Model railroad layouts plans

Dan’s been back in touch. He talks us through his HO scale trestle template and how it all come together. Stunning stuff:

“For this segment of the layout, I wanted a long trestle. Who doesn’t want one? But not just any old one.

Most trestles have bents marching from short to long and then long to short as needed. I wanted the trestle to look as if the scenery was there first.

Remember we pick and choose the local, time, and place for our scenery. Some compromises need to be made to satisfy the look we might want.

As I began to design the scene, I realized that it would have to be on a curve. This gave me the name of the canyon. The trestle was the arc of a rainbow. As you will see later, the canyon rocks have different subtle colors in the various layers of sedimentary rocks.

I have a copy of All-Nation Line Bridges and Trestles from the 1950’s or so. This was when everyone built bridges of wood even though they might be plate girder bridges. I had previously built, from a Campbelle kit, a short trestle, and a short, curved trestle perhaps 10 years before this project.

You will see the short curved trestle in the next installment. This gave me the confidence to jump into the project.

I made copies from the book of the various segments: bents, stringer placement, and tie placement. I made jigs for the bents and went to work. I knew how long the trestle was to be and then calculated how many bents of the different sizes to make. The bents are 16 feet center to center.

I pre stained all the scale lumber a lighter color than creosote. This was to be a focal point on the layout, and I did not want to have a dark space for them to look at. I used super glue for the assembly.

I learned that the wood soaked up the glue like a sponge. I had to put a dab of glue on the ends to be joined and let it set up. Appling glue again for the final setup. I then went back and drilled very small holes at all the joints and put scale bolt heads in the holes. Yep, a lot of bolts. It looks good though.

The trestle is right in front of the visitors, so the work was worth it.

Once the bents were done, assembly began. I built it upside down. Once two bents were in place, I connected them to make a tower. I took me two weeks of evenings to assemble. Unfortunately, I did not take photos while I assembled the trestle. I was too occupied with the construction.

The canyon rocks were assembled the same way as my other rocks.

The space where Rainbow Canyon will go. Also, you can see part of the trestle which at this point is finished and will be making the scenery fit the trestle as we go. The glue bottle is where the track for the trestle will be exiting a tunnel. The large area near the red and white spray bottle will be an access hole for oopses.

The canyon to be. The green piece of cardboard is a shield to block light from another tunnel to be. The tunnel will take the mainline to the lower level seen as the lowest track in the photo. The middle track leads to the tunnel and the upper track leads to the trestle to com.

Fitting the trestle to the scenery. The trestle at this time is removable so I can paint the rocks.

A little farther along.

HO scale trestle template – it now fits the scenery.

Another view.

The finished trestle. I hand laid the track on all of my bridges including trestles.

Later the trees will be added. You can see the subtle coloration in the different layers of rock.
The track on the trestle actually cross in the tunnel. A little compromise to make it work. The track, going counter clock wise, enters the tunnel and goes to Burnt Lake. The next post I will be doing.

Now for the ugly side of the HO scale trestle template. I make a base and then stack the ceiling tile.

Another view of a base and more stacking.

I mentioned in another photo that there was a pop up hole to come. Here it is. The rock surround the hole and the rocks are finished on BOTH sides. This way if you are tall enough to see over the mountain. it looks finished.

Look to the upper right of the photo and you can see the opening to the pop up hole. The rest of the view is Burnt lake at the top and the track is the spiral up and down to the lower level. I did not make a helix. The grade is 3.5% that matches Santa Fe’s Raton Pass grade.

The tourist train to Burnt Lake makes the obligatory stop to photograph the canyon and the sign.

The info about the trestle.

The RDC brings employees to Burnt Lake…explained in the next installment.

A closeup of the Grant Line bolts. Every joint has a bolt on the HO scale trestle template.

Details around each bent leg. Beside ground foam, the fine gravel/sand is ground up kitty litter.

It appears a hobo camp has been established.

I know there are those who think this is not likely to happen. However, there is a very good reason for this. As i was working on this scene I had several visitors to the layout. They kept looking for trains to appear here. So instead of covering it up, I put a scene there in that space. You have to look for it so it is OK. Visitors always look to see what is in the bottom of Rainbow canyon.

The other side of the canyon.

Thanks for looking.

Thanks, Al for letting me pontificate some more.

Dan”

Well, I think it should be me thanking Dan for sharing his HO scale trestle template. Amazing narrative and amazing pics.

Trestle bridges come up quite often on the blog. These posts spring to mind:

HO scale curved trestle bridge.

HO scale wooden trestle bridge.

Jim’s N scale is just as impressive:

N scale steam layout.

A huge big thanks to Dan for putting this together.

If you want to see more of Dan’s stuff, his last post is here:

HO scale railroad crossing.

One last thing – pleased do email me if you’d like to share your layout. It doesn’t have to be a knock out stunner to be enjoyed on the blog. Everyone, and every layout is welcome.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you roll up your sleeves, start laying track, and join in the fun, 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 back in touch, and I’m glad he has too. There aren’t many Kato tram layouts on the blog, so I’m glad he’s added to the collection:

Firstly, thanks to those of you who gave some great feedback on my last report ‘Track Curve Radius’ regarding spider problems on Grandpa’s Wonderful Railway.

Like myself, many of you will have assumed that the spider(s) concerned were our everyday garden and household arachnids.

However, it turns out now, after a press embargo has been lifted, that it was the work of Doctor Olaf Spatula.

Some time ago, he had moved into the then unoccupied Castle Red Rock (not shown on my previous report for ‘literary’ reasons!) above the sleepy North Devon village of Northlew, home to the Rocks Chocs chocolate factory, and the GWR steam heritage line.

At one time, the strange Swedish born recluse, had been recognised as a genius in the developing science of neurological control of suburban wildlife and household pests (something very close to our own hearts suffering constant lawn damage from badgers and squirrels, and floral borders being demolished by deer!).

But, it would seem that during his experiments, which he had moved to the empty castle for reasons of privacy and fear of commercial espionage, things had gone terribly wrong.

The ‘Daddy Long Legs Spider’ or cellar spider (Pholcus phalangioides) that had been injected with a biochemical developmental drug had mutated terribly into a black hairy giant, many times it’s own size, capable of bringing a whole model railway to a standstill before you could say “Peter Parker”!

Thankfully, what could have been a clear and present danger from this credible threat was avoided when the beast was destroyed by a siege of its lair underneath the castle by SAS special forces.

After discovering suspicious material on the dark web traced back to the castle, Doctor Spatula was reported to have been secreted away, presumably to a high security ‘facility’!

The castle, including its contents of suspect substances, and, contaminated areas of the village, were made safe by specialists from the Starboard Down Biological and Chemical Weapons Establishment.

Since this major biological environmental incident, the village has become a tourist attraction which has resulted in major redevelopment for the village.

Rocks Chocs moved their production to a brand-new larger facility on the outskirts of the village after there being a massive global demand for their new themed products – Silk Tray, Wonderwebs, Venom bars, Fangtastics, Silky Bars and Spinnerets.

The heritage line’s Northlew Station and Goods Yard had to be relocated due to a massive sink hole caused by the giant spider’s underground nest.

On a positive note, the Director of the heritage line has reported a healthy increase in takings which he has put down to the huge increase in tourists to the area.

The land was cleared, stabilised and included new development with shops, Post Office, hotel and the Castle Inn.

The Bank of Mum and Dad moved into new premises in the High Street and specialises mainly in crypto currency (Great question folks – why do they need the expense of a bank building!).

Betty from the corner shop, Mr Davies the grocer and local residents of Station Approach, after staging a sit-down protest attaching themselves to fencing with residual spider’s webs, forced the local authority to allow them to keep their properties. The new Metro tram line was built to accommodate the influx of tourists.

The castle ‘vacated’ by Doctor Spatula is now a luxury hotel – The Redrock. Renovations were funded by a wealthy philanthropist with the initials JRR, strangely the same as my wife’s. (Note: The castle/hotel is named firstly, after Red Rock Mountain a piece of music for wind band by Rossano Galante, which we enjoy playing, inspired by the mountain in Pennsylvania.

Secondly, the castle name is also a link to our holiday last year when we stayed in the wonderfully located Rimrock Hotel in the Rockies, Banff, Canada.

And, lastly, of course, the connection to our family name Rockey. Astute observers will have noticed that my ‘mountain’ is not particularly red – artistic licence!)

Post Redevelopment Notes of my Kato tram layouts track:

The re-laying of track on the bottom two double track circuits involved very careful measurement and testing before any scenery was built to ensure that all locomotives and rolling stock cleared on parallel curves.

I also avoided the use of flexitrack, by using Peco Set Curves. However, in joining the new tracks to the existing, two further breaks in flexitrack occurred!

Thankfully, to save my sanity, my wife Jeanette and nephew Josh both got very much involved underneath the layout in helping with the very trying task of re-joining the
tracks.

Readers may be surprised to know that the whole new area (including the tram oval circuit) above the bottom and middle tracks is built on a double thickness (75mm) polystyrene insulation board.

This means that if such a further catastrophe such as a derailment happened on any of the two bottom layers, access could be achieved ‘easily’ by lifting off the top layer.

Scenery is polystyrene based with a layer of either plaster bandage or Sculptamold where appropriate to maintain minimum overall weight. The hairpin roadway to the castle is based on the Maloja Pass in Switzerland.

The castle itself is a modified Faller kit (232242).

The tram circuit is supplied by an electronic station stop module (SSM1 from Block Signalling) via an electrical connector to the power supply.

Tram detection is through two infra-red sensors under the track at the station. The tram and track are manufactured by Kato.

I’ve never used Kato track before but it was perfect for my Northlew Metro tram line based loosely on the UK Midland Metro which does run partly off-street on former railway lines.

The Kato track connects together well ensuring that the tram runs very smoothly. The catenary system was rather tricky trying to get the wire to follow the track profile! The catenary masts are Dapol and the wire is Ernie Ball Gauge 11 guitar string.

Final Note: I will be extremely careful in future removing spiders’ webs from those existing corners of the layout with flexi-track curve. Perhaps a fluffy duster rather than a vacuum cleaner nozzle!!

Thanks for reading, and constructive comments always appreciated.

Best to all

Brian, Wokingham, UK”

A huge big thank you to Brian for adding to the Kato tram layouts on the blog.

The castle reminded me of Rob’s post:

Model railroad castles

And the tram reminded me of these:

Kato unitram

HO scale tram

That’s all for today – a big thanks to Brian – I do enjoy the Kato tram layouts.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you decide to join in on the fun, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Remember, it’s all about that start.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Dan’s been in touch with an excellent ‘how to’ on ho scale gondola loads.

But what made me smile from ear to ear is the other ‘how to’ at the bottom of the post. Clever stuff!

“I was asked to make removable scrap loads for a man’s layout for which I was doing the scenery. When finished I submitted an article to Model Railroader. They published the article in January 2009.

Here I will give a little more photo help than they published.

Keep in mind that these iron scrap loads were to his liking. I might have not made the steel so “rusty”.

Finished product. I have included a load of aluminum.

Parts needed. A piece of ply wood. One piece painted and one unpainted. Scrap aluminum. There is a place that makes specialized windows not far from me. I asked for a bag of scraps and they gave some to me. Later I took one of the cars to show them what I did with the scraps. The all important paper clip. You will also need white glue.

Cut the plywood to just slightly under sized of the gondola. This will make it easier to lift out the load. One could use foam. However, we wanted some mass to simulate a load.

The messy part. Don’t try this on you kitchen table WITHOUT waxed paper or you might be sleeping on the couch. Make a nice layer of white glue. Sprinkle on the scraps. Lightly press down the scraps. * When nearly dry, drizzle on a little water to draw up some glue. You might drip on 50/50 mix of white glue and water. Set aside at least a day. Then scrape away any of the scraps sticking to the sides and ends so the load will clear the gondola.

* The paper clip! Cut off an end to make a small loop. Insert this in the mix near the middle. This will be the handle to lift out the load.

The finished load. Choose colors you want. This is the color he wanted.

I don’t have photos of pulp wood loads I did for another fellow. In this case, I used a foam insert sculpted to conform to the way the loads look. Slightly wavy.

I made the top of the foam about 1/4 inch below the car’s top. I used white glue and sawdust for the wood pulp. In the middle of the load I buried a bolt. Using a magnet the load was easily lifted out.

Have fun!

Dan”

A big thanks to Dan for sharing his way of making HO scale gondola loads – there’s quite a few on the blog now and it’s great to see the different ways you do things:

Mark’s afternoon project.

HO train industries

Weathering gondola.

And these model railroad skills can be useful you know.

Dan also sent me this and it had me beaming from ear to ear so I thought I’d post it too.

Hope you enjoy it as much as me.

“Al, here is the project I have been working on for the past two weeks.

When the paper is put into the paper box, it is hard to see if the paper has come or not. Short of actually going down stairs and outside we can’t see in the box.

After early January I will not be aloud to go up or down stairs more than twice a day as I recovery from a fusion in my lower back.

This solves the problem…..a one of a kind.

Dan”

A big thanks to Dan – please do leave a comment below on either post, I’d love to know your thoughts.

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.