“This is my first serious attempt . It is HO. Been at it about 3 or 4 years. Other hobbies get in the way, especially in summer!
Started out with diesel power circa 1990 to present day.
Recently I have decided to build a much larger layout in one of my business buildings when I retire. So I am changing this layout to steam era 1950-1960s.
The larger layout will be diesel. I will be able to work on the current U shaped HO scale layout in my basement until then.
I enjoy building mountains and scenery the most, so my layouts are based around the Appalachia region of Kentucky and Virginia and just generally the South. Of course a lot of that is coal mining.
Tom H. Ohio, USA.”
Stunning stuff from Tom. And his first layout too. For everybody else there is always the Beginner’s Guide.
U shaped layouts are always popular because of the thorny issue of access. It doesn’t matter how big a room you have for your layout, if you can’t get to all of it, comfortably, you’re sunk.
I know that may sound simple and obvious, but it’s something that comes up time and time again on the blog.
Next, that famous engine the Flying Scotsman has sprung back to life.
And I’ve had a few emails asking why the number on it has changed. It was 4472, but now it’s 60103. I haven’t a clue why – but I’d love to know if anyone does.
Also in the same bag, The Flying Scotsman’s claim to fame was being the first loco to do 100 mph – but some folk say it was The City of Truro.
Can anyone put me out of my misery??
And lastly, the coupon for the new printable buildings – the houses – expires shortly.
So if you wan to grab the any of the new houses for just $3.50, please don’t hang about.
Just use the coupon code carrot123 and to get them them half price.
This put a huge smile on my face – Mike’s HO scale helicopter fly through.
A wonderful bit of fun – but you eyes are soon glued on the scenery.
HO scale helicopter fly through:
If you missed Mike’s last post, it’s here. Some stunning pics and another video too.
And I was right, a lot of Mike’s pics are in the Beginner’s Guide.
Not all of Mike’s buildings are from the printable buildings buy you’ll see the ones that are.
Now on to Fred, who has some worthwhile tips:
“Hi Al,
I’ve only been reading your blog for a week now, but have enjoyed it immensely.
As a relative newcomer to railroad modeling I can’t offer any “how to” tips, because I haven’t really had the experience for years (I’m 70 now – last electric train I had was the Lionel “standard Gauge” monster I inherited from my dad!)
For years I was an RC aircraft modeler, but eventually got worn down by the violent destruction of years of work from control mishaps or a lost radio signal!
So I approach railroad modeling in my dotage with the hope of less heartache from my creations. As a newcomer I can still give you my recent impressions about this wonderful hobby, nonetheless.
As a professional architectural modeler of the 1970s and 1980s, the most important thing to me (then and now) was the issue of scale, and all of us designing buildings developed a pretty good eye for something that was out of whack in our models.
Whether or not people understand their sensitivity to scale, most viewers have it. And I would guess that all RR modelers share a real sense of it.
After all, for many modelers that’s really the whole goal, isn’t it – to achieve success with the illusion that you have created a miniature world (or a piece of a miniature world) that evokes the real thing.
And few issues are as important as scale. Texture of materials has scale. Color has scale – look down at a “real life layout” some time from an airplane and notice how the colors fade as a function of their distance from the eye, even without apparent help from air pollution.
Movement has scale – a flashing light on a police car is not the same as a flashing anti-collision light on a power plant stack. One flashes rapidly, the other in a lazier “on/off” sequence, since the larger bulb filament takes its time to completely go dark. (The current day electronics for reproducing scale lighting effects are really remarkable.) But one careless decision on track ballast can undo all the well executed aspects of your model so far.
Developers often use scale phenomena deceptively to make a building site look larger and more commodious than it really is – simply by changing the size of a piece of architectural vocabulary that offers some fundamental insight into scale – the size of the bricks or concrete block in a drawing, for instance.
When I built models I always spent a lot of time fashioning scale human figures on my foam cutter. I made sure that their heads and hands were the correct size. Although I sometimes used them in the final presentation model, where they helped me was in their placement within various portions of my designs – Is there adequate room in the lobby of a building? Does it feel cramped? Or does it feel cavernous? At the end of the day the human figure was the perfect yardstick, not only for my model, but for my design behind the model.
I would suggest that scale figures can help in RR Modeling as well……not necessarily as end participants in the layout as much as a visual aid during the decision making process. An aid at choosing and building structures, spotting an offending detail from kits (I find that ladders and railings are a real problem in N Scale, and have already started pitching what came with my kits for a wire brass and solder solution on my part.
My tip is this: spend as much time as you can fashioning a couple of human figures at 1:160 scale (for N scalers) and then use them as you model. Use them to design your refineries, your feed lots, your Victorian neighborhoods. It will really help you envision your miniature world!
All the best,
Fred
Boston”
That’s all for today folks. Please do leave a comment below if you enjoyed Mike’s HO scale helicopter fly through.
Mike’s been in touch with his Union Pacific HO engine layout:
“Good afternoon Al.
I Shot a video showing each scene in my layout and all my engines.
Santa Fe Freight
Chesapeake & Ohio Passenger
Union Pacific
Amtrak Passenger
Louisville & Nashville
I’ve updated my layout based on feedback from my last post.
I added ballast to my e-z track. It looks much better.
I added one set of traffic lights, crossing lights and street lights.
I’m still not that great with my wiring so I only have the traffic lights operating.
I’m also sending some pictures of each engine and some scenery and one more video that I had some fun with.
I want to thank you and your readers for all the tips and suggestion.
Now its time to enjoy.
Best,
Mike”
Union Pacific HO engine:
And this one is the video:
And lastly Dan sent this in which I rather liked:
“Alastair,
Well, the D&W RR has been in mouth balls for quite a while, so I have been absorbing the tips from all the other modeler so,but I think I have one or two.
The D&WRR has had box cars that were always what they call “shake the box”, they were quality cars, I believe they were Athern, just add the trucks,add the sliding doors ,etc. what they lacked was a good weight.
One day in a magazine, they said what an HO box or Hopper should weigh, I got a small light scale, to start weighing my cars, many were not heavy enough, which sometimes caused tipping on curves.
One day at a train show, I bought a couple of 40 ft. Box cars, and noticed how nice and “heavy” they were,opening the doors, I found a fairly large steel nut glued inside, to increase the weight.
I bought those cars, and started to add the nut to my box cars, covered hoppers,and Cabooses. The extra weight rides better and smoother.
Dan, Danville and Western RR”
That’s all for today folks.
I can’t thank Mike enough for sharing his Union Pacific HO engine update – stunning stuff.
If I’m not mistaken, I think a lot of the pics in the Beginner’s Guide are from Mike’s layout. And no wonder, they are superb.
Hope you enjoyed Mike’s pics and vids as much as I did – have a look at all the comments below.
And if you model in HO or N scale, have a quick look at the ebay cheat sheet. It’s a silly time of year for some great bargains.
