Model railroad layouts plans

There’s quite a few HO gauge track layouts on the blog now – many of them are Dan’s.

He’s been kind enough to put together a post to answer the questions on his last post, which is here:

HO model railroad scenes.

“Al, I am going to answer some of the questions from last blog post.

This one had several wanting to see more of the layout views and some of the wiring.

Dan*”

Panoramas of the layout.

The over all view of the layout.

A cleaner look. The room is 35 by 15.

Grain elevator and coal yard

Burnt Lake and the tunnel to the lower level

Rainbow Canyon trestle

Almost part 1

Almost part 2

Sharon Springs.

Thunderstorm at Bovine

Chromite mine in the distance

The overall track diagram.

Actual track plan with locations marked. To the left and right the tracks go to the lower level and reconnect to really make a giant oval. The dashed line on the right is a run around track to turn trains behind the engine terminal. You shoud be able to follow the train through the colored track plan.

HO gauge track layouts:

Now for the “messy” part. Various panels and the wiring.

Douglas Junction panel. There are 5 power packs running the layout. Photos in a bit. The selection of power is from rotary switches assigning power to the various blocks.

Back of the panel. It is all color coded and really is straight forward. I was able to do each switch in about 45 minuets. One down side to wiring, you work for hours and then you can’t see progress, it is al hidden.

The terminal strips and distribution to the track.

The “Power Plant” for the layout. The Hogger power packs were around for a short time. They were expensive. I never cut corners for things that were very important. Where quality was needed I spent the money. These have lasted 35-40 years!

The panel for the lower level. I can store 6 complete trains for staging and the two main lines run here, too. LEDs show occupancy. I have bulbs at each end of the track so it is easy to know where the train is. I use magnetic reed switches and powerful magnets on all locos and cabooses to spot the trains.

Back of the panel.

I have a mirror on the floor for visitors to see what the wiring looks like under the layout.

A magnetic reed switch. The metal piece is the “keeper” that is under the magnet. These never fail and the magnetic reeds are sealed in a vacuum.

Enjoy,

Dan*”

A huge big thank you to Dan for adding to the HO gauge track layouts – again!

Dan’s pics reminded me of Peter’s: HO gauge layout.

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.

Ray’s been back in touch with his 3 loop HO layout:

“Hey Al,

Here’s some updated pics on my 3 Loop HO Layout. I’ve made a lot of progress over the last 2 months. The control board is complete along with the wiring. I can now run 2 engines independently.

I’ve done a lot of work on my pond and river and have started putting in some ground cover.

I have the started laying out a corral but need to get lots of cows to fill it up. I did this because I have a lot of reefer cars and this is supposed to be Nebraska.

3 loop HO layout:

My engine house is in place along with some diesel storage tanks.

Things I will be working on:

Finish gluing down the track, work on the corral and ranch, install more ground cover and landscaping. Ballast.

Brainstorm the rest of the layout. Basically I have 3 areas, the one with the pond (I think I will make this a residential area). The area with the corral (this will be all farm/corral). The area with the engine house (I am thinking commercial/industrial)

Things I am having issues with:

I have two Atlas turnouts along the back wall on each side of the trestle bridge were my engines derail about half the time. I have inspected them up close and cleaned them of debris, but still….. I don’t have any issues with the other 12 Atlas turnouts.

Some of my rolling stock does not stay coupled on my 3 loop HO Layout. I use the knuckle style (Kadee). This I know I can fix, I just need time to work on them. I didn’t realize that these could come in two different sizes (to scale and slightly smaller, then there’s the offset up or down and length to consider). They all need to be attached at the same height, some of them are too low and get caught on the ties! I think there is a learning on changing these out! I’ll get there!

I appreciate all the comments, they were very encouraging. One comment asked about the grade on the right side of my layout and yes, it may be a bit steep and I should have paid closer attention to that! I am open to any suggestions as they are always appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

Take Care & God Bless,

Ray”

A huge big thanks to Ray for sharing his 3 loop HO layout update. You can see his first post here:

3 loop HO train layout

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.

The talented Dan has been back in touch with more of his HO model railroad scenes:

Al, here is a continuation of the last set of photos around the layout.

Enough said. You got to keep the law happy.

Part of the overall scene.

One of the stores in town.

The liars’ bench in front of a campaign headquarters to set the year of the layout.

Night along the stores. I don’t run the trains at “night” but it looks good anyway.

HO model railroad scenes:

Look close and you will see that the sign painter has misspelled almost just under the ladder to the left.

Weddings are nice. The HO “tin cans” behind the Chevy are made from solder droppings.

To help set the era of the layout the stop sign is yellow. The use of red for stop signs was still a few years away

This is a HO model railroad Fine Scale Miniature kit. The were great craftsman kits. I did weather this kit. The truck was a resin casting. I also like slogans for my businesses.

This truck was also a resin casting.

A local gas station. This is a Woodland Scenic kit.

Waiting for the train.

A house along the railroad.

I spent a lot of time riding my bike to see the trains in my youth.

Al, I will have another set next week.

Thanks for letting me do these.

A huge big thanks to Dan for sharing his HO model railroad scenes – they really do bring his layout to life.

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.