Model railroad layouts plans

Rod’s been in touch again. He’s been on his travels – I do love all the odd train stuff that comes in:

“A trip behind ‘Himalayan Bird’ to Ghoom and back on the ‘Toy train’ tourist shuttle.

The loco is a Sharp, Stewart B class 0-4-0ST dating from 1892

First, just out of Darjeeling, a roadside stop to take water and some local advice on getting the injector to run nicely.

Secondly, firing up at the stop for the Gurkha memorial in the spiral loop at Batasia. Much easier when you can stand more or less upright and see what you’re doing.

Third, ‘Bird’ waiting departure time at Ghoom, showing the line laid right through the village street and an old pillarbox.

The line is a World Heritage site and there’s quite a few museums and explanatory notices.

Finally, is it a bird? The personalised cylinder jacket.

Rod”

Rod’s also posted some cracking stuff on the site:

Rod changes a chassis

Rod’s layout

More from Rod

And now more from Dangerous Dave.

He’s sent in another video – I thought by now I’d be getting tired of them – but no.

Every time I watch one I see something new and different on his layout.

Have a look and you’ll see what I mean:

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Hope you enjoyed Dave’s vid and Rod’s pics as much as I did.

It’s wonderful to see all the interesting stuff in my inbox – I have no idea why but I’m utterly fascinated by all things rail.

Only last night I was watching a rail documentary and I found out about a chap called the wheel tapper: his job was to tap all of the train wheels to find the ones with cracks in.

Amazing stuff from a golden era.

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

And if you’re wondering how Dangerous Dave got his name, the answer is here.

The Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to follow in Rod and Dave’s footsteps.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Mel’s been in touch – he’s been building a N scale train layout:

“Hi Al,

I’ve been following your posts for quite some time and have enjoyed the brilliant idea contributions from you and your horde of followers.

I’ve been modeling in N gauge on and off from 1970.

My current layout began seven years ago when I retired to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania across the pond.

I’m seeking any responses to the pictures of my layout to confirm/deny my “good work.”

Thanks for keeping a hobby alive in this age of I-phones, I-pods and other wastes of one’s time.

Mel”

Building a N scale train layout:

“Hi Al,
There are so many well built layouts thru out the world it seams, both here in the U.S. and overseas, that the builder or builders have put in so much time building and making the scenes so real and literly an exact copy of the area or towns that it was built to represent, yet the one thing that it seems the builders neglect to do to really make the layout look real, is to weather the cars, scenery, buildings, tressels, streets, etc.!.

The buildings look like they were just painted or built—-the streets look like the cement was just layed, the rail cars look like they just came from the factory that had built them, the same way w/th autos, trucks, construction equipt. etc.etc. ..

I do not have the skill to begin to build a good layout, and sure haven’t the talent to weather everything on the layout, so I give them credit where is due, but everything would look so much real w/weathering !

Just my 2-cents worth.

Jack in Tn”

And Hall of Fame member Dave has been in touch again:

“Hi Al ..had a good day upon the Moors to day ..some great steam Loco`s running …

Regards

Dave”

A big thanks to Dave and Mel for his take on building a N scale train layout.

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

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.

There are hundreds of N scale train sets on the blog – Arnie’s is one that really captures the imagination.

He’s one of the big guns from the Hall of Fame and it’s easy to see why.

I hope you enjoy it as much as me:

“Hi Al,

I’ve been trying to keep up regularly with your posts even though summer season is a time that gets most of us out of the house and into more outdoor activities. But what I’ve noticed is that it seems more readers are being more active contributors of photos and videos of their own projects. That’s great!

As you may recall, I was working on a series of videos around the theme of a fictional American Railroad Heritage Week. I have since gathered raw video footage for 2 such videos and hope to get to work on these soon.

However, I recently acquired a new steam locomotive from Broadway Limited Imports for my N scale layout. It’s their first N scale steam loco with DCC and sound.

The sounds from this engine are of superior prototype reproduction; especially given this is N scale and limited to using very small speakers.

The slow speed operation seems to be the best in the industry in my opinion. So I decided to do a video featuring this Pennsylvania Railroad M1a, 4-8-2 steamer in a story line around the heritage railroad theme. It focuses on the fiction of the M1a being used in excursion train service in the early post-1970s era in the Susquehanna Valley.

Hope you can post it and that you find it enjoyable.

Thanks — Arnie”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A HUGE thank you to Arnie for addinf to the N scale train sets on the blog. I do love his stuff. Please do let us all know your thoughts too – anyone can post a comment below.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if Arnie has got you inspired, 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.