Model railroad layouts plans

Got this in from Dave which I thought was excellent:

“Hello again Alastair,

One of my favorite tips is to set the rolling incline to all of the car storage tracks. If the tracks slightly incline to the end of track blocker there is little likelihood that the cars will run out away and onto the mainline. Now working in foam insulation means that a minor wedge of foam must be removed for this to be attained but previously when I did this on a wooden table it was just a matter of cutting the plywood along the length of the parking track and securing the block area of this track a little bit lower than the rail for the main line.

Thanks for a great page to share tips and advice,

Jim”

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“Hi Al , think you may have shown this cleaner before, but I have been asked a few times lately how I clean my track so I have just made this video showing the CMX cleaner I use.

Regards

Dave”

See what you bargains you can find on the latest ‘ebay cheat’ sheet.

Best

Al

Rob’s been in touch with a wonderful idea.

So simple – but you can easily see the fun everybody has with it:

“Hi Al,

I was at my layout the other day and I was trying to set up some new shots.

While I was at it, I decided to turn on the camera and have a running seesion while I was filming.

I have a new mural behind my viaduct and a new water column and crane that I was having a little fun with. I wanted to see them in video so they are in this one.

I also installed a child’s viewing hole since we have a couple of young ones around sometimes. It turned out to be a big hit.

Without even saying anything to them, they immediately made a beeline to the viewing port and spent 20 minutes there.

I have been pretty busy on the layout and considerable change occurs every week.

So for those that have seen my layout before, they will no doubt find something new now.

I really enjoy seeing what other people have been up to with their layouts and the tips you publish.

Your web posts are so very helpful and what a great way for the modeling community to get connected.

I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I had fun making it.

Cheers,

Rob”

A big thanks to Hall of Fame member, Rob.

Hope you enjoyed today’s as much as me. Do have a look at all the comments below!

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if you want to take that first step.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here

Peter’s been in touch with his N scale train diorama:

“Greetings from central florida.

Here are some pics of a 2×2 foot diorama i finished a while back.

Sorry for the first few blurry pics hope you enjoy.

Peace Pete”

There’s quite a few dioramas on the blog now:

N scale diorama.

Model railroad dioramas.

Model railroad diorama ho scale.

Make a model train diorama.

Next, some of your tips:

“Some tips I have come up with:

1. for station strip lighting (or any cheap LED lighting) try using the 5m reels of smd leds.

The reals can be cut every 3 led’s (5cm)and are 12v ready – though i opperate them at 9 v as i find them too bright at 12v.

They are also self adhesive and can be painted with humbrol enamel paints if needed.

My12 platform cathedral roof station would have cost £150 to light with brand lights instead it cost about £5 (I still had 1/3 of a reel left for houses/shops). you alsohave the option of two colours: cool white for fluorescent lighting and warm white for incandescent

2. Want a panal of turnout indicator lights on your DCC layout without the expence and hassle of micro switches? (this method even shows that the frog has connected rather than just showing that the motor has thrown).

Simply add insulating plates to the “V” and solder a separate wire up from under the base board to each arm of the V. run the wires back to the control panel and add a LED and 1k resistor.

All the leds (of the same polarity) then just need 1 common return to the respective output from the control unit or bus. NB not worried about wether the frog has completely thrown – simply wire or solder the anode of one led to the cathode of another (you can even use just one resistor).

In this way you only need to run a single wire from one arm of the V with 2 much shorter common return wires to the respective polarities of the controller or bus. 1 wire being attached to all the led anodes and the other to all the free cathodes

Steve”

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“Hello Al,

just thought I’d pass on a scenery tip that our club had used successfully a number of years ago and I’m sure it’ll still look fine today.

We took the flowering buds from a grove of wild sumac trees and let them dry for a week or so. You can get these in random sizes and they’ll make fine fir trees.

We used an out door oil base stain tinted green for the foliage and clipped the stem level and inserted a 2 – 3 inch long brass thin rod for mounting. Individually placed or clustered on a hillside makes a fine scenery point of interest.

thanks for your tips,

Jim”

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Some nice tips, this time.

And thanks to Peter for sharing his N scale train diorama.

Please do keep ’em coming. You’ve all gone very quiet…

That’s all for today folks.

And if you want to make that start – your layout won’t build itself – the Beginner’s Guide 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.