Fort Smith Railroad

My new O-scale switching layout is loosely based on the Fort Smith Railroad, one of the lines owned by the Pioneer Railcorp. The trackplan is fictional, but the big structure covering the back of the layout is real: http://binged.it/1sxYlO7.I will build it with some minor changes to adapt it to my needs and to make it look more interesting. On my layout it will house a big food processing plant, which will allow me to use covered hoppers, boxcars and tankcars. The engines that will do the job are a Red Caboose GP9 and my Weaver RS-3.

I started building this layout three days ago. I am handlaying track using rail from cheap HO code 100 flextrack and about 2/3 of the trackwork is done, but now I have to take a break, because I ran out of spikes.

Kurt

"I am handlaying track using

   Slow down and they'll last longer. Seriously 3 days for 2/3  of the layout is great progress......DaveB 

Beautiful

Another outstanding small O scale layout. Congratulations !!!  Gotta love it. They are several O scalers here in the group.  Seeing yours brings in more inspiration to big scale in small places.

The Weaver RS-3 is great engine. They are great runners.

Please keep us posted.

Arkansas railroading

@MAGX, You live around this geography?  I'm about 45 minutes north of Fort Smith.

Totally Jealous

Love the plan, love the equipment, love the idea of your handlaid trackwork. I've wanted to do a switching layout in a larger scale for some time, and it looks like you're already off to a flying start. Those locomotives are right up my alley- rebuilt first generation power still chugging in the 21st century. Can't wait to see more progress

okay Brandon

First overall shot

Dave, thanks, but it was not hard to achieve. I salvaged some track from a previous layout. I had laid it on a corkbed and could easily cut the cork with the track on it from the plywood base. Laying it now was almost like working with flextrack.

Nick, I may not have posted much yet, but I closely followed the discussion of the small group of O-scalers here.

David, I am living nowhere near Arkansas, I am not even close to the United States. I am living on the other side of the big pond in Germany.

Brandon, these modern shortlines with their old engines are my favorites too. Unfortunately you do not see them modeled very often.

A first overall shot of the layout … still waiting for the spikes to arrive to finish trackwork.

Kurt

What's holding me back?

Great question Nick, the answer is three-fold- Models of my favorite prototypes are rather difficult to find in O scale, I've already started building my own HO switching layout, and as a broke college student I don't currently have the funds to start over or build a second layout! Perhaps next time! 

Kurt, the layout is looking spectacular, truly blown away by the craftsmanship in that track. Any chance we could get a close up? Can't wait to see further progress, and don't forget to take some videos of those great diesels at work as soon as you get trains running!

-Brandon

I have a question....................

In the diagram and in the photo, there does not appear to be enough room for the locomotive and 1 car at either end of the passing siding (outermost switches).  How do you get the cars pictured in the diagram out?

Curious

Peter

See diagram

6' removable extenstion.

Track and structures

After I eventually got the spikes, I finished the last stretches of track. The track works fine, no derailments, shorts or other problems.

There is still some rail to be painted, but I wanted to get a notion of how the layout will look in the end. So I started to build the big background structures, using 0.080" styrene for the walls. Details will be added later. I still have to decide if I will cover the entire back with structures or if I leave a gap, so that I can have a few trees or bushes there …

Kurt

Wonderful

Wonderful work so far, Kurt.

Outsanding work Kurt - love the way the ends of the ties look

I'm another O scaler (I also model in HO scale) on the list here. I love the work that you're doing. Particularly the tie ends look very realistic. This might be something that simply happened, but would you mind sharing with me how you achieved that broken and dilapidated look?

I have bought a bunch (1500) code 100 O scale tie plates, and I'm going to use a technique for laying the track shown by Professor Klyzlr on his Chicago O Scale fork layout. It is my biggest project for 2015 - hand lay my first switch and hand build all my track.

There are some really inspirational modellers on the forum here. Thanks for being one of them and for sharing.

Hi Kurt!

Just realised from the quality of the workmanship that it had to be you 

love the plan too.

Will follow this with keen interest.

Pleased to find you in fine fettle.

Regards,

Jonte (from Big Blue)

It simply happened!

Andrew, as you suggested, the look of the ends of the ties smply happened. Living in Germany the simplest and cheapest way to get O scale ties is to cut them yourself. To make things easier I usually I bundle about 20 pieces of 1 m long stripwood with cheap crepe tape before I cut them with a miter back saw. I only sand the ends roughly afterwards to remove bigger splinters.

I hope you will post pictures of your progress when you start building your track. Really looking forward to seeing the work of another O scale 2 railer here.

Hi Jonte, nice to see you here and thank you for your king words. Hope to resume working on the layout again soon when I am through with my Baldwin S-12 project.

Kurt

Nice project Kurt!About your

Nice project Kurt!

I like "choped nose" locos

Kurt, your layout looks very

Kurt,

your layout looks very good.

Small layouts like yours permit to have great details and realistic slow switching.

Great!

I'm waiting for the progress

Jack from France

Whoa dude!!!  That is sweet

Whoa dude!!!  That is sweet looking!

Kurt,  did I read that right,

Kurt,  did I read that right, you are using HO code 100 rail from cheap HO flex track?

Michael O

Waseca, MN

Jack, thank you for your kind

Jack, thank you for your kind comment.

Micheal, yes, I got the cheapest HO nickel silver code 100 flextrack I could find – works great.

Kurt

Turnouts

Kurt,

How did you create the turnouts?  I guess what I mean is are the turnouts completely from scratch or did you use parts from a HO turnout?

Michael

Turnouts

Hi Kurt,

please tell us more information about your turnouts

Turnouts

Michael, sorry for the late reply, I must have missed your post. To answer yours and Jack’s question, the turnouts are scratchbuilt using Fast Track templates. they look a bit battered now, because I already used them on a previous layout, but they work flawlessly.

Kurt

Nice work Kurt! there a few

Nice work Kurt!

there a few years ago, I've made some code 100 O scale turnouts using Peco code 100 HO turnouts: the result is good and the turnouts are reliable. It was just a try but I think I go to use them for my layout.

Jack