Model railroad layouts plans

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

Herb has been having fun with his HO scale model roundhouse and track – really like what he’s done:

“Hi my name is Herb from Melbourne Australia I enjoy your emails, so i will send a couple of pictures of my layout.

Not much too talk about,& i don’t model any spefic era as my son is austic.

But we get out there & have a great deal of fun & father son bonding time & i believe that’s what’s life is all about.

Plus we get out from under my wife’s feet well that’s all for now.

From Herb & Rick in the land down under.”

“Hi Al,

This picture shows a dismantled L E D christmas light from a multi coloured string. When a string of L E D christmas lights stop working don’t throw it away dismantle it and use the L E Ds in train sets, even if you buy a string of 70 multi coloured lights you will have many different coloured L E Ds for your hobbies sets you just need to figure out what resistance you need to use as they can be used on AC/DC, I have replaced the headlights on some of the Diesel engines sure nice & bright, I have also converted the lighting in some of the passenger cars but you also need to make a reversing bridge to reverse + & – without losing the lights. also different colours use different resistance, and some are assembled a little differently so you just need to experintment.

Ken”

“Hi Al.

One of the most frustrating and demoralizing events in model railroading is when your short wheelbase or sound equipped loco halts be/cause of poor or dirty track.

Fortunately, manufacturers are now beginning to equip locos with “keep alive” or “stay alive” modules that make this problem a thing of the past.

Attached is a photo of a “stay alive” equipped 4 wheel Plymouth switcher that will run all day through any track configuration with absolutely no power loss.

Truly a pleasure to operate even at speed step 1 while watching the couplers mate.

Mark”

A big thanks to Herb for sharing his HO scale model roundhouse, and to Mark and Ken too.

I real mixed bag today – but enjoyed them all. Just goes to show, you don’t have to have a finished layout to enjoy ’em.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get 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.