Model railroad layouts plans

Frank’s been in touch with a video on a Shay locomotive, and I’ve got another weird and wonderful train today too:

“I found a photo of New York Central Railroad’s experimental jet engine, I have attached a copy,

Greg, Waterford Pennsylvania, U S A.”

Now on to the Shay Locomotive – all the useful stuff is in the comments as usual:

“You should show the Gear Drive models still used in West Va at Cass Scenic Park !!

Fantastic place to visit locomotives 100 years old operating daily !!

Fred”

Fred’s pics reminded me of Mark’s: Shay locomotive train.

Now on to Bob:

“Hi Al,

Love your site and all the tips that your readers come up with.

Here is one of my own.

I built a power supply for my layout out of a discarded computer power supply.

It has 12volt, 5 volt, and 3 volt connections.

12v for incandescent lights, 5v for led lighting and 3v for other lighting( I have a tree in the town square that has a very small light string taken from a battery operated unit )
Also has a USB for charging a phone which I use to control the DCC / JMRI hookup for my trains.

Bob”

“Hi Al,

I have not been able to work on my (read Grandson’s) layout for about 3 years now since the wife got ill. What I was playing with at the time it was mothballed was sound using my LapTop and the sound on the trains. This was my first (and only) attempt. (yes I know there are more door slams than doors on the train, but hey ! )

Once I can get back to working on it I want to get some sounds going for my underground trains ……. train coming into station, doors opening, ambient noises like old time guard shouting ‘Mind the dooooorrrs !’ etc

John”

I know there isn’t much to John’s video but after doing this blog for so many years, two things struck me. Layouts can be put on hold for years – that’s life. You just have to keep going.

And secondly, it always amazes me how much a little bit of sound can transform a layout. I think John’s little vid shows that in spades.

A big thanks to Frank for sharing the Shay locomotive vid.

I’d never heard of a ‘geared steam’ engine before. It’s certainly an interesting video. Does anybody know how/why geared engines came about?

And please don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide if you want to get going on your layout.

That’s all this time folks.

Keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

Jack’s been in touch with his model railroad lake:

“Hi Al,

I guess we all have setbacks with our layouts. I’ve had two in the past week.

I had set up my lake using Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. I had a dock, canoes and a car backing in to unload a boat. A reader of one of my emails said he had trouble with bubbles using Realistic Water. I started having the same problem. The bubbles ruined the scene.

I researched Realistic Water and found that off gassing from the foam insulation causes the bubbles. Woodland Scenics recommends lining the water with plaster cloth, completely sealing the foam. So, I ripped out the lake and lined it with plaster cloth. Back to square one.

The other issue was a water leak on the first floor, that dripped down on the layout in the basement. By the time I found the damage, much of the grass in my residential area was ruined. So, using a dropper and warm water I loosened the grass in small sections at a time and scraped it off.

I’ve got the grass redone and am currently setting the area back up. I’ve got some kids flying kites and others on the playground. The pool party is in progress. A family is fishing at the fishing hole (which also has bubbles, but it’s at the back of the layout so I’ll address it later).

Hopefully now I can get on to making some progress.

Jack In PA”

A huge thanks to Jack for sharing his model railroad lake – I’m sure it’ll save a lot of folk a lot of hours and head scratching.

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

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide – it’s got the thumbs up from all of the Hall of Fame members.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Your questions on adding sound are still coming in thick and fast, so I thought I’d find some more posts on it.

Some of you may remember this one – it’s very simple way to add sound too:

https://modelrailwaylayoutsplans.com/alans-sound-vids/

And Hall of Fame member, Dangerous Dave, has been busy testing the sound on his locos too:

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here

That’s all this time folks, because as you’ve probably guessed I’m pushed for time today.

But please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide – course, I’m biased, but it’ll more than point you in the right direction.

Best

Al