Model railroad layouts plans

Bob’s been in touch with is Christmas truck, which really made me smile:

“Al…Happy Christmas from Bob in Texas.

It’s been a while since I contributed to your blog…but here is a Christmas contribution that I hope you all enjoy.

If you recall, one of my other hobbies, in addition to model railroading, is restoring vintage cars or, in this case, a vintage truck.

So, in the spirit of Christmas, I decided to combine both hobbies.

A vintage red pickup truck with a Christmas tree in the bed has become a ubiquitous Holiday symbol in the US. One can be seen in any number of made-for-television Christmas movies.

The image can be found greeting cards, T-shirts, Kitchen towels, pillow covers, door mats, and even shower curtains. And…I expect a vintage red pickup truck ornament to adorn most Christmas trees in the US.

I am fortunate to own a genuine vintage red pickup truck…a 1950 Chevrolet Three-Window 3100 pickup truck (we do love our pickup trucks in Texas).

These trucks were mostly purchased by farmers and ranchers who used them for work. When they finally came to the end of their useful lives they were left outside to rust away. Little thought was given to their resale value. If the original owners had known how popular these trucks would someday become they might have taken better care of them.

Fortunately, my truck, which was originally purchased by a farmer in Kentucky, received better treatment. It worked hard but was well maintained.

It was originally powered by a six-cylinder engine that produced about 85 horsepower and it had a three-speed manual transmission. Certainly by today’s standards rather spartan…no power steering, no power brakes, no air conditioner, no seat belts, and no radio.

My truck would now be classified as a restomod…a term used to describe a vintage car/truck restored to closely resemble the original vehicle but modified with numerous upgrades to make it more driver friendly.

It is now powered by a fuel-injected V-8 that produces in excess of 300 horsepower. It has an automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, an air conditioner, set belts, and a modern sound system…a restomod.

During the Holiday Season, I typically park the truck with an illuminated Christmas tree in the bed in front of our house. And…it does attract lots of admirers.

This year, I decided to substitute a Christmas tree with N scale trains and a lighted Christmas village. I was inspired by the popular Thomas Kinkade Christmas Tree sculpture.

The tree is constructed of foam board, Styrofoam, and paper mache. It measures 4 feet tall, and has three levels.

The top level is 24 inches in diameter and the two lower levels are each 32 inches in diameter. The tree is decorated with garland, miniature trees, and artificial snow. I found the Santa Clause tree-topper in a Christmas catalog. My lovely wife and I recently took a Danube River Cruise and I purchased many of the village structures at Christmas markets in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

An N scale Bachmann Brill trolley car circles the top level on Atlas Flex Track.

An N scale Bachmann Merry Christmas Express and an N scale Bachmann Spirit of Christmas travel the two lower levels on Bachmann E-Z Track.

I display the tree in the bed of the truck in front of our house weather permitting. And…it also receives lots of attention from our neighbors. Otherwise, it sits on a table in our living room.

I hope your readers enjoy my combination of Christmas icons and please have a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY. Thanks, Bob in Texas

Thanks,

Bob”

A huge big thanks to Bob for sharing his Christmas truck – hope you liked it as much as me. It really did make me smile.

You can see Bob’s 1951 Mercury coupe here (If you’ve got an old classic please do mail me. I’d love to post it).

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you blow the dust of your old locos and find some track too, 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.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

Brian’s been back in touch, this time with his HO scale river barge build:

“Hi Alastair,

Attached is an article of my latest scratch build. A Contractors Barge for my harbour on the lower level of the layout.

This will be my third barge for the layout. I have a large harbour area stretching around the three side of the layout. I love a lot of detail on the waterways.

A few years back I owned a contractors barge kit made by Sheepscott models. At that stage I had no use for it and sold it to a friend but after seeing some photos of a built up one on the internet, I decided that I needed to have one for my harbour.

I asked my friend (who hadn’t built it yet) if I could have a photo copy of the plans to scratch build one for myself.

I did not make an exact copy of it but built it for my needs in my layouts harbour and modified it to the way that I thought would fit my scene.

Here is a photo copy of the original plans.

I borrowed the hull and cabin in order to get the right sizes for my model. A friend who is in the woodwork business cut an new hull and cabin for me using the originals as guides.

This is the cabin from the kit. (also borrowed).

My new hull cut to size and the new cabin. Checking out the placement of the superstructure on the deck.

The scrathbuilt superstructure with one of my resin pulley castings for the top.

The pulleys here is where the cabling will go over the top from the cabin pulleys to the top pulleys of the jib to raise and will lower the clamshell bucket.

Below, working out the length of the jib.

Superstructure in the process of painting before weathering and the temporary jib.

Below – figuring out what goes where. The set of winding drums shown here will be used to move the jib left or right as needed. Shown here on top of the cabin is the other set of pulleys.

Placing all the cabin roof top details – air tanks, water tank, pulleys for the cables and the smoke stack before adding the tarpaper covering. The smoke stack is for the steam driven engine inside the cabin.

Added the scribed siding all around the cabin as well as the doors and windows before adding the tarpaper roofing material.

Again checking the placement of the cabin and superstructure before gluing it in place.

Elastic bands to hold the scribed siding while the glue dries. Roof will be covered with tarpaper. The hole in the top is for the cabling to raise and lower the clamshell bucket.

Cabin has been weathered and glued in place. Note the coal box behind the cabin.

Gluing almost all the details on the deck.

Found a bigger clamshell bucket metal kit for the barge. I have assembled and painted it. It replaced a smaller plastic one which is now placed on the deck as a standby.

Added the boat for the crew on the back if needed for returning to shore. My smaller scratch built barge shown along side. The build of that one was in a previous article.

Temporary placement in the harbour while I search my bits box for the tyre bumpers to go on the sides.

Finally the completed model ready to be put to work in the harbour.

Photos below are of my other two scratch built barges.

Well that is another project taken off layouts my bucket list. (For now ??)

Wishing all the Modellers here on this site, a Merry Christmas for the festive season and a prosperous new year.

And best of all, Alastair and his family.

Brian – the HOn3 guy in Knysna RSA”

A huge big thanks to Brian for sharing his ho scale river barge – it’s a stunning scratch build. I loved it.

You can see more of Brian in the Hall of Fame.

And his other barge posts are here:

Model railroad harbor

Model railway harbor

HO scale waterfront layout

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if creating your own model railroad is an itch you just have to scratch, the 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.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

Allen has been in touch – he’s added a HO scale power plant to his layout:

“My name is Allen, I am 49 years old and a pipeline controller by trade.

This is my 7th layout but I have gone the farthest toward completion on this layout versus all the previous ones.

I started building the Kansas & Western HO Scale Model Railroad in August of 2023 and am very nearly finished laying all track.

The particulars regarding the layout can be found on my descriptions on all of my construction update videos.

I started tracking my construction progress on my Youtube channel when construction began, and I provide construction updates every two weeks, usually on Fridays.

About a year ago, I started rewarding my viewers with the option to vote on what they would like to see me focus my attention on for the next two week work period.

The Monday after my construction updates, I provide the results of the poll that is conducted and I share my work plan for carrying out the wishes of my viewers.

So, for the last year, my viewers have been directing the course of the construction of my layout which has been very interesting and fun for me, as well as my viewers.

Besides construction updates, I also provide bi-weekly operations videos, product reviews, and “How I Do Stuff” features.

Allen”

A big thanks to Allen for sharing his HO scale power plant pics – I really enjoyed his youtube too.

Now on to Terry who has a question, can anyone help:

“Hi Al—I need HELP!!!!

I have 2 tracks, a mainline (DCC) & spur (DC) that cross–each with it’s own power supply.

I want to put a light sensor on a section of the main line so that when a train passes through it, the power to the spur is turned off. Power comes back on when the mainline train has cleared the section.

How would I wire the light sensor to do that?

Do I need a relay switch or can it be done directly without a relay?

I’m hoping one of your members could sketch out a circuit for me to show how it would be wired.

…………\X\
===O===\ \=====O====Mainline
……………..\ \ Spur)

When train passes “0” power to spur “X’ is cut off. X power is resumed after train passes second “O”

I’m assuming the mainline sensors could be wired in a three way switch pattern so one activates both of them at the same time.

Thanks to you & your readers in advance.

Terry
Idaho/ USA”

Please do leave a comment below for Allen or Terry.

That’s all for this time 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.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.