Model railroad layouts plans

Let’s start today with the answer to Daniel’s little quiz.

If you missed it, it’s at the bottom of here.

Here’s Daniel’s answer if you missed it in the comments:

“The car was indeed part of an eastern railroad, as John indicated. The Delaware and Hudson was the railroad, and was used for one location; Tunnel, NY where the D & H had a tunnel. This is northeast of Binghamton, NY.

Above is a photo by Bill Mischler (D&H Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment – a GREAT book btw) of the prototypical car as seen in Oneonta, NY. Its usual home was in Binghamton, NY.

Below is the truck the D & H used to clear ice at the Ticonderoga tunnel. This photo is by Jeff Martin (D & H Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment) and was taken in July of 1968.

Daniel”

Now a small correction.

Yesterday I said Peter’s layout was HO – it’s not, this part of his layout is HOn3.

Here’s his video again:

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Peter’s video got me thinking too. I wondered how many posts of his there are. I started going through them all and that killed a very pleasant half hour. So I thought why not?

Peter’s update

Another update from Peter

Peter nearly finishes

Peter starts his O scale

Peter’s update

Peter starts on his scenery

Peter adds a video

Even more from Pete and his O scale

Peter adds a roundhouse

Peter adds a vid of his roundhouse

Pete gives his engine a paint job

Peter finishes his tunnel

And now on to Ben:

“Hi Al!

I’ve been a member of your email club for a few years. I’ve sent in pics of stuff I’ve made before.

I had an 8×4 L-shaped switching layout, but divorce happened and I no longer have it. I did keep all the buildings, trees, cars, etc.

I started a new layout, but it’s a lot smaller. It’s about 4×2.

Going to be switching again since it’s small and it’s the kind of layout I prefer.

So far the track is laid and I made a background. I’ll send more pics as I progress.

Ben from So Cal”

Not too much Ben’s layout yet – but that’s the whole point, and it’s why I post them: it’s all about making a start!

Right now, it’s an ideal time too, because we have a hobby that is perfectly suited to the circumstances.

Of course, a layout is a big step. So why not start with a diaroma?

Here’s one that Ben did, which I think is just fab.

Or you could join in the fun and have a go a the scratch building competition (which is at the bottom of this one).

Speaking of which, I heard from Ron yesterday. Here’s what he said:

“Alastair,

Glad to hear that the “Silly Sale” was such a big hit that it carried the day.

Still glad that I was able to put a bit of cushion under you anxiousness.

Now as far as the donation goes, your contest sounds great and I cannot wait to see the results.

I trust that Rich most likely feels as I do in this regard.

I will not be competing, too busy wiring my O-gauge 13” x 25’ layout (lower level). This coronavirus “stay at home” routine has given me a bit of time to put the diagrams and wiring schematics together for the track – structures and signals are yet to come. Now when Amazon delivers, I will be crawling under the table.

Though you have announced the contest, did you consider a possible 1st and 2nd and Honorable Mention recognition.

Especially, if you get a number of entries. Don’t you just like it when the peanut gallery chimes in with suggestions after the fact!! Ha, Ha.

Stay safe and well.

Ron”

Well, I think it’s only fair that Ron (and Rich) get some say in this.

So now there’s a second and third prize too. I have no idea what those prizes will be yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

Are you going to join in the fun? May as well, we’re all in this for the long haul. Here’s a recap:

Scratch build a building from the Print-out scenery bundles, take a pic and send it in.

(So that’s a scratch build – use your imagination – make a new building, not an existing one.)

I promise to post everyone I’m sent, and the winner? That will be chosen by you lot – I’ll run a survey so everyone can vote.

The winner gets $140, and the winning building will be put on the site, totally free, for everybody to download.

Here’s the Silly discount print out bundle’ if you missed it last time. I’ll keep it open for a few days.

Entries to be in by the 16th April, then the voting begins.

Winner gets $140.

Winning building will be available on the site, completely free for all and everybody, forever.

Right, I think that’s about all for today folks. Please do keep ’em coming.

Don’t forget the The Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Keep busy.

Best

Al

Today I’d like to start with a big ‘thank you’ to Daniel.

His post – as well as being fun – has given me an idea that I hope you’ll all like.

More on this below, as you’ll read.

But first, we start with Margaret.

And she proves in spades that a layout can be whatever you want it to be:

“Dear Alistair,

I built this N scale fairy village layout at the request of my granddaughters. They love it.

Margaret”

Now on to Daniel.

He’s come up with a great idea – a fun competition:

“Good morning Alastair;

Probably morning when you open this, as it is about 7 pm where you are. It might be time for a pint, but like here, the pint places are shut down I suppose.

I hope you are coping with our global situation. Looks like your readers are keeping you busy. Truly unprecedented since the 1918 influenza run.

Anyhow, I thought a bit of fun might be in order.

The attached photo is a replication of an actual MOW car that was taken from revenue service for one specific function, one specific function only.

I thought it might be fun for your readers to guess what the car was used for.

After the guesses come in I will see who got it first and then come back with the winner and tell more about it.

Is that something you might be interested in?

As to the prize, I guess “bragging rights” is all that I could offer, or you could come up with one of your “silly deals” [just kidding about that, not necessary] but it might be a fun diversion for some.

Thanks, Alastair! Stay healthy!!

Daniel”

So… any guesses on what this was for? Please do post a comment below.

And now on to ‘the idea’, which was entirely prompted by Daniel.

Last November, I was in a spot of bother. You probably remember, and I planned to close down the site.

But you came right back at me with some very helpful suggestions. Three in particular saved this little blog.

(I was reluctant to put ads on the site, but they have indeed made a difference.)

I was very touched by it all, and nothing would make me happier than to give something back to you lovely lot in the grip of this latest gloom.

My finances are still very precarious, but I have a little something to give, thanks to the kindness of Rich and Ron.

During my financial wobble, believe it or not, they both sent cash, both accompanied by some very kind words. I’m not making this up, have a look:

Long story short – I still have their $140. And now I’m going to put it to good use.

Don’t get me wrong, it would have helped and I was very tempted to make the trip in to town and bank it.

But for some reason that just didn’t feel ‘right’. What to do? Send it back?

Well, being a serial procrastinator, it’s still sat on my desk. Not for long, however.

I’m running a competition, and the winner will get Rich and Ron’s $140.

What can keep us all occupied amongst this doom and gloom? I’ll tell you – the print out scenery.

Layouts can be rather long projects, and I know lots of you are ‘arm chair’ modelers too.

But anyone can have a bash at the print scenery. It’s fun. So here’s my idea:

Lots of you bought the ‘Silly discount print out bundles’ in my hour of need.

The great thing about these bundles is they contain every kind of texture, wall, roof and window imaginable.

So here’s the competition:

Scratch build a building from the bundles, take a pic and send it in.

(So that’s a scratch build – use your imagination – make a new building, not an existing one.)

I promise to post everyone I’m sent, and the winner? That will be chosen by you – I’ll run a survey.

The winner gets $140, and the winning building will be put on the site, totally free, for everybody to download.

How does that sound?

Hope all like it.

I did ponder over giving the buildings away, but then frankly that would be the end of this little site. Sales have already dried up, but I’m okay with that. We’re all in this together and what will be, will be.

So if you want to get scratch building and join in the fun, here’s the Silly discount print out bundle’. I’ll keep it open for a few days if you missed it last time.

Entries to be in by the 16th April, then the voting begins.

Winner gets $140.

Winning building will be available on the site, completely free for all and everybody, forever.

Course, I’m well aware, this may be a total floperoo, but at least I’ve tried something.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Oh – and don’t forget Daniel – leave a comment below.

I’ll leave you with my usual:

Don’t forget the The Beginner’s Guide is here.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Keep busy.

Best

Al

Tony’s been back in touch with his excellent model train diorama.

If you missed his last post, it’s here. Have a look at what he’s been busy with:

“Hi Alistair-

Here is the final segment of my diorama based on “The Riverside Local” by Don Breckon.

Just a quick review of the first two segments. I decided to build a diorama of this great painting as a modelling exercise, but also with plans to incorporate it in my future OO layout.

My original attempt to model the entire scene was abandoned after not being able to get the perspective right.

I decided to try again, modelling just the right side- to the river bank and this worked out better. Here is where I left off in the first post-

And here is where I left it at the second post-

All the final little details, of course, took a lot of time. That’s the fun with a model train diorama.

Starting with the two vehicles, I was lucky to find that the excellent Oxford range of vehicles has a OO model of an Austin 7 and MG TC in the same colors as the painting. There were just a couple of modifications needed.

The bonnet (hood to us colonists) of the Austin 7 is black in the painting- a simple fix.

The TC needed a couple of changes. Painting the grill black, as in the painting, was easy and, I think, improves the look of the model.

The second change I found a bit annoying. Having owned a TC for 35 years, I am sure that no TCs were built with disc wheels, as in the model. They all had 19” wire wheels, unlike the later TD which had 15” disc wheels- which seems to be the inspiration for this model.

For such an excellent range of vehicles, this is a disappointing oversight. Luckily, I had a model of a TC in HO that had the correct wheels. The model itself was too small to use, but the wheels, although slightly under-sized, look fine.

Swapping the wheels also gave me the opportunity to ‘turn’ the front wheels to the right. This matches the painting, but it is a modification I often make to vehicles, adding a touch of realism.

These 2 cars are parked, but I always add drivers and passengers to vehicles that are on the road (perhaps the subject of a future post). The motorbike that is only partly in sight behind a hedge is not recognizable as to manufacturer (at least not to me). I had an old white metal kit around that did the trick.

I also had a white metal fence kit that nicely matches the painting. White metal, of course, is a misnomer, as the metal is silver.

After painting the fence poles and chain, the chain would not fit through the holes in the poles. Drilling out the holes was a little tricky but I had some good luck. The kit contained 10 poles. One broke during the drilling process, but the painting has just 9 poles. It doesn’t usually work out that way!

There are 13 figures in the painting and trying to match them to my model train diorama was quite a challenge. So as not to be too obsessive, I finally gave up looking for exact matches of poses and settled for close approximations.

I also ran into the perspective problem again. The model people (whether HO or OO) look smaller than in the painting. Looking at the diorama apart from the picture, the figures look fine, although they are placed in somewhat odd positions on the lawn (the positions work for the 2D painting).

I will probably change the positioning when I eventually install this in my layout. Please forgive some of these photos- it’s tough to accurately match angles!

I wasn’t planning on detailing the bridge as this will clearly change when installed in my layout, but the loco is across the bridge in the painting and I wanted to match that, so I had to add a portion of the bank on the other side of the river. This was not too much work, and I think it did the trick.

I knew the ’back’ of the scene was going to present the biggest perspective problem and I originally planned to look for a TT scale loco and carriages to address this issue.

I finally decided this would be a waste of time and money, so I just used OO. This looks fine on its own, but compared to the painting, the models look a little big. You can see that the coach sits much further to the right on the model than the painting. TT scale would probably have been about right.

The final issue was the river. I originally planned to model the water (in part) but I would have to rip it out later so I decided to just lay down some paint for now as a rough representation. I think it looks OK- and this way I got to include the children feeding the ducks (more white metal).

This whole exercise was fun and gave me some things to think about when modelling scenery. Other than an outdoor G-scale, I haven’t modelled trains for many years and this was a good brush-up of skills and techniques before starting on my new layout. And I expect most of us see old photos of scenes that we would like our layout to look like, and I think this shows that copying a scene is not a bad idea.

Just a quick tip that I came up with recently. When scratch building, I am always looking for the right size and shape of balsa strips. I had balsa sitting around in various places, and I often didn’t find what I needed.

I decided to make a start on getting my work area organized by organizing the balsa. I gathered some scraps of PCV pipe- 1 ½, 2 ½ and 3 ½” diameters (sorry, don’t know the mm equivalents).

I collected all my strips of balsa and laid them out according to size. I then cut the pipe to various lengths and glued them to each other. I made a wood base- finishing it all off with some grey paint. There is room to add another pipe or 2 if needed. A box with all the smaller scraps completed my organization.

As always, thanks Alastair- keep up the great work!

Tony

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina”

A huge thanks to Tony for sharing his model train diorama – and a small apology – he mailed me this upate but it fell through the cracks. I missed it. Fortunately though he got back in touch and I’m pleased to be posting this instalment.

That’s all for this time, folks.

Please do keep ’em coming, because we need these update more than ever right now.

Stay sane. Keep busy. The Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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