I’m new to the forum (hey fella’s) and a COMPLETE NEWBIE to model trains. I just bought an “O” scale MTH for my soon-to-be 8 year old step son (“O” scale because of the chuffing smoke and cool sound system). When we arn’t playing with it I want to slide it under his bed so I have limited space to work with. The plywood will be about 75" X 43" MAX with a max height of 12.5", the MTH train set “out-of-the-box” is a 51" X 31" oval layout so I’ll be extending each side by 20" to give it some more range. As the title states…I am a completely non-creative type person but I would like to fill the layout with as much scenery as I can afford AND have it make sense. It’s a steam freight train so I would like it to resemble some sort of freight yard. I have looked at several books with layouts and I can’t seem to get a picture of a layout that I want to emulate. Does anyone have any full pictures of small freight yard layouts that I can get some ideas from?
Welcome,
The Link provided by Wayne is “terrific and specific”, for an “under the bed” layout. You can see what you need to add to what is in the “package”. You can add the structures, one at a time, and know exactly where they will be placed. I especially like the first O Scale layout shown. For an 8 year old, this will keep him (and you) happy and busy. A lockable pull down front lip will prevent damage when the layout is “under the bed”. Besides your Hobby Shop, you will find that “Layout Flea Markets” are both inspirational and a good source of cheap ready-made scale structures. Incidentally, if you plan to Post pictures on this Forum, you must use Photobucket as the Host. The last of the four options (beginning with [IMG] is the one to use. It will momentarilly say,“Copied”. Click in Ctrl V and the “lengthy code” will appear. You then add text and click on Post. There are many of us “Old Timers”, who are more than willing to offer advice. Bob