Model railroad layouts plans

Ken’s been in touch. He’s shared how he added Atlas N scale turnouts to his layout:

“Al,

After reading, enjoying, and gaining a lot of inspiration from your blog I thought I might add to the story.

I just did a little remodel of my temporary layout to gain more storage for trains.

This meant putting a turnout (points) into an existing track. Not something people do all the time. Except for Dangerous Dave that is.

On this section of the layout, which is intended to be hidden, I am using Atlas N Scale turnouts and N scale code 80 track.

I started by laying out the location of the turnout. I held it in place while I cut the existing rail with rail nippers.

The ends were a little rough so I filed them off to make more of a square cut.

Since I use flex track, I had to modify the ends to be able to slide rail joiners on. I used a Zona saw, sliding against the underside of the rails to remove just the very top surface of the end tie. If this is not done, the thickness of the metal rail joiner will lift the joint enough that it could cause derailments.

I slid rail joiners on, connected one end on the existing track, then moved the track just enough to get the other end on.

You can see in the video that one end had to be loosened to get the saw in, and that made it easy to work the turnout into place.

I hope this brief explanation is clear enough, feel free to ask any questions.

Ken from near Albany, NY USA”

“Hello Al,

I enjoy receiving your emails and seeing what other modelers are doing.

I also like the innovative ideas some come up with. I want to share one of my own innovations, namely an easily removable backdrop.

My layout is planned to be a double deck, but because I am limited to a single car garage and sharing it with my mom in law’s car, I do not have space for a helix. Thus I have to make use of a linear climb along the long walls of the garage.

This climb is to be hidden behind the backdrop, but also needs to be accessible for cleaning and in case of a derailment.

I used an aluminum angle to support the track on the incline. The sce-ne in front of the incline is a car factory with a car loading ramp at a stub end track, but since it is on a narrow shelf, I did not have much depth to play with.

Thus, a printed backdrop of a factory was chosen, chopped and spliced together on the computer and printed it out.

Then cut and glued it to some cardstock strips. Because the factory itself is almost 6 feet long, I broke it into three smaller pieces for easier handling.

The final step was to mount this cardstock in such a way that is is removable quickly and easily. Magnets to the rescue. We use a magnetic notepad on our fridge for our home’s grocery list. When I looked at the back of this notepad, I found my solution.

The magnet was a very thin flexible magnet, and I know our art supply store sells these magnets in A4 sheets. I bought one and cut it into strips, gluing the strips to the aluminium angle where the card-stock will lean against it.

I then placed the cardstock against the incline, marking where the magnets are. After removing the cardstock I glued small metal plates (sourced from magnetic door catches) to the correct areas, and when dry, I simply put the backdrop in place and the magnets hold it in place.

To remove, I simply pull it till the magnets release and I have access to the rail behind the backdrop.

Hope this method can help fellow modelers with similar problems.

Regards

Henry van Wyk, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa”

That’s all for today.

A big thanks to Ken for sharing how he addes his Atlas N scale turnouts. And to Henry too.
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.

Eric’s been in touch with HO scale cows – or should that be O scale…

“Well Al been a few months since I last sent anything so here are some pics.

Have been working on odds and ends. Mainly people hanging around the haz-mat spill in the creek. Some folks my have noticed in last upload the cows are out of scale. This happened because the toxic waste made them O gauge size, lol.

News media pulled up on the scene and interviewing folks.

To the North a helicopter is landing around a few homes so relieve can be made at ranger tower. While to the West, the cliffs are filling up with folks going to the gun shop and range.

Hope members like it, I certainly enjoy reading their stories, ideas and problems.

Thanks Al

Eric”

A huge thanks to Eric for sharing his HO scale cows, farm and giggles.

I do love seeing a layout from the ground up – it makes a fab story. I think that’s why I’m so fond of an update.

And to show you what I mean, here’s Eric’s story from the start:

Eric makes a start on his HO scale

Another update from Eric

Eric’s HO scale layout update

That’s all for today folks – please do keep ’em coming.

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

Remember, it’s the start that stops most people…

Best

Al

PS Don’t forget the latest ebay cheat sheet is here. Still updated daily.

Bill’s been in touch. He’s shared a video of his N scale mountain scenery – and some stunning pics of his layout.

“Hi Al

Hope all is well for you and your family.

I’ve gotten plenty of opportunity to work on the N Scale build in the evenings and on weekends. Even taking a few days off means staying at home for the most part.

I’ve added a video link showing the N scale mountain scenery I put in a short while ago.

I’m working my way across the layout and have added in the stream feature and part of the big mountain.

It’s coming along and I’m enjoying the scenery work.

I continue to use sculptamold as my base then DAP plaster of Paris to add on the rock and give it depth as I work the scenes.

Take care!

Bill in Virginia”

Wow! What an update. A huge thanks to Hall of Fame member, Bill, for sharing his N scale mountain scenery vid.

I always enjoy watching Bill’s vids – he makes it looks so simple when it comes to the scenery.

I think Bill’s layouts looks so good – apart from his obvious talent – is that he’s working from a theme.

I know I must sound like a broken record, but the layouts that always turn out the best by a country mile, are the ones that have a theme in mind right from the very start. I suppose it gives you something to aim for.

In addition to a theme, having the patience of a saint helps. But I think we all have that to some degree, otherwise we wouldn’t enjoy this hobby at all.

You can hear the patience in Bill’s voice when he’s talking out the trees for his N scale mountain scenery.

Trees are wonderfully time consuming, but worth every minute. Some people buy them, but when you have a large area to fill, having trees that all look the same just won’t cut it.

And besides, when you invest in the time, you can get exactly what you want – Bill’s has pine trees and all the shades of fall in the other ones.

Bill takes just as much time and care with his mountains – the Sculptamold must have taken him a good while – but what amazes me is how tidy he keeps it all. I’d get it everywhere.

When you add the Sculptamold, or whatever you’re using though, the magic really does start to happen. The mountains really start to come to life.

And when you add that first base paint, and then a few highlighs and shadows, wow, the feeling really is satisfying. Again, time consuming, but I think that’s another reason why I like Bill’s videos so much: he’s is no hurry at all. The words come straight from the horses mouth, “I’m just going to take my time, I want it to look good,”

And this brings me to another really important point, which is going at your own pace.

I think most of us like to potter on our layouts – doing bits when it takes our fancy. It’s another wonderful thing about this hobby. The layouts are always there, waiting to be worked on, whenever that may be.

I know some of you work daily on them. Others work furiously on them in the winter and then forget about them in the summer. I’m rambling now, but the point is whatever pace you find enjoyable, that’s absolutely fine.

So I may as well put together a short list of things I’ve noticed about the hundreds (thousand?) of layouts I’ve posted over the years.

1. Pick a theme – this makes starting so much easier and as Bill shows us, you’ve got something to aim for.

2. Think of ways to add a few personal touches to the layout. Again this is really easy with a good theme. It doesn’t have to be complicated, I know a lot of give your locos numbers that mean something like birthdays and anniversaries. Other scratch build buildings based on real ones. Some put posters in the layout that feature loved ones. You get the idea.

3. Start. It doesn’t matter how much you ponder over a train layout, and even if you pick a theme, nothing happens until you make a start.

4. Go at your own pace. As Bill shows us, there’s no hurry when it’s your own little world. Just enjoy the journey.

5. Focus on what you enjoy and to hell with everybody else. Some folk just love running trains and don’t care a hoot about the scenery. Others love to camp down and get stuck into the scenery details, and never run their trains at all. And some love doing both (Bill!).

There’s lots more to add – but these are the 5 things I’ve noticed most over the years about the layouts that really stand out, and that goes for the simple ones too. They don’t have to be complicated, it’s the theme that glues it all together.

Well, now that I’ve got that off my chest I hope it inspires one or two of you. I do find myself smiling from ear to ear when I get a message saying the blog has cajoled them into action.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you want to stop dreaming and start doing, 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.