This layout was started when I was sick and grew over the past 2 years. I was laid off last year and had a chance to finish it. My vision was to create a mini “Baltimore” with a simple oval layout–the city was more important than the train.
As a relatively young woman interested in model RR, I would like to ask the experts some things:
Is it possible to change/alter the existing oval layout to add loops and/or a new track over the existing track? My existing track is like I said a boring oval, but it’s “bonded” to the plywood with plaster and is raised up on styrofoam track bed I do not want to disturb it but I do have an arch under which a new track could be laid, and then loop around.
Basically my layout is a big oval with the tracks raised on styro and one arch beneath the styro, with the city in the middle.Most buildings are mobile but the landscaping took a long time.Better off to start anew or build on what I have?
Archival quality: I have used some seriously “creative” shortcuts and money-savers. For instance, I’ve painted bldgs w/ acrylic, made my own landscaping from foam/paint in the blender and using flour/salt/baking powder with food coloring, layered on coats of acrylics and oils, etc. I am sure this is all bad. How bad IS it for my long-term keeping of the set?
I used Marklin snap tracks on the advice of my hobby shop. If you all think I should do a new layout altogether should I use the regular HO? I am intimidated by regular HO.
I love some of the pictures you’ve made; so you should not be intimidated by regular HO, you are just a great builder.
For long term fun; I would start allover but here the problems are coming. Your pictures showed us some nice scenes; alas(?) no railroad scenes. Question is are you into modelling, into RR-ing or somewhere in between?
Among the very first questions are those asking for era, locale and kind of railroad. Just doing some lap-running is boring indeed, but what is it you like to do with your trains? Switching in derelict quarters of Baltimore at 3 AM to day or passenger operations along the Californian Surf-line under a blazing sun in the 60’s? Or …
Just to give you some stuff to study I added some websites.
BTW Marklin is regular HO too in Europe. And if you will have grandchildren some day; you just take your old Marklin stuff from the drawers and it still will be running great.
My feeling is you can build a great looking pike American style; but how far would you go? Are you in to building your tracks and switches yourself? Or use flex-track or snap-track? Are you into a challenge? You can do it! It’s your call!.
Model Railroading is asking for lots of decisions; having them coherent or consistent is the issue.
Some good (IMO) online resources on track planning/layout design/operations:
You have a really neat looking set of ideas there. Love those pix!!
My own take would be to look at different ways to set up a layout as such. The island thing has some issues–one being that it does tend to take a wacking amount of space out of the living area. BTDT. An around the room/along the walls layout actually would work much better for that urban scene as well.
As for the ‘archival’ thing I’d see about maybe using things like florists foam blocks ground up as well as dirt/soil–sifted and then heat treated to kill off any living critters—for the ground. Acrylics aren’t the issue with this fellow but the flour/salt/baking powder is not something I’d be using–my cat has a thing for that stuff! lol![swg][:)]
I’d suggest checking out the sites that were posted as well. There are a lot of ideas brewing in that layout of yours-----think about changing to a around the room/walls and just go after it!
Yes maybe. Depends on how high the arch is. You will need 3-4 inches of vertical clearance track to track or about 3 inches clearance top of rail to the bottom of the arch and it will have to be 1.5 inches wide (2 is much better.
You will probably have to scrape off whatever scenery material you have applied in the area where the new track will go so there is a smooth level area.
Your choice. But… I am going to suggest to you that you consider starting over AFTER you have done some research on track plans. On the main Trains.com website there is a library of track plans. Look at those. You have been given some good links above. If you want a website with a lot of really good modelers on it check out the Railroad Line Forums (and don’t be intimidated). Look at these layouts and models and then decide if you want to keep what you’ve got and add to it or if you want to start over and design in what you want.
Many model railroaders do an odd thing when they complete their layout. They tear it up and start over a short time afterwards. I call it “Bigger-Better-Itis!”
And using materials found around the house for materials is often the sign of a good model craftsman! Congrats on getting creative. BTW: Foam should last forever. Flour/salt/baking powder should also. But keep it in a low humidity place. Paint store acryllics (Ben Franklin A.C. Moore etc) for things building models is perfectly fine. In matter of fact Poly Scale paints are nothing but acryllics (with much finer ground materials)
Railroads were all about the cheap when it came to paints. They used colors which adhered well and were cheap to buy. That includes umber brown and ocre oxides, greys, and deep reds and blacks. These colors are plentiful and cheap at your local craft store. You can save the expensive polyscale paints for fine details.
Marklin is “okay” track. You might want to try Atlas snap track, Peco, or Walthers next time. The best kinds of layout use flex-track in 3 foot sections. There’s less “clicky-clack” as wheels roll over joints, and less chance of kinks because there are less joints. Plus it’s more free form as the track bends the way you want it. It’s a little itimidating to work with at first, but trust me it’s cake walk, only a 1/2 step harder than snap track. You can glue down flex track with cheap window caulk from home depot. Just hold it in place with pins while it dries.
Unless in the city streets, yard facilities, dock, industry sidings, track would also be elevated on a roa
Welcome to the forums, you have some impressive photos.
People change their layouts all the time. Some change or upgrade only one scene, others totally remove their layouts and start over. (Some even change scales when they do.) You can change, add on or renovate, whichever suits you after you have given it some thought.
Reusing structures and other parts of the old layout is common. Use of house paint, craft paint, bought materials or make your own are all part of the hobby. Depends on what you have for resources, time, money and skills. Died sawdust has been used for years, some use only purchased ground foam, plant material for trees or wire armatures, polyfiber and ground foam or purchaced trees. What looks good to you and what you have, it’s your layout.
As for using what you have, if you like what you have and just want more, adding a switch or two can connect you with the rest of the world. You can just have a staging area for trains to go to and come from off scene. Just as easily, though it will be more modeling in the future, you can add visible layout as much as your space allows. Get a track plan in mind, lay track then start scenery building. You are obviously skilled and comfortable with scenery building, I doubt you will find different types of track that difficult.
Before you make any longterm decisions I suggest you read up on layout design and building, so that you can see how you could incorperate what you have, if that is your choice. Sounds like you have some interest in operating trains, there are books on that. To design a layout that you will like, you will have to decide what type of operations you want primarily continuous running, switching, point to point, etc. Each type is enjoyed by some and not cared for by others. Some folks prefer to operate and hav
I’ll start off by being a little chauvinistic!! The ladies in the hobby seem to excell at the buildings and scenery aaspect of the hobby - and you rank right near the top with what your website shows!!! [tup][tup]
Keep up the good work!! BTW, the around the room idea would be my suggestion too.
Beautiful structures, nice landscaping, excellent photography. You have a nice layout there.
Track plan enhancements are possible. I assume you don’t have room to expand your layout? You have a single track oval running around the outside of the layout? In which case you could
Add a couple of passing sidings to the single track main. A second train can be parked on a siding, and when the first train has run long enough it can take to a sideing, and the second train can take to the main while the first train stops at a station or a loading dock.
Go for a double track main. This allows two trains to run in opposite directions.
Add some industrial spurs to allow freight cars to be set out by loading doors in the back of yur buildings. A peddler freight can circle the layout picking up and setting out cars at your industries.
Do an up and over. Build a hill or an elevated street scape covering part of your single track main. Have to track enter a tunnel entrance to run on the “underground” main line. Have a long spur track climb up a grade and run over the new elevated streetscape. You need 2 3/4 inches of overhead clearance to prevent tall cars from hitting the overhead. For a stiff 3% grade, the track needs 100 inches to climb 3 inches.
I use as much readily available house hold stuff as possible on my layout. Big John Dalton always recommended craft store acrylic paint. I use sawdust dyed with RIT dye for ground cover. Artist’s oil paints are superb and will last for centuries. I would hesitate on flour lest it attract mice or bugs, and salt, lest high humidity make it dissolve. Natural ground cover (dirt) works well although experienced model rails will bake the stuff for an hour or so to make sure nothing hatches out of it, and run a magnet over it to collect any iron filings that would otherwise get sucked up by mot
Answers to your questions depend on how well you like the hobby of model railroading. If you really like it, I would save the buildings and start over. Consider your present layout / loop as a learning experience. Buildings can always be reused, scenery can not. However, scenery is the easiest part. Imagination for the type of scenery you want and what you want it to look like is harder, but by the looks of what you have done already, it is a no-brainer for you.
The first thing I think you should do is determine what kind of space you can have for a model railroad. That will determine what you can do. The goal for all of us is to have our own room that we can use as we like. Sometimes that takes a while. In the mean time, you can build switching layouts in modules to use as towns for a later time when you do have a larger space. That way you are building something that can be used later and learning at the same time. You can get a lot of operation in a 2 foot by six foot switching module. If you do have some room, you can add a temporary loop of track that will incorporate the module so you can have some continuous running.
When that first module is finished, pack it up and start another one. Then when you have the room, you can use the modules as towns on the mainline of a larger layout. If you look for switching layout plans, they will generally have a good track design that usually works well for switching and operations. Keep in mind that railroads are a transportation system whose job it is to deliver goods and raw materials for industries. Sometimes we loose sight of that fact when designing a layout.
Like you, I started out with a 4x8 layout. It served its purpose very well…but operations were severely limited. Sure, I could run trains in circles, but that got boring after awhile. Plus, with the far edge always against the wall, it was difficult to take care of any derailments–too far of a reach! After much MR-reading, I came to the conclusion that I’d simply outgrown it. There weren’t any sidings, other than a long passing one, no yard, and nowhere else to “serve industries.” Time to build a new one, in other words!
This time, I went for an “around the walls” style layout. I got a longer main line, plus the layout doesn’t eat up as much room space. Think of it as a 2-foot-wide shelf along the wall. While I was at it, I designed things so it comes apart if I ever have to move again.
When I started over, I chose to begin anew. That is, I reused nearly all of the buildings, vehicles, and rolling stock. However, I didn’t reuse the old track or wiring. That stuff wasn’t exactly great on the old layout! Instead, I went with flextrack (not sectional), and used several of Atlas’ track wiring components.
What I’m trying to say is, don’t be afraid to change things. My current (circa 1992-3) layout is still evolving a bit. I’ve shifted a couple of tracks slightly, moved some buildings, etc. either because I’ve changed how I want things, or simply because the “traffic flow” is better.
When the time comes, do not be afraid to start over and try something new. I have done that 6 or 8 times over the years. If you are looking for something more from your layout, it is probably time to start researching for somethng new and better. A couple of questions / suggestions
Do you have a good hobby shop nearby? They can be helpful with suggestions on books of track plans, pick up a couple of model RR magazines and subscribe if you can afford it.
Is there a model railroad group you could visit? The hobby shop could give you some info on this. Hopefully, they would be a pro-active group that welcomes new modelers and gives classes on layout building
You did not mention where you are from, but I assume near Baltimore since that is your choice of layout location. Visit the B&O museum, and see what they have for display layouts
Look for some model railroad shows. They usually have portible layouts on display as well as many booths. There is a big show in Timonium MD once or twice a year (unfortunately, it just occurred a couple of weeks ago)
Keep coming back to the forum with your questions and use it as a resource for research; look for the SEARCH window to look up things.
Welcome! Especially for a first layout, yours is exceptional! You should have seen my first… [:-^]
Just a disclaimer, although I may be overly bitter about this: If while visiting a club, you run into a grumpy old fart, don’t be discouraged…most modelers are really nice and welcoming but there are a few bad apples in every group that don’t like newcomers - teens like myself and women especially. [xx(] Don’t get scared away if you happen to find one. If I had then I would have missed out on years of enjoyment of a wonderful hobby.
Yay!!! Scrolling through the pictures, I was thinking there ought to be zombies, and then there they were ^.^
<> It’s really nice to see a fun theme developing. I’d say don’t be intimidated by any type of track. We’re using N scale Atlas code 55 flextrack, and cutting the legs of the turnouts down to fit tighter spaces, and that’s working quite well.
<> <>Construction is progressing in spurts, but we’re not up to the pictures stage yet. Once we have figures glued in place, they will include hobbits, orcs, elves and dwarves. I’m working on repainting some British freight wagons right now for the Old Forest Railway.
Welcome, as others have said. I use to type pages of info for newcomers so I have a generic one I link to now to save myself some typing. Most of this may have been covered but I think it worth a look anyway… HERE IT IS…
Your scenery methods sound interesting. I say, whatever gets the job done for you. If you’re having fun at it, then it can’t be too wrong. Certainly can’t hurt but some methods are better than others.
Good luck, hope to see you posting some more.
PS. I don’t know if I agree with some JA comment that your layout looks like Detroit. Pretty easy to say I guess from as far away as Virginia. [8D]
