Model railroad layouts plans

Grant’s been back in touch with his collection of small N scale train layouts:

“Hello Alastair

Because of the large amount of positive feedback I have been receiving from your subscribers, I have decided to pull out my old layouts and give them all a good video.

A while ago I shared information on my original layout, but that has been redone and I would like to share it again with you and your site.

About 20 years ago, while living in a very small apartment, without a tool to my name, I felt the need to move away from my life as a computer nerd, and start using my hands.

But what to build? Can you guess????

Yes, soon the idea of building something out of wood became building a train layout. One that would fit under my couch in my tiny home.

So it began. I had always been a fan of N Scale, particularly its value for space, and this was the obvious choice here.

I started with re-educating myself via Youtube and went on the hunt for what I was going to do. Add in some valuable advice from my local Model Train Hobby Store, some careful experimentation and then all the patience I could muster.

Eventually it was finished, including a box to house it.

I started taking my tiny layout to train shows, where it was a hit among smaller kids who could get close, and eventually once I had moved on to bigger layouts, I would still take it along, with a controller for the kids to use, for a hands on experience.

Now it is two decades, and four layouts later ( I have started a 5th) and it still looks pretty good, and the little Fleischmann 7000 still looks great.

The Video, both old and new can be found on my newly reorganised playlist on YouTube

Thanks again for your site and the messages you share.

Grant”

A big thanks to Grant for sharing his small N scale train layouts.

It makes me happy when I read the blog has inspired a few of you.

It reminded me of Mike’s N scale oval layout.

Also, it’s nice to have a few N scale posts too, they have been a bit thin on the ground recently.

Which reminds me – yesterday I posted Rob’s stunning London underground model trains but I didn’t include the youtube. My fault entirely, I have added it now and it’s well worth a look.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you poke boredom in the eye and join in the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Rob’s been back in touch, this time with his London underground model trains. Stunning stuff:

“Hi Al,

On a recent trip to London, I was taken by the cables draped along the London Underground Tube. Since I have a tube train now, I have been looking for opportunities to bring it out and use it.

I started to think about how all those cables could be modeled and on the flight home, plenty of time to think, I came up with a plan.

It occurred to me that the Evergreen Models company and their line of styrene plastic shapes in modeling sizes would be perfect.

They have tubing, rods, angles, I-beams, and strips in about any size one might need. I had a good collection of styles already and only needed to buy a few more sizes to get started on my project.

When I started this, I had no technical literature to guide me on sizes or spacing so I just used my eye to gauge the distances involved.

I know now from finding some specifications online that I may be a little larger than the actual scale but I think my version works anyway and certainly gives the impression I wanted to express. If things are too small my hands cannot manage them anyway.

I am including a number of photos I took of the real London Underground cabling along with a few photos while I was building my model.

I plan to build at least one more 14-inch section of the cable hangers before I am done but I ran out of material. Not to worry more is on the way.

A huge big thank you to Rob for sharing his London underground model trains.

I thought Rob’s detailing was absolutely spot on – here’s a couple of pics from his trip that he took:

Rob’s done a spectacular job. Hope you enjoyed this post as much as me.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you take that all important first step for your own layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Remember, it’s the start that stops most people…

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Brian’s been back in touch, adding to the collection of HO scale shelf model railroad track plans to the blog:

“Hi Alastair,

I have finally got the track plan of the upper level out of my head and have drawn a sketch to scale and onto paper.

Lots of modellers in the past have asked me for a track plan and where everything fits in it.

I have marked out the main areas of the layout and tried to match photos of these areas shown.

All photos refer to the position on the sketch below.

The dotted lines show where the lower level is on two foot wide shelves. (Plan of the lower level to follow soon)

I have to stress that this layout is a work in progress and still has to have a great amount of details to added. Ie: figures, vehicles, trees and grass.

Terminal & Yard – top middle with engine facilities – turntable and two stall engine house.

Terminal & Yard. Same as above plus business leading up to the town on the hill.

Top left corner, Town on the hill. Tracks in the cutting are to and from the yard and the sawmill area out of the photo on the left.

The sawmill and associated buildings. Right to left – Logging repair shed, Sawdust burner, main Sawmill and the Tie and Plank mill next to it.

Log Loading area. Logs are brought in via road and loaded onto the empty log cars using the Spar Tree.

The start of Hillside area. Here are, an Oil Depot, Scrapyard and a small station.

Continuation of Hillside. Left to right – stock pens, Engineering Co, Lumber storage, Fire house, Hotel and a few businesses. Track at left then continues to Cascade Creek Terminal.

Brian the HOn3 guy in Knysna RSA”

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Well, I had a good look at Brian’s track plan, and I thought, hang on, how does he get in and out of the room?

So I asked him:

“Hi Alastair, where the door is shown on the plan, there is a duck under “bridge” at 54 inches from the floor.

The bridge is removable.

Brian”

Clever stuff, eh?

A huge big thank you to Brian for adding to the HO scale shelf model railroad track plans.

You can see more of Brian in the Hall of Fame.

Also, when it comes to shelf track plans, I’m always reminded of this post:

HO scale track plans for shelf layouts.

Now on to another Hall of fame member, Dave:

“Hi Al,

Winter approaching, just a short video showing covers going on the pond, and so its back to my Model railway with footage of a pair of class 37`s running double headed.

Tony’s nightclub back in full swing as popular as ever, my track cleaner at work , and using the Möbius mini cam capturing the 37`s from track level..all good fun and should put a smile on our faces on these colder days.

Dave”

A big thanks to Dave, his youtubes are always fun, and to Brian too for adding to the HO scale shelf model railroad track plans.

Don’t forget, all layouts and all scales are welcome on the blog. It doesn’t have to be a stunner for all of us to enjoy it.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you break the shackles of boredom and build the layout you always wanted, 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.