Starting Fresh.

I was watching your old thread on this layout , we are working with the same space and I liked your old plan minus the far reach to the other side. The new bench work looks more friendly user. Keep posting updates,  look forward to seeing them. Nick T.

Also if you are not using a backdrop you may want to paint the concrete wall a soft sky color.  

@t8afao     Thanks.. yeah. I liked the old plan too.. but never got around to doing the outer layer.. and there were too many switches involved which was literally going to cost too much.. plus from a scenery standpoint I'd have too much scenery lumped into the middle of the circles.  I know ovals are boring.. but I plan to expand the layout.  On the background.. I thought about painting the concrete.. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.. A lot of people paint it sky colored but it never looks good to me.  I'll think about it when I get some buildings up.

Nice to see another Boba Fett fan.  I have several t shirts..

Just finished the framing.  Cutting the boards to fit.  Man what a pain ripping particle board is.  Trying to recycle as much as I can.  Would love to have the track down in the next day or 2.

So a couple updates at once here.  Can I go ahead and say.. I HATE BENCHWORK.  It's the most annoying thing.  At least it's only done once.

I was able to finish painting the table top, and got all the track and switches, etc.  I then put the layout that I planned on RailModeller Pro, put together.  

The roadbed isn't that fun either.  but got about half of it down today... including holes drilled for power drops and pushing wire through the table top.  I'm still up in the air on where I plan to put all the transformers and the TIU.  Obviously under the table.. but where, I'm not sure..  probably toward the middle against the wall..

You have gotten farther than I have,  we just finished the basement but I am still not sure of our track plan, are you still working with the same area of 24ft by 10ft. Keep posting updates. 

Nick T.

t8afao posted:

You have gotten farther than I have,  we just finished the basement but I am still not sure of our track plan, are you still working with the same area of 24ft by 10ft. Keep posting updates. 

Nick T.

The whole area is about 14 ½' x 23'. We plan on finishing our basement in the next year or so.  So I put the layout in the part of the basement that won't get in the way of finishing it.  I wish I could put a layout in a larger (and finished) part of the house, but this part of the basement is where it's going.  I originally had plans for a 30 x 15 layout, but I didn't know how I would take it down when I got the basement finished.. or where to put it.  

After I get this done, I plan to expand it some.

Quick update...  Got all the track down and weathered...after some tedious wiring trouble.. Got the first 2 loops done, and did a quick test run.

John C. posted:

Guys:  Just a friendly suggestion...stop arranging track and design your layout.  I mean: pick a style of layout: display or operational.  Secondly, select a theme.  People routinely make the mistake of laying track then trying to figure out what to do.

The track arrangement needs to assist your theme not the other way around.

Kudos to fixing that too deep benchwork!  You can't reach more than 30 inches and you don't want to do anything crazy and inconvenient like climb on top of any layout. It's poor planning and heck on the back, knees, scenery, etc.

Back-drop, get some 1/16 masonite because you can bend it easily.  Put up some vertical braces and attach masonite.  Curve your corners!  Paint blue!  Look for New London stencils to paint clouds.  Very easy to do!

The comment above about running circles...you don't have to.  In fact, its much more fun to have some participation and interaction with a layout vs. just standing there and watching it.

I just built a Timesaver in O and my Crew runs it for hours!!!  No circles!  It's interesting, challenging and fun.  There are other options in modeling railroading other than loops and circles of track.

Read up on Model Railroad Design--not track arranging. 

 

What is all this about? I’ll tell you what it’s not is friendly advice, but merely your opinion on how things in this hobby should be done.  I’m not just arranging track. And If I want to lay track and be re-arrange it every month, so be it. What makes you think i haven’t picked a theme?... and who cares if I didn’t?!

I like the train to be left to its own for a while while it’s running. I also like to switch, park, etc. But congratulations on your interesting and challenging Timesaver that your crew runs for hours. 

I think most people (including yourself) didn’t see that there was no long reach in my old layout. It appeared to be against the wall but just the width of the table was. The long straight section was about 2’ from the wall. But thank you for letting me know I poorly planned my layout. 

Tell you what John, Why don’t I just keep doing what I’m doing and you keep running your interesting and challenging layout. 

Oh yeah. I’m not doing a back drop. I could care less. 

Feels good to get the engines running.  What did you use to weather your track. Like you I plan on getting some tables up and track down to run the trains. I was hoping to have a track plan figured out but I just made what I wanted more confusing . I have drawn up about 20 different plans but can not settle on one.  

Do you run command or are you a conventional runner. Have fun running the trains, look forward to updates. Hope to stardom my layout thread soon. Nick T.

t8afao posted:

Feels good to get the engines running.  What did you use to weather your track. Like you I plan on getting some tables up and track down to run the trains. I was hoping to have a track plan figured out but I just made what I wanted more confusing . I have drawn up about 20 different plans but can not settle on one.  

Do you run command or are you a conventional runner. Have fun running the trains, look forward to updates. Hope to stardom my layout thread soon. Nick T.

It really does.. Here's what I use to weather the layout.  FYI.. I would do this BEFORE you lay your track.. I made the mistake of spraying it on the track in the basement.. I have a mask and had to have the windows open with a fan pointing outward.. even that gases you out for a few hours.

I did the SAME thing.. and realized I'm more concerned about the train and less about the layout...  so I went with an oval with an open middle... It will be easy to expand off it in the future..  Plus I don't want a ton of board to have to cover with buildings or grass or gravel or what ever..

I'm running MTH DCS Remote. (See next post below.)

Couple more pics of the layout..   slowly but surely.

Glad you got it all working! And it looks like things are 'rolling' along nicely! Enjoy!

Thanks for the info SD70. I had used the Rust-ileum on my last layout and yes it is bad in the basement. Lots of ventilation was needed.  I was hoping you had tried the paint pens. You are off to a good start. Keep updating.  Nick T.

Hey UP SD70,

 Not trying to add fuel to the fire, but I absolutely agree that your layout is what YOU want it to be.   The layout I’m currently working on was started right after the previously layout was dismantled back in 2016.  I made a lot of mistakes that couldn’t be corrected which precipitated a “Do Over”.   The current layout has three independent loops (two are connected with insulated cross over switches so trains can pass between track one and track two).  I, like you, enjoy letting the trains run themselves while I watch and/or operate a train on one of the other loops.   It is a work in progress which allows me to make as many changes as I wand and believe me there have been many.   Did I have a “Cut In Stone” plan?  Nope, I just started buildin’ with a basic idea and it’s workin’ out just fine.  As I’ve said before, it’s a hobby and something you have fun with and enjoy.  When it’s no longer fun and enjoyable, it ain’t a hobby anymore.   The only person you need to satisfy is YOU!

Chief Bob (Retired)  

t8afao posted:

Thanks for the info SD70. I had used the Rust-ileum on my last layout and yes it is bad in the basement. Lots of ventilation was needed.  I was hoping you had tried the paint pens. You are off to a good start. Keep updating.  Nick T.

I have a rust paint pen that I plan to run along the inside of the rails...  I just haven't gotten there yet.  After I got the train wired up, I have just been playing around.. We end up doing more work on the layout (which can be fun), and missing out on the whole reason we're building these things in the first place.. running the trains!!  Like you said earlier, it feels good just to get the engines running.  

I just finished the putting the bed under the sidings in the corner, and attached the terminal wires...  Also added a couple bumpers.. The sidings didn't turn out how I wanted.. I thought they'd be longer.. but all good.. 

Few more small updates.

I was able to get a bag of ballast down on a couple straight parts of the track.. then did a test run.

Part of the fun of the hobby for me is redoing the layout - track plan and 'theme' - every so often. Most recently I have consolidated it a bit closer to the edge of the layout just to make it easier for me to reach things. This is really taking shape. It sure is fun to be at the point where trains are run! I used a rust pen but only on the side of the rails that were visible to me. Because I was staring at a lot of fuzzy pink insulation, I hung blue 'curtains' (really plastic banquet table covers) as a backdrop - just to be easier on my eyes.  

Doug Murphy posted:

Part of the fun of the hobby for me is redoing the layout - track plan and 'theme' - every so often. Most recently I have consolidated it a bit closer to the edge of the layout just to make it easier for me to reach things. This is really taking shape. It sure is fun to be at the point where trains are run! I used a rust pen but only on the side of the rails that were visible to me. Because I was staring at a lot of fuzzy pink insulation, I hung blue 'curtains' (really plastic banquet table covers) as a backdrop - just to be easier on my eyes.  

yeah.. I don't mind the cement walls.. It's just gray and monotone.. but I'd like to put something up.. I definitely don't want to go the "blue sky with clouds" route, which isn't a bad thing.. it's just not for me.. when I think of trains, I think of cold, gray days, and very industrial..  

I'd really like to weather my cars and locomotives..

If it makes you feel any better, I also have bare concrete walls. I haven't decided whether to cover them or not? Whatever the cover, if it gets one, it most likely won't be paint. It will be a back drop of some sort that is easily removable.

I really don't mind the concrete walls too much, but I can't see the smoke very well. It just blends in with the walls and is somewhat invisible. 

The ballast looks great. Stands out nicely on the layout.  Did or are you gluing the ballast down.  Nick T.

t8afao posted:

The ballast looks great. Stands out nicely on the layout.  Did or are you gluing the ballast down.  Nick T.

Thanks. It was pretty easy.  

Yes.. I combined about ⅔ warm water: ⅓ Elmers Glue, and mixed it with a paint stick.  Then I used a plastic syringe used for kids medicine.  (I have a ton of these since having a 7 and 5 year old.). I'd lay the ballast in with a Dixie cup, and then brush the excess with a paint brush.  Then spray the ballast with hot water.  Then I'd put a drop in each section inside the rails and then a drop in each gap outside the rails.  (It can be good to wait a minute or so to let the water seep into the ballast.  I heard rubbing alcohol works a little better.. Otherwise the glue will just stay on top of the ballast and run off onto the the table. After just wipe the water off the rails.  Some people just use a spray bottle for the glue.. It's faster, but way to messy.  I think you lose so much glue.. Plus it's a lot easier to wipe water off the top of the rails than glue.  

If you buy Scenic Cement from Woodland Scenics, you don't need to use a wetting agent before spraying on the glue... but a bottle of scenic cement is $10 at least for a 16 oz bottle.  I just bought a big bottle of Elmers at Walmart.. Plus you can get Elmers anywhere.