Philip has been in touch – he uses fiber board for his OO scale track bed:
“Hi Al, I’m living in east Liverpool Ohio but I’m from Tipton West Midlands.
I have been reading your blog for a couple of years now and it amazes me of the ingenuity of the members. I like dangerous David’s approach to modeling.
Mine started like most with a 0 gauge Hornby tin plate clockwork set.
Then it progressed to triang rovex layout built by my dad. I’m 72 years old.
The layout pictures shown has been 40 years in the making.
A 8’x4’ sheet of homasote fiberboard originally under the Christmas tree.
Then I made the 1×4 frame that that interlocked every foot on centre. Then I used pre shaped laminated card railbed the I ordered from the walthers catalogue. I had to add 6” to the back and right hand side.
All the track is OO scale British Peco brand. The fiber board and laminate rail bed cuts noise on the track bed to a minimum.
It’s just a tail chaser but I don’t have the room for anything bigger. I model British Railways from 1900 to current time.
I have models, mainly from Hornby and Bachmann from all the great 4 railways with emphasis on the Great Western Railway and BR up to modern times.
Most of the rolling stock is also used and some date back to the birth of Airfix and mainline as do some of the Manor and Mogul locos. And they still run good.
Most of the models, about 70-80% of them were purchased used as non-runners.
I have been taking model locos apart since I was 8 years old. I buy these types as I have a hard time justifying today’s cost of new ones.
I have added two photos one as I was modifying the layout and the other from last year. All the locos in the second photo are all GWR.
The buildings are OO scale Metcalfe and are very good. The two plate girder bridges are scratch built from various thickness of plastic card, track and plastruct shapes and sprayed with grey primer.
The embankment is made from Elmer’s foam core project board and the sides covered with 6 layers of paper towels with each layer coated with Elmer’s white glue. It is strong as my cats have proven time and again.
Electrics are provided by Bachmann spectrum controllers. Each circuit, 4, is wired the same way and no shorts occur.
The points are not powered, as yet but provision as been made for the time they will be, maybe.
The first pic is from 2005 when I was recovering from triple bypass surgery.
The second as it looks today in the process of being modified again.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Philip”
OO scale track bed:
A huge big thanks to Philip for sharing his OO scale track bed layout.
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.
wow. a lot of trains in a not so big space. something else.
That’s a lot of locomotive power.
lot of train for a small track
Phillip, that is amazing . We all get the shortage of space but you have really capitalized on the space you have . Those old vintage locomotives and rolling stock are beautifully done , those are tremendous. Really truly nice layout but more impactful are those trains . Thank you for sharing , we don’t get to see enough of the older style trains .. those are really amazing
Philip, great job refurbishing those trains , they are really remarkable, we don’t get to see many from that era , you’ve done a fantastic service. Very nice layout , space is often a challenge but you have capitalized on what you have
Philip
Awesome collection you have there. Jam full of trains & a traffic jam to boot- very cool.
Now what? Time to add another level, buy a new house with a large train room, use the kids room ( BTW-that gets em out of the house-LOL), or something that wont get the wife ticked off- you know they never forget. The dilemma of our hobby. So figure out how to make videos of those beauties running and show us what’s next.
Big Al
Nice one- Be well.
Hey Phillip, That’s an awesome job! Hopefully, one day my layout will look that good! Great job!
What I like about your layout is that it is all about the trains. There are some businesses/industries that the trains serve, and I think that you did well with that. You also have some very nice engines and freight cars.
Phillip, a nice 00 layout. Some interesting buildings. You might consider looking up our Brit rail community, the BRMNA, the British Railway Modelers of North America. Just North of you in Ontario there are a number of British railway clubs. One being the Buffers, in London. If travelling, there is the Great British Train Show, April 27 & 28, in Brampton, Ontario. Past shows appear on Utube. Perhaps we will see you there. Cheers, Grant Miles
The beauty of your layout is that it’s not overdone. Your layout is about railroading, not the scenery. Some layouts are so packed with scenery the trains get lost. Love what you did.
seems 5 tons of trains in a 1 ton area