Layout design
Helpful Hints for Getting Started Building your first Model Railroad
Hello Everybody My name is Dan Kelley AKA: Rio Grande Dan here on the MRH forums.
I'm a member of the MRH Spam Police and spend 40 to 60 hrs a week reading through the many Posts and Blogs here on the MRH forums. While reading I keep seeing one problem that many new Model Railroaders are having and that is "WHERE & HOW DO I START?"
To Free-Mo or not to Free-Mo?
I've been thinking about my model railroad future for my new home and I definately want a design that allows for future moves. While surfing the web I ran across info on Free-Mo. (http://free-mo.org/). I'm already leaning towards a shelf style no wider than 24" so I thought "why not go modular so I can also enjoy my modules with others"? There is a Free-Mo club right here in central Florida! I'd like to get your thoughts on Free-Mo specifically along with other HO modular styles. Thanks!
City of Industry Layout
CITY OF INDUSTRY LAYOUT Project 02-12
Here is my second project, and it is a departure from my previous plan to begin design on the MP/TP operations in New Orleans, namely the Race St. Yard, and Annunciation St. Passenger Terminal, with some of the surrounding industry which the railroad served, i am still in the very rough planning stage for it still gathering information and maps and photographs of the area for the time period during the war and just afterward, pre-NOUPT era.
Summits
Are there features of railroads at key summit locations that show up repeatedly? How often do such locations feature a passing siding? Turning wye left over from steam? Set out tracks? Lap siding? Turntable? Industry(ies)? Do any simply have a peak in the single track where? Does it matter if the summit required helpers or not? I would tend to think so, as the railroad would put in some level of infrastructure for their operations.
Thinking at the keyboard about what I want at the summit of my climb for a N scale mountain railroad featuring helper ops.
Perkins spur - or a journey in HO modelling! Picture update!
Good morning gents,
Another update on my foray into the creation of a switching layout. This morning, I have pictures of the "underlayout"!
This picture is from the first module with the USB interface in place.
Staging turnout size
Just a question I think I already know the answer to... If the largest turnout on the layout is a #6, does it make sense to do the same in staging? Through trains would not need to go through any turnouts on the layout, so I was thinking #8s in staging, but does it really make sense?
Should I just go with #6s everywhere?
Thanks,
Ryan
New To Zed - To build the preverbial Coffee Table Layout
A strange thing happened to me at the Edmonton Train Show last month - my dearly beloved who was with me that day bought a Zed Scale collection of track, trains & transformer. Some poor chap had collected this stuff and had planned on playing with it in his retirement - well that never happened. Somehow that is sad to me. Anyway we now have his collection and my wife wants a coffee table layout. She's always wanted a coffee table layout and now is the time.
Painting Vaulted Ceilings
My train room is now ready for painting. I plan on a sky blue background on the walls. My walls are 9' high with vaulted ceilings rising to 15'. My question is this: what color should I paint the vaulted ceilings? Should they also be painted sky blue, or a different color (white?).
Aggregate Company tram line
I'm starting my layout with an aggregate tram line that will interchange with my standard gauge New York, Vermont &Northern Rwy.
I'm going to use an old track plan that Chuck Yungkurth designed called the Gum Stump & Snowshoe for a track plan for my aggregate line. Here's a picture of it courtesy of MR. It will be slightly modified. The layout is 6 feet long by 12 inches wide. Track gauge will be 30" or HOn30 (N scale track).
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