Model railroad layouts plans

Rob’s been in touch with how to make curves out of train track roadbed:

“Hi Al,

I have heard people say my favorite track bed, Woodland Scenics Road Bed is hard to work around curves.

Hearing that, and having the need to install some around a curve today, I put together a short 4 minute video demonstrating how I do it.

I love this stuff because it is such a great acoustic barrier between the track and the wood of the bench that supports it. I don’t want to hear wood reverberating when my trains run over the track, I just want to hear the wheels. I have absolutely no connection with the company that makes this stuff.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there,

All the best, Rob – Farland Howe”

Rob’s how to make curves out of train track roadbed youtube:

Now on to Terry:

“Al: Thought I would pass along this tip for members who are still old school and using block sections to control their trains:

I’ve been in the train mode for over 50 years and of course during that time I’ve torn down as many layouts as I built and reused track, insulated spacers etc.

A few day ago I was trying to fix a section of track that caused constant derails. It was the end of a curve going into a switch with an insulated connector on one of the tracks.

Several readjustments of the curve had no effect and it wasn’t until I finally took a real close look at the connector that I found the problem.

The insulated connectors, which as most know, looks like a regular one but have a short pin that sticks up to block the space between the rail almost like an upside down “T”. (—/—)

To my surprise I found that over time and reuse, the “T” pin had worn down or broken off at the base and left too much space at the top for the rails to join without a wheel being caught while passing over!

Replacing it with a new insulated connector solved the problem immediately and of course reduced the number of civil suits filed by injured passengers against the Damnit Railroad to zero!

So my tip to others…is check the “T” to make sure it’s still intact. Sure saves a lot of unneeded worry and concern.

Terry

Idaho USA”

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“Hi alistair thought you might like to see the progress of my 6’ x 3’ layout still a lot of work to do, with careful planning and the right choice of track it can be achieved as I could not find any track plans to fit my space

Regards

Michael”

Some folk ask me why I keep posting pictures of layouts that are bearly more than a bench with some track. I’ll tell you why: this hobby is all about making a start. It’s more than half the battle.

And speaking of making starts, the Beginner’s Guide will point you in the right direction – it’s cram packed with tips.

But now on to something else – something I do get a lot of mails on: finding stuff on the site.

If you fancy ferreting through years and years of posts and would like to find the pages relevant to your layout, then I suspect you’ll like this: a search box! I’ve called it the Golden Key.

In a nutshell, it lets you search through every post I’ve ever done (and believe me, there’s a lot of them).

But it comes at a cost. Sorry. Don’t worry though, it won’t break the bank – just $9.97. And that’s for life too. So one payment gets you a life time of searching. You can search until the cows come home, it’s yours for good.

Truth be told, without the Golden Key there wouldn’t be a site at all.

Anyhow, here’s what ‘the golden key’ will do for you. Press play and have a look:

And just to soften the blow, I’m throwing in with it, one of the printable buildings – this house below:

(If you’re new to the print out scenery, you just download it, print it and stick it together. It’s a lot of fun. Here’s John making one of the prints:

My word, I don’t think I’ve ever posted 3 youtubes in one go before.

So there you have it, the Golden Key and the green house, all for just $9.99.

Just so you know, the Golden Key sells for $19.97 on the site, and green house $9.97, so you saving just under $20.

And what’s more, you’ll be able to search and ferret through the blog until your hearts content.

Click here to buy the Golden Key Search Page.

That’s all for today folks.

A big thanks to Terry, Michael, and to Rob for his ‘how to make curves out of train track roadbed’ youtube.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

Sam’s been in touch with his HO scale steam crawler crane:

“Hi Al,

It’s great seeing what other modelling enthusiasts are up to some of the amazing work really inspires me to do more stuff on my own layout.

Anyhow, I’ve been working on an industrial section of my layout (unfinished) and I’ve been experimenting making some steam cranes from various Bachmann and Hornby loco’s many of which have some damage so ripe for modifying.

The J72 is a The Bachmann and I was trying to replicate a J92 LNER crane from the late 1800’s as the J92 isn’t a model readily available.

The 0-4-0 tank engines are made from Hornby tank engines (Smokey Joe type) and represent many little steam cranes found on regional railways in the early 1900’s.

The green one is of course Dubsey, now preserved on the Foxfield Railway and is based on a Hornby 0-4-0 tank engine with the cab and other detail cut away and new parts added.

I then had a go at making Harvey from Thomas the Tank Engine Series as this is also based on Dubsey but in crimson and with slightly different detail.

The final one is based around a Hornby E2 LBSC loco actually inspired by an Austrailian Z class

The later ones have jibs that can rotate freely, all loco’s run and I’m now working on a version with an operating hook and chain…..

Any way, I hope you like these.

Sam”

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And some more ‘ai’ fun with Sam’s cranes:

(Watch on youtube here.)

“After 40 years of being out of the hobby, I decided to build my grandson a set. It had to fit under his bed, hence the flattop mountains.

It definitely got me back into the hobby I’ve always loved so much. The case has a piece of clear plastic that slides over the top to keep out dust and a door that flips down in the back in case of derailments in the mountains.

Thanks for all the blogs and ideas!

John”

That’s all for today, folks. A big thanks to John and to Sam for sharing his HO scale steam crawler crane.

And if you think everyone else is having all the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

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.

Ian’s been in touch with his OO scale shelf layout:

“Dear Al

As it was getting rather cold operating the layout in the garage I decided to build a shelf layout in the office.

The size is 7’ 6” by 1’ 6” and is set up over two cupboards. The layout has come after I have studied a number of layouts in the Railway Modeller magazines.

The backdrop is in Cumbria but the layout is not really based on any particular place. And yes the bus is from Glasgow. I have fond memories of going up there to see my Scottish grand parents and have always liked the trams and buses from that time.

There are seven points on the layout and have taken Dave’s advice in having surface mounted points, however I needed another transformer to operate them.

The tunnel could be considered as a fiddle area but I cannot get behind the cupboards to take full advantage. Hope you like the pictures and all the best to you and your readers of your great site.

Regards

Ian”

“Hi Al,

I have had very good progress building out the new Farland Layout. I finished the farm, I got Far Moor Village built, Far Cliff Beach with it’s Caravan Park, Car Park and camping coach are now installed. So, I am turning my attention to the completely unfinished side, the Howe Street side.

The first thing I decided needed to be done was to clean up the track going through the station. When I originally put this track in, it was a bit haphazard.

I didn’t know yet what I would be doing on this side of the layout, so the track was just laid in to get the trains through and make continuous loops. One loop each going both ways for the passenger trains. Which I am most interested in and one loop going both ways for freight. My intent has been to run the freight as a single line.

More recently I have added a crossover from the freight to the down main and another back again to the freight line in Far Moor. There are also crossovers going both ways on the passenger lines just outside of what will be the Howe Street Station (HSS).

I have installed a run around in Far Moor so that a locomotive can come around to the other end of the rake and pull it back to HSS going in reverse. By adding one conventional crossover in the Howe Street Station and using one of the others just outside of (HSS), service to and from Far Moor from HSS can be continuous. Therefore, I am removing the X crossovers in HSS.

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The distance between the passenger tracks was dictated by the X overs in the beginning and now they can move closer together. That will free up more space for the freight yard and the steam shed and diesel maintenance area.

Here is a link to a short video as the process begins and I fill in the first passenger loop after ripping out virtually all the track in the HSS area.

One question that is always asked is why, as a North American, am I modeling British outline trains and scenery. The answer is that as a very young and impressionable boy, I lived in London for a time. We as a family spent a great deal of time traveling the UK by rail and it just stuck. The more I have learned, the more interested I have become.

Thank you, Al, for all you do for us in the modeling community. I think I can safely say, we all appreciate it greatly.

Rob – Farland Howe”

Latest ebay cheat sheet here.

A huge thanks to Ian for sharing his OO scale shelf layout, and to Rob too.

Hope you enjoyed Rob’s video as much as I did. He really does pack a whole load of tips in to his vids (his last post is here).

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.