Brian’s been back in touch and shared pics of his display layout HO scale:
“Hi Alastair,
Attached are a few photos of the HO scale 6ft X 4ft display layout that I built for the Hobbies fair that I mentioned in my previous post.
This was a working HO standard gauge layout to give the public an introduction to the world of model trains.
It was an oval with two sidings and did allow for expansion on the one side as seen in the photo top left.
A divider was added off centre down the centre to split the layout to have different view points. A foam mountain was added as there was to be a mine next to it as well as a river.
A road was carved into the display layout mountain to give the impression that it went somewhere. Plaster was used to cover the mountain, riverbed and a small hill in one of the corners.(bottom left). Woodland Scenics ground foam and Talus was added where required.
The mountain continues around the divider with a tunnel at one end. The tracks for expansion at both ends can be seen below.
More ground cover and trees added and Woodland Scenics realistic water will be added last.
Display layout HO scale:
The mine was assembled and added to the layout. This photo shows the water added.
A small deck was added to the ‘lake’ and a boat.
Overall view of one side.
An HO Rivarrossi Heisler has just crossed the bridge with rake of cars behind it.
Another train crossing the river with the mine in the background.
A diesel locomotive pulling a train around the layout.
This is the town scene on the reverse side of the divider. To give the illusion of a larger town, the assembled buildings shown here were cut in half and the back half was reversed to face the front and modified slightly to give the impression of full building. They were the placed up against the divider.
This is a photo of the display layout stand at the Hobbies Fair. It won first place for the best stand on the show.
Again, this HO scale layout was built many many years ago and was sold after the Hobbies Fair was over. I kept getting asked during the seven day show if the layout was for sale.
It was actually sold on the second day but could only be collected at the end of the seven days.
I really had a lot of fun building these layouts for the Fair.
I will post some more photos of the next one that I built which was a bit bigger – 8ft X 4ft one.
Brian – the HOn3 guy from Knysna RSA”
A big thanks to Hall of Fame Brian, for sharing his display layout HO scale.
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.
Good job Brian, the use of a view block makes the display look bigger.
Will you be taking it to more shows? Are the models removable so you can take it to more places?
I ask because that takes a lot of planning. I did a 4×8 HO display for a museum. It had to be made in 3 parts to fit around a spiral stair case. All of the scenery pieces, view block and buildings had to be removable. It got moved three times before it became a permanent display. Perhaps I will post that in the future, unless Al is tired of me.
Again, good job.
Dan*
Brian, had I read all of the way through the notes I could have had the answer.
Dan*
That is very cool . I feel vindicated as I by shear happenstance to have a divided display very similar and allows for essentially two displays . Glad to know I was one the right track … no pun intended .
Great to see your work and the explanations , thank you for sharing, it’s a very nicely done layout .
This layout was built in an apartment on the sixth floor and was designed, measured and test fitted in the elevator to make sure I could move it out and to the show. Everything was glued down permanently other than the locomotives and rolling stock.
The person who purchased it assured me that he could get it to his location in his pickup truck.
Brian – the HOn3 guy from Knysna RSA
Great. Work Dan, good looking layout. The mine is so real looking.
very nice display.
These work in progress videos are of great help to folks thinking about building a layout. They show with patience, once can achieve neat things regardless of space or budget.
A very nice display Brian
Tastefully done…excellent.
very nice indeed