Model railroad layouts plans

Jacob’s been in touch with his 8×12 O gauge. It’s unusual because he’s combined it with an HO on the upper deck:

“Hi Al,

I read your column almost daily, and learn quite a bit each time. I grew up in steel mill country in Western Pa, and heard trains running 24/7/365 in and out of the steel mills.

It was always busy at the mills, Homestead Steel Mill and J&L Works. Watched them as a kid from a hillside about 400 ft. above the mills along the Monongahala River. So trains and mills are in my blood. To a child, it all looked like a magical miniature train layout.

Had Lionel’s growing up and still have original Lionel Berkshire engine & freight train I received from my parents at Christmas, 1949. Still runs great.

Now retired and returned to the hobby. I built a combined 8×12 O Gauge/HO layout, with O Gauge on upper deck, HO below. Decided to build a separate HO layout (6 x 8 ft) in the same large room, featuring a double deck, model steel mill, rolling mill & coal mine scenes. Kits for all of these are under construction.

Been working on it for about six weeks. Here’s progress so far.

Trains will go up to upper deck (coal mine area) come back down the other side, loop into steel mill area, disappear under far deck, then reappear and go back to upper deck.

There will be a PRR passenger train around the outside of the bottom and steel mill hot metal & slag cars, and a coal train on other tracks.

Like many others, the surroundings of my youth will be recreated in my layout. There’s an opening for access to tracks against the back wall with a hatch. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Having a lot of fun building two layouts, O Gauge & HO. I enjoy both gauges.

My 21 month old grandson loves the trains too.

Enjoying retirement in Florida,

Jay”

“Al,

For drying spent tea, and coffee grounds for that matter, try the microwave oven. Place the material on a plate, spread them out and give it about 25 seconds, let it cool and repeat three times. Any more than 25 seconds at a time and the coffee grounds will start to fly around in the microwave and no one will like that. This is one of the few good uses that I have found for microwave ovens.

Russ

Hampden,ME USA”

That’s all for today, folks.

A big thanks to Jacob – looking forward to his updates on that 8×12 O gauge!

Just goes to show making a start is the most important part of this hobby.

And if you want to make your start, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here. Still going strong.

Rick’s been in touch again with his 4×8 HO layout:

“Al,

Attached are photo updates for Grand Junction, the layout I built for my grandkids in our crawl space (4×8 HO layout).

As you can see, we’ve been busy adding details to the layout including finding pin-striping that was nearly a spot on match for road dividing lines and parking lot markings.

Someone asked in the previous post about the inclines I used in the layout and in case someone had not answered, they are from Woodland Scenics. While I like to create most of the scenery myself, these precut inclines are too good to pass up.

I also realized a part of this hobby I do not enjoy and that is ballasting switches. It seems no matter how much I brush away the excess, there seems to be a little piece that gets stuck in the switch which the trains do not like!

All in all, a great hobby supported by your ongoing articles and sheer fun we have with the grandkids.

So much so that as you can see in the final picture, I’ve already built another table and started an extension to the existing layout. The new track extends from switches in the tunnel and will roll around a few new houses, a church, another lake and a construction site.

More to follow as the new extension unfolds!

Thanks again for keeping us engaged with your reader’s posts!

Rick”

A huge thanks to Rick – wonderful to see his 4×8 HO layout growing. Can’t wait to see the next one (his last post is here by the way).

It’s wonderful to see some of the printable buildings on a layout too.

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“Hi Al

I have been a silent reader of your hints and tips for some time.

I live in Australia and since retiring have moved into a unit (apartment) with a double garage underground. Because we have only one car there is a space where I have set up a layout.

It’s been 2 years of frustration because every time I came to run the trains, I would have to clean the tracks and even then the engines would stop in places. I told my cousin about it . He works in telecommunications. He suggested a product called no-ox-id. It’s a conductive grease. I put a little on the rails and on the wheels and after 2 circuits the engines were working smoother than they ever did. And what’s more, they work first time even after a few days.

Best wishes

Geoff”

“Hi Al.

Got a bit further with the layout and the re design, this shows adding ballast, painting it, and adding rust to the rails, then showing a new station Platform I built using the Peco Platform edging…

Regards

Dave”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Thanks to Dave and Rick.

And if you feel you’re missing out on all the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

That’s all for today folks, please do keep ’em coming.

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.

Jim’s been back in touch with his model railroad canal layout. It’s HO scale and 6×4:

“Hi Al;

Work on the railroad is winding down, i.e. it’s getting warm outside! I previously sent pictures showing the canal I had made of the Miami-Erie canal of western Ohio in 1908 as well as the area around it.

NW Ohio was a hot bed of the industrial revolution in the US at that time with oil being the largest industry and auto making, engine manufacturing as well as gas production all beginning to play major parts. The canal was no longer the major method of freight transportation but very much in use until a massive storm wiped it out in 1913.

The attached pictures show the completed oil well and canal boat which will fill out the scene of this part of the 6 x 4 HO layout.

The canal boat shown is based on actual diagrams I found at a local museum and is scratch built from basswood, balsa wood and modeling styrene. The scene is fiction as it shows my wife and I at the landing with our Ford model A and dog meeting our friends who at that time supposedly run a floating gaming boat. I love adding friends and family into the layout with stories made for each.

The oil rig is supposed to be part of our son’s growing oil empire, Gordy Oil. The 4-4-0 in the picture is a Southern Railway coming to visit. Eventually it will be bought and lettered Holland Odessa!

I’ve tried to provide larger pictures then last time. Hope you enjoy traveling back in time.

Jim”

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Just loved Jim’s pictures – model railroad canal scenes are few and far between. You can see how he started here.

And now on to Chris. Can anyone help?

“Hello Alastair,

Question about track fitting together.

We are building this layout using brand new o27 three rail Lionel track.
When joining two together, should they meet? or is the slight space (pins showing) normal.

Experimented using a drill bit to spread (gently) the three openings, solves the issue however this makes for a loose fit.
My impression, is to simply fit them come what may…

I’m 58 and have not spent time with trains since 1972…..

Looking forward to your advice….

Thank you,

Christopher”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thanks to Jim. His last post really does show this hobby is all about making a start. So if you feel it’s your time to shine, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

That’s all for today folks, please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al