Model railroad layouts plans

Rob’s been in touch with his folded dog bone layout:

“Hi Al… plan to keep your layout flexible … do not make everything so rigid that it becomes too much trouble to make modifications …

allow for the rearrangement of some scenry (trees) and layout accessories and buildings … minor adjustments to track … maybe add a siding …

the whole concept being similar to rearranging furniture in your home to offer a new perspective … I have found that this approach gives me new incentives and extends the pleasure of the hobby by working the mind …

always have a theme in mind for your layout … give a function to different parts … city … industrial … rural … give the trains a place to go … for me it was the small town USA … along with coal, oil / gas and freight …

FYI, the Gulf oil tanks on my layout were made from coffee cans … 6 1/2″ in diameter and 6 1/2″ tall …

my layout is a 6′ x 18′ dog bone, 3′ wide in the middle … 90 sf of table top surface … runs two trains, over and under action with bridges … four sidings … fun to run

Bob”

A big thanks to Rob for sharing his folded dog bone layout – I thought his advice was spot on too. Very succinct!

“Hi Alastair,

Here are a couple pictures of a bridge I am building for the track to make it to an actual folding bridge – access entrance.

I am using this craft-type balsa you can find at a big-box hardware.

This balsa represents 8×8’s about 16 feet high. Then there will be side rails that will be the foundation for beams about the same width. These will support the track.

This will be an area as a dry river bed. And, formed with a drywall patch compound that sets up quickly.

The white foam area will be an oil platform and scenery. It will have a track and a siding for service.

So, here is the beginning construction. Perhaps you could consider sharing this.

Keith”

I do love seeing a layout before the scenery is down and the bare bones are hidden. Such a joy then to see the ‘finished’ pics.

Now on to Dave:

“Hi Al, had another day up in North Yorkshire , managed to capture a bit of steam

Dave”

A big thanks to Dave – you can see his layout in the Hall of Fame.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

Dan’s been back in touch with his Santa Fe train layout:

“Al,

I noticed in the remarks that they wanted to see trains. Here are views with trains.

A high and wide load being moved. Typical summer thunder storm in the distance.

The Super Chief.

The super Chief entering the town of Almost. So named because it is “almost to the summit.” In the US (everywhere?) towns along the various divisions towns often had names relating to summits or highest points along the route. For example, Mt. Summit, Altoona, Crest Line and so on.

Switching the grain elevator.

Spotting the caboose.

Working the TOFC track circa 1959.

Working the industries.

A load of tractors being spotted at the freight station. If you look very closely you will see the tie downs for the tractors. They are not glued in place.

Getting fresh meat from the Swift slaughter house. A large number of US layouts have this industry on their layouts. I have built three others on layouts I have done for others.

Lets see what is happening at the stations.

The train must be near, as folks are gathering at Almost. The Santa Fe, along with other railroads, had connecting bus service.

The Sharon Springs platform is showing activity, too.

Farther along at the Sharon Springs platform.

Every one is waiting.

Sharon Springs is a busy stop.

Looks as if someone is going on a trip and leaving one behind.

Arrival of the Super Chief.

I hope you all like this batch.

Dan* AKA Santa Fe Dan”

A huge big thank you to Dan for sharing his Santa Fe train layout – I do love it when the comments are responded to – thank you Dan for the train pics.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming, I enjoy them as much as you do.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.

Brian’s been back in touch with his HO turntable conversion:

“Hi Alastair,

I have now completed the HO/HOn3 turntable conversion and now awaits the ground cover and the track leading up to it.

I have managed to cut the hole using a mini jigsaw with a fine blade in it for the turntable without disturbing the surrounding details.

Turntable in place making sure that the hole was cut to the correct size.

A plastic card circle was cut to surround it to form a foot path for the railroad guys to have something solid to walk on and to be able to push (the Armstrong) turntable around.

The ground cover will be placed up to it once the track is cut to length and is in place.

Next project is laying track and points in the next section of the layout. The blue machines shown are the Blue Point controls to be mounted under the layout to operate the points manually. (Push/pull)

I Will line up the track and points once the final position is sorted. Have to make sure that there is enough clearance between the track and building platforms.

Shown here is the track that runs behind the industries to continue on to Pelican Bay on the next section.

This view shows the intended layout of track work and will also continue to Pelican Bay on the right hand side of this photo.

I had to remove all the buildings in front for me to be able to work on said track work without damaging any of the forefront buildings.

The white card base at the bottom of the photo below is where my boat builder/repair shop is situated.

So far so good, most of the buildings are back in place. Now to re-connect all the wires for the lights inside the buildings.

With all the new points (turnouts) that will be added to the layout, I had to find knobs to connect the point machines to the front facia. No luck – so I made a silicone mold of the ones that I had on hand and cast 24 in resin (6 at a time). Mold shown below in pink.

I drilled a 1.5mm hole 10mm deep in the centre to accommodate 2mm diameter threaded rod. They were cut to length, screwed into the resin knobs and then will be screwed into the plastic pipe to go to the point machine (push/pull)

Having cast the required amount and screwed the threaded rod into them, proceeded to spray them a red colour in order for them to stand out against the grey facia panel at the point (turnout) locations.

Took some time off after the above to count all the industries that will eventually be on both levels of the shelf layout which is in a 14ft X 10ft 6 inch room and so far I will have 40 industries that will require an assortment of rolling stock to be shipped to them in an operating session.

Note the car cards in the green box above on the facia panel. They are situated around the layout to be used during operating sessions.

I will get there in the near future.

Brian – the HOn3 guy in Knysna RSA”

A huge big thank you to Brian for sharing his HO turntable conversion – I’m really looking forward to seeing it in operation.

If you want to see his last post, it’s here: HOn3 turntable

You can see more Brian’s posts in the Hall of fame.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, 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.