Bonding with Grandson

[b&l railway]

My grandson was really excited when he saw the train board.

We ran the train and and assembled houses.

He started making a to do list...
1. Paint the surface green
2. Make the streets black
3. Add water under the bridge.

 

[b&l railway]

We finally got the the plywood painted and a layer of fine turf put down. The attached picture shows our starting point for next week...a large loop.

I plan to show him how to add turnouts for inner loop and spurs.

We also made a few paper houses and some street/sidewalk modules to make it interesting.

Finally, i added weight and coal to the coal tenders so they don't jump the track when backed into a spur.

I think we're all set for next week.

 

[b&l railway]

I also put together a number of track plans with options to help him understand how to create different layouts.

 

[b&l railway]

I generated a blank so my grandson can color it as he chooses. Then we cut it out and glue it up.
If he enjoys it ill create more.

 

[b&l railway]

We had a lot of fun today.
We painted the rocks of the 2% grade, colored and assembled a house, changed the layout for two train operation and added streets and houses.

The second train is a GI Joe train from the 80s.

I realized i could run wires under the sidewalk for lighting the buildings.

 

[b&l railway]

We started working on a mountain tunnel...
The outer track is on a modular 2 percent grade and can be moved to the inner track when trying different layouts.

The tunnel uses this same modular concept and consists of three separate sections so when the grade is moved to the inner track, the tunnel positions can be switched.
Also, the tunnel can be placed on any corner.

Next, i will cube up 1 inch thick insulation board so when he visits next week we'll glue the cubes to the tunnel frames and carve them to look like mountains.
If we still have time, we will apply dry wall compound.

 

[santafewillie]

I'm a little late with this post, but I have used many of those cardstock structures from Illinois Historical Society on my layout. Here's two while they were still on the workbench.

Mostly they fill space behind other structures.

 

[b&l railway]

I'm a little late with this post, but I have used many of those cardstock structures from Illinois Historical Society on my layout. Here's two while they were still on the workbench.
View attachment 260240
View attachment 260241
Mostly they fill space behind other structures.

I assemble three so far. However, last week i visited a local club and the buildings on their HO layout were much smaller so i guess when printed at 100%, they are for O gauge.

 

[santafewillie]

No, they are HO scale. They just seem bigger because the HO structures sold to model railroaders are smaller than real buildings. These are made to the real (scale) size that they existed in. They're replications instead of representations.

 

[b&l railway]

Google AI indicates a 2 story building in ho scale is 2.75" to 3.5".
When printed 100%, the buildings were 5.5". I had to print at 55% to get them in the 2.75" to 3.5" range.

 

[Jim at BSME]

With scale buildings you have to know how big the real building is and that has changed over time and is different between commercial/railroad buildings and houses. Old commercial (1900s) buildings had taller floors than modern buildings. We are in an old mill building that has 16 foot floors so the three story structure is about 6.5+ inches in HO scale. Railroads and businesses often times build structures on a grand scale (i.e. well oversize of the norm) so a model is going to seem oversize. HO scale buildings are built to HO scale, but a two story commercial structure will be taller than a 2 story house. Where commercial manufactures may cheat on the size is length and width, but not height, unless the remove entire floors.

 

[b&l railway]

Thanks. That's good advice.

I used Google AI to get 2 story HO building height by era...
1890: 3 to 4 inches
1925: 3 to 3.5 inches
1950: 2.75 to 3.5 inches

The height of a door seems to be pretty consistent: 0.92 to 0.96 inches

 

[Michael B]

16 foot floors

BTW, what is the correct scale in HO, in mm?
Isn't it something like 3.5mm == 1 foot?

 

[Michael B]

I went with 1"x6"s because the quality seemed better. A couple had a slight bow but none were twisted.

Looks real nice. Did your Grandson get to do any of the woodwork or watch you do it?

The big stores have crap lumber, so you have to be very selective.
With experience you will learn what pieces of wood are most suitable. If/when you need good wood, go to a small yard that supplies materials for the nicer homes being built around you.

For warp happy wood, you can rip them in two, flip one over, and glue them back together.

For precision work, always acclimate wood before you use it.

 

[b&l railway]

I first showed him the train running a small loop on the kitchen table.
The next time he came over i surprised him with a large loop on the 4x8 table.

The look on his face was priceless.

We went on to adding a second loop a a spur.

 

[Jim at BSME]

BTW, what is the correct scale in HO, in mm?
Isn't it something like 3.5mm == 1 foot?

Yes it is 3.5mm on the model is 1 foot in the real world, because modeling is so much easier when we mix units!

 

[Jim at BSME]

@santafewillie nice project you have going there with your grandson.

One thing you might look at doing is making the streets go at an angle to the sides of the board, still have the two at right angles to each other just make then at a angel across the board. If you make one at say about 30 degrees to the edge the other will be at 60 it adds some visual interest and breaks up "straight" lines..

 

[b&l railway]

My grandson came over and we painted the tunnels. We will add highlights and shrubs next week.

The streets are on a 10 inch grid. The city grid is taking shape and the buildings push right against the sidewalk.

We added the first paper house. Each house will be on a 5"x5" piece of green foam. We need to work on our trees.

 

[b&l railway]

This week we worked on the first "Flipible" 2ft x 2ft module.

We decided where we wanted a hill and cut a hole in the existing 2ft x 2ft panel. Then glued 1" foam over the hole. This will be carved into a rocky hill.

When you flip the panel over, the foam can be carved out into a pond or lake.

This gives us more flexibility, speed and a different look as we change track plans

 

[Jim at BSME]

This week we worked on the first "Flipible" 2ft x 2ft module.

We decided where we wanted a hill and cut a hole in the existing 2ft x 2ft panel. Then glued 1" foam over the hole. This will be carved into a rocky hill.

When you flip the panel over, the foam can be carved out into a pond or lake.

This gives us more flexibility, speed and a different look as we change track plans

I have always wanted to do changeable scenery, more for seasons than anything else, but that is a good idea.