William’s a man a few words, but I liked the way he has recorded his journey – an empty table top to this fine, O scale 5×8 track layout:
“Still work in progress.
Planning waterfall and lake.
William”
And now on to Bob:
“Many people like collectables, and model trains is one where you can buy miniatures or if you are talented enough make them. A train needs a lot of space but is a commodity in short supply.
The first run along the track in about twelve feet long but you can only go so far before you must stop. I wanted to just let the trains run so I could just watch them, as you would in the real world where trains appear and then fade away where you can’t see them anymore.
So I took the longest wall in the recreation room and tried to hug the wall to keep from infringing on the room but alas the turn around required five feet radius as I like and had big equipment which needed large radius curves.
The North end of the room once had a fridge and sink so I had to figure a way to be able to open the tracks. The answer was a double door that folded up but keeping the track aligned was a problem.
It is much better if you have a lift out section to use straight track as the flanges on the wheels have less tendency to catch, but on a curve the flanges are always forced to the out side rail.
Also you have to figure out the electrical needs as the two loops are fed from the middle on the upper level track. The power goes from the center section to a cord that feeds the removable section. Then another cord feeds the curve that goes back to the lower section.
Trains cannot run off the end of the open track if they are not plugged in.
I appreciate hearing from others.
I always enjoy seeing things you send in emails to me so I though others might be interested in train videos too.
Thanks,
Bob.
A big thanks to Bob and to William for sharing his O scale 5×8 track layout.
I do love reading about how you get round the unique problems, each and every model railroad has. It’s all good fun.
That’s all for today folks.
But please don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide if you’re bored of just watching, why not get invloved?
Oh – one last thing.
Over the last few days, some of you have not been getting the mails as normal.
I have no idea how or why – but if you don’t want to fall of the list, you need to ‘whitelist’ my email address.
And in fact, shortly, I’ll only be sending to those who have whitelisted me.
So if you want to carry on getting the mails, you need to whitelist me.
It’s really easy to do. Here’s how to do it if you have a gmail account.
(If you have an email account with othes, like Yahoo for example, just google it – they are all quite easy to whitelist.)
Hover your mouse over my name in your inbox, then click on ‘add to contacts’. That’s it, you’re done.
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.
PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.
My word, had the same config. LIonel layout. My switches were manual, same station and buildings. It was pretty bad though, this one’s exquisite. Seemed there was enough action, was 10 years old. Train chasing the Lionel track cleaning car around and vice-verse. With those you could smell the fire and brimstone when running (probably dirty track lol).
Rich
nice O scale
I have a particular appreciation for O/3track. Nicely done.
The concept of splitting a large section of a layout and being able to separate the two halves to work on things in the middle is an excellent idea. Pull it apart to work on it comfortably with great access and then put it back together to run. Brilliant
Rob McCrain – Farland Howe
Some clever ideas in removable sections.
Hats off to William and Bob.
Love the 57 Chevy and the big ZW power for that Lionel set up. Reminds me of our set growing up. My brother had the big ZW cause he was older. haha
Very ingenious there, Bob, make the plan fit the space. Were you also filming “The cat that attached the railyard”? The critter looked very comfortable there.
Mn Dan
Very nice piece of work.your a pro!👍
William looks great! Mind sharing how you shaped your mountains?
IMPRESSIVE!
Bob has done an excellent job both in construction and presentation of his layout.
We see, from beginning to end, the deliberate attention paid to each component’s position on the simple table that includes a roadway around its edge. [My only ”improvement” would be to have a secondary and distinct layout in the form of motorized vehicles travelling interactively with the trains.] It allows for mishaps to remain on the table instead of the floor.
From start to finish, photographs show how track work would go. A raised foam path seems easier to fiddle location and curves than sectional track. The photos draw the audience into the construction. The foam path’s width shows what building sizes will fit. The foam’s height provides for concealment & connection of wiring.
It is an impressive addition to the annals of model railroading; we should all be so lucky to foresee the benefits of recording each step to the final production.
However, the entirety needs a video of the trains running. A brief 5 minute clip would add closure to this presentation. More importantly, the clip would show the unseeable benefit in this type of construction – QUIET running.
[My version is carpet underlay to muffle the train din (contact w/plywood table!)]
His way means less work to form track path and leaves wiring in a depression – ALL ON THE TABLETOP; no cramped examination of wiring tangles below.
At least 70 years of memories in Bob’s basement. Not many of us have that.
That was a nice simple layout for small spaces
please tell me how many straight, curves, switch
track do I need for this. HO track
thanks
William
Very nice. Like to see & hear a train running in a video.
Bob
Very ingenious. Are the trains running OK? Also would like to see them in a video.
The Lionel set took me back. I still have some of those things up in the attic. Are those Plasticville buildings?