Model railroad layouts plans

Lawrence has been in touch, adding to the HO scale train layouts 16 x 8. He’s been a busy man, and he has some sage advice too.

(His last post is here).

“AL

An update to my layout.

I started last summer a complete novice. And now I am paying for that lack of knowledge. I did not know to solder all the track joints. So now I am going back and soldering them, and in most cases, means repositioning the track itself a little bit.

Slowly as I can afford it I am getting autos, people, and animals. I have made all the trees, about 400 of them. If a lot of the buildings look familiar, yup they are from Al’s gallery. I used 0.04 styrene sheet for all of them. Including dividing the inside of the buildings for future lighting.

In my previous set of pictures, I had put the track down and then redid a lot of the track to work with steam engines. Well until two weeks ago I only had one steam engine. It was a passenger engine and coal car. I had both tracks working 100% both ways.

Two weeks ago, I got my second steam, freight engine and coal car. The new one is four inches longer, so guess what! Sixty percent of the curves are marginal off for the new engine. As you can see with one of the pictures I lifted one full curve and realigned it to allow my new engine to run.

Most of the scenery is pretty much done (ya sure thing?). The farm layout has wheat, and corn fields, cattle and horse grazing. The mountain pass has a motorcycle club riding in. The group fits the time era of this layout as the are the Boozefighters MC which is the first motorcycle club established, in 1946. Have included an area for camping and hunting. Unhappy the hunters I could get only used guns as I hunt with a longbow.

The lake is two layers of about five eight inches deep of deep water. I did it that way so I could use a trick I learned on here. After the first layer of deep water had hardened I added the rice for the fish, glued in. then added the second layer of deep water. The fish are inside the water and with the light they have a shadow on the bottom. The boat also has its shadow. And for those that watch Doctor Who you will find a Tardis.

I added the basic drawing of the layout. A couple of future plans to add this coming summer. I did not add the electrical design for the lights. I have a long way to go before I get there. But the power supply has been build from a computer power supply. From left to right is 12V at 32 Amps, 12 V at 0.5 Amps, 5V at 18 Amps, 3.3 V at 18 Amps and ground. Then there is the power on switch, and power light. The three-position switch if for front of buildings, sides or back of buildings, and street lights respectively.

I learned a LOT both by doing and reading all the stuff sent out by Al. I want to thank Al and all the rest of you for passing on the great layouts and knowledge.

Lawrence”

ho scale train layouts 16 x 8:

A huge thank you to Lawrence for adding to the HO scale train layouts 16 x 8 on the site. It’s wonderful to see a layout come to life, and even better when we all get to learn from the odd mistake too.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

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

Remember, Lawrence was a complete beginner – look at him now!

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Rob’s been back in touch – but first a tip from Kim:

“Hi Al.

These are my sidewalks .They are not tacked down yet or painted yet.

I used the shelf trim with the glue side up to walk on.

Then i used coffee stir sticks to stiffen it and to raise it up. When glueing the sticks, stagger them to keep it stiff.

I added a strip onto the bottom and attached to the stir stick’s to act as water guttering (warning Al, don’t use white glue as it wont stick well). I use instant glue.

To turn left or right with the sidewalks, place sticks left or right as in photo.

When you finished a section, take fine sandpaper and run it along the road side of the sidewalks yo make it square and smooth. Then glue a small strip to make the guttering.

Now for the 1/100 scale or Ho scale bike. I used left over Led posts ya cut off. If you are really interested in how to make those bike’s i will send in a more informative way to make them. Was pretty easy. But i think you agree and use the word dang it’s small, honestly Al.

I think my bikes look more realistic than any plastic bike you can buy at this scale, if you can get them and i dont think ya can. Seat and peddles will be added later.

Im trying to make a sort of jig to follow how to make a mass amount. I could see a bike race on the road with these. I also attempted a kids bike. Now understand,this is my first tiny bike, so wont be perfect.

Tell me what ya think.

Can ya see a bunch in a bike rack in front of a store or something, or a bike shop?

Kim”

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“i have a tip,i make a lot of stone walls,i first coat the screen or surface with plaster. after its dry i mix another batch with what’s called rainbow cement color (its cheep) comes in black or red,a little black makes gray.

i then coat the surface with almost smooth surface.let dry and take a small screw driver and drag across the surface to make bricks,the red really looks like brick.the screw driver goes through the red or gray layer and makes motor joints.

Mike”

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“I use the plastic sprues left over from a model. I take them and use them for metal piping for oil refineries, gas stations, rooftop vents, etc. I also use them for scenery, pipe loads. I cut them down to the size of the load, I also drill out the ends, and then paint them whatever color you need to give it a more real appearance. I don’t have a pic handy, but I just made a fuel island for my truck stop. Hope someone can use this idea.

John”

Now on to Rob. (His last post is here).

“Hi Al,

I have been busy building the new Farland Howe.

My village of Far Moor is about complete and I will be done with one side of the layout in the next few weeks. It will be time to start on the other side at that point. Here are a few still photos of what I have been doing.

I have also sent you a link to a video with the camera on the train so one can see things from the track. Sort of a view out the window of the train. Don’t worry about the bump in the tunnel, I had the camera too high and it bumped the side.

Rob”

Brand spanking new ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thanks to Rob – I do love his updates. You can see more of his stuff here.

And if he’s got you champing at the bit to start yours, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

That’s all this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

JD’s been in touch again again with his HO scale steam era buildings. You can tell he’s a fan of the 1800s.

(His last post is here (at the bottom).)

“Hello Alastair, and all my fellow model railroaders.

I have been busy working on my layout called Ceder Junction.

The time period I am trying to model is the late 1800 s in the western United States.

It is a favorite period for me for some reason.

It started when I was a teenager and has never gone away. I love steam engines, the old style passenger cars and all the old time details that I am trying to add.

A lot of my stuff is scratch built ,one of my favorite things to do.

Now I am going to add more grasses ,trees, people and lots more details, which I am finding out takes a lot of time.

I have seen a lot of beautiful layouts on this site and I commend all of you for your hard work and skills and modeling all the different layouts.

It is amazing how everyone has great ideas and knowledge about model railroading.

Thus site has been so helpful, and I look every morning for Alastairs updates

Thank you for the dedicated work you do everyday Alastair.

Jim D from N. Dighton , MA ., USA”

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HO scale steam era buildings:

(Watch on youtube here.)

Now on to Dave:

“Hi Alistair, just uploaded this video, it shows the rolling road in more detail as requested by a subscriber, also a new Loco I have taken delivery of to day, a small tank Loco, and as shown it goes very well with a rake of 3 Celestory coaches…but again with a small rake of Freight trucks…

Regards

Dave”

Brand spanking new ebay cheat sheet is here.

That’s all for today folks, a big thanks to Dangerous Dave and JD for his HO scale steam era buildings. (I do love an update).

Please do keep ’em coming, and thank you for the comments on the new ebay cheat sheet.

That’s all for today folks.

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.

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