Model railroad layouts plans

“Hi my name is Herb from Melbourne Australia miss.

Not much too talk about,& i don’t model any spefic era as my son is austic.

But we get out there & have a great deal of fun & father son bonding time & i believe that’s what’s life is all about.

Plus we get out from under my wife’s feet well that’s all for now.

From Herb & Rick in the land down under.”

Now on to Jim:

“Hello Al, again.

Thanks for the daily info and stories from your readers.

I wrote my first story to you about 8 months ago. I had started on a small HO scale layout with an up and over design in December, having just retired from a teaching job and having some space and time to begin this project.

I’m enjoying the work (work?) and consider this both a challenge and a welcome journey.

The inspiration is the real world Pipers Lagoon and Shack Island in Nanaimo, British Columbia, my wife’s home town.

The curves have 18-degree radius and the grades are 3% up and 4% down running counter-clockwise.

The base of this railroad is a 1 meter plus (4 foot square) foam pallet that once held a new dishwasher!

I had gotten this far by October but the track was not reliable. You can see there are no straight sections in this design.

The curvature and grade is always changing. Using Atlas flex track was a challenge because it tends to spring back to straight, not holding the curve as shaped. I had several bad track joins and could see no easy way to smooth them out, so… let’s start over!

I decided to bite the bullet and redo the track. First step, scrape it clean!

And then clean up the now bumpy roadbed, make it ready for new track.

This is with new Micro Engineering track which can be curved to the desired radius and will hold its shape well.

I got started on some buildings and scenery. Then I was able to clear out a 2.5 meter (8 foot) closet for a permanent home for this little scene.

Here is a view of the new location with some mountains and a few “Bob Ross” happy clouds in the backdrop.

You can see “Shack Island” on the left of the lagoon, and the fictional town of Pipers Corner over on the right.

I’ve tried a few HO kits as well as your print out buildings which are perfect for this scene.

Next, some real clouds, thanks to artist and friend Tom Devine who was visiting for a few days.

I was dissatisfied with the mountains beneath the clouds so made some changes to my work, not Tom’s.

Still not happy, so another try…

And the current, final version. I modified the mountains a final time but kept the overall outline. Tom returned and “touched up” the clouds using some black and yellow paint to add some “drama” to the scene. He also framed the mountains with some very distant tree lines.

It’s a compelling look and I hope he will come back soon a time or two as there is more black and yellow paint to add to that gathering storm.

At my pace of progress, I think it will take 3-4 years if all goes well but I see this more as a marathon than a sprint.

I’ll send updates when there is some progress to report.

With thanks, Al, for all you do to keep this great web site running…

Jim”

A big thanks to Herb and Jim.

I do agree with Jim’s take on this hobby too:

“At my pace of progress, I think it will take 3-4 years if all goes well but I see this more as a marathon than a sprint.”

Going at your own pace is so important – who wants to rush? Just enjoy.

Lastly, if you don’t hear from me over the next few days, don’t worry, it’s just me putting my feet up because it’s so quiet.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout justl like Herb and Jim, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

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

The posts I enjoy the most are the ones that add personal touches to their layout.

In this post for example, Brian went on a cruise and loved how the trains pulled the ships along the Panama Canal. So he added a nod to that in his layout.

And there is Gary who adds signs to his layout that include his family.

So you get the idea, there are many ways to do it. I wondered if could do something to the printable buildings to make them personal.

Here’s what I came up with after seeing a painters set by Woodland Scenics.

If you’ve got a black and white picture of the old man, why not put him in your layout?

Here I’ve used Laurel and Hardy to show how it would look:

Or perhaps you are a big fan of the Duke:

It doesn’t matter what you want on your building wall – anything can go there.

A picture of you, a pet, a flag, a logo, anything!

And just to prove a point, here’s some more:

I hope the pics get across how any image can be added to this printable building (all you need to do is email the image you want on it after ordering).

The building is a brand new one in the printable buildings range.

(If you’re new to printable buildings, you just download, print and stick together. Here’s a guide of how to make them.)

Like all the printable buildings, they are HO scale. For N scale just reduce the print size to 54%.

For all other scales, have a look at the chart on this page (by the way, O scale prints fine but is too big for a standard desktop printer – you’ll need to go to an office stationers).

This print gives you lots of options, so you are able to make three buildings directly from the prints without any scratch building:

But there’s a catch – there’s always a catch isn’t there?

Each order for this bundle means there is quite a bit of faff my end: I have to get the picture or image that you mail me on the building, and then get it to you.

They may take me a long time to do, they may not. But if they do, I don’t want it getting in the way of the blog.

So if you can’t see the ‘order now’ button, it’s because I’ve taken it off because a few of you have been kind enough to support the blog and I’m busy with them.

This building (or buildings should I say, because you get three to make direct from the print) is a little more expensive than the others because of the extra work my end to add your image.

It’s a whopping $29. But still good value when you see the price of other normal buildings out there.

And you’ll get a personal touch to your layout that will make everyone who sees it smile.

Picture the love of your life, or the grandkids seeing their face being painted on a building wall of your layout. Priceless!

So, to make it really clear, $29 gets you these three buildings and a ‘personal’ wall:

Any pic, flag, logo or whatever you wanted added to the wall of your choice:

You get the buildings as soon as you order – I’ll email you a link.

Then you just need to choose an image you’d like on your building, mail it to me, and you’ll get the second part of the order shortly afterwards.

Full disclosure though, I don’t know how shortly – might be a few days to be honest.

Oh and also, this deal does not include in the Woodland Scenics Painter set either. This ebay link is your best bet if you want them too.

So if you feel like supporting the blog and adding a very personal feature to your layout, you can grab it here.

Here’s what the checkout page looks like:

Of course, I’m biased, but even if you haven’t got a layout, this printable building is a perfect way to ease yourself back into the fun.

What’s more, there is a no quibble 60 day money back guarantee as usual.

Hope you have as much fun as I did with these buildings, and I can’t wait to see one a layout – that really will make me smile.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

Dean’s been in touch with a fabulously clear ‘how to’ on something that is always popping up on the blog: wiring a model railroad.

“Al, greetings from Dean in New Mexico. Thanks for all your good work supporting the hobby!

One of the bigest bugaboos of people starting out in model railroading is wiring.

So this is a short tutorial on wiring the track, testing it out, and soldering.

To start, I recently was asked “why do you use so many feeders in your model railroads. I’ll begin there.

Here’s a simple loop layout. One of the two rails of the track is black, the other, red and the blue slash lines indicate rail joiners between the track sections. The circles with arrows represents a voltmeter measurement and they are green idicating correct voltage at any point you might measure.

A bad or loose rail joiner will limit power to some parts of the layout, but with one bad joint you still get power everywhere.

You can have up to two bad joints if they are on different sides of the track. You can see that in the diagram below–all sections of the track get power from one side or the other.

But, if you have two bad rail joiners on the same side of the track, you will get lower voltage (loco will slow down) or even no power (loco will stop) in the section in the middle (indicated with a red circle).

You have two options to repair the track: You can solder the bad rail joiners, or you can add a set of feeders, or jumper wires to the bad section.

People have different philosophies on how many feeder wires to add. Some go as far as to add a feeder to each section of track.

In my current Conejos Valley Railroad, I’ve put in four sets of feeders as you can see.

Then if a siding or other section of track goes bad in the future, I’ll add a feeder to that section.

The photo below shows the four sets of feeders coming back to the same point. I chuck the two wires in a drill with the other end held in a vise, then run the drill slowly to twist the wires together.

Here’s the terminal block where the sets of wires are connected to my power supply.

Testing the track. Here’s an inexpensive voltmeter that you can buy on Amazon for around $12.

If you are running DC power, set it as shown on 20 volts DC. I’m testing it out with a 9-volt battery, but you can measure your voltage easily at various points on your track to look for bad sections.

My railroad is DCC powered. DCC is actually alternating current, so for that set your volt meter to 200 V AC.

Soldering is easy if you have the right tools and solder.

You can get a soldering station such as the one below for $40 to $50 on Amazon.

You can vary the temperature of this one (I use 200-220 C) and it comes with rosin core solder that is safe to use for your track or wires.

The rosin in the core helps the solder to eat away corrosion on the metal. Don’t use acid core solder which will eventually corrode the metal.

To solder anything, first “tin” the solder point by touching the hot tip to the end of the solder wire.

This coats the point with a thin layer of liquid solder to help heat transfer. Then heat the metal and after it gets hot enough, feed the solder to the metal.

If you’re careful, you can add jumper wires to existing track after it is put down.

But the best way to add jumper wires to a layout is while it’s under construction – as you lay the track you can add hidden wires to the rail joiners.

The wires can be soldered onto the rail joiners at your workbench by holding them in a short piece of track. Solder a blob of solder to the joint, tin the wire and then solder it to the joiner.

Test the finished assembly to make sure its sound, then slip it onto the rail end as you lay down your track and pass the wires though holes in the track support.

I’ve put out a YouTube video that shows all of this in more detail:

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Dean”

A huge big thanks to Dean for sharing his ‘how to’ on wiring a model railroad.

I have to say, I think it’s a wonderfully clear post on wiring.

Please do leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

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.