Model railroad layouts plans

John’s been in touch with something a bit different this time – a fire station train garden.

“Hi AL,

Happy Holidays to you and all the railroaders across the world.

I’m sorry for this late note, but I’ve been on travel, I hope you can get this up soon!

I am, in addition to being a model railroader, a member of the Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department, serving the folks in our part of Baltimore County USA since 1938.

Two of our dedicated members, Connie and Don, have been creating the AVFD Train Garden for 29 years, (would have been the 30th but for COVID!) each year raising the bar over what we all thought was the best the previous year.

This year is not exception, it’s spectacular!

New layouts, new trains, new scenery and…well…new magic!

This year there are 3- 0 gauge, 2- S gauge, 2- HO gauge and 1- N gauge.

There’s a mountain with all 4 gauges running around it!

We now have over 5,000 visitors come by our free Train Garden. One need only see the kids joy and wonder as they look at the trains, ‘snow covered scenery, and Santa, to see why Connie, Don and the members of our Fire company love this yearly activity!

I’m honored and pleased to send these pictures to you and the world wide folks who love trains, and modeling.

Any in the area with kids, common down! See our website Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department events tab for hours and directions

John from Baltimore.”

A big thanks to John for sharing his fire station train garden pics.

Here’s a few more of his ‘normal’ posts:

HO scale coal mine

Model railroad quarry

Model train IR detector

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you want to get stuck back in to the fun of trains, 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.

Ray’s been in touch with another fab update – and if you’ve ever wondered how to run multiple trains on one track, just do what Ray did…

… make a start and enjoy the problems a layout throws at you.

Here’s his first post if you want to see just how far Ray has come:

3 loop HO train layout

I love seeing how the problems melt away over time and a beautiful layout magically appears.

“Hi Al,

It’s been 7 months since my last update and I have got a lot accomplished since then!

I’ve added a commercial district to the last 4’x4′ section of my layout, I am really proud of the donut that I painted on the donut shop as well as the roof on top of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant!

I managed to fill in my corners which I thought would be difficult but it was easy and I think they turned out well;

I’ve updated my control board, so I can run 3 trains at once, one on each loop!

I’ve added a steam locomotive to pull my two passenger cars! It’s a small 2-6-2 but it blows smoke!

Here’s some additional pics to show some other details:

Still lots to do, mainly ballast and background on the walls, other than the pics from my grandchildren!

I look at your posts almost daily and it inspires me and gives me lots of ideas! The comments I get are helpful and motivating!

To everyone that reads this post Merry Christmas and best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year!

God Bless you and yours and thanks for maintaining this blog.

Ray in Southwest Florida”

So there you go, if you’ve ever wondered how to run multiple trains on one track, just do what Ray did – make that start!

Here’s his first post:

3 loop HO train layout

And here’s his second:

3 loop HO layout update

I know I keep saying it, but it’s all about that start…

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you press the fun button and get started, 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.

Dave’s been in touch with his CSX N scale layout:

“Al

I am a long-time reader. I am in awe of the talent of your contributors.

My layout is 8 X 14 in N scale.

Modern era with CSX, Norfolk and Southern and Amtrak since those are the local railroads (Cleveland area).

The layout is DCC using JMRI to run everything. I use Arduinos extensively to operate the servo turnouts and the crossing signals.

Definitely a work in progress.

Overview: Please excuse the mess on the floor. I have a new young rescue dog whose job is shredding cardboard and disemboweling his toys.

Suburb

Rural

Mountain: All the bridges except the road bridge in the foreground are home made. I found that store bought bridges constrained the spans too much.

Horse Farm and TBD:

City

Industrial Work In Progress:

I have not ballasted the track because a previous mistake filled layout resulted in too much trouble related to stray ballast causing derailments. So I painted the cork gray and called it a day.

There are gaps everywhere that need to be filled in as soon as modelers block is resolved.

I really enjoy the emails you send.

Dave in Strongsville Ohio”

A big thanks to Dave for sharing his CSX N scale layout. Can’t wait to see an update on this one.

I do enjoy seeing the printable buildings on a layout too.

I always think of Bill’s layout when it comes to N scale printable buildings:

N scale rock cliff

Next up is Jay, who sent this in which I quite liked:

“My best model railroading tip, I’d have to say it’s not a technique nor a construction idea. It’s more subtle than that.

My tip is to appreciate the PURE ENJOYMENT OF MODEL RAILROADING no matter the scale. Whether it’s G gauge, O, HO, N, Z or any I’ve missed, model railroading gives those engaged in it the pleasure and satisfaction of planning, creating, constructing and running a railroad that is our own unique self-expression.

Whether we model the serenity of the British country side, the soot and grit of Pennsylvania coal mines and steel mills, or the rugged grandeur of mountain railroads in our Western States – our imaginations can recreate almost any place in the world where we find railroads.

So let your imaginations take you to your favorite place and enjoy creating the model railroad of your dreams. Sure there are challenges but solving them is part of the hobby. So appreciate the fact that Model Railroading gives us a gift – PURE ENJOYMENT.

Jay”

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming, start doing, and join in the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

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