Model railroad layouts plans

“Hello again Al…thank you for your comments.

To begin with we built an 8x4ft base, with a circular track but soon realised to do what we had in mind this wasn’t long enough so extended it to 12×4 ft much more satisfactory…

Where to start?… This being our first model train venture plus the two of us in our turned mid 70’s we made a few mistakes but by now feel we are doing reasonably ok.

We found “The Toy Fair”, we picked lots of bits and pieces up very cheap and can’t wait for the next one, also got lots from eBay and Amazon….

I must say Al though it’s not to everyone’s taste we rather like using plaster cloth, it comes on a roll and goes quite a way plus we are happy with the results….at the moment I am working on a paddock for horses, Ged on the fiddle yard but oh how we are enjoying it.

Many thanks Al to you for your time and all the brilliant enthusiasts who send in their great tips.

Best Wishes

Ged and Eileen”

“Thanks for all the great tips. They have been very helpful as I am building.

This may be a tip of little interest, but it has worked for me.

I used LAN Cat. 5 wire form the 21 blocks and 22 switch controls on the panel…

to a set of telco 66M blocks…

Turns of the 24 gauge LAN cable has a 5 amp rating for DC. No need for soldering or wire stripping. On the track I used Telco butt splicers….

Again no striping or soldering.

Turns out to be economical, about 9¢ a foot for the 8 conductor LAN Cat. 5 and less than 10¢ for the connectors.

Paul”

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get bored of sitting on the side lines, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

“Trees are hand built with a balsa hand carved trunk, stained .

I bought fresh caspia from the local flower shop and dried. After dried I painted with a craft paint in moss green, Then I installed each branch one at a time.

When all branches were installed I used the green ground foam and the cheep hair spray to hold the foam.

When dried I installed the dead branches.

To date I have made more than 700 from 4 to 24 inches. Some have hand made eagle nests.

Pictures of scratch built bridges and trestle’s, researched university of Washington’s library on Washington’s logging railroads and found the trestle’s that were built in my state.

I will send more pictures as I get more track and turnouts installed. I am hand laying my track and built my turnouts.

Some pictures of my hand painted backdrop.

Jeff
Snohomish, wa”

Big thanks to Jeff for sharing. Loved the hand painted back drop – can’t wait to see the finished layout too.

That’s all this time peeps.

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.

“Hi Al

I’d like to share my highly effective method for clamping track during gluing.

While this may seem a little flippant, it is actually quite effective in settling track while PVA glue dries.

The added attraction is that the content of the cans can be consumed on completion of the task.

For our American friends, XXXX is Australian beer! Not what you think!

Cheers.

Paul”

“Hello,

At age 72 with limited space and color printing capability, I was able to relive a part of my youth when a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood was acres and acres.

So with computer images, balsa wood, a color printer, a couple of car kits, and purchased landscaping and a few spots of glue, this is what I came up with.

Thanks for your great email links and photos.

Sincerely,

Joe”

“Hi Al

Just to prove I am still about, got myself a new Loco the A4 Great Sprite from Hornby, and a few changes going on again…

Regards

Dave”

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you spring into action, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.