Ruud’s been in touch with his German model railway:
“Hi Al,
I’m following the mails in your site already for some time now.
I don’t have much time, so progress is very very slow.
But thought still that I do have something to share.
First of all, I see many different layouts and each having its own purpose, depending on the priorities set by the builder. And that is good. Most important is that we love what we are doing and enjoy it.
I for me would like to make something that reflects the purpose of a real railway. You must have the idea that people are transported from one place to another and that goods are transported to the place where they are needed. One should not have the impression that trains are just running around, though they do of course.
Therefor I set for myself some rules.
One should not be able to see the train running back at the other side of the layout.
Platforms should at least be long enough to let the passengers of all carriages step out without braking their necks of legs. (My platforms are 2 meter, which allows for 7 or 8 carriages.)
The buildings should give the real impression of a city (in my case).
The number of tunnels in mountains should be kept to the absolute minimum. (Tunnels in real world are very expensive and made only if there is no way around it.)
My layout will be in 5 modules, which can be transported separately if needed.
Still working on the 1st module. That is showing a bit of the idea that I have in mind. But still far from finished. But I made a start ?
I have included a few pictures.
Regards,
Ruud (DRGbaan)”
“Alastair saw the post on the trains running for days. Attached are photos of my layout.
I have been following your site for a number of years and enjoy the comments and have built a large number of your buildings but too late for my layout.
Myself and another n scaler from our local club are building to work with the club’s HO layout.
Our module will have both scales on it with HO track on the top and a 3 foot x 12 foot.
James”
A big thanks to Ruud and James.
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.
Ruud, it is actually OK to have trains stop at shorter stations. Although if you build a new station here, it has to accommodate the longest train that’ll call there, many existing stops have “grandfather rights” to carry on as they are. I was a guard on a preserved railway for six years and five of our six stations had at least some platforms shorter than some trains, also we had a couple of request stop ‘halts’ with platforms only about one coach length, the guard hand signalling to the driver to get the train (often eight or more coaches long) stopped in the right spot. Some UK smaller main line stations still use similar exemptions, particularly if trains are diverted over a secondary route and make the same stops as a local service on that line which has been cancelled to free a path. It’s also quite normal for the odd coach to overhang on a regular basis where a station is hard to extend, this is dealt with by Selected Door Opening controls and onboard announcements. Good space saver for modelling, and some operational interest too, you sometimes had to draw up to let people with difficulties get on or off more easily.
Rod
Great when a few of you can work to gether in a club
Hello Alastair,
Two very nice layouts presented here. Love seeing posts from all over the world. Your site keeps many model railroaders connected and I’m sure that it jumpstarts many thinking about starting in the hobby.
Thank you for all your effort
Cary B
James, your photos looked so real that I was almost shocked to see two switches in the sky! 😀 Very nice work.
Looks great. I hopes mine turns out that good.
Ruud, your town reminds me of travel photos of European cities. Super clean and inviting.
James, you’ve got an interesting layout. Might you have a track layout plan you could share.
hi al, for sometime now, I’ve been getting your emails and I’m very impressed of what I’ve seen. I’m in the process of building a small h o layout,about 36″ by 12 ‘. as I have limited space.im having trouble with what kind of track design I want . I’ve seen some very impressive layout designs, I’d appreciate any ideas or comments on what kind of track design I should use I’m starting to build the frame for the layout now. hopefully I’ll have it done soon . again any ideas on how I can design a good layout good looking layout would be greatly appreciated. thanks again for the terrific layouts I’ve seen . I’m almost 80 years old and want to see my layout come to life…thanks val in Utah. !!
To Ruud,
Thank you for your devotion and sharing. Excellent pictures and very realistic. Thank you again. Happy Holidays and Stay well.
To James,
Excellent post. Thank you for sharing . You are definitely talented when coming to model railroding. Happy Holidays and Stay Well.
The european town is very well modeled. On the HO, and N scale the HO looks real good. I can’t figure out the use of the N scale with the set up? I used N scale with my layout but it was for distance.
Val in Utah I am almost 78 yr old, and I feel it. I started mine a little over a yr. ago. I had two things that I wanted in my HO layout. 1 was the trains passed over each other at least 3 times. 2 the main lines radius would handle a big boy. I found my help when I purchased a computer program called “Any Rail”. It is a small cost when you figure the time you spend pulling your hair out, pr the number of times you dig every thing out of the trash and start over. you are never to old
very nice. shows what hard work can do. bravo.
Ruud, as a product of the Depression I never had a train, but spending 30 years in Germany I picked up a lot of Maerklin und Fleischmann cars, usw. Our German born son Gregor is very interestred in setting up a German lay out like yours. Maybe when the winter winds begin, we can build the German layout and submit it to the group. Auf Wiederschreiben, DR ERNST
One of the MORE REALISTIC layouts I’ve seen. Great job.
Ruud, an exquisitely modeled first section. And James, great dimensions for an Nscale!