Model railroad layouts plans

Terry’s been in touch with his N scale barn:

“Hi Alastair,

I have been following your blog for some time now and using tips from your Beginners Guide.

I am a newbie working on an N scale barn layout based on my memories growing up in Florida.

Yep it’s completely flat! There are not any railroad tunnels in the Sunshine State.

It is modeled on the Florida East Coast Railroad. I am doing it in diorama modules that can be taken out to change a scene if the spirit moves.

The only things that are ‘store bought’ are the two trucks, car, animals (Outland Models, Japan), and the people (unpainted from Preiser, Germany).

Everything else is scratch built using tips and tricks from Al’s Beginners Guide and other pointers found here on the blog.

Thanks to all who give insight on how I can develop my railroad empire!

My wife thinks I am probably off my nut making narratives on all this, but I have Calhoun’s Moonshine till, Happy Gator Campgrounds, and Paul’s Pure Oil gas station in progress. This I can share at another time if you like. For today allow me to introduce you to the Goode Family Farm.

Welcome to the Goode Family Farm.

Nestled at the end of a dirt lane is the Goode Family Farm. Well, its more of a farmette. In this world of ‘N scale’, it is just under 5 acres. Although its small, there is a lot going on.

In the barnyard you will find Mr. Hank Goode standing next to the hay truck watching Bossy sneaking some hay before it is unloaded. Then there is Mrs. Franny Goode feeding the chickens at the chicken
coop. Mister the horse, and Berta the cow, are taking drinks at the stock tank. Maude and Grace are feeding on a hay bale while Paint stands alone in the pasture.

Bucky and Bonny go to the fence to have their noses rubbed by family friend Tom and his daughter Gail.

In the pig pen are the four pigs that will soon be ready for market. While it’s a quiet place, in the background you can hear the sound of the squeaking old wind wheel pump as the breeze blows the Spanish moss in the trees.

In the yard, the oldest daughter Anna is in the back yard hanging the laundry out to dry. Becky, the ten- year-old, can be seen swinging little brother B.J. on the tire swing. In the garden the oldest son Dicky is weeding the vegetable patch.

The farmhouse is a typical old Florida farmhouse with large windows for ventilation and a brick fireplace to add warmth on the occasional cool evening. The porch invites you to sit on the rocking chair or the porch swing while you enjoy the aroma of the potted flowers.

When the evening rain falls on the tin roof it lulls the Goode family to sleep. A well-deserved rest after a hard day’s work.

Hey, thanks for stopping in. Y’all come see us again now hear?

Terry”

A big thanks to Terry for sharing his N scale barn.

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 take your first step towards your own layout.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Andrew’s rebuilding his Horny Dublo 3 rail layout – his last post is here.

“Dear Alistair,

Thank you for featuring my second layout. It was complete and in full working order so time for a change. In January I planned a dog bone track layout.

I stared to rebuild my layout lifting all track and salvaging wires connectors where possible

Using past experiences and helpful ideas published on your blog by other subscribers I have tried several ways to create the visual image in my mind.

The first section to construct was the Eastern tunnel and wood yard

Then I moved to the Northern tunnel, this time using discarded expanded polystyrene from packaging with the turntable, engine sidings and coaling tower, featured in your scratch building competition in April.

For the Western corner I chose a cutting and using a technique harvested from one of your contributors building the scene on a board in my garage, not on the layout. This time using a wood frame and crushed newspaper covered with material from an old pair of my wife’s pyjamas then coated with plaster of Paris and painted

Using the same technique, I made a template with newspaper to build the farm and grain store.

Progress has been good and much more to do.

Thank you and all your subscribers for providing inspiration, ideas and motivation to build a layout.

Best wishes and stay safe.

Andrew in Oz

Andrew
Cooroy Queensland Australia”

A big thanks to Andrew for sharing his Hornby Dublo 3 rail layout.

I remember his coaling tower from the scratch building competition – it looked great and very nearly won.

There were not many entries to my little competition, but it was fun seeing what you got up to.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day you take that very first step on your own layout.

Best

Al

Ron’s been in touch with his 11×14 HO scale – and Bob’s share’s an update too.

First up, Ron:

“Hello, I have been following your email posts for sometime.

I find your content fascinating and and just plain different because it offers content out of the massive model railroading main stream.

I have a small 11 x 14 layout. I would like to share with your readers.

It’s not very complicated, but it certainly is railroading in a small space. But generous enough for my current style of model railroading.

Simple dogbone with eclectic scenery. Learning along the way and just having fun running trains.

It’s a practice layout shall we say.

Here are a few images.

Ron”

A big thanks to Ron – now on to Bob:

“Attached is an update of my train layout. I took down the old layout in Jan and this is where my new layout stands as of September.

I am currently working on a flashing crossing with working gates for the double main as well as test running all my locomotives.

Once everything is good to go, I will decide on what scenery I want and do the backdrop based on that.

There will be a tunnel in the corner where the drainage ditch is. There is a piece of Masonite protecting trains from falling off.

Access is available from below in case of derailment.

That’s it for now. Thanks for all you do for the hobby.

Bob in Newport News, VA.”

(Bob’s last post is here)

A big thanks to Ron for sharing his 11×14 HO scale – and to Bob too.

They reminded me of Yale’s layout: HO scale layout 14×4.

They just go to show, it’s all about making that start and cracking on.

If you want to see some more – here’s a collection of HO scale train layouts.

I wondered if I should do more pages grouped by scale? Some more HO scale train layouts? More N scale?

And let’s not forget the other scales too.

I don’t know – please leave a comment below if you’d like to see more of them by scale.

One thing I enjoy about the site is all scale are welcome – so whatever is your thing, that’s fine.

What’s more, it doesn’t matter if your train layout is half finished, just started or nudging into the sacred ground of ‘finished’.

Please do send in where you’re up to, and I’ll start putting the posts together.

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 Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.