The tips and pics keep on coming

Well, I’m hopelessly behind again.

I’ve still not got all the buildings in the new store.

Just so you know, the old store is here, and the new store is here. Soon to be all in one place!



That’s all this time folks. Don’t forget if your getting bored of the armchair, the Beginner’s Guide is here, lovingly edited by the Hall of Fame members.

Keep ’em coming.

Best

Al





PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

55 Responses to The tips and pics keep on coming

  1. Bob says:

    Outstanding job!

  2. Gene Foster says:

    WOW! Absolutely stunning!

  3. Eric says:

    Alan. Condolences for having to break it up. Stunning scenery, love the snowy scenes and the autumn shades and you definitely have an eye for detail. pics 2 and 4 could be real life. The station looks good too but it didn’t specify what scale you used.

    Mike. Congrats on becoming a Hall of Fame member.

    Eric (Leeds) UK.

  4. Tom Nichols says:

    What a great looking layout…….the colors are outstanding

  5. John R says:

    Beautiful layout, nicely done.

  6. Ian Schoeman says:

    Wow. Stunning

  7. Lawrence says:

    This is os real and I wonder how many decades did it take to make. Sooper nice. Thanks for sharing it with us.

  8. JW says:

    Some of the best alpine snow scenes I have seen!

  9. Pete says:

    I really like the fall colors. The colors make it vèry bright and seem to add another dimension.

  10. Marklin ed says:

    That one great layout? THANK

  11. Robert E Kelsey Jr says:

    Fantastic job, maybe one day soon I can build mine, no room in my apt.

  12. Ray says:

    Absolutely beautiful Maerklin HO layout.

    Great Job.

    Ray

  13. Chuck Bartunek says:

    Truly an outstanding layout,would like to see more,please.

  14. Bill Orzechowski says:

    Beauticul work. Very impressive. I just started my layout. I hope it turns out half as good. This is my first attempt. Getting a late start at 68 years old. Keep up the great work. You are an inspiration.

  15. Dan Marso says:

    Beautiful layout !

    Danny Marso, Rhode Island

  16. Richard Baierlein says:

    Absolutely beautiful!

    Any chance of seeing the track plan of the layout; would love to see it.

    Richard

  17. Bret Chapman says:

    Very good work and splendid detail. Just amazing. Love the wonderful fall colors.
    That is a definite enhancement to a layout that I’ve not seen before. Wonderful !

  18. Rudy Avadikian says:

    Stunning is an understatement. Very artistic. How do you manage to keep the snow white after a period of time?

  19. Jim Dooley says:

    Awesome job. Love to get started on mine soon I hope.
    Great inspirations of all the members with their layouts.

  20. Paul Vogel says:

    Hey Alan, I’m jealous of your talent !!!!! Paul Ohio USA

  21. John Reynolds says:

    Absolutely stunning work!
    John

  22. Steve.O says:

    Sensational !!!!

  23. Gene Fricks says:

    I use the contents of used tea bags instead of coffee grounds to simulate soil. Right color, lightweight, easy to handle.

  24. James Chesky says:

    EXCEPTIONAL

  25. Vic Heffren says:

    BEAUTIFUL

  26. James Maitlasnd says:

    WOW. I would hate to break that layout up. Fantastic!!

  27. Jim Sulkosky says:

    Great layout very nice.

  28. Sundaram P says:

    Breadth taking creation. Absolutely, fantastic detailing.

  29. Tom says:

    Beautiful stupendous looks great my goodness what a wonderful job or jobs that is looks so real that was so wonderful like that before either wow wow wow

  30. ken says:

    Realistic and full of detail, wonderful work, look forward to seeing more.

  31. Ian Mc Donald says:

    great layout photos the tips will come in handy .

  32. Gary O'Leary says:

    wonderful job

  33. Rod Mackay says:

    That really is lovely work, it’s great it was so well recorded photographically. I treasure some old slides of my earlier layouts, very few of them sadly, as I made the mistake of thinking “I’ll take pictures when it’s finished” but like most layouts, some never got that far.
    Rod

  34. Michael Heffernan says:

    WOW That’s awesome

  35. Steve says:

    How did you make the fog/steam on the water fog? Amazing!

  36. Nigel Costa says:

    I’m speechless!
    Absolutely brilliant, award winning!

  37. david howarth says:

    Fantastic layout Alan …Dave

  38. KEITH CAREY says:

    Alan and Mike,

    I will “second” what Eric said about the realism in pics 2 and 4.

    But, let me spotlight pics 1 and 3 also. Just adding that bridge and the way you blend in the baxkground is colossal.

    I was reading where someone said we get paralysis in the design phase and never really make the attempt. If i let you all know how i am developing my layout foundationl, you might all laugh. Point is, we can avoid technical calculations when building elevations.

    I am surprised how the modular track has turned out. This calls for a second look for using in remote-reachable areas of the layout. How you made the rails stand out from the covering and weathering is incredible.

    God bless you,

    Keith Carey
    Columbus, Ohio USA

  39. Jeff says:

    What a great job!

  40. James says:

    love the bridge in the first pic

  41. Rols says:

    The realism is first class: I mistook the first picture to be a 1:1 SBB+CFF express.

  42. Terry Miller says:

    Boy can I relate to Mike’s tip on track radius. I have always used Atlas 18″r because that’s how I started in the hobby 50+ years ago.
    It worked fine until I found the SP Daylight 3 articulated dinner/kitchen/coffee shop unit on the internet a couple of years ago.
    The Daylight has always been called the “most beautiful train in the world” and I had to have it.
    It was expensive but I cut down on food, drink, etc and bought it.
    It arrived and I immediately had to run it on my layout.
    It went through the first curve and completely derailed and uncoupled itself into 3 pieces.
    Then I went back and read the description.
    It only ran on 22r or more!
    My passion and stubbornness made me tear up the entire layout and rebuild it with larger curves.
    Now I;m trying to get up the nerve to run it on the new layout. The unit is difficult to reassemble and now that it’s back in one piece I’m not sure I want to test it out.
    The lesson learned (and followed ever since) is read the descriptions closely to make sure it will work on your layout.
    Thanks Mike.

    Terry/Idaho USA

  43. James Marek says:

    Very nice job? Have your photos been computer enhanced?

  44. Totally Awesome!!

  45. John schmehl says:

    BEUTAFULL WORK so real like 👍.

  46. Ben H says:

    Great Scenery for winter, plus the layout looks great also, Looks real.

  47. Charlie says:

    Fantastic work. Very nicely done…

  48. Steve Joyce says:

    Sorry to hear you had to break up that gorgeous layout. The only question I would have had…Why are you not running your loco’s ( electric) with pantograph up with all that difficult overhead wiring you strung. I looked into it and felt it was expensive to buy all the towers then stringing all the wire would have been a real bugger-bear to do.

  49. markus says:

    Alan, sad to hear… but it made me homesick in a good way: Matterhorn and Re6/6 lead freight train! (and of course the famous E 103… cherishing it running on my tracks too… Rheingold coaches still to be acquired). I’m intentionally running the ‘old’ stuff – metal tracks and AC analog… Best way to play with the grand kids. They get their dose of electronics in distance learning and doing real wires and being able to touch things without breaking things is an experience that somehow got lost in being more and more true to prototypes.

  50. Bob Cassidy says:

    Tremendous amount of work! Beautiful job!

  51. Marklin ed. says:

    Great to a Marklin layout, don’t see to many of them. THANKS GREAT PICTURES AND WONDERFUL LAY OUT. Sorry to hear that your have to take it apart. New chance to make a new one.

  52. Mark T. Pianka says:

    Great looking layout!! very nice.

  53. Erick says:

    Looks pretty Kool. Would like to see more. I hope mine out turns out that goods

  54. Dennis says:

    That last picture is one of the most realistic stations I have ever seen…that is just amazing!

  55. Sparky says:

    Wow………unbelievable…….

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