Model railroad layouts plans

Rich has been in touch with his model train oval layout 4×8:

“Good Day Alastair,

I had a few moments so I dug out the newest pictures for you.

I am retired, 74, living in New Mexico since I retired and have built model railroads and stick and tissue airplanes since early childhood.

The layout itself is a 4 X 8 and a composite of two 4 X 8 layouts featured in Model Railroader.

It is now virtually complete except for all vehicles, horses and wagons which are downloaded from the internet, resized and rendered in 3D on sheets of paper for now. I will replace them as time allows.

Eventually I will extend the layout to include another town, yard and industries.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I have enjoyed your column.

Regards,

Richard”

“Hi Al, found this photo and commentary from 2 years back. Thought that you and the others may enjoy it.

Dawn is breaking and locomotives are being readied for the days work ahead. Everything is running smoothly at present and the crew have all had their coffee and ready to go.
Have to pick up empty log cars in the yard and head off up to the forrest to have them loaded and then taken to the sawmill.

Brian”

A big thanks to Richard for sharing his model train oval layout 4×8. And of course, the same for Brian. (I love his stuff, and you can see more of it in the Hall of Fame).

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you grab the bull by the horns, 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.

Dave has been in touch with his Walthers bascule bridge:

“Hi Al,

My name is Dave. I’m 73 and still play with toy trains.

So impressed with your site that have decided to discontinue my subscription to train magazines.

Kindly allow me to introduce you to the ITARR:

ITA is the name selected because it resides IN THE ATTIC.

As a test, I will try to show a few pictures of the bridges on the ITA.

The first bridge is the bascule bridge. It is controlled by a motor too small for the job and thus the need for two sets of counter weights. One set of weights to help the deck go up the other set to eases the pain of going down.

The second bridge swing up to open from the right side The third bridge swings open like a gate when needed. All threes bridges operate with the track wiring in tact from scrap material that I was able to locate without cost.

Toot..toot

Dave”

Next on to Hall of Fame Mark:

“Hi Al.

My “Tip for the Day” is that when a scene on the layout is complete, or even fairly close to completion, take a few minutes to snap some pictures and perhaps even a short video. Study these and they will reveal any items that need correction.

Then enjoy you creation with some “run time”. Attached is a short video of some action down at the roundhouse early one morning. Turn up the sound and wait for the action

Model railroading is FUN!

Mark”

I thought Dave’s layout looked fantastic – and no wonder the kids the love the Walthers bascule bridge, I did too. It’s funny how one feature of a layout really can transform it. More pics please, Dave!

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.

Andrew’s been in touch again, this time with some model railway road viaduct construction.

(He did a fantastic how to on a bridge made from razors, believe it or not. Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here.)

This time he’s sharing pics of his viaduct, which I think looks excellent.

“Hi Alastair

Since my scratch but girder bridge I’ve moved a little forward and bought 3 viaduct kits and done a bit of doctoring to make them fit the layout backdrop and down to the bottom end of the layout.

I’ve also done a canal scenery and used false grass cut along each seam for reeds and stuck with clear hot glue, which is quite impressive if I say so my self, I will wait the readers comments.

The canal was made from a base board MDF and painted to match a photo of my local canal.

More later.

Here are my pics

Andrew”

I always find it amazing how a little doctoring and scratch building transforms any kit – it has been a very common theme of the posts over the years.

And it got me thinking too about the costs of kits.

A ways to save a small fortune on thing like viaducts are the printable buildings.

Don’t take my word for it though, have a look at John’s pics: Faller HO viaduct.

That’s all for today peeps.

Please do keep ’em coming folks. Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

And if you’re tired of sitting on the side lines, a great way to plan and start your layout is with the Beginner’s Guide.

Best

Al