Rockdale Layout:
Let me first introduce myself. I'm a model railroader from way back and have been out of it for quite awhile. I'm a good carpenter, better mechanic, with a long computer hardware and software background. What I cannot buy, I make or modify. I have a varied and vast array of tools at my disposal(except for Mill and CNC machines dang it) I have had to purchase small variations of tools since I have found full size tools make life harder than ness with these small items. Layout is in a 40x60 pole barn and will be hung from the ceiling when completed.
Our HO scale layout is freelanced with the first section of layout based loosely on Berkshire Division from 6 HO Layouts you can build. It will be modernish time frame, one part I may go to steam era. I build it years ago close to plans with zero budget and then dismantled and sold everything. My kid is getting interested so we started picking up some parts and pieces in the last year. Started just running round n round on 4x8 sheet of plywood to get his interest started, simple layout with brass track and junky locos I picked up for almost nothing. A few plasticville buildings and some vehicles, nothing special. Started looking at plans/software other layouts etc to get ideas. Figured out I wanted to do it based on the nearest small town for buildings and industry. Layout is what is pleasing to me, inner circle basically for just running around, don't care that much for switching operations myself. The software that was free I found terribly cumbersome and not the giving results I hoped for and that's coming from a software guy. So I bought a lot of track and switches on Ebay(all brass and dirt cheap) strickly to use as layout guides and went to town laying it out. I built mock up building from cardboard and figured out bascially what I wanted and from what angles I wanted viewing points.
Purchased switches and flex track in lots and from LHS once I knew what I needed. Started the bechwork, 1x4's , with 1/2" plywood top, cut the top out where needed(or not needed that is). Finialized(yea right) the layout by actually drawing it out on the plywood so I could lay the homasote roadbed. Purchased a sheet at Lowes and ripped it to size using a table saw. I read several articles about curfing the sections and bending them for the curves. I went a different way and used paper templates and cut them out of homasote on a band saw beveling the edges at the same time. Worked fairly well, especially if you make the template correctly. When that was down I picked up some Latex grey flat paint and let the kid have at it. After a couple coats were dry I realized I dorked up a large portion in front and tore it up.
We'll be using both code 83 and 100 track and switches, mixing and matching doesn't over concern me, esp on sidings. Using 18" min curves and max 2.5% elevation rise. Track will be soldered together(learned that lesson last time around) and glued in place with caulk. Will be running DC for now due to budget mainly. Plan on splitting the entire layout into a few zones once all is complete if it isn't DCC by then.
Well here are a couple pics of current roadbed down and another of U shaped layout for the future. I have quite a bit of O scale that are older than I am and hope to incorporate somehow into the layout, if not just have running around the barn on a shelf.
View attachment 23616
View attachment 23617
I'll post a few more pics of overall layout plan soon, too cold to be working on layout anyways this week.
Most buildings will be kitbashed or my designs, I find the stock buildings offered are either way overpriced or not realistic for this scale. Sometimes I think I should have went N scale to avoid these problems. More to come.
Thanks for looking.
Let me first introduce myself. I'm a model railroader from way back and have been out of it for quite awhile. I'm a good carpenter, better mechanic, with a long computer hardware and software background. What I cannot buy, I make or modify. I have a varied and vast array of tools at my disposal(except for Mill and CNC machines dang it) I have had to purchase small variations of tools since I have found full size tools make life harder than ness with these small items. Layout is in a 40x60 pole barn and will be hung from the ceiling when completed.
Our HO scale layout is freelanced with the first section of layout based loosely on Berkshire Division from 6 HO Layouts you can build. It will be modernish time frame, one part I may go to steam era. I build it years ago close to plans with zero budget and then dismantled and sold everything. My kid is getting interested so we started picking up some parts and pieces in the last year. Started just running round n round on 4x8 sheet of plywood to get his interest started, simple layout with brass track and junky locos I picked up for almost nothing. A few plasticville buildings and some vehicles, nothing special. Started looking at plans/software other layouts etc to get ideas. Figured out I wanted to do it based on the nearest small town for buildings and industry. Layout is what is pleasing to me, inner circle basically for just running around, don't care that much for switching operations myself. The software that was free I found terribly cumbersome and not the giving results I hoped for and that's coming from a software guy. So I bought a lot of track and switches on Ebay(all brass and dirt cheap) strickly to use as layout guides and went to town laying it out. I built mock up building from cardboard and figured out bascially what I wanted and from what angles I wanted viewing points.
Purchased switches and flex track in lots and from LHS once I knew what I needed. Started the bechwork, 1x4's , with 1/2" plywood top, cut the top out where needed(or not needed that is). Finialized(yea right) the layout by actually drawing it out on the plywood so I could lay the homasote roadbed. Purchased a sheet at Lowes and ripped it to size using a table saw. I read several articles about curfing the sections and bending them for the curves. I went a different way and used paper templates and cut them out of homasote on a band saw beveling the edges at the same time. Worked fairly well, especially if you make the template correctly. When that was down I picked up some Latex grey flat paint and let the kid have at it. After a couple coats were dry I realized I dorked up a large portion in front and tore it up.
We'll be using both code 83 and 100 track and switches, mixing and matching doesn't over concern me, esp on sidings. Using 18" min curves and max 2.5% elevation rise. Track will be soldered together(learned that lesson last time around) and glued in place with caulk. Will be running DC for now due to budget mainly. Plan on splitting the entire layout into a few zones once all is complete if it isn't DCC by then.
Well here are a couple pics of current roadbed down and another of U shaped layout for the future. I have quite a bit of O scale that are older than I am and hope to incorporate somehow into the layout, if not just have running around the barn on a shelf.
View attachment 23616
View attachment 23617
I'll post a few more pics of overall layout plan soon, too cold to be working on layout anyways this week.
Most buildings will be kitbashed or my designs, I find the stock buildings offered are either way overpriced or not realistic for this scale. Sometimes I think I should have went N scale to avoid these problems. More to come.
Thanks for looking.
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