Model railroad layouts plans

Guy has been in touch with a vid and narrative of his European model trains:

“Hello Al,

My name is Guy de Valk, and I live in Brussels (Belgium).

I am 81 years old and I have recently started building a model railway based on the Belgian Railways (SNCB-NMBS). The location is completely fictitious.

Most of the Buildings are scratch built, some other from Superquick material.

I have made a short video and slideshow of a part of my attempt recreate the atmosphere of the Belgian Railways I knew in my youth…

Sorry my work is not perfect far from it, so please be indulgent.

My age and bad eyesight are probably the Reason for it … lol

The Station I tried to represent is a rural one, with a sawmill served by a private siding. The trackage is mainly Fleischmann and some Peco. The points are controlled by a wire in tube system by Mercontrol.

There is still an awful lot to do. The layout occupies a room of my house, entirely dedicated to my railway. It is 5 x 3 metres, so not very large… and it is located alongside 3 of the 4 Walls.

I am presently working on the left hand side. When that is finished I will start on the right hand side with a larger station and a “fiddle yard” underneath.

I join that video, just in case you’d like to publish it in oune of your messages .

Thank you for your interesting e-mail, they are so very welcome and enjoyable.

All the best to you and your loved ones.

Guy.

PS. Please find attached the video of Trignolles ! (my fictitious station)”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

“Hi Al,

although I’ve kept quiet since my contribution, I still enjoy seeing and reading all the posts that come my way.

I have noticed that a number of people are using track layout software before starting the actual building of the layout. And so have I with my latest version, that is, however, still only on the drawing board. Like Glyn, I also use Märklin (because of my Swiss background), and have used RailModeler Pro for designing it. I think it’s the only one that works for Märklin with MacOS.

Now that it is ready to go to stage two, I wonder whether any of your readers have suggestions how to transpose the design onto the table? is it hit-or-miss like my previous three layouts, or are there any tools available?

Grateful for any suggestion

Andreas”

PS: I’m attaching a pic of my latest layout version, which may give readers an idea the “challenge”. eventually, there will be ups and downs, tunnels, flat and mountainous scenery. The red arrows give the direction the trains are traveling in.

A big thanks to Guy – I really enjoyed the video of his European model trains.

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.

Hugh has been in touch with his pre war american flyer trains:

“Hi Al

I think some of the American Flyer die cast Locos are nearly as detailed as mid 1930s Lionel.

So for Kid Proof Christmas displays I have used a couple AF 420 shells with Marx motors.

Some shells are broken and cheap but if they have all the trim the bodies can be fixed with products like JB Weld epoxy.

This red one is a mixture of many spare bits.

The tender is a Marx wedge with post war Lionel trucks.

The flat car is prewar Lionel with post war trucks and the PRR caboose is the last tin plate one that Lionel made in the late 1930s and continued into 1946.

The next to the last image is a modern era Lionel powered AF loco set up to pull a 1934 Lionel North Shore set.

Hugh”

Hugh’s last post is at the bottom of this one.

And now on to Rob:

“Hi Al,

You have published a number of videos from me, but rarely a running session.

I thought it would be interesting for people to see a little more of my layout.

In this video, I was still suffering from a broken foot bone so I was not as agile as I wanted to be. My layout has three 180 degree curves on it and racing the locomotive with my foot in a cast was a bit challenging.

Sometimes it is good just to run a few trains.

Rob – Farland Howe”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A big thanks to Hugh for sharing his pre war american flyer trains.

Thanks to Rob too – I loved some of the camera angles in Rob’s video – they really show off the detail of the layout. Impressive stuff.

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.

Jim’s been in touch with his Multi level O scale layout:

“Hi Al,

I have enjoyed seeing others layouts from your emails for years. I have just complete my two level O-scale layout taking about 3 years on and off.

My layout is not a single place and time but more so a collection of memories or places/buildings I really liked.

Over the past three 3 years I have acquired road names engines and rolling stock the ran through Saint Louis, Missouri USA.

Thanks,

Jim”

“HI Al,

not got round to finishing my platforms area yet, but been out and about filming some real steam, looking for ideas as well, but this was up on NYMR yesterday with there Steam Gala ..though some of the members would enjoy it.

Regards

Dave”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

I know what Dave means – sometime it’s a nice change to look at some real steam. I get sent all sorts. Here’s one from Desmond:

“Hello Alastair,

I’m a long time subscriber first time poster, I was recently in British Columbia and had the pleasure of taking a short trip on board the spirit of Kamloops whilst there.

I’m attaching a few pics that I took it was a beautifully restored engine and the last 2141 in her class.

It had been converted from a coal fired boiler to an oil fired during her working life. I think this was to help reduce the amount of forest fires that the area was prone to.

Desmond”

A big thanks to Dave, Desmond and to Jim for sharing his Multi level O scale layout.

Please do leave a comment below on whether you’d like to see more of what lands in my inbox.

TThat’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.