Model railroad layouts plans

I like to put my feet up on Saturdays – but today I’ve finally sat down to iron out some wrinkles on the card model train buildings store.

(It’s all my own fault, there are two stores, which makes things a tad confusing.)

It appears the biggest wrinkle – by a long stretch – is folk are having trouble finding the items they want. Every now and then I get an email asking, “Where can I buy the little bridge?”

So, while I busy myself behind the scenes, I thought I’d not only link to the bridge and tunnel entrance, but also resurrect the silly launch offer – just $9 – but only for a day or two.

If you are new to the site, you just download the scenery, print it out and stick it together.

It really does show how this scenery is only limited by your imagination – John’s enthusiasm is infectious – and it’s fantastic to see all his little tricks that bring these print out scenery buildings to life.

And of course, I’m baised, but I think he really shows what can be done with them:

Here’s some pics too:

And can’t forget the grain elevator too – which also comes with the tunnels:

And here’s what John has scratch built with the same prints:

Print the tunnels out and they are HO scale, for N scale, just reduce the print size by 54%.

The bridge and tunnel entrance will be in the store for $19.97.

But as a launch price, for a few days only, you can grab them both (and the grain elevator) for just $9.97.

That’s both tunnels, and the grain elevator – everything you see in John’s video, for less than $10.

Click here to buy both tunnels for just $9.97

I’m really looking forward to seeing your pics of these. After all, who doesn’t want a tunnel on their layout.

And of course, a huge thank to John. He really is a star (if you missed his embankment-how-to, it’s here).

That’s all this time folks. Please do keep ’em coming.

(The embankment print is HO scale at 100% – as they all are. Print out at 504% for N scale).

Hope you enjoy the card model train buildings, they are a lot of fun.

They are easy to make too, here’s a post showing you how:

Easy way to make printable buildings.

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.

Brian’s been in touch with his double deck HO scale layout:

“Hello Brian here : I have a nice start on a HO freelance layout with many cool features I wish to have your viewers see, since I have always been on the receiving end I thought I could give you my view of what I’m building.

The layout at this time has no name still working on it . But I think I have it to a place I could share it .. I have a few very general pics right now with more to come when I tell my whole story which I think will amaze most viewers.

Its main section is 25×8 with the upper level 38’ the lower main layout has three intersecting loops which allows operators move trains to all loops and up the grade.

The main industry on the layout will be coal the other will be mixed freight, still putting it altogether but that’s what’s cool it keeps the viewers coming back to see the progress.

I’ll have one passenger train on the layout it’s the walthers dinner bell train the station will be on the second level.. there is a small log camp up there also with many other small and med size industry’s yet to be placed . One I know will be a slaughterhouse for the farm on the lower . People gotta eat !!

So for now I’ll end.

Brian”

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Now on to Jan:

“Gday Al,

I have been receiving your posts for quite some time now, some of the tips from your contributors have been very helpful. I thought I would share some photos with you.

My layout was 9 months in the planning and the building of it has been underway for 12 months. My preference for an English layout and OO scale have lead me to creating a town and country setup and for this I have found Metcalf models invaluable. I’m planning my first trip to the UK so up to now it has been episodes of Midsommer Murders/Poirot and suchlike that have inspired my choice of scenery.

I have laid down a double helix track and used some store-bought gear but have also scratch built many of the signals and railway crossings. As an electronic technician I could not help myself and have put lights into all the buildings and designed and built a Control Panel to take care of the 4 main lines and the double helix.

My layout is, as you can imagine, a work in progress and I will send through more photos and information as I progress.

Again thanks for all the help.

Cheers

Jan Watters (Mr)”

Next, Fred:

“Hello Al,

thought this might be of interest the layout has been a long build very stop start ….with the bit of fun filming as the layout is all sorts ….”

Regards Fred’s Wilbury Line

New ebay cheat sheet – still going strong and bagging deals.

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“The best tip for everyone involved in Model railroading is, “To not give up!

Sam”

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Thats all for today folks. Hope you enjoyed Jan’s, Fred’s tips, and Brian’s double deck HO scale.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.

Kurt’s been in touch with his German model railroad.

I do really enjoy the layouts with a theme, especially the ones that are inspired by trips or past events.

And because a layout can be whatever you want it to be, the options are limitless:

“Al,

I’ve been reading your emails now for about a year, and the many postings, along with several YouTube videos I’ve found, have been really helpful for the layout I started in the fall.

Like many of your contributors, I’m resuming a long-dormant hobby I started over 40 years ago when my daughter was a toddler.

I began with a Tyco HO set and adapted track plans from a booklet of blueprints the Atlas Co published on layouts.

To facilitate moving the trainboard, which we used on the floor only at Christmas time (as in my childhood with an O-gauge set of Lionels), I cut a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood down to 6’3” (ca. 1.9m) in length.

Several years later, after my son was born, I had a trip to W. Berlin.

Here I purchased a set of passenger cars and a diesel engine that the Italian company Lima made, these with German and Austrian markings.

I was only interested in running trains, so I quickly filled up the board with dual ovals, a siding, and multiple spurs, running up to 4 engines off two power packs and track insulators separating sections I controlled with Atlas Selectors.

This time I wanted to add a control station with a track diagram, and that approach required relatively complicated wiring through a terminal block.

The setting is a village of half-timber buildings that could be anywhere from Troyes in eastern France to Maribor in Slovenia.

But the DB markings on the engine and cars give it away as Germany, probably near Austria (one car has ÖBB markings).

The fictional town is called Müllerslust, based on a song, “Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust” [my translation is: Traveling is a Müller’s joy], and the town is therefore Müller’s Joy.

Since I have no experience building scenery, I made many mistakes and adapted accordingly.

I started building a tunnel with a long, initially gradual, grade, but for a vineyard I wanted on the hill, I searched the internet and discovered how steep the vineyards in the Mosel Valley are—and I found the possibility of cutting the gradation to accommodate a road.

The pictures I found online helped immensely.

The style of one building is a couple of centuries newer, and I have an anachronistic Baroque garden in the town center (though it goes well with the non-matching building, part of a lot I bought on eBay—thanks for that frequent suggestion).

I’m now far enough along with Phase 1 to share pictures.

Phase 2 will add lighting, some of which will run grain-of-wheat bulbs on AC and others will run LEDs on DC. For the latter, I’m going to use an old mobile-phone charger, which will provide a constant voltage at an appropriate level.

As you’ll see from the photo of the control block, there is sufficient space to add switches for the lights or other things.

In Phase 3 I’ll add road signage. One problem I discovered with Faller kits, which I like for their detail, is that they sometimes require supplemental kits not identified in their descriptions.

I have a two-track crossing that will eventually need sensors, and a park fountain that requires a pump to circulate real water.

I now have the pump, but it’s not clear what sensors are appropriate.

I had read that Woodland’s “Realistic Water” often develops bubbles.

While we were on vacation, and the trainboard was in the hot garage, the last pre-vacation layer of “water” turned somewhat brown in the shallow pond. With subsequent layers the murkiness has diminished considerably.

For the deeper water (upper left in the picture), I added blue food coloring to the next layer; I used too much coloring, but I notice that in this section I don’t have the bubble problem. The picture makes it look like there are bubbles, but what you see is really a slight rise around the rocks (talus).

Do any of your readers have suggestions on how to avoid the bubbles? It seems the problem develops over several days; you don’t see it right away.

Best wishes,

Kurt”

I love that so many of us return to this hobby after decades away, and it’s still just as fun.

A big thanks to Kurt for sharing his German model railroad.

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.