped every 3ft and will attempt to use a “peel and pigtail (soldered)” approach using wire nuts to minimize soldering needs. The turnouts will probably be wired individually back to a central board using old school Atlas switches.

One area I expect a lot of critique on is the “valley.” I know speed control will be key to avoid bunching and maybe the rise is too sharp. It’s something I wanted to try and am prepared to replace if needed.

Again, thanks to all for their inspiration and advice. Learning to be patient and knowing everything can be fixed gives me the confidence to go on!!

Mike”

A big thanks to Brent for sharing his 4×8 HO scale layout, and to Stephen and Mike too.

I do hope there are others out there that have made a start because of the blog – the start is everything…

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day when you make your start, 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 Silly Discount bundle.

Harry’s been in touch with his N scale coal mine kit, which looks fab on his layout.

“Alastair:

I read/watch your postings on a daily basis and have learned tons from both the mistakes and successes of your contributors.

I finally finished a little more than 1/2 of an “N” gauge layout (modern, far-west setting) that sat hardly started for 3 years after taking on the pastorate of a church (in the east in upstate New York).

I’m not sure if it would have ever continued if it weren’t for our 5-yr old grandson, David, in California who asks on almost every Face Time session how I’m progressing on the train (!)

Since they might visit this spring, I realized that I had better have something running.

“N” gauge, of course, is very delicate; not something little David can get his hands on!

Here’s a video I just made for him. Someone gave me several 2’ x 4’ foam panels that were 4” thick that I used to make the mountains.

I learned a lot experimenting on the first mountain that has the N scale coal mine kit.

I cut the general outline of each layer with a hand-held jig saw, and then used a large reciprocating saw to randomly cut the slopes around the profile varying the angles to make it look more natural.

The other advantage with the reciprocating saw was that it nicely gouged the surface to make it look even more natural.

The next mountain only took me about a fourth the time from what I learned on the first one. I still have 2 more mountains to go.

Harry”

A huge thanks to Harry for sharing his N scale coal mine kit – it’s wonderful to see the little ones being the motivation behind a layout.

Now on to Brent.

He’s a man of few words. And pictures too.

But, he’s made a start – and in this hobby that’s more than half the battle.

I also enjoy seeing a layout that looks chaotic with the creation process, it’s very satisfying to then see it finished:

“My layout so far.

My son and I have been working for a couple of months since he is doing university schooling from home and Im doing Home Hemodialysis 3 x per week and quite tired after treatments so not alot of time to work on it.

Brent”

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you want to stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

I know I keep saying it, but it’s so true: remember, it’s the start that stops most people.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.