Model railroad layouts plans

Tom’s been in touch with his DCC track layout:

“Heres a few of my stage 1 almost finish track is 6.2 mtrs long each side x 3.2 mtrs wide

5 mainlines and 15 branch lines ..

all dcc controlled trains, points etc

with all trains having dcc sound cards to their own proper sounds…………….thanks

tom”

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“Well, seeing as how I am the least handy person on this planet, and cheap to boot, here are a couple:

Since my layout is in a permanent winter mode, I wrapped the plywood bases in white bedsheets —
It makes a a great “canvas” for laying down landscaping and a SUPERB conduit to run the wiring between the sheets and the wood – no drilling required.

The “snow” is actually a ceramic product: Duncan’s no-fire snow, available, among others, online at Amazon. You can paint or sculpt it on, and it dries to a plaster-like state.

More recently I wanted to add some ice-covered ponds, and as I dislike mixing chemicals, etc. for water effects, I went to the nearest drugstore and purchased a couple of ladies’ hand mirrors, you know, the kind they carry in their purses. I laid down some snow and partially buried them, feathering the edges with more snow.

But then I wanted a larger ice-covered swamp or pond, and here comes the cheapest solution of all: I headed to the kitchen, ripped off a good-sized sheet of food clingwrap (like Saran Wrap), painted the bedsheet in the colors I wanted to show through, and laid the wrap on top with a little landscape cement. You can make it smooth or rippled, and it looks great!

I hope these help.

Bill”

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“I am new to this hobby and learn a lot by my mistakes.

The buildings you build usually are put together with super glue.

If you get super glue on your fingers and thumb, it will take days to get it off.

Solution: spend $3.00 for Nitrile disposable gloves, ten to a pack. (not latex, one size fits all.)

It will be the best 30 cents you ever spent per pair! Just throw them away when done.

Bruce

Fallbrook, California”

A big thanks to Bruce, Bill and to Tom for sharing his DCC track layout.

That’s all for today 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 Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

And there’s the Silly Discount bundle too.

“Hi Al,

Many thanks for the great ideas, pictures and videos you send out – keep them coming!

I had a Hornby rolling road as well as one by H & M. I wanted to mount them permanently on boards with a power supply for each one.

I also wanted to build a holder that they all could be placed in, either for transportation, storage or to let the locos run on out of the way.

I also wanted a lined cradle in which I could invert a loco or coach to work on the underside and still have a power supply.

The overall appearance was to be professional with a touch of antiquity.

I had some left over plywood from my layout construction which was just right for the job. Used wine bottle corks made the legs for each board.

Hope your email recipients enjoy this.

Regards,

Trev.”

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Hope you like Trevor’s post as much as I did. A fine idea.

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 Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

“Al.

Couple shots of what I have been working on last few months.

Larry”

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“Enjoyed your tips today. Here’s one on making an N-scale security fence with a concertina wire topping. I found an incomplete fence kit at a train show. Without enough posts, I made my own out of florist wire and bent the tops of them the length of a needle nose pliers. The incomplete kit had some nice brass wire mesh, but you can also use wedding veil cloth. I attached the posts to the mesh and sprayed it with metallic paint.

For concertina, I stripped 22 gauge wire and separated the strands. Each of the separated strands then were tightly wrapped around wire with the insulation still intact. The result is a beautiful coiled wire strand. It can be stretched (or not) to suit your needs across the posts that have a tiny dab of super glue on the tops. The great thing is that the topping does not have to be painted.

Mike”

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“Hey al been subscribing to your tips and have to say they have been helpful but thought it was time for me to share a great tip I have got.

When modelling British road it is usually hard to make them realistic I have spent days trying different methods and came up with this one.

Use double sided foam tape to make shuttering, so you make the basic outline of the road and the paths along the sides of the roads too. The reason I use this is because it’s available cheaply in most pound stores and is inexpensive.

Next I use a very watery mix of regular plaster skim ( multi finish plaster) available in most DIY stores, it’s cheap and can be used for loads of different things. I use either a piece of card or you could buy he right tool tool spread the watery mixture to create the road. Once dry you can then remove the tape and it leave crisp clean edges. Once you have a road all the same layer I use matchsticks and stick them down with Pva to create curb stones for the path edgings and then repeat the same process of shuttering with thin plaster skim.

One finished the plaster can be painted with inexpensive black arcylic paint and is allowed to dry. When dry the surface can be lightly sanded with regular sandpaper to make the surface appear worn or lighter where traffic is more frequent.

Also another tip is if you want to shutter up to the side of buildings, it can be difficult because plaster gets on the buildings so what I tend to do it use a small paint brush with water to clean excess off the buildings once the road is finished but before it’s dried.

Hope this helps you modellers out there to create more realistic roads 🙂 May be a picture on its way just gotta set up the camera so will let you know .

Many thanks tim”

“Hi Al

I am a 70 year old retiree originally from the UK and now resident in Perth Western Australia.

With time on my hands I have just completed a 3 x 2.5 metre HO/OO layout which I started 18 months. My layout encompasses some 200 metres of wiring, operating 80 or more street and building lights through15 mobile phone transformers. Ironically however, I shall soon be doing a ‘Dave Howarth’ and starting over again as my layout has several shortfalls not identified in my original planning.

Before I rip it all up I would dearly like to send some pictures for possible inclusion in your weekly ‘round robin’ but am unsure what your preferred method is for receiving submission because as you know they take up a considerable amount of space for electronic transmissions. Your advice on this matter would be appreciated.

In the mean time I have taken the liberty of enclosing a few samples to hopefully whet your appetite.

Kind regards

Geoff”

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Big thanks to everyone for today’s post. And good luck to Geoff with his new layout!

And if you’d like to start on your own layout adventure, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Latest ebay cheat sheet 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.