This month marks my second year of return to the hobby. I've built four layouts before this one, and one 8x8 that never really got past the table stage as my family moved shortly after completing the tables.
It's been a learning experience with DCC, multi-level track, scenery building (all other layouts were flat with no elevation contours), European NEM standards, locomotives, and rolling stock, and a lot of dreaming and planning for the future of the railroad.
My next tentative large project is to add a third rail to the ÖBB mountain branch line for meter gauge (12mm, HOm) Swiss mountain trains. The Berninabahn route from St. Moritz to Tirano is a meter gauge railroad with beautiful scenery.
Nice photos of your great layout and you did all that in two years. Your third rail project should be interesting and I would think a lot of detail work.
Nice photos of your great layout and you did all that in two years. Your third rail project should be interesting and I would think a lot of detail work.
It's going to be very tedious, time consuming work. I had thought about pulling up the track and replacing it with Tillig dual gauge track, but at $10 for a 27" piece it amounts to over $220 to replace all of that ÖBB branch line.
Since I don't yet have a narrow meter gauge locomotive or rolling stock I figure I may as well lay in the third rail myself.
Fast Tracks sells PCB copper clad ties of the correct size that would allow me to solder a stub tie to the main rail every six ties and then using a gauge, solder the meter gauge rail to the stub tie.
The drawback is that the rail bender I need and the track gauges come to about the same cost as buying the ready made track to begin with. :sly:
It's going to be very tedious, time consuming work. I had thought about pulling up the track and replacing it with Tillig dual gauge track, but at $10 for a 27" piece it amounts to over $220 to replace all of that ÖBB branch line.
Since I don't yet have a narrow meter gauge locomotive or rolling stock I figure I may as well lay in the third rail myself.
Fast Tracks sells PCB copper clad ties of the correct size that would allow me to solder a stub tie to the main rail every six ties and then using a gauge, solder the meter gauge rail to the stub tie.
The drawback is that the rail bender I need and the track gauges come to about the same cost as buying the ready made track to begin with. :sly:
A while back I had found a 10 gallon fish tank for free. I thought it would make a great terrarium. I've had enough fish tanks and their care, thank you very much. With it being that big I even thought it would be fun to do it as a diorama. My wife asked what I'd do with it. I told her if we...
After a recent discussion of shelf layouts, I realized that this would be an ideal way for me to build some test track where I could try out ideas before starting on my full layout.
My goal is to build a small switching layout where I can test the idea of completely automating yard functions...
My first HO layout was over 40 years ago on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
Here’s the plan for the second layout, as it stands right now…
The layout is 10’ x 10’. I’ll be able to get all the way around the outside perimeter. Controls will be at the bottom, left corner.
The time period will be...
Welcome to Scrapwood Junction everyone.
Scrapwood Junction is a fictitious place set in the western high plains somewhere post WW2. It's a place where 3 lines, mainly Union Pacific, Chicago & North Western, and The Rock Island lines merge. The main industry is an Icing facility to repack...
I’m about 80% done, still lots of small stuff to be done (ie road lines, telephone poles), but enough done to show it off to friends.
The grain mill was built from dollar store items. Love saving money, and saving up for a loco. Is there ever to many locos...cheers
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