Model railroad layouts plans

Lawrence has been in touch with his BNSF model train – I do love a layout with a backstory:

“AL

I wanted to make a small version of the Lincoln Nebraska BNSF rail yard.

My sister works there as the bus driver for the train engineers when they have done their designated hours, and replaced with new engineers.

The trains stop where ever they are when the engineers work time is up.

The first set of pictures shows the actual BNSF Terminal. The first picture is the front of the terminal taken from the street using the Bing maps.

The second picture shows the back of the terminal using the Google maps. I actually took about twenty pictures of the terminal from different angles.

Some of the pictures are show at my work desk as I prepare to start cutting out the styrene.

Due to space limitations I did not make the terminal as long as the real one. From the pictures I took the model is the length of one BNSF engine too short.

The printed pictures of the terminal the colors darker then from actually looking at the terminal on the maps on the computer.

The next email of three pictures:

The first picture shows almost all the styrene pieces needed to build the terminal. I ordered Chooch walls to cover the front of the terminal, they were close to the original.

The next picture displays the back of the model terminal with personnel in the observation deck.

The last picture displays the front of the terminal, the power sources, sign, radio tower, and external building. The stairs on the front of the building and flags have not been constructed at this time.

To prevent brush strokes, I used a paint sprayer to paint the roof. Looking at the terminal on line did not show any weathering so I will not weather the model.

I will send more pictures of the rail yard in the near future.

Lawrence”

I absolutely love what Lawrence is doing. If you missed his last post, it’s here.

Now on to Cassio. A man of few words, but the pics make up for it:

“Dear friend Alistair, I am sending some more photos of the evolution of the decoration of my model.

Thank you.

Cassio”

A huge thanks to Lawrence for sharing his BNSF model train, and to Cassio too.

I should also thank everyone that has supported the site over the last few days, and taken the plunge with the Beginner’s Guide.

(Frankly, without you, there wouldn’t be a site.)

What has surprised me, however, is this.

This year – and I have no idea why – I have had lots of comments thanking me for the site and the Beginner’s Guide.

I’m only human, and when I get a nice mail in my inbox it really does make my day, so thank you.

Thank you for all your kind comments.

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

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

Mike’s been in touch again.

And I’m glad too he has too.

If you missed it, his excellent ‘shipping container how-to’, it is here.

And now, it’s even better, because the print also come with a yellow and green shipping container:

If you already have the shipping containers – just go to the download area, and the yellow and green containers have been added to the file.

Don’t forget, the shipping containers will be $9 in the store, but right now they are free with the Beginner’s Guide (and lots of other freebies too.)

Now’s a great time to grab the Beginner’s Guide. It’s a silly price, lots of freebies, and tomorrow this sale will end.

Please don’t miss this offer, grab it right now here.

Best

Al

PS Sale ends tomorrow.

PPS Still unsure about the Beginner’s Guide and the shipping containers?

Here’s what Hall of Fame member John has to say about it:

“I recently got and read “How to Create A Breath Taking Model Railroad for The Complete Beginner.” Even though I’ve been modeling for some years and consider myself pretty knowledgeable in the building of miniature railroad worlds, I still learned new things.

The logical layout of the book and the background information was easy to follow, made good sense, and if done will save many hours of reworking mistakes. Every chapter has good information, is easy to read and understand. I particularly enjoyed the scenery tips, and how several different types of scenery building was discussed.

The numerous tips collected from Al’s website printed at the end of the book are a great addition to the knowledge contained in the book. Many I’ve tried myself!

It occurred to me that this book would be an ideal gift for someone we know who looks at our layout and says, “I’d love to do something like this, but I just don’t know where to start.” Haven’t we all heard this from friends and co-workers? Give ‘em the book, and be available to assist as they take saw and screw-gun in hand!

I recommend this beginners guide for all of us in the great hobby of Model Railroading without reservation.

John Frye”

“Hi Al, thanks for all the wonderful comments about the ship chandler write-up.

Attached are a few teaser photos of my next project for the harbor just to keep everyone interested in my harbor project build.

The Sailmaker is nearly finished (needs lots of detail and weathering) and the building that will be alongside it, a restaurant.

Instead of doing a how to on each one singularly, I will do the how to on both of them with photos of the build.

All the best till next time.

Brian – the HOn3 guy.”

A huge thanks to Brian – if you missed his last post, with his stunning night time pics, they are here.

Brian is a Hall of Fame member, and now that club is growing because yesterday we welcomed Bill, and today I’m very pleased to say ‘John from Baltimore’ is added to the ranks.

John first got in touch with his bridge build and I’ve been looking out for his updates ever since. Have a look at his page and you’ll see why – it’s here. And welcome John!

Now on to some other stuff.

Yesterday, Mike showed us how he makes his shipping containers.

Some of you have asked where to get the prints he used. The prints for all three containers are free at the moment – they come with the Beginner’s Guide, which is just $9 right now.

Every now and then I run a sale, and when I do, I like it to be a ‘proper’ sale. So not only do you get the shipping containers free, you get a load of other stuff too – have a look, it’s here.

And that brings me to another thing. Some of you have asked ‘how it all works’.

The Beginner’s Guide and the print-out-scenery are all downloads. After checkout, you get sent emails with all the download links.

The great thing about the print-out-scenery is you can print as many sheets as you want, so you can make, kit bash and experiment.

Course, I’m biased, but they are a lot of fun.

Every model in the store is made from the print-out-scenery, and that includes these houses.

That brings us to the thorny issue of scale.

All the prints are created in HO scale. However, adjusting the scale is easy.

HO is 1:87th scale and 1:1 printed.

So you simply take 87 and divide it by the desired scale.

N=1:160, TT=1:120, S=1:64, O=1:48, G=1:32 alt. (1:29)

So for G scale HO / G

87 / 32 = 2.72.

Just increase the document size by 272% when your print.

For N scale HO / N

87 / 160 = 0.54

Just decrease the print by 54%.

So if you’ve been mulling over the Beginner’s Guide, now is the time to get it.

It’s just $9 and you get loads of freebies – including the shipping containers.

But this sale ends shortly!

And if you’re still not sure, here’s what John, the latest Hall of Fame member has to say about it:

“I recently got and read “How to Create A Breath Taking Model Railroad for The Complete Beginner.” Even though I’ve been modeling for some years and consider myself pretty knowledgeable in the building of miniature railroad worlds, I still learned new things.

The logical layout of the book and the background information was easy to follow, made good sense, and if done will save many hours of reworking mistakes. Every chapter has good information, is easy to read and understand. I particularly enjoyed the scenery tips, and how several different types of scenery building was discussed.

The numerous tips collected from Al’s website printed at the end of the book are a great addition to the knowledge contained in the book. Many I’ve tried myself!

It occurred to me that this book would be an ideal gift for someone we know who looks at our layout and says, “I’d love to do something like this, but I just don’t know where to start.” Haven’t we all heard this from friends and co-workers? Give ‘em the book, and be available to assist as they take saw and screw-gun in hand!

I recommend this beginners guide for all of us in the great hobby of Model Railroading without reservation.

John Frye”

Please don’t pass on the silly sale if you’ve been mulling over the Beginner’s Guide.

I know some buy just for the shipping containers and other freebies, and that’s fine, but please remember this sale closes soon.

That’s all this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al