Model railroad layouts plans

John’s been in touch with his HO scratch build box car:

“Dear Mr. Lee…

Thank you for all you do to promote this great hobby!

Here are some photos of a recent project…

I Kitbashed this little boxcar (On30) in about 1.5 hours today….

The base is a Bachmann 4 wheel caboose….

The project is very loosely based on the earliest boxcars of the Denver and Rio Grande… And of the Ewa plantation in Hawaii.

John”

A huge big thanks to John for sharing his HO scratch build box car.

You can see his other box car build here:

box car build.

(John’s post also reminded me of one of Dan’s posts: Model train box cars.

I do love seeing all your scratch builds – some of them really are amazing.

Take Mike’s HO scale structures – they have bags of character.

I’d say bridges are the scratch builds that appear most on the blog – simple because most layouts need a bridge, they are fun to make, and relatively simple.

Take Bob’s scratch built bridge for example:

Bob’s scratch built bridge.

Mind you, some bridges are not that simple but they are still works of art. Have a look at Jim’s trestle bridge:

HO scale wooden trestle bridge

And there’s Richard’s N scale scratch builds, which are just as impressive.

Perhaps one that really sticks out in my mind though is Andrey’s scratch built crane.

What’s impressive about it is all the parts move – it works – and it looks spot on too.

See for yourself, it really is a remarkable scratch build:

Scratch built crane.

There are hundreds of builds on the blog, and it’s always a joy to see what lands in my inbox every morning. Even after all these years I’ll never tire of it.

That’s all today – please do keep ’em coming. Beginner’s guide is here.

And don’t forget the ebay cheat sheet too. Savings to be made.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Bob’s been in touch with his weathered HO scale locomotives:

“Hi Al, it’s Bobby again. I just wanted to share my GP38-2.

It’s my first major weathering job on an engine. I think it came out somewhat good but please let me know what you think.

I started by taking the model apart piece by piece, guardrails, cab, and trucks. I needed to take it all apart anyway because I’m going to make it DCC. Then started to make patches where paint had come off. After doing that to the engine body, trucks, and tank, I air brushed some really thine refer white and made it look faded. Then it was on to the rust on body and trucks.

After all was done, I used rail tie brown, really thinned, and sprayed the model and trucks again. I sealed it all with a dull coat and sort of put it back together because I’m waiting on the sound decoder. I’ll send you a video of the engine when that gets installed. Until next time hope you enjoy my weathered HO scale locomotives.

Bobby”

Now on to Hall of Fame member, Mark:

“Hi Al. I trust all is well with you. Here is another tip in the area of modeling “small vignettes” one at a time to relieve frustration of being overwhelmed by the big picture.

Not every small scene needs to be elaborate, time consuming or expensive. This “fire scene” was created in about an hour last night after dinner. Total cost (less the figures and ‘dozer) was about .50 cents for glue and paint.

There was an uninteresting, mostly bare, area above a tunnel that needed something. First you create the “lore” or reason for the scene. In this case “Brush fire from a lightning strike above Tunnel 6 on Eagle Mt., just north of Camp Carroll. Fire crew knocked it down with the help of D&RGW fire car. Able to get the crew and a ‘dozer in on the fire road. Minimal damage, no injuries.”

The Woodland Scenics figures are available on ebay, the rocks are from my garden, the “burnt” trees are the dead clippings from a garden plant called a “Foxtail” simply spray painted from a cheap can of brown spray paint, the rest of the deadwood are just clippings from the garden.

The inspiration to model this scene is to commemorate, in a very small way, all of the ongoing efforts by the fire fighters in my native state of California which at this very time going through one of the worst fire seasons in California history. So this is just my small effort to tip my hat and say “thanks for all you do” to firefighters everywhere.

Thanks for the encouraging comments!

Mark”

Big thanks to Bobby for sharing his weathered HO scale locomotives. I think I may add this one to the Beginner’s guide to go with all the other weathering tips. There’s quite a stack of them now.

That’s all this time folks. Don’t forget the ebay cheat sheet. Still going strong.

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.

Jim’s been in touch, he’s added to the DCC HO trains on the blog:

“Hi Alastair.

Jim from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada here. I’m submitting some more photos of my 12’x14’ DCC HO scale train layout.

I have many 1-3 minute action videos of the locomotives on this layout, but now sure how to send them to your train site. The videos keep getting bounced back to me for being too large to e-mail. Perhaps one of your many followers could state how to send these videos.

I always look forward to visiting your site & seeing what other railway modellers are doing & the tips that can be gleaned from their efforts. Thanks & keep them pics & videos coming.

Jim.”

(All images are clickable.)

A big thanks to Jim for sharing his DCC HO trains.

(His original post is here if you want to get up to speed.)

Next, a very useful tip from Gary:

“My wife doesn’t throw anything away anymore without saying “Can you use this on your layout?”. I love walking around the arts and crafts stores and the .99cent stores looking at stuff that I can use.

You would be surprised with a little imagination you can turn junk into great scenery items and save some money (this hobby can get very expensive).

I save all my little scrapes of wood and wire and plastic to make mounds of garbage that sit along the railroad yards, tracks and in back of buildings. Happy modeling everyone.

Gary”

And lastly, more from Hall of Fame member, Dangerous Dave:

That’s all for today folks. Thanks to Jim for sharing his DCC HO trains.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.