Building My First Layout

[RhB Michael]

It's a whole other world waiting for you. You will be amazed at the possibilities.

 

[Marlin338MX]

It's a whole other world waiting for you. You will be amazed at the possibilities.

I like what I've seen on DCC layouts at the train shows. The capabilities are very impressive.

 

[Smudge617]

I like what I've seen on DCC layouts at the train shows. The capabilities are very impressive.

Once you've tried DCC you'll never go back.

 

[Marlin338MX]

I finally unboxed the last 3 engines from my dad's collection. The first one was the Bachmann A.T. & S.F. 2-8-0 Consolidation. Much to my surprise, and very happy to report, it ran great.

The next one was the very nicely detailed Bachmann Great Northern 2-8-0 Consolidation. It only made 1 or 2 laps before it stopped running. I haven't tried to diagnose or fix the issue yet. The engine sounds like it is getting plenty of power, but the wheels and motor don't turn. There was no sound of anything breaking when it stopped running, so not sure what it could be. I hope I can get it running.

The last one was the Bachmann John Bull 2-4-0 that came with the tender and 3 coaches. It also ran great.

I've started planning where to put my non-working engines on display on my layout as sort of stand alone railroad museum pieces. My dad bought the 2 engines that were at the Golden Spike ceremony, and they don't run very well at all, so they will be on display as a "Golden Spike Monument".

Obviously I haven't started working on landscaping and ballast. I'm still trying to finalize where everything will be placed on the layout.

I also have a PRR GG1 that doesn't run, so it will be on display next to the fire station, unless I find a better spot for it...

More of the non-working steam engines might end up as individual museum display pieces too.

That's about all for now.

 

[Marlin338MX]

I got rid of one of the Tyco working stations that didn't work. It was the culvert pipe unloader.That gave me the ability to extend those 3 industrial spurs with more track. That opened up parking for about 9 more railcars there.

I also moved the row of downtown buildings closer to the far side row of buildings. It narrowed the street by almost 2", and it allowed me to extend the "piggy back" spur up behind those buildings, almost all the way to the turntable. Now that spur holds 10 railcars plus an engine. It only held 4 railcars before the extension.

And no, the lighthouse isn't staying here

I like the idea of having long trains staged on the spurs, and then taking random engines from the turntable to hook up to those trains and running some laps around the 2 mainlines.

 

[Topherisme]

Looking great! Love your progression, always getting something done

 

[Marlin338MX]

Looking great! Love your progression, always getting something done

Thank you! My progress has slowed down in the past few weeks. It'll get slower as summer gets into full swing.

 

[Marlin338MX]

I built a wooden trestle from an old Campbell kit. I had to use some extra 1/8" square sticks to build the bents, and some 1/8" wide wooden stir sticks to build the "X" braces.

The kit says it has enough parts in it to build any of these trestles, except the one in the lower right. I built a version of the lower left bridge. I have some extra parts left over, but it wasn't enough to build my bridge without buying extra wood. I stained the wood Kona color.

This is where the bridge is going. But I have to remove some benchwork and make a valley out of several layers of 2" pink foam board.

Here is a size comparison with a PA1. The bridge is about 10" tall and the deck is about 12" long.

Onward and upward. Or downward...

 

[migalyto]

That's a great looking trestle!

That's going to make a nice scene!

 

[Marlin338MX]

That's a great looking trestle!

That's going to make a nice scene!

Thank you! It took about a month to build. I had no idea what I was doing. I'm happy to be finished with it.

 

[TooMuchToby]

This is a work in progress, so please be patient.

I'll start with a little backstory... My dad died in 2002. I inherited roughly half of my dad's model railroad stuff, to include track, locomotives from many different eras, rolling stock and landscaping supplies. I believe he bought this stuff in the 1990's, but I had no idea he was buying all this stuff. I was in the Army at the time of his untimely death (I served 20 years). I've had 12 cardboard boxes of his model railroad stuff for about 20 years, and I finally opened those boxes back in September. My last layout was a simple HO oval in 1977, I was 10 years old.

My biggest dilemma was where to build a layout that would allow me to use all the stuff in these boxes, which included more than 100 straight track and more than 100 curved tracks (all 18" radius), plus 13 turnouts, more than 60 plastic buildings and nearly 100 railcars, and 4 complete passenger trains (2 are Santa Fe and 2 are Amtrak). I have roughly 22 locomotives ranging from the 1800's steamers to modern diesels. This is in HO scale.

I settled on a layout that is 14ft long, 8ft x 6ft on one end and 4ft x 6ft on the other end. I built the benchwork with 2 and 1/4 sheets of plywood, 1x4" boards, 1x2" boards and 2x4" boards (for the legs). I bought 13 more turnouts, to give me a total of 26. I used the Atlas track planning software. This is in my semi-finished attic.

I'm putting the track on cork roadbed. I ran a a train around the two mainlines last night. I'll finish laying the track tomorrow after I add the last 3 turnouts.

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What is the easiest or best way to pull the track up to put the cork roadbed down? I'm open to any and all suggestions. This is all DC stuff, and I believe all of the locomotives and rolling stock are new and unused.

None of the turnouts are wired yet, but they are all Atlas #4 remote snap switches.

Thanks, and stay tuned...

Model railroading beginner here, what software did you use to make the track plan?

Many thanks..

 

[Marlin338MX]

Model railroading beginner here, what software did you use to make the track plan?

Many thanks..

I inherited mostly Atlas track and turnouts, so I bought the Atlas track planning software. I tried a different free program, but I couldn't figure it out. I found the Atlas software easy to use, and I'm not exactly computer literate.

I created my track plan based on my available space, and with the goal of having enough track to display all of my engines and rolling stock.

 

[Marlin338MX]

I've managed to fit 106 freight cars on my layout. I have room for a few more cars. That number doesn't include all the engines and passenger cars that are also on the layout. I have one more single dome tanker on order.

Here's a video that shows the trains that I have on my layout. The engines that aren't on the tracks will be displayed as "museum" trains, because they either run very poorly, or they don't run at all.