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Build a HO train layout – Bob’s latest

Bob’s been back in touch – he’s had the itch to build a HO train layout again.

Looks great too:

“Hello Al,

Last week a neighbor came over and I showed him around my train layout.

He said ” I didn’t know you played around with toy trains”. I told him that if model trains were good enough for Frank Sinatra,Tommy Dorsey,Rod Stewart,Jay Leno,Tom Hanks, etc., they were good enough for me.

His only comment was” I didn’t know Sinatra played with toy trains!”. Oh well….

Anyway, I have attached some shots of My Last Layout. About 1/3 of the layout is in final form and the rest I have just sitting on the base. I still move things around a bit.

On this layout I painted the top half of the walls flat black and then bought a cheap piece of cotton drop cloth, cut it in half, stapled it to the wall and painted it blue. It kind of draws your attention directly to the layout.

I laid this one out in vignettes that allow me to get a little creative, avoid everything being in the same period and style and provide me with places to put more stuff.

I am pleased with the mine operation. I wasn’t sure how it would look with the structure above and the actual mine below but I like the way it turned out.

I built the ore boat and ore tipple out of my usual bunch of sticks and wood scrap but no matter how I tried I could not build an acceptable tug boat from scratch.

I finally bought a boat kit and made a tug boat out of it. The tires on the hull are rubber washers, most of the superstructure are bits and pieces from my junk box. The main cabin is a cut-down toilet paper cardboard roll, the door is a piece of tongue depressor (my favorite) with a grommet for the porthole.

I wanted to try lighting my structures so I bought a string of LED Christmas lights and use them to light the building interiors.

They look good in the dark but it was kind of a pain to wire all the buildings.

After seeing what the talented Dave has done with his lighting I have decided to add some street lights to my town. Got the lights but haven’t put them in yet.

Speaking of buildings, can you see anything familiar about a couple of the houses in my town (hint-they are made from paper)?

I removed the gable on one of them and covered the roof to look like cedar shake and on the larger house I added wood trim to the doors & windows and added wood trim to the outside corners as well.

I have also added signs to my businesses named for my family members. Unfortunately, with 6 brothers and sisters and 10 grandchildren I have more names than buildings and some of these folks get a little testy if they don’t see their name on something.

I still have not added the water to my waterfront, just painted the base blue for now. Same with ballasting the track. I always do that last after I finally decide where all my structures will be placed.

You must be careful to not glue down your structures so that they block your track when it comes time to ballast. I learned this the hard way.

Just an idle thought, the more I see the track without ballast the more normal it looks …..hummm!

Most of the structures are now scratch built and I buy a few damaged ones on the internet and fix them up and/or use the parts to build other things.

The more I build the better I seem to get at it. For example, I got a building front, cut it in half and used the bottom to build a store and the top to build a fire station. Hands still shake a little at the most inopportune times. Seems mostly when I’m trying to glue something.

Bob”

A big thanks to Bob for sharing, I’m pleased he decided to build a HO train layout again. Any layout is good viewing in my book.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if you’re feeling left out in the cold, come and join the fun: the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

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.

Barry cracks on with his layout

Here’s the latest from Barry:

“With the routered groove in the helix it makes it relatively easy to attach the track initially with hotmelt glue and then occasionally nail just to make sure it stays down.

It is very time consuming to cut and trim the ties and then solder the rail joiners but then I seem to have an abundance of time.

I stagger the rail joints between inside rail and outside rail by about 2.50 inches to totally eliminate any kinks in the track and it makes a smooth transition.

Barry”

“Al
Something I found useful for shale rock is ceiling tile broken in small pieces turned upside down and glued with a glue gun. You can use different shades of gray and a little black to dress it up. I think it looks good at little cost.

Bill”

“Arm yourself with a hammer drill & 1/4 masonery bit & drill some holes in a concrete block or red house brick or coal & you will have plenty of fine dust for scatter material also for loading your trucks.

Arthur.”

That’s all for this time 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

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

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the store.

They are great fun to make and great value too.

Another missive of train layout tips and pics

“AL,

This tip comes from Michigan the land of salted roads and automobiles. “Bondo auto body filler”. I have built trail layouts in basements and out buildings where moisture is a problem. Conventional mountain building material can mold and mildew. That is why I use Bondo. I take metal window screen and bend, fold, and contour it into the desired shape. I use a staple gun to secure it. I add wood blocks underneath for support where ever needed. Then I spread a thin coat of Bondo over the screen. On the second coat I add more contour and detail to the mountain, cliff, or tunnel I am creating. After the second coat it is ready for painting. You end up with a rock solid detailed landscape that is impervious to moisture. The only drawback is the need for good ventilation when working with it.

David”

“Hello again Al,

I’ve been busy working on my current layout. I call it My Last Layout because I’m 70 now and I figured it would be my last one. I was wrong! I have been tearing sections of it apart and re-structuring the layout for my newest variation – a radio controlled layout with battery powered locomotives. I sure wish I had known about this part of the hobby before, I could have saved a lot of time and a bunch of money. No wiring, no track or wheel cleaning, just a wireless throttle in my hand and a receiver with battery pack on board (with a DCC decoder if you like) and away you go. More on this at a later date. For now, I am sending you pictures of My Last Layout under construction.

As you may remember from my last posting, I had my Depot enlarged so that I had a new space 12 feet by 24 feet. This would house my new layout and space for me to work as well. I have included a Track Plan (just drew it out on a piece of paper freehand). I lay my track on wood. I used to use plywood but had some problems with expansion so now I switched to MDF, very stable but also very hard. Once I get track down I then begin filling in with foam. I now use foam for most all the layout instead of using screen and/or cardboard covered with plaster cloth because I found it’s much easier for me to put in the scenery on foam (just shove the trees in and done). Also it’s a much easier process if I find I want to add or delete something, just glue more foam on or cut some out.

For those who have been following my progress, you will recognize item’s I salvaged from my previous layout and I found a new way to hold my track in place until I am ready to call things done and start to ballast. I usually ballast last because if I have to move or replace some track during the project it’s much easier if the track is open. I now use small pan head screws to hold my track in place. I use 3 or 4 per each 3 foot section of flex track and none to hold the turnouts. Works like a charm. If you find you have to move or replace track, you just remove a few screws. For those who like to lay track on foam, just cut out a small square section of the foam on the roadbed and glue in a piece of wood. That will give you a place to put the screw in.

This layout will have a wharf area with docks and such. I also had an idea to show my mine operation from above and below ground. Should be interesting. That’s all for now. Next time I’ll get you pictures of the mostly finished layout before I began taking it apart.

Bob”