Model railroad layouts plans

Danny has been in touch again with his HO scale wall shelf layout.

(his last post is here if you want to get up to speed.)

“Al,

I have made some real progress since my last post.

The first photo is my mine installed.

The next is the miner houses and company store.

Cows are in the field next to the stream. The kit bashed trestle is in the background.

An old barn is by the field.

This is the lower stream. The bridge is cut down tunnel portholes.

The river crossing in front of the falls.

Bridge and other kit bashed trestle above the falls.

HO scale wall shelf:

The town.

A culvert.

I have more walls and a peninsula to go. the peninsula is two levels.

Dan”

---

“Al

I have been meaning to send this for awhile. So here goes.

In reading the web site with the people who respond to it, I would like to send these pictures out to them.

The pictures below are of a switching layout that is two feet wide by eight feet long and is mounted on only a sheet of HOMOSOTE(TM) board.((YES IT IS FLEXIBLE AND MOVES WHEN CARRYING IT. Support it when using it .

This is for ease of transporting it to Boy Scout Events ((Railroading Merit Badge Classes)) and train shows as a demonstration on how to have fun with Model Railroading.

The first photo I call it the West End of the switching layout. It has the DC power supply or power pack. There are no structures on here (on purpose) to show the track plan.

The track near the power pack is the track that the trains enter the layout on and leave at the opposite end.

This is a game layout. As you are looking at the photo, on the right side is nine train cars = one of each type to be used.

1.Box car;
2. Refrigerator car (Reefer);
3. Coal Hopper car;
4. Tank car;
5 Gondola car;
6. Flat car (with a truck trailer on board);
7. Stock car (Cattle car);
8. Cement Hopper car;
9. Grain Hopper car.

On the table is some cardboard with white tags. These are the temporary buildings.

Now there are seven buildings=(structures) ((NINE TRAIN CARS)).

Starting at the opposite.

East End is #1 Furniture Factory;
#2 General Produce;
#3 Shippers Coal Company ;
#4 Union Gas & Oil;
#5 Lumber and Mill work Company;
#6 & #7 (on the west end)
#6 Live Stock & Cattle Pens;
#7 Rail to Truck Transfer Company.
Train Car numbers # 8 & # 9 (the two covered hopper cars are extra cars)

No structure for them to go to.

This will keep people busy who say they have no room for a train layout. This also may be added to any HO SCALE train layout you already have.

The game here is to take a train car or two and place it anywhere you like and at any of the industries. The little switch engine has to do the work to spot it at the correct industry with the same number (type of car)

I.E = cattle car to Cattle Pens; I.E. coal car to Shippers Coal Co

Next time use different cars and maybe a few more cars and time yourself on doing the job.

The person with the least amount of time or moves of the engine, WINS that game. HURRAH!

When you are done “switching = Shunting the cars” take the engine and train cars off the board and stand it up against a wall or slide it under a bed or table somewhere. Out of the way place to be used again again to have fun.

Bring friends over to join you doing the switching. I bet they will want to try it for themselves.

Yours in Railroading

Don

South eastern U.S.A.”

“Hi Al,

I have just uploaded my part 7 of the re build on the layout, in this video I show how to wire up lights, different connectors, adding a bridge portal with background, and a few more tips.

It is getting very near to being completed now, so think that the next one will be the last in this series.

Hope that some of my tips have been useful to some of the members, and I have tried to show and answer a lot of the questions asked.

Regards

Dave”

That’s all for today folks.

A big thanks to Dave, Don and Dan – I loved Dan’s HO scale wall shelf update, particularly the old barn. Touches like that really make a layout.

And I can’t believe Dave is starting again!

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.

Tony’s sent in pics of his HO scale race track crossing train track – looks fun!

“Hi Alastair,

The task was how to integrate my love of model railways and the grand kids desire to race their model cars around a race track.

Main board is 8’x4’ then extended across window into goods yard and made a loop back to main side.

Please see finished project which has us all happy now!

Love your posts and ideas from members!

Kind regards

Tony from Stockport”

HO scale race track crossing train track:

And if you liked Tony’s HO scale model train, there are

lots more HO scale train layouts here

“Hi Al

I just moved into the 21 century with this new O gauge Lionel Jersey Central Lionchief Plus steam engine.

I have been watching your many videos show the new trains and finally decided my time had come.

I must say it brought my layout to a new level and I wanted to share it with everyone. Keep up the good work.

Steve from Toms River.”

Latest money saving ebay cheat sheet is here.

Loved Steve’s new vid – his last post is here by the way.

A huge thanks to Steve and to Tony for sharing his excellent HO scale race track crossing train track. What a layout!

I just loved the idea of a layout combined with a car race track.

Just goes to show, I never know what’s going to pop up in my inbox, and that’s probably why I enjoy doing this so much.

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.

Cary has been back in touch with his garden railroad.

Perhaps one of the things I enjoy most about my little blog is seeing a layout come to life over many months.

But some, take years.

Cary has been kind enough to post updates of his huge G scale project – he is in to year 6 now.

And I have to say, I’ve enjoyed every one of his updates (his last one is here), but this one is a real mile stone – his trains are running!

“Hello Al and All,

I/m six years into my Garden Railroad and finally got the main loop of track installed and trains running this summer.

My layout is approximately 60X20 feet and the main loop is about 130 feet of track.

Track Bed: Last summer I used a trenching shovel to dig a trench 4 inches wide and 6 inches deep.

I lined it with landscaping fabric, filled with ballast and let it pack over the winter.

For ballast, I’m using something my local quarry calls “Manufactured Sand” I’m happy with this material, it packs well and does a great job holding the track in place. It’s also easy to adjust the track if needed.

I spent a lot of time this summer joining track sections. I assembled the pieces into 8-10 foot lengths in my garage leaving jumpers wires extended on both ends. I then carried them out to the site and used water proof wire nuts to connect the wires.

I soldered jumper wires across each small section by drilling a 5/64″ hole and inserting a 14 gauge wire. I used my propane torch to solder the connections (after careful cleaning and applying flux).

I also used a #2 brass screw to hold the sections together. Yes the torch did some damage to my track ties but with some practice, damage was minimal. I’m also squirting some conductive grease into each joint prior to assembly. During my initial road trials this summer, I had no issues maintaining continuity through the track.

The main loop of my garden railroad track rises about 12 inches from the low point (operator's station) to the high point (just behind the pond). I used a level with a carefully sized wood block spacer on one end to maintain a maximum 3.5% grade although I think it's a little steeper in some areas. My Locos are doing OK pulling the hills but I I'll be making some adjustments Spring to at least improve the appearance.

I’m using an MRC 10 amp/ 24Volt DC power supply with only one track connection so far. It seems to be working fine with no voltage drops at the far end of the layout. At 50% throttle the track is 12 volts on level grade, but drops to 8V when pulling those hills. I’ve considered running a feeder wire to the far end but at this point don’t see the need.

Garden railroad track Cleaning: I know most garden railroaders eventually go to battery power, but I'm going to try my best to stick with track power.

I can have trains running great one day and the next morning I have to clean the track.

I don’t think it’s oxidation on the track, just the morning dew with dust, pollen etc.. from the trees.

I first use a broom to sweep debris off the track and then use a fiber mesh drywall sanding pad which leaves no scratches on the track.

I can clean the 130 feet of track in about 20 minutes. I think a scratch built track cleaning car is something I’ll be investigating further .

First I want to try some different manual methods to see what works best. I hear that swiffer brooms work well but have not yet tried it.

Well it’s time to hang up my shovel for the summer and turn my attention to some indoor projects like making more buildings and planning the train yard.

Once again, thanks for all that you do to promote the hobby.

I love seeing everyone’s projects and being able to share mine with people who have the same passion is something I really look forward to.

I had a lot of fun putting this video together, I hope everyone enjoys it.

Happy Modeling!

Cary”

I can’t thank Cary enough for sharing his garden railroad progress. Hope you enjoyed it as much I did.

Now on to other stuff.

Yesterday I posted about a backdrop download, and Andy weighed in with this fine tip:

“Al, short suggestion. Your info on printing backdrop banners was missing one important instruction. Office supply printers print banners in both high-gloss and matte finishes. You need to specify matte for the backdrop to look realistic.

Andy”

Thats all for today, folks. Please do keep ’em coming. And if any of you see some HO chaps, please do wake them up. It’s all gone very quiet on that front.

I’ll finish with this thought. Cary is 6 years in to his layout – so if you’ve ever mulled over starting a layout, take a page out of Cary’s book and start!

Course, I’m biased, but the Beginner’s Guide is an excellent first step.

Best

Al