Hi everyone. I have recently started a HO Gauge North American end to end (shelf) layout and wanted to share some of the details with you all. I am based in the UK, down in the SW corner in Devon. Have a great interest in North American power and It has been a while since I have made any real attempt at a layout.
Things are a bit up in the air with numerous things conspiring to make me more of an observer, but I have recently brought a number of laser cut MSF baseboards from Railway Laser Lines and will be doing a small end to end layout (2.1m x 0.375m) for showcasing my US rolling stock. We’re going through some changes at home, most recently, starting a new job for me, but also the relocation that comes with such moves. So, rather than be in limbo, I decided that a lightweight layout of manageable size, such as this, would be a way of stopping me watching rubbish on TV in the evenings and allow me to break away from my job for small breaks during the day. I have sold all of my UK stock and decided to concentrate on US, but more specifically HO Canadian with UP/BNSF thrown in the mix, given I have a love for th
[#welcome] to the forum! Your first contributions will be moderated, so please be patient. Interesting project with the pre-cut MDF. I can see an entire kit delivered that way, track and all!
Simon (from Canada, like many others on this forum)
[#welcome] to the forum.
1/8” MDF, now that’s an interesting concept, though looking at the Railway Laser Lines site the base itself appears to be well braced.
[2c] However, with it being MDF, would it be worth the effort to at least prime all the bare MDF after constructing the base board.
That thin MDF is great stuff. We make a lot of it but cannot buy it here any longer because it’s all exported. I have a very small amount left over from a kitchen reno project.
70’s on CPR is all Action Red and Multi Mark. GP 38-2 and SD 40-2 on up.
I’ll be interested to see if you model Eastern or Western Canada.
I have had a delivery from ScaleModelScenery here in the UK for some consumables to allow scenic progression on the layout. These are predominantly to allow me to get on and add concrete hard standing to the low relief depot area on the top left of the layout and start to lay ground for the diesel maintenance area on the right lower side of the layout. I have a collection of LX096 for the rail area and then extension kit LX103 to create the larger laydown areas.
Brief update. I have now finalized the track plan. After mulling over, I decided that the building to the center rear and track was a bit too much and didn’t really serve a purpose, so i removed the two points from either end, and this has given me a slightly longer, second hidden track for storage. So the plan now is
Left side - will remain as a low relief industrial, with two diesel tracks to the front - I have a number of detailing kits including fuel tanks to populate this area;
Central part - at the back, I have now started to break down the Geo Roberts building I had built and will scratch build this as a lengthened stretch of low relief buildings, to occupy that area at the back of the board;
Right side - the back will have two hidden storage tracks, while I will use the former building from the central area as a diesel shed of sorts. I need to see what I have in the spares box, as this was a low relief structure and may not lend itself to being a two bay building - but I may cut up the Walthers Cornerstone Diesel building I have for this. I will add further hard standing to this area as well.
Interesting to see a European take on US railroading. It is coming along nicely. That area in the front middle will be tough. Having to keep reach in mind for those points. Any idea at all what might go there?
shane
Thanks for the feedback to all who have commented. Just getting up to speed with all the comments, so thanks for those and the delay in the post being commited to the forum.
Replyin to some of the comments above. I haven’t committed to east or west Canada yet, but do have half a dozen UP/BNSF engines, which may lean to the west side somewhat. I have reduced the operating window to mid 90’s onwards, with the noughties onwards being a much fairer assessment of where the rolling stock sits.
MDF precut boards are a big market in the space starved UK. They are excellent for shelf end layouts such as this and are super light weight compared to similar 9/12mm ply that i have used on larger layouts in the past. The bracing is indeed excellent for support and I will get a picture of underneath in the next few days.
I intend on using point motors and switches for the handful of points that i have and am in the process of fitting Gaugemaster PM4 point motors and installing Frog Polarity underneath as well. All track is Peco Code 83, which is made in the UK and much easier to get hold of - pandemic permitting with stocks depleting within days of the original March Lockdown we had over here.
The area to the front will have a number of grain buildings installed to provide some further relief and i am considering linking to the building at the rear. Currentluy concentrating on changing the road crossing at the moment.
Since the last post, i have moved the room around and have purchased a further 975mm (3ft) of boards to extend the length of the layout - namely, the area to the right where the engine shed is, will be extended by 575mm (2ft) and the area to teh left where the crossing is, extended by 400mm (1ft). THis is quite easy to do as there are no points presnet and the units bolt together - but will give me greater capacity in the hidden storage siding, behind the engine shed. These come next week, so will get pictures uploaded in due course.
