“Good afternoon Al, hope you have a great holiday.
I Shot a video showing each scene in my layout and all my engines.
Santa Fe Freight
Chesapeake & Ohio Passenger
Union Pacific
Amtrak Passenger
Louisville & Nashville
I’ve updated my layout based on feedback from my last post. I added ballast to my e-z track. It looks much better. I added one set of traffic lights, crossing lights and street lights. I’m still not that great with my wiring so I only have the traffic lights operating. I’m also sending some pictures of each engine and some scenery and one more video that I had some fun with.
I want to thank you and your readers for all the tips and suggestion. Now its time to enjoy.
Best,
Mike”
And this one is the video:
I can’t thank Mike enough for this update – stunning stuff. If I’m not mistaken, I think a lot of the pics in the Beginner’s Guide are from Mike’s layout. And no wonder, they are superb.
Hope you enjoyed Mike’s pics and vids as much as I did!
And if you model in HO or N scale, have a quick look at the ebay cheat sheet. It’s a silly time of year for some great bargains.
That’s all this time, folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
Best
Al
That’s very cool. I can’t wait to get my basement finished so I can start on my layout. I have n scale and ho scale models to display. Some of my trains are dc and some are dcc. But you’re layout looks great. Congrats to you .
Bryan Atkins
great layout i wish i had that much room. i will when i convince my wife that i need the den as well as the spare bedroom .untill then keep up the good work on your project.i really enjoy layouts like yours.
bill from newark delaware u.s.a.
Fantastic !!!! The photo’s and video made terrific viewing.
One small observation though. On the Chesapeake & Ohio the illumination in the coaches would be enhanced by fitting some passengers.
(This may be like splitting hairs, but congratulations on a magnificent railway.)
That looks great Mike, the ballast has made a marvelous layout even better.
I really like the overhead passenger bridge. Is there an available product/kit for this stunning structure? Thanks
I’m an “0” gauge guy but love seeing any thing train related–2 rail, 3 rail, G gauge to N gauge. If it has wheels and runs on a track….I love it. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. Dienzel
Wonderful detailing!!! And you are right, the ballast makes a difference. Well done.
Pete-Rainy Calif.
Hello, wonderful layout… My question is how did you strip your roads? What did you use for road way? Your roads look super nice! Thanks, Gerry
Great detailing and effects! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing!.
Great set up, nice classics, great detail👍
Love the railroad layout. Wow, that is awesome. Especially the crossing signals. So realistic. I love model railroading. You can create many different layouts. Super Job
L&N is the greatest and fitting for your outstanding layout. Our collage football stadium was built on the old L&N yard every time the score they blast the train horn how fitting.
Simply Amazing !!! My dream layout that I can only “imagine” having in my home.
Excellent work !!!
Thanks for the post.
RonP.
Wow great layout lots of things going on at once. Hope one day mine turns out half as good. A long way to go yet to get It up to were your layout is. Don’t seem to have time right now and when I get time don’t seem to have the funds to do what I would like to do with It. Anyway thanks for sharing a great layout. It was fun to watch.
Amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome, I have N Scale and you have given me some look into a rocky hill, I have been looking around and some things just did not look right.
Thank you
Mike, I just loved the thunder storm @ 1:45 of the video!
Perfect camera angle with the lightning reflecting off the coal tipple.
Excellent modelling.
Paul O
Mike, nice layout and great video. Just a operating comment from a retired railroader : if those are hazardous loaded tank cars you need one buffer car behind the engine and one ahead of the caboose. Tim
WOW mg Mikew it just gets better well done
Beautiful, simply beautiful! Great craftsmanship and eye for detail! NJ Mark
Super Mike, so much going on.
I loved those Santa Fe diesels. As
a boy, I had a book with one on the cover when I was about 10. Been to the States a few times and done the Rocky Mountaineer I Canada. They stopped building nice looking locos in the 1950’s. They are all so ugly these days. Australia and NewZealand have similar locos and herein the UK they are no better. But maybe its just me!
Great layout anyway. Alan. UK
Beautiful, just beautiful. Real eye candy. I am in the process of building structures for my layout and detailing the city area. One year into the project and scenes like this keep me inspired. Congrats, Mike. Thanks.
Wow, Mike! Fabulous layout with great sounds. How did you produce the thunder and lightning storm? Ultra realistic effects your sound is fantastic. I’m (finally) been given room in my home to build a railroad, and I want an “empire” like yours. Your video has convinced me to go full DCC. Thanks for sharing your layout!
Best,
Jon in Jersey
Nicely layed out Mike
and lots of great detail…
keep em runnin fellas
stjohn in long beach calif
A really neat layout.
Paul from OZZie
Great looking layout Mike. I’ve only been building my layout for 12 months, just plodding along doing a lot of ‘scratch build’, and some of your scenes have inspired me for some ideas for my layout (HO).
Thanks.
Wayne
that is one great layout. so busy with all those train just great to watch, quite a few times I must say. the detail to scenery is superb. not short on finding ideas thanks a lot hope to see more.
Really amazing I am a 72 yr old beginner it must have cost a fortune. I don`t have pockets that deep, I have been watching this site for a while now and this is the most impressive work I have ever seen. Please keep up the good work. Tom
His layout is great, love the scenery! One thing though, his layout looks like 1950/60 scene and the modern Train and some lighted signs (Amtrack) does not fit in with town or landscape. But overall GREAT.
Very nice. All so real.
Great photos & video !!!
Stunningly beautiful Mike. I highly doubt my layout will ever be that superbly done like yours. I have a very large layout with an even larger rail yard and continue working on it, almost daily now that it is winter time and I am semi retired now. Love my HO scale DCC layout with my mostly CN engines.
Very nice, appreciate the hard work it took.
my god most of this is so good i can only imagine the time and effort going into the layouts . a question for you all if you all had a $100 or so budget for engines what brand would you recommend and are there any to avoid
Hi Mike,
Impressive amount of detailing; looks like a very busy locale. From the looks of the rolling stock and structures on the layout, I take it is free-lance and eclectic: that is, not focusing on a particular era, or railroad and location, but instead integrating it together. Just having fun running trains! Nice job. – Arnie
I really enjoyed looking at Mikes layout . It really is a terrific one. Way to go Mike keep up the great show.
FANTASTIC!
Thanks Mike for sharing.. I love videos as they really describe a person’s layout. Great job! Cheers Rossco Adelaide, Australia
HOLY MOLEY MIKE!!!! WOW, I thought my layout was starting to look good but man you have blown me out of the water with yours!!! FANTASTIC !!!!!!
The video was cool but the sound is not real and it is way too loud !
Thanks for having trains that run !
why do most modelers begin with Santa fe locomotives ? Bet it’s the war bonnet.
Great layout. Don’t quite understand the 50’s era mixed with the 2000’s era though
The Critic
Wow! Lots packed in there Mike, great layout and quality video. Thank you.
Brian, Wokingham, UK
To Fred Day,
I have been model railroading since 1963 (I’m 87 years now) and to answer about what engines to avoid most of the time you get what you pay. I have both dc and a few dcc. As for dc, I like Mantua and Athearn. Because I only have 3 dcc engines, I make no comment on them
Man that is a awesome layout, the scenes and scenic routes are unbelievable looking. Details are the best part of a layout and you nailed it.
Very nice
Eric the Firefighter St Louis Area
Great layout. Only comment is the landscaping between the 2 tracks going into the tunnel. In reality I doubt this would exist as the maintenance of that central section would be so onerous as to make it impractical in reality.
Great, Mike. Truly inspirational (“I can do that”). Your sound on the video is GREAT (especially the thunderstorm). Better than the canned music that goes
with so many videos.
Shlack in NC
Hi Folks: Thought I would Chime In. (1.) The Layout is Great, Lot of Buildings, give a Sense of Industrial Settings. Liked the Video, with the Stream Train coming into the station, with the Arrival Announcement… Wondered about how many times in Real Life do you see a Train going thru or Under a Coal Loading Facility used for Locomotives? Wouldn’t that be on a Yard Track Off the Main Line? (2.) Wish there was a Layout Plan or Drawing to Refer to…
(3.) Regarding the Overhead Walking Bridge… There is another method to allow passengers to get from the Station to Board Trains on the opposite tracks…. Use an Underground Tunnel. You can make a Simulated Stairway by the Station, with the “Stairwell Cover” next to the Station Platform and another one on the other side of the tracks… Common in Large Towns and Cities… Like an above ground Subway Stairway Entrance.
I remember growing up in Bridgeport, CT. the Main Station had those in order to cross over the N.H.R.R. 4 Track Main Line. AND When the New Haven CT. RR Station was Renovated and reopened in the late 1980’s, They rebuilt a Tunnel that lead from the main Union Station underground crossing under the 4 Mainline Tracks…
Where I Live now, near the VT. / N.H. Border,,, the White River Jct Main Station, has an Underground tunnel between the Station and the Post Office, So the U.S. Mail could go from the station directly to the Post Office in Bad Weather… The Tunnel and Elevators from ground level are still there. The Metal Grating Covers with the elevator are still operational. Though have not been in use for years. Would be very easy to model, just make a 8 ft long x 6 ft wide raised base with a corrugated metal cover, similar to a basement Bilko Door used on residential homes. You could make this using aluminum foil glued over some balsa wood for a cover door.
great layout looking good a job well done!!
Now that is a model railroad layout!!! Really neat and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the video. Congratulations.
Looks good, I hope comes out that good.
Outstanding.