Model railroad layouts plans

Alan’s been very igenious with adding another fiddleyard:

“Hi Al,

I seem to have too much stock, so my turntable fiddleyard is overflowing. So what to do? Well on the secondary branch of my layout there is a short tunnel which is a dead end.

Immediately inside there is a point dividing into two short tracks which can accomodate a diesel railcar and an auto train. So what if I open up the other end of the tunnel and create a second lower level fiddleyard?

Well that is what I did, and although not completely finished I thought you might find the pictures of interest. I had to move all the stock to the other end of the layout, hence the empty turntable. There is quite a steep incline to the lower yard so only short trains could be used, but there are 3 longer storage roads.

Another thing I would like to mention is that sometimes steam railway magazines feature old railway buildings and some of the pictures would make excellent additions to backscenes, see photo. I have used one myself but I cut out any that may come in useful in the future.

Lastly, I do prefer manually operated points. Electric ones are sometimes necessary and indeed I have several, but if possible I try to operate them manually. If a problem arises, is it the motor, the switch or the wireing? If it’s mechanical, you can see the problem. The last picture shows two methods I use.

The first is if you can use the hole in the tie bar where the motor arm would fit. I sometimes use a straightened out paper clip then bend to an L shape after cutting to length. I solder that into the end of a small copper tube, which is then secured to the underside of the baseboard using P clips or even a chock block (electric junc connector)

The second method is if for some reason you cannot access the tie bar hole. Flatten the end of a copper tube & drill a hole to fit over the lug on the tie bar. If it’s possible to place the tube on the surface (you can disguise it by various means), then it’s easily secured by P clips. But if it has to go underneath it’s a little more involved. It may be necessary to join 2 tubes together. You will have to drill a hole next to the tie bar large enough to allow lateral movement of the operating arm . The tube has to be bent to an S shape and fitted through the hole and then secured to the underside of the baseboard. Again, you can disguise the hole with foliage or something.

I hope the above will be of some use to all your followers.

Happy modelling

Alan”

A big thanks to Alan.

I do love seeing how people solve their layout issues. A very ingenious idea from Alan.

That’s all this time, folks. Your latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

Steve’s been busy with his Balsa buildings – but he’s after suggestions:

“Hi Al

I have been following your how to’s for a few years now and I need some help to decide on what to do for a town layout.

My layout is N scale, I have attached some of the scene shots of the layout.

What I am after is people’s ideas / comments on what building types to use – plastic / paper – card / Timber etc.

I have a tried most as you can see in the photos and haven’t been able to find the types of buildings in materials that suite to finish my town.

Town size measures 350 x 450mm + truck/ train yard of 350x350mm. Layout is far from finished years to go.

If anyone is interested I scratched built the scenery from common household and model items.

As you can see in the pictures I am joining two layouts together the one with the town (balsa buildings) was built about 3 years ago and this town needs a face lift, I run both English and American steam and diesel so the layout is my own would.

All help welcome.

Regards

Steven”

Any ideas for Steven? Mine’s a shameful plug for the print out buildings.

But I’d love to hear your comments. And so would Steven.

That’s it for today my friends.

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.

Well my curiosity over 3D printing caused the usual amount of abuse and rude emails.

It’s pretty much the same when I mention anything on my posts – and it just goes to show how different people are.

Take the surveys for instance.

Seemed like a good way to make some spending money to me, so I gave it a go. Yes, it’s very time consuming, and yes, I got plenty of mails saying lots of rude things too. But I’m not alone. Here’s a mail from Ian on them:

“Firstly, thanks for the modelling tips – they’re really helpful although I haven’t started my layout yet – just waiting to save enough money to make a start! I’ve got the engines, rolling stock and track, but nothing to put them on, so I haven’t come up with any ideas of my own yet.

Now to the matter of surveys. As a guide, last year I earned AU$700 doing this and I’m in the 60-69 bracket. Obviously, if I was younger, I’d probably earn a lot more because the survey content, quite often, is aimed at a younger age group or at people with different interests to mine.

Your correct in saying that you have to supply a good deal of information about yourself and family, and this can involve giving some very personal details about medical stuff and the like, but if you want to do surveys then it becomes necessary to ‘bite-the-bullet’ and just go for it. The only warning I’d give is to make sure that the survey site has a decent Privacy Policy and guarantees to keep your information private!

But I hope this wont distract you too much from the primary objective of Model Railway information and tips.

Regards,

Ian”

And what about the woodworking site? Exactly the same. Some sent abuse – others were the complete oppostie. Here’s what Geoff said:

“Hi Alastair

I found the woodworking guide helpful as my plans for a loft layout in the main part of my loft have now needed  to be drastically altered – the space I had originally specified being unsuitable as my arms aren’t six feet long. Currently everything is on hold due to the current storm which has breached one of my upstairs windows so flood recovery is in progress . When I arrive at my plan using Any Rail I ‘ll put it on your site for constructive criticism.

Kind regards

Geoff”

And if they’re not for you, there’s always the latest ebay cheat sheet to bag a bargain with.

Rant over. Normal service resumed next time.

Best

Al