Model railroad layouts plans

Brian has been in touch with his HO scale vintage engine house:

He’s sent in more pics of his stunning engine house.

I don’t know what it is about his layout, but it just seems to have been from charm and character…

“The double sided tape (the type that I use is literally twice the thickness of normal sticky tape) is available in any art supply store, craft shop, hardware store, office supply store and is not thick at all. Best thing since sliced bread for model building.

Time taken to build the engine house above from start (opening the box, reading the instructions 4 times) to mounting on the layout and operational was about 150 hours (in approximately 4 months) which included taking photographs and writing about the construction.

The yellow color of the engine house was dictated by the logging company Chiefs of Cascade Creek Logging Co. This was a standardized color for all the company’s buildings with one exception, the sawmill as this was always a temporary structure and when the area was deforested, it was torn down and moved to a new wooded area.

I will have a look through my photo collection and see if I have a few photos of my other logging buildings.

Cheers Brian”

Stunning pics – that’s why he’s in the hall of fame.

And now on to something completely different.

I’ve posted a similar video to the one below before.

But seeing as I watched this one from start to finish – I thought you’d enjoy it too (thank you to whoever mailed it me).

Post a comment below if you also enjoyed it!

Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

That’s all for today folks.

A big thanks to Brian for sharing his HO scale vintage engine house.

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 Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Mark’s been in touch with some excellent advice on model train scenes.

Please don’t just read today’s missive – please, please post your comments on this one.

I say this because Mark’s words below really are words of wisdom: doing a little of something is infinitely better than doing a lot of nothing – especially when it comes to layouts.

It’s no surprise Mark was one of the first in the Hall of Fame.

“Hi Al.

We recently had a discussion in our model railroad group about why frustration can set in with building a layout.

Among many reasons, the one that stood out the most was “being overwhelmed by the sheer size of the project”.

Everyone agreed that having a good track plan is a must, but everything doesn’t have to be built immediately.

The Tip here is that you can actually complete a “small scenic vignette” with a great sense of accomplishment and, with proper planning, incorporate it in the main layout at a later date.

This allows one to really enjoy (and learn) the entire hobby without the “analysis to paralysis” that ends up with literally nothing being accomplished.

Attached is a link to a very short video of a model train scenes afternoon project that filled in a section of bare plywood leading into a tunnel. (I didn’t know paparazzi were rail fans!)

Cheers!

Mark”

A big thanks to Mark for sharing his model train scenes advice.

And to prove the point, here’s what John says:

“That resonates with me. I was overly ambitious with a small N guage layout I started as a learning tool and it caused immense frustration because I bit off more than I could chew.

I wanted IR sensors, auto reverse polarity, electrified switching, signal lights, etc and in the end I couldn’t get the trains to run.

Ended up ripping out everything and am now restarting (after a year of staring at it) on a very simple oval track plan and will do nothing but get it running first. Then install some IR sensors (above ground) controlling signals, no tortoise switches, and scenery.

I learned that I need to do it in stages first, and rule 1 is get the track working first!

John”

Don’t forget, please post your comments on this one. And if it’s given you the gumption you need to get going, start here.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Not long ago Alan showed us how he was syncing his layout sound with his ipad thingy. It went down well, so here’s the talented Dangerous Dave showing off his sounds:

“Morning Al,

Just uploaded this video showing a running session with diesel and steam , most with sounds. Gives a few ideas of what the sounds are like.

Regards

Dave”

Huge thanks to Kim and Dave. I sometimes wonder whether I post too much of Dave’s stuff, but seeing as it always goes down so well, I guess not.

Please do keep ’em coming folks. And don’t forget, if you haven’t started your layout yet – or you’re just looking for inspiration – this’ll get you going.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here. Still updated everyday.