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N scale 8×4 – Bruce’s

Bruce has been in touch with his N scale 8×4:

“Hi Al,

I so appreciate what you continue to do for this hobby and your passion. Thank you.

I inherited my Dad’s N scale 8×4 layout he started building in his late 70s. Since 2002 I have had it tipped up on its side and stored…. only last month did my son and I right it, cut out the birds nest of mixed wiring, mars connectors and clips (bless my pragmatic dad!) that had been really compromised stored in a daily-used playroom by my kids!

Anyhow, we have re wired the 10 blocks, and 12 switches up to the point of building the control panel. I need experienced chaps to chime in and help design the schematic that makes sense for this layout. If this is something you can put out there, I will send you a nice drawing of the layout.

Let me know and thanks again all the way from the west coast of Canada!

Cheers,

Bruce.”

A big thanks to Bruce for sharing his N scale 8×4. There’s quite a number of these on the blog now. Here’s a few more:

4×8 N scale train layout.

4×8 N scale

4×8 N scale layout.

Next up, Richard:

“I enjoy all the creativity you share with us.

I have set up my original (old) Lionel trains and as I added to the board I decided to scale down some photos of my grandchildren in sports, cut them out with a jigsaw, and work them into the landscape.

I have attached several pictures of my grandaughters who are on the Pittsford NY crew and put them in a canal and on a bulletin board.

Mt grandson plays baseball for Stamford CT and he is on a billboard, but also I made a ballfield and screen and used his image in several positions.

The kids all like this and look forward to see where they will be!

Richard
Rochester NY”

A huge thanks to Cary – I do enjoy his updates.

Thanks also to Richard. There are many, many posts on this blog reminiscing about the happy hours spent playing with trains with parents or grandparents.

Fingers crossed in 50 years time it will be no different.

And who can help Bruce? Please leave a comment below if you can.

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

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.

Small O gauge layout

Rob’s been back in touch with his small O gauge layout:

And he’s been busy on his layout: as we all know, they are never finished.

(Here’s his last post if you want to refresh your memory.)

“Hi Al,

I know how much you love updates, so here goes…….

I’m modeling O gauge on a small layout so space is a premium.

I had a grade on the right side of the layout that was too steep for an engine to pull more than one or two cars and I found that I wasn’t using it much at all.

Since the track was hardly used, I decided to rip it out and change up the track plan. I took out the grade and built two short sidings in the space.

The upper level became a short siding for the tourist railroad to stop at along the route to allow passengers to get off and stop for lunch.

The main level became an industrial siding for a local business. I built a small building from Ameritowne Models here in the US.

The kits are pretty basic but easily bashed to your liking. I added floors and lighting but didn’t furnish the interiors. The interior lights are LED’s that I scratch built, but I purchased the exterior fixtures, also LED.

Once I had that done I decided I needed something for a backdrop behind the building. I had bought your building prints a while back and decided to use one of the engine sheds as a building flat.

I scaled up the print to get the size I wanted and started printing and gluing, and cutting. I cut out the windows and set the main wall on top of a second full print to give the flat some depth.

I also extended the roof out over the top of the wall slightly by adding a second layer to the facia on the print.

I added a second building print that I found on the web behind the flat. The sky prints were the final touch.

I still need to do some detailing, including one of your fences in front of the flat. The new track plan gives me more operational variety, I like switching, and really improved the look of the layout.

The last pic is before the latest change. As you can see I made use of some otherwise dead space above the file cabinets. Had to get creative since the wife didn’t want to give up much space in our small basement.

Thanks,

Bob from LI, NY, USA”

A huge thanks to Rob for sharing his small O gauge layout.

Great to see a printable building on there too – always makes me smile.

It’s another fine example of how getting your layout ‘just right’ is an endless task.

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 get going on your very own layout.

Best

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Bill’s N scale progress

Bill’s been back in touch.

It’s always a pleasure when I see his name in my inbox.

Here’s his last post to refresh your memory.

“Hi Al

I’ve taken some vacation and have been having fun adding more to my N scale layout.

Progress is being made and I’m having a lot of fun bringing it to life 😀 since my last submission I’ve gotten quite a bit more done.

I’ve added more trees and ground cover as well as taking some cheap eBay buildings I purchased and giving them new life with paint and weathering.

Take care and keep doing all the wonderful things you do for our hobby!

Bill
In Virginia”..

And Brian has been back in touch too (his last post is here).

“Hi Alaistair.

A follow up on progress on my layout with some photos taken with my old Sony DSC F-707 Camera. Have not used it in about 10 years. If I want excellent night photos with a great depth of field, then this is the camera that I use.

At last, laid all the track for both the harbor and Pelican Bay.

Lots of operation here with six line side industries to fill. Will keep an operator busy for quite a while.

It will be switchman’s nightmare as well as the yard master who has to set up a train in the yard at Cascade Creek for this area. A lot of backwards and forwards to do in the tight space (passing siding). It is limited as well as is the head shunt track.

Next is to add sleepers in the gaps, solder droppers where needed to the buss wires underneath and make some of the points DCC compatible. (Some are already done from my old layout in CT) While under the layout, have to put the Blue point motors in and wire them up as well.

A few pieces of different rolling stock pushed through (O-5-0) made sure that all track and point work is okay before running the locomotives.

For those who always ask where are the trains, two locomotives are busy setting out and picking up cars at the industries.

All in a good days work .

Thank goodness my eyes are one hundred percent now. Saw the Ophthalmologist last Friday, very happy and no more work to be done to the eyes, except for a follow up in five months time. Still need spectacles to do fine work though.

Brian
Knysna RSA”