Leo’s been back in touch with his HO scale airport terminal.
It’s quite a layout – it has a harbor too.
You may remember it from his first post (HO scale airport.
This time, Leo just sent in pics, so I’ve borrowed a few words from his earlier post:
“I am retired, and this particular layout is modeled after the Oregon layout with major modifications.
This layout is my fifth, housed on wheels in my garage. All lighting is LED voltage reduced via resisters.
I have no sound in any of my 50 plus locos, relying on MRC sound box (the one with about 24 different sound effects) with speakers around the layout. Sound is amazing, realistic and cost is less then “1” loco with sound equipped.
By the way I enjoyed all of readers pictures no matter the scale, I always learn. I am constantly amazed of the beautifull layouts fellow trains modelers have made (thanks to all I have learned so much, again thanks to you and your readers) .
I do not belong to any modeler railroad group for on a whole are way to serious, to specific, time specific and rely on actual time setting vs type of train usage.
Me on the other hand enjoy modeling based on little thought to anything other than what I like, what I have available to model with etc.
Leo, Langley, OK”
A big thanks to Leo for sharing his HO scale airport terminal.
Now on to Brent, who has a question I thought you lovely lot could help with:
“Thank you Alastair, these are so inspirational.
I have a question as I am retiring and looking to enjoy getting into this rail roading hobby.
Often folks who have fantastic displays often say they made the usual mistakes on the first build( or something close ) what are the mistakes a newbie should be aware of and try to avoid?
I appreciate all the info you provide
Brent”
Please do leave comment below if you can help Brent.
Lastly, please do get in touch if you have a layout you’d like to share, or an update, because it’s ghostly quiet this end.
Just hit reply to any of my mails.
That’s all for this time folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And if today is the day you press the fun button and get started, 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.
Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.
Plenty of detail in there , very nice layout
Brent, never cut corners. Short cuts lead to problems. Take your time. When you can use quality products. Use the book Alister has.
Remember it is your railroad and if it is your best, then that is what it is.
Also, it is a hobby, enjoy the experience of creation.
SantafeDan
Incorporating an airport is an interesting idea. It provides an opportunity to build aircraft models in addition to the usual railroad infrastructure and structure models. Selective compression as you have done here, provides many avenues to explore. Nice one, Leo.
cheers, Rob
That is amazing ! How did you get the pedestrians to walk in the video ? Great layout .
Brent , think it all through , use the guide Al provides on this site . Know what you’re aiming for .. DC or DCC . Know what the costs are so you’re not surprised or wait h on funds . Have a plan , know what it will entail . Create a sturdy platform . Just think of all the aspects involved in each process of your plan and most of all .. get started . Good luck , you’ll find help from this site and certainly from other modelers in your community. Get the guide and know what’s involved before you purchase anything .
Leo, those boulders between the tracks are taking away from the scene you should remove them. No landscape value at all. The layout overall is spectacular.
The Critic
Amazing how many different scenes, airplanes and other cars, construction equipment and wonderful buildings are built on this railroad.
Thank you for sharing.
Brent
Take great care in laying your track, make sure your cars roll freely, especially through the switches. If you don’t do this it will be a major source of frustration later on.
Don’t try to do to much at one time, small sections done right beat rushing to complete the entire project. I have been working on finishing my layout for almost 10 years and am just now nearing completion.
Have fun and don’t let the nitpickers get to you.
Brent, I can provide some don’t s. I believe I have made all of the capitol mistakes a person can make. Here are the things I did wrong.
1) I had an idea that I wanted to have a model train layout. But I didn’t do any research first. Scale? Knew I didn’t have much space so figured N-scale would give the biggest bank for the space.
2) I started buying everything first: train sets, individual units, scenery, buildings, people, etc. Again without research. DC or DCC? And here I made bigger mistakes… buying both N-scale and HO-scale. Don’t ask why, I’m an impulsive buyer.
3) Googled track layouts to fit my size and printed out multiple designs blown up to fit my area. And now just let it all sit there doing nothing.
Hope that gives you some ideas of what not to do.
Dave
Oh wow what a impressive layout. At first I thought this was at a museum or something not a personal one. I would love to visit and see personally for myself!
Wow, Leo, quite layout!
Brent, I have been in the hobby over 50 years, and have had many layouts in HO and N scale. A few pointers, choose a scale that you feel comfortable with. Decide what you want to model,(railroad, time period, etc) or if you just want to see trains run trhough some scenery, not bothered about prototype,
That leads to my next tip, once you have decided on railroad prototype and era, then you need to decide what is your goal. To have a layout built for operation with many industries that require switching, a passenger based operation with passenger stations, or do you want to raiilfan, seeing long trains run through scenery? Once you have decided this, determine the space you have and plan
accordingly. Keep the curves as wide as possible and do not cram to much track into a scene. Leave enough room for scenery.
Hope this 2c worth helps you.
Wonderful layout. So many unique and interesting scenes going on here. I’ve never seen so many commercial vehicles and industrial equipment in one layout. You make it work and with great detail.
Jim AZ
Do the people actually walk, and the cars move, or is this via a graphics program of some sort?
In any event, fantastic detail!!
excellent
Your layout is incredible! I am sure you have invested a lot of time and money. I have two O guage layouts with 32 locomotives 77 frieght cars and 20 passenger cars. I have a rider on my home insurance policy for $30000 replacement value . I recommend making a complete inventory of your layout equipment and track and using it to document insurance for your layout.
Richard Weiss
Greenwood IN
Leo
I fully agree with your approach to modeling. Your craftsmanship, complex multi- tiered, complex layout is breath taking. Congratulations!