Hello! Just joined up to read all the good stuff to help building my HO scale railroad. I've been posting on another pretty good forum already, but it never hurts to see both sides.
I'm building an HO scale L-shaped layout that's about 9x5 in one direction, and 14x5 in the other direction. There's a mainline with 22* curves and #5 turnouts, a branchline that circles in parrallel with the mainline with partial 22's and 18's, and a small yard.
I used 3/4" MDF for the benchwork, 2X4 legs and bracing, and 1X6 pine to wrap it all up. The layout has 2 sheets of 1" foam on the top to help create the scenery. Under the benchwork are cheap Closetmaid cabinets. I used these on 3 sides. The sides that don't have cabinets will have a black curtain to conceal the underneath.
For electronics, I started with a Bachmann Dynamis just to be able to run a few different engines independently and control a few switches. It does that just fine, but I'll be upgrading very soon.
The track is EZ-Track, and I've got a small fortune in it already, but it'll be covered in dirt and ballast once the final layout is done. I'm changing up some of the switches this week, but once it's done I'll be wiring all the switches and power to the track - then to start on scenery.
Here's a few pics of what I have already: The first is the proposed layout, thanks to a great member on the other forum:
I'm building an HO scale L-shaped layout that's about 9x5 in one direction, and 14x5 in the other direction. There's a mainline with 22* curves and #5 turnouts, a branchline that circles in parrallel with the mainline with partial 22's and 18's, and a small yard.
I used 3/4" MDF for the benchwork, 2X4 legs and bracing, and 1X6 pine to wrap it all up. The layout has 2 sheets of 1" foam on the top to help create the scenery. Under the benchwork are cheap Closetmaid cabinets. I used these on 3 sides. The sides that don't have cabinets will have a black curtain to conceal the underneath.
For electronics, I started with a Bachmann Dynamis just to be able to run a few different engines independently and control a few switches. It does that just fine, but I'll be upgrading very soon.
The track is EZ-Track, and I've got a small fortune in it already, but it'll be covered in dirt and ballast once the final layout is done. I'm changing up some of the switches this week, but once it's done I'll be wiring all the switches and power to the track - then to start on scenery.
Here's a few pics of what I have already: The first is the proposed layout, thanks to a great member on the other forum:
