N scale train portable layouts - Russ's - Model railroad layouts plansModel railroad layouts plans

Russ has been in touch. He’s added to the N scale train portable layouts on the blog:

“Hi, Al

Russ Jones here from West Virginia, USA.

I’ve been an avid follower of your newsletter and wanted to show you a project I’ve been working on for almost a year.

It’s a portable layout being built for my model railroad club (Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum at Antietam Station in Sharpsburg, Maryland).

It started out as a donation to the club in a very rudimentary and incomplete Z scale layout contained in a removable glass-topped wooden framework. The original dimensions were 47” X 24” with a depth of about 2”.

We decided to upgrade this to N scale and needed to add additional 1” x 4” lumber to give us the needed depth for N scale tunnels and structures.

The layout itself was started on a sheet of closed cell foam that was cut to fit the wooden framework and was inserted later when all of the track and structure wiring was installed.

Three tunnels were built with the largest in the center to separate a “country” scene with a fishing pond from a town area.

The tunnels were made with a base of foam blocks and crumpled paper that was subsequently covered with strips of plaster cloth. After drying, the plaster cloth was covered with a thin coat of joint compound then painted with Woodland Scenics Earth Base paint. All exposed foam also was painted.

The pond was constructed using a cardboard cutout with a stream outlet at one end, and covered with joint compound then painted.

A covered bridge and girder bridge were added over the stream outlet.

Landscaping was accomplished by painting all exposed surfaces with a 50:50 white glue:water mix, to which was applied light brown and light green fine turf using salt shakers. Coarser turf and finally trees were added later.

The pond “bottom” was painted by blending a small area of flat black at the center and slowly blending dark blue, light blue, light green and finally yellow brown outward to the pond edges. Once dry, I used Woodland Scenics “water” mixed with a few drops of light green paint and poured it into the pond base.

Although it self-levels, it unexpectedly shrank as it dried and it required a second pour to completely fill in the pond area. Before pouring, I added a few twigs to represent floating and partially submerged logs.

The hillsides were painted with the Earth Base coat and then dry brushed with sandstone grey to give it a rocky wall appearance. I laid out a country road on one side of the pond using Woodland Scenics Paving Tape and filling in the road surface with joint compound. After drying it was painted with a light gray, they given a black wash of water mixed with a few drops of black paint for a weathering effect.

Since the club had a train show and sale coming up, it was decided to drop the insert the foam insert into the wood framework and drop wires for lights, track power and switches into predrilled holes and display the half-completed layout as an advertisement for the club. At the end of the show, the layout came home to my basement so I could finish to town side of the layout.

Now work started in earnest on the town side of the layout. Using the paving tape again, I added sidewalks using joint compound covered with balsa sidewalk covers. A squarish road area 2” in width was painted directly on to the foam base and a rectangular courtyard made of cardboard and painted with the Earth Base Coat.

Trees, brick walkways, and fine green turf were added later. I then added road markings from Highwaysnbyways.com, and glued in a few vehicles and pedestrians.

As a final feature, I covered the central tunnel with a removable foam topper (held in place with Velcro strips). I felt that this feature was needed in the event of a derailment inside the tunnel.

Russ”