Well, i figure I should write up a bit on my layout. Unlike a lot of stuff you might read in magazines, im not one of those expert craftmen or one of those type that can spend untold ammount of money to build his layout. Im just a regular guy, with regular problem and skills. One thing id like to do though, is put away the notion that a layout is never finished, while its true u can always add things or modify them , i’d like to have a finished layout sometime and sometime soon. So this is a bit of a motivation tool on my part as well, forcing me to do a lil work so i can “show and tell” on a weekly basis
so lets start, this is what the workbench an benchwork looked this morning before i “glamourized” it for the picture. frankly i wish sometime magazines didnt always show just the nice shot but also the regular . day to day shots
the right hand side now:
the left hand side
now after taking these shots i figured i oughta clean up a bit… things are messy and it leads to nothing productive… Now this is the engine servicing facility i was referring to in a previous post, with the mogul parked
now going more toward the center and into the yard…
Dave, I do not follow other scales besides HO. Is On 30 O gauge with 30 inch rails or are you still HO with 30 rails. Your bench still looks way better than mine I will add.
Nice to se someone else in On30. Your work bench is about normal from what I have seen. Mine is fairly big but I seem to work in about 1sq. foot. What make of track are you using? I mean the On30 track. It looks good.
Well i considered many different brand of track but im a pretty cheap kinda fella so i did a little experiemnt, i tried some fancy On30 and then i tried atlas code 100 with every other ties snipped off… then i laid them both a piece of board and painted and ballasted them… after looking at them both, i came to the conclusion, id like the atlas better…
now thats not saying its the perfect solution but for me and my taste and budget thats what i prefer. I’ll say one thing about the method i have chosen though… it tends to get a li bit messy. those lil snippets of black tie material will fly off in all direction and land in the weirdest of places.
the turnout are regular Peco code 100 with the same treatment given to them… i like them cause they simplified my life a lot, instead of having to wire up dead section, every spur is dead when the switch isnt thrown… i think the proper term is power selective… I had to use one atlas snap switch for the pickle siding because the curve had to start there, because it might be difficult to reach with a yard full of cars, i opted to have that one motorized. Im using a Lemaco motor ( kinda like a poor man tortoise) , its a motor set-up that throws the switch and has 2 set of contacts on it. Hope that answers ur question David
Yes, thanks, I used the Peco On30 Track. Nice looking but expensive. It is limited to three turnouts, all are pretty tight. I used code 100 Peco that was left over from many years of HO modeling to make an 8 track staging yard on a pivot like a sector plate commonly used by British modelers. Figured if it worked on two or three tracks why not more? It gets a lot of interest from visitors.
Keep this going, I am interested in your progress.
Thanks for this thread guys - I am beginning a similar project as Ranchero and the photos are great motivation as well.
a question that I have for Ranchero relates to the height and depth of the bench-work - how high off the floor and how deep from the wall to the edge? my room will have a dual / triple purpose with 1) general office (household) and 2) workbench BELOW, and 3) railroad benchwork layout above.
by doing this I am doubling the space and taking a separate 10 x 14 foot room. my initial thought was that the benchwork would be approx 48 - 50 inches off the floor and 30 - 32 inches coming out from the wall.
that allows for desk, filing cabinets, bookshelves, computer, storage and the workbench to fit nicely underneath. (I am avoiding duck-unders, lift-outs etc and will be attaching a swing-out to the door to get in / out of the room - the railway operation will circle me around the room once the door is closed) - I would like to use a type of split-door (dutch-door style) so that the top half of the door can be open so people can view in…
ok the layout height was a big problem for me to resolve initially. I know theres a lot of discussion here and there bout the “perfect” height but for me it had to do with using the space underneath for my benchwork. What i did is I sat down on my chair and basically adjusted it till i could lean into my desk and not knock myself unconscious. Im a tall guy so fortunately it worked ou ok but the layout is a bit high even for my taste. It stand about 55-58 inches from the floor ( i dont remember exactly).
My usual rule of thumb is midway between your belly button and your nipples ( thats NOT a pun meant for older female modeler) which would have made it around 45-50 inches from the floor. There is som inconvenience, the least of which is reaching the far end of the 2 curves. even with a little step ladder it is rather difficult to reach in… I did manage to crawl ( yes crawl) on top of it to make up close work ( spiking the rail in place) but its really not recommended once the scenery will be in place.On the briht side. if i take a step back ( and only one cause the room is small) im allowed an almost eye level view of my train and that is REALLY nice. I can also let the train run while i work on a small project ( cause i wanna make sure everything run bullet proof before i start to hide things
hope this helps
If you have a bit of money to spare, i know micromark makes a neat little step ladder that allows you to reach in a lot more into it. if you can spare the room and you wanna go ahead with a deep and high layout like i have.
Hi everyone, today is tuesday and that means i have to show and tell a bit about what i did this week. So far, the fact that people are asking question and commenting has been a good motivator to get me to do stuff and not procrastinate ( my…what a big word to start out…) So without further ado lets look at this week to-do list:
-add missing ties
-start fixing the decals on the boxcar
-work on the bridge
the first little chore is not a very demanding one but because ofthe way i laid track, it means every so often (usually at point where 2 piece meet) theres a gap where there shouldnt be one as seen on this pic
its a simple matter of cutting spare ties from a piece of flextrack and sanding them down a bit. the tie then slips underneath and makes it difficult to see where the gaps are.
its not a very diffuclt job, its just a bit mind numbing so to make it easier i break it down into short session. I also had to cut off some extra ties on the right hand side loop and something dawned on me. Cutting the ties is best done BEFORE the track is spiked or when the track is FIRMLY spiked down. apparently if the track is loose or if u can move it side to side or up a bit, it makes it more difficult, if you do it at the workbench or when the track is really snugged and spiked down well, its also a breeze (albeit it may be difficult to reach it)
one car has been bugging me for some time. The decals on it “silvered” ( i dont know if model railroader are familiar wit hthat term but i remember millitary modeler refer to it that way), that is, the decals film is clearly showing offf agasint the background colour… its a bit of a pain so i bought micro sol saturday, i have aready put down 3 application
“Rise and fall of the third Reich” its a very interesting book but more appropriately makes the powerpack just hand level when im standing up… Who said litterature was good at nothing?
well its tuesday and that means i get to show and tell again. I dunno if theres a lot of interest but i figure its fun to do and i like to write up what i do weekly. Last week i had set up a couple of things to do.
fix the decal on the car
paint track
ballast
install powerpack ( if i managed to get it on time)
onward…
so the first problem i wanted to set this week what the car… I wish i could say its fixed and show you guys a gorgeous shot the car with all the details and perfect weathering but unfortunately thats not the case. Applying the microsol helped a bit but its nowhere near to what i want it to look. Beside the trutle creek herald on it are not very fitting of the era or locale im doing. SO… i figured id have to endure the car for a couple more week because im going to order some nice dry transfer from clover house. I dont wanna jinx it just yet but i also think i have an appropriate name for the railroad… hopefully ill be able to get my lil mitts on them soon and share it with all you guys.
now as far as painting goes… i developed this week a way to paint that i think is both neat and easy to do. its also ridiculously cheap… now this is what the right hand curve looks like with gaps filled ( remember last week we did that)
Before doing any painting, first you have to make sure things you DONT want spray are either well away from the spraying zone or well maked. I use green masking tape, its cheap and leave almost no residue. then using a small piece of cork, i oil lightly the track … now when i say lightly i mean LIGHTLY… I use Wahl clipper oil , about one drop to cover 18 in or so. i rub it in using the cork piece. The first step is a simple quick spray of flat black primer. I got mine at walmart for less than 3$ and one can should do the layout plus leftover. the idea behin
I just now found this thread and read through; very nice work on your layout there! I’ve been hand painting my own track (code 55 n scale) and it’s rather annoying. That spray can idea is a good one; I’ll definitely put it into practice whenever I get a chance. Very nice work on the trestle too; looking forward to seeing how you create the scenery around it!
sorry for the “bluntness” of my question… I collect WWII era items(K98s), so you could find such things in my home, too. It was just the first thing I noticed in the pic as it’s pretty prominent.
I am following your thread with interest, because I am intrigued by this “new” scale and line of trains. I think you missed an opportunity by not using a layer of 1-2 inch foam to get deeper scenic features.
The main reason why i didnt choose to use foam is one of height. As I explained before, I had to set the layout pretty high in order to accomodate my worktable underneath. as it is the layout is about “nipples” level adding an extra 2 inches or so would have made it almost “throat” level and I think this would have been difficult to deal with … might look pretty but a pain to build and operate.
Hey Dave, looking pretty good so far. On the foam base, I use and love the stuff. But, with you having to get on to the bench to work on it, it would not hold up.
Why did you just have the river stop where it did? Makes it look like a skinny pound to me.
Well i would have liked to use foam but as i stated before it wasnt practical in my particular situation. The water feature is small becuase well… id rather have it small. it makes it easier to model and more importantly it means i dont need a large bridge to gap it. If i had chosen a larger river i would have had to scratchbuilt a much bigger bridge with a lot more spans and stuff like that. by keeping it small i keep it simple
well unlike those TV cooking show where theres a fresh loaf of bread coming right out of the oven just as the person puts the unbaked one in, this week is a bit of a downer. I didnt manage to get as much done as i was hoping for. First, I have been training hard to get back into wrestling and that means working out 3 times a week as well as doing work outs at home… I did manage to lose more weight this weight (12 lbs since first week of January for those counting at home). Secondly, i had to work an extra shift on monday ( which is usually a day off) and while i was out today to visit my “local” ( about 50 miles) hobby shop for supplies to get the reverse loop done, the exit and the road were cut off and i was unable to go ( there was a fire down the block with possible gas leak) I did manage to get some things going though. I ordered the backshop catalog. im hoping to get it soon so that i may detail my mogul and its tender. Im not thinking of anything too drastic but we’ll see what the catalog has in store for me. I also ordered some dry transfer from clover house. With a bit of Luck i should be able to get them this week… When i do, ill be able to announce the layout name I also bought a ash pit… that will probably go in pretty fast as i’d rather do any major cutting and filing before the ballast is done on the engine servicing spur
on the “work” front, my time was mostly spent ballasting this week. i wanted to get ballast done 50% but im about at the 20-25% mark… i worked on the yard in the last few days, first ballasting the turnout
then ballasting the main yard spur
while i was at it, i figured I might try and scratchbuild a lil end of track bumper… figuring the railroad has little money for such “trivial” safety precaution (the ole brass hat says:"you
I also bought a ash pit… that will probably go in pretty fast as i’d rather do any major cutting and filing before the ballast is done on the engine servicing spur
