Model railroad layouts plans

There’s quite a few N scale train door layout plans on the blog – and here’s another from Erik’s son:

“Al,

This is n-gauge built on a hollow core door. It represents a part of Cleveland, Ohio, where the railroads cross the river. The river isn’t cut out yet.

Today was the day that a train ran on my new layout under computer control.

I have 14 servos controlling turnouts (I have 16 channels available and can inexpensively get even more expansion capability).

I have 4 separate DC motor controllers to operate up to 4 locomotives simultaneously.

The servos and motors/locos are controlled using pulse width modulation.

Servos can be turned to any of 4096 positions. They are limited to +-90 deg meaning that I have ~0.04 degree precision. My motor controllers feed up to 12v and 2 amps each with 255 speed settings in both forward and reverse. My test loco doesn’t start moving until about 25% power (pulse duty cycle) but has acceptable speed control with the remaining range.

It’s a golden time to be an electronics tinkerer. I built all this for under 200 dollars. I can even remotely log into the controller computer over wifi.

For comparison, a cheapish two channel Digital Command Control power system costs $200 or more and won’t even operate the turnouts. I have a better system, and I can leave programs running to provide hands off exhibition of complex operation on the layout.

It is cork roadbed. It’s glued and then sanded.

The bridges were fun to build. I still need to paint and weather them.

I don’t mind you passing on my message, but I can’t imagine who would be interested.

I’m in the process of arranging industrial buildings and multiple spurs to add visual interest and operational complexity. I am also planning road underpasses and overpasses as well as a kit-bashed factory building that spans over the main line as informal “scene edges”.

There is a river that runs across the layout and is not shown (was not cut yet) in the photographs.

N scale train door layout plans:

“Al,

Once again I see a train which appears to be a runaway, possibly without an engineer. If modellers had an easy way to determine a train’s speed, that might help. Well, here is a tip which should help.

I came upon this table a while back. To use it, you need to measure out three feet (or one meter) of track. You also need a timepiece with a second hand. If you run N scale, HO/OO scale or O scale, this table will work for you. Place a marker alongside your track, then a second marker three feet away. Run your train past the first marker and time how long it takes to reach the second marker. Use the table below to determine your train’s speed.

TIME TO TRAVEL 3 FEET AT SCALE SPEED
Prototype Speed N HO O
5 mph 65 sec 36 sec 19 sec
15 mph 22 sec 12 sec 6 1/2 sec
25 mph 13 sec 7 sec 3 1/2 sec
60 mph 5 1/2 sec 3 sec 1 1/2 sec
90 mph 3 1/2 sec 2 sec 1 sec

If you double the distance, then double the time. This will give you a more accurate speed. 1 1/2 seconds goes by pretty fast.

I hope this helps modellers to adjust their scale speeds.

Carl in Kansas”

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And lastly Stephen has been in touch again (his last post is here). He’s finished!

Thanks to everyone for today’s post – it’s good to see some more N scale train door layout plans.

It’s wonderful to see your layouts, warts and all, transform in to the finished article. And who cares how long it takes? Pottering on your layout is half the fun.

Don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide if you want to get off the arm chair and get involved. Who knows, you may end in the Hall of Fame one day.

Please doo keep ’em coming.

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.

Bee’s added to the small shelf layouts on the blog. Some folk may know it as the the Gump Stump and Snowshoe layout.

“Al,

I started small for two reasons.

Firstly, my wife and I do live in a large house but after 51 years of marriage there isn’t a lot of uncovered space. I also had small amount of trackage and six engines from 40 years ago that was only enough to build a small setup. Three of the six engines worked so I was in pretty good shape. Unfortunately none of the old switches were recoverable.

Secondly, I had never done scenery of any kind. I was really intent on doing something neat but was not sure how well it would go. Your site was very helpful in this regard. Lots of pointers on what to do and a bit of how to do it. I was a late comer to the print out houses and such, but I did make two of the engine sheds just to see if I could do it. Although they came out great I did not find a place to use them. I am confident they or better versions will be in the next layout.

The entire layout was based on an old article I read in Model Railroader’s TRACK PLANNING IDEAS (1981). This layout was called the Gump Stump and Snowshoe. I call mine the BJandCK. This is based on the initials of myself, my wife, and my two sons.

I can’t really tell you how much actual time it took to build. It was done in spurts and sputters over approximately 6 months. My guess is I could do the entire thing today in a few days.

Not sure what scenery will come out of my head, but I will cross that trestle when I get there.

Thanks for taking the time to publish any of this. Keep up the good work on the site. I look forward to your emails
every morning.

Bee”

Small shelf layouts:

(images are clickable by the way)

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“Hi Al,

I was able to get one of the Mobius cameras and it is impressive. It is quite small and reasonable for the budget minded. It is also small. I was able to mount it on a small flat wagon with some double sided tape. Then I took it for a spin around my layout. This time I went what to me is clockwise. Perhaps in a week or so, I will make a video other way around. I certainly found it entertaining. Perhaps your reader will also find it interesting.

Rob”

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

A huge thanks to Bee for adding to the small shelf layouts, and to Rob too. I loved Bee’s narrative – just goes to show the thorny issue of space is always something that gets in the way of having a go.

And I can’t wait to see his engine sheds!

Rob’s also no stranger to the site – have a look at some of his other posts. Stunning stuff.

That’s all this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide – it’s the easiest way to side step the pitfalls and traps we all fall in to.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Some of you will remember Mike, who builds a new layout every year for a show.

Here’s his second last post, when he’s still on the thick of it.

And here’s the finished article.

So I can’t wait to see what his latest creation will end up looking like. Here’s where he’s up to so far:

I’ll finish today with a few words about the stone wall embankment. It’s proved a real hit – so thank you for all the kind comments and emails.

Don’t forget, this offer won’t last forever, I really do need pull my finger out and get the buildings on the site.

That’s all this time folks. And if Mike and Keith haven’t inspired you to get started, the Beginner’s Guide might… but you’ll never know until you decide to roll your sleeves up and get involved.

That’s all this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al