Starting a small HO layout


K

kylewoody

Member
Hey guys!

I'm new here, and basically new to model railroading. I had a few HO and N scale sets as a kid, and even a decent little oval with some side-tracks on my N scale set my dad helped me with.

In the past year, I jumped back into plastic models, and have completed Hasegawa's 1/700 USS Alabama battleship, and a Revell 1/24 Camaro ZL-1. Hopefully, I finally can build a half decent layout! :eek:

Anywho, just wanted to say Hi, and get any ideas from ya'll - as to my idea. I want to build a small HO layout (preferrably under about 5'X8') which I know is pretty dink. However, after looking at this website, it really drove me to live my little dream of a model RR and as well, that I can do it in HO. I would really prefer to stay away from N and do it in this scale.

http://www.gatewaynmra.org/

I am thinking about modelling the area of Mobile, Alabama. It would be similar to their port layout that inspired me:
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project12.htm

A basic loop to have continuous running, along with a bit of shunting I guess you could say involved as well. It will keep cost down, build time down, and most importantly in my apartment, space down. I'm thinking of not really going too prototype, and freelancing it off either the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio railway or Alabama & Gulf Coast railway. No DCC, just one unit - so it would be preferable to model an engine that could pull double-duty as mainline and switching (maybe the GP-3X's series?).

Sorry, I know I've been rambling on. Anyways, nice to be on here!

Kyle
 
You could certainly do worse than one of those layouts. They are well thought out and have enough operation built in that you don't have to just watch trains run around an oval.

Get a locomotive painted up in demo colors and it could be running on any railroad, or be there on a lease. That takes care of worrying about "whose" locomotives you want.

Keep us advised as you go along.
 
Good luck! Post pics as work progresses. I own 4 Proto GP38-2's and 1 GP60. They are great on detail, paint, and pulling power. ebay has them for $40-70 all day long.

One caveat. If you do ever DCC a Proto GP series make sure and look at the number board wiring first. Simple, simple fix but it will fry a board pretty quick.
 
Thanks guys! Yeah, I was noticing the more recent Alabama railway hardly has any of their own units - seems to be leased out Gran Trunk Western's, or old Burlington Northern units. So I guess I could weather the heck out of a different locomotive and call it on lease for "X" railways. :)

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to do it though - a big arrival in the port is coal (I believe), so I could model the little port, and then a shipping yard, or maybe a small plant?


Kyle
 
Hi Kyle, and welcome back to model railroading. Are you saying you want to model a port where the main incoming cargo is coal? If so, that really doesn't make much sense since coal is one of the few items of energy we don't import and almost all coal is moved either by rail to the plant or is moved as a coal slurry through pipelines.

It would make more sense to model something like a power plant that's a big user of coal. Many of the shortlines of today were branches of the major railroads that were abandoned as unprofitable. Your shortline could be one that took over this branchline because you could cut costs and move coal cheaper that a railroad like CSX.

I'd build an interchange yard where the coal was delivered by hopper by a major road like the CSX or NS since it sounds like you want to to model in the South. Your railroad could then pick up the coal and deliver it to the power plant and return empties back to the interchange yard. You can also have a small town or two along the way that had some rail shipping businesses like feed mills and farm implement dealers. That would give you a little variety in your business and you could run both unit coal trains and locals to serve the smaller businesses.

As far as motive power, it can be from just about any road you want since shortlines will buy the cheapest power they can get, run it into the ground, and then pick up another engine. Paint was not one of the big items of expenditure so you can just paint a panel with your road's engine number and maybe initials underneath.

For motive power, I'd get two GP38-2's. You can get them from Bachmann with the DCC decoder already installed for less than $45. They are typical yard switcher and road power for shortlines today. Having two engines allows you to handle both yard switching and road hauling at the same time. You can also get a Bachmann DCC equipped 70 tonner for about $25 that would make an ideal switcher for your power plant. All of these run on DC as well as DCC.

So I'd envision an interchange yard with the Class 1 railroad coming in from a track that goes nowhere to the edge of the layout. They would deliver the loaded hoppers and pick up the empties. Your mainline could then deliver the hopper to the power plant with a two or three times a week local to serve the other rail customers. The power plant would need a three or four track yard to sort the loads and empties and all the other business would be short spurs off the mainline. If you decide to make CSX your Class 1 that handles your traffic, you can pick up Bachmann GP 40's, SD 40's, and SD 45's, all for about 45 to $50 each. They can be used for delivering the loads and picking up the empties.

I know you think you only need DC. That's what I thought too when I first started building my layout last year at this time. However, it soon became clear to me that DCC offered a lot more fun than just DC with a lot less work. No complicated wiring and I can switch my yard, have a local working the smaller business, and have the mainline train running all at the same time. It is a lot more fun than watch one train go around in circles. :) The nice thing about getting engines that are either DCC equipped or easily converted to DCC is that, when you make the switch, you only have to put money into the DCC controller and $15-$20 into a decoder if there's not one already installed. You can get DCC controllers from Bachmann on e-bay for $60. Even the more complex and capable systems can be had for about $150. If you stay in the hobby for a year, I'll bet you a coal hopper you'll have already switched to DCC. :D
 
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a word of advice: When the bug bites you really good have a way to expand. It is easier to go on an add a few turnouts now and use them as sidings so that if you get a bigger space you can easily expand.:)
 
Hey, thanks for the input guys! I guess something like a yard, and a plant would be cool to do then too - though, if I did do a port, it could maybe oils that are transported in? I'm trying to find out what the Intra-Coastal waterways deliver with barges. They run all around there too, to the Mobile area.

I'll keep ya'll updated on how it goes. I need to hear about a job first, and then I'll jump head on into the layout!

Kyle
 
Kyle, having sailed the ICW a few times, I can tell you that about 80% of the barge traffic is refined petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel. This traffic survives because there are very few pipelines along the east coast and building new ones in almost impossible because of cost and environmental restrictions.

The barges pick up the product from refineries, primarily in New Jersey, and then deliver it to ports in the the South, Mobile being one of the biggest. Unfortunately, there's virtually no rail traffic involved. The product is pumped off the barges directly into a network of pipelines that stretch west and north. In terms of refined petroleum products, the railroads are basically out of that business.

There is some rail interchange with lumber barges with the railroads delivering finished lumber products to western locations.

There will be a big change coming in the next few years as Krupp builds their steel finishing plant near Mobile. Plate steel will be delivered by ship from Brazil and will be offloaded to railroads for delivery to the plant. Once the sheet steel has been formed into things like hoods and doors for Hyundai, KIA, and Toyota, the railroads will then be delivering those parts to plants all over the southeast. Once you get a job and have lots of extra money and space, that would be quite an operation to model. :)
 
Hey Jim, thanks a lot for the input! I got my job I found out yesterday... (YES!!!) so I already ran up to Atlanta's hobby shop and checked out some stuff.

I'm really intrigued with the idea you gave me, of running a normal mainline (like CSX, or NS) supplying coal, and also have a shortline running it to, say, a powerplant.

I was wondering, what other little local companies that I could add inbetween, use coal? I like the basic idea of having a big-time railroad, a shortline delivering to a main job, but also having a couple side items.

Or maybe it could be set-up like I have coal hoppers, and maybe a few grain cars that stop along the way?

EDIT: As well, I was thinking about doing Cantonment's Paper Mill - however, I cannot find an HO scale structure for one. What else would work well for a small paper mill? Walthers used to make one (appearantly?) but it's discontinued.

Kyle
 
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Kyle,
There's no such thing as a "small" paper mill any longer. Paper mills are very large industrial complexes. We have one in Prattville and I'm pretty sure it would take all of my 800 square foot basement to model it.

Again, assuming you will be modeling in the South, things like feed mills, farm implement dealers, building supply companies, and quarries are common businesses that use rail service. Using my original idea, you'd be running a unit train of nothing but coal hoppers daily, dropping the loads and picking up the empties from the power plant. Generally, coal trains don't stop to pick up or drop off any other type of merchandise. For that, you's use a local that runs on anything from a weekly to four or five days a week basis depending on how many trackside business you develop. This local will will usually run before or after the coal trains and serves everything but the coal plant. You can add things like flat cars to carry farm implements, lumber cars for the building supply company, covered hoppers for the feed mills, and sand and gravel hoppers for the quarry. These are just a few ideas. You could have an oil distributor, chemical plant, or even a concrete block company as Bob suggested. The idea is to make things more interesting in terms of both operations and not just looking at coal hoppers all day. :)
 
Thanks guys - yeah, I definitely don't want just hoppers running around my layout all the time. I can imagine that would get boring pretty quick! :eek:

I know that paper mills nowadays are very involved, and could be modeled on a large switching layout in itself. However, I was thinking of condensing it (quite drastically I would reckon) to just be slightly prototypical, regarding the inbound wood chips and chemical tankers, to a small plant on the layout. Here's a link for the Walthers paper mill plant I found, which I would love to have on mine:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3060

As well, I could use the excellent ideas that were mentioned for one more small industry - like a block factory - on a passing lane sort of deal.

I want my layout to be somewhat accurate and real, but I also realise I'm trying to work on a very small piece of property. I'm still open to suggestions, and trying to find a good medium to settle on.

Kyle
 
Kyle just one thought . My wife's family home was due west of a paper mill and in the summer when those wood chips sat cooking not a very pleasant smell !! Lol
 
Hey Paul - yeah, I used to live pretty close to a paper mill in Cantonment, FL - south of Atmore and all that. It would smell for up to 40+ miles if the wind was right that day! :eek:

Hey Rotor - I went to the TrainMasterModels there in Duluth, across from the museum. I haven't tried any others yet, but was impressed with that one!

Kyle
 
Paper Mills and the like are what I call 'background' industries. By that, I mean you model the part that has railroad operations opportunities and everything else painted onto the backdrop. There may also be some building flats involved, but the majority of the complex isn't modeled.

Of course, if you have unuseable space, you can model more of the complex, to fill that space. But, most folks don't unless their whole layout is the complex.

Kennedy
 
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