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Jim, love the tale that accompanies the photos. You are an HOMaster. You imagine it, you design it, you build it, you photo it, you share it. All masterly.
TC - I read the whole thread a while back and was pretty overwhelmed by it. I'm going to reread in the next few weeks looking for a couple things in specific and the pleasure in general.
RR- that last photo is a real beaut. Understated and well laid out with the shed in the background and the out of focus far back really bring it to life.
Hello to all,
I found this thread as part of my typical incessant research before beginning new projects. During this past Christmas break I brought the boxes of trains up from the basement for a little drooling session one day, and my wife and 7 year old twins got all saucer eyed, so now I'm making the basement more inviting in preparation for some train work starting in the spring.
The O set that was my father's childhood toy will go on a simple platform for under the Christmas tree. Minimal detail, just an oval and some illuminated buildings.
The HO set (hodgepodge of stuff from the 70s and some recent pieces) will get a permanent setup for the wife and kids to build. Wife is running this project, I'll only provide skill and labor as needed, should be fun.
Jim, as you've heard before your work is inspirational. Everyone else (Jim included) your civility, knowledge, and genuine desire to help one another is refreshing in this day and age.
Thanks to all for the good read over the last month, looking forward to more. Might even try to contribute a question from time to time.
Lightningwit, Thank you as well. I've always encouraged others to lend a hand here. I don't know everything so I enjoy inputs from those who choose to make them. Sounds like you have some work cut out for you I like the wife's part in all this. The twins are good for about 7 more years of trains then off they go. Enjoy. Jim
My trainroom is 10'x11' gifted to me by my wife for moving ashore after nearly twenty years on the sailboat. The scale is Z again so imagine that this layout it is actually around 30'x33' when you try to fill it.
All new set of issues too. Electrics, track laying on a large scale, more scenery, benchwork, and all the rest of things to make this happen. I had some basic tools, but I'm no carpenter either. So I studied as usual, drew up my own trackplan, (as I have for all my layouts) and got to work. This layout took about 14 months to build; longest build time of all my layouts.
From these pics you may be getting the idea that building scenery on this scale is not easy job. It wasn't, trust me. Naturally, I tried hard to make it look realistic.
This is a pic of the small village on the left side of the layout. The water tower was an N scale kit I downsized to Z. The buildings are not mine. Two brothers in Florida made them all. They did a great job.
It was exciting to build this large layout because I could try different types of techniques and products for scenery. As I progressed through the years and layouts you will see different scenery items that became available being use.
I learned to weather rolling stock and work with brass kits. These bridges were around $150 in those days. (2006)
One thing about Z is that you can build very large vistas in small spaces.
Plenty of space to get a train lost in.
On the right side of the layout I get to do a town scene and work with plaster.
A Z scale close up and a longer shot. Can't believe I built all this looking back now.
Layout # 4
I guess you don't see this everyday, a plan for a table top to get shipped to Singapore.
Z scale again for sure. This circle is about 3 feet in diameter. This was a tough one for sure. Electrics not really my thing I learned enough to make most of my turnouts hand switched in the future.
The layout had to be light, sturdy, and it had to work. I was getting good money and it was going to cost nearly $800 to ship. So WS foam was the key. You can see the track plan risers.
Then some hills had to be made. Blue masking tape.
Next track laying and planning and electrics. Much testing and frustrations with this part.
A scene showing the yard and station. There is also a logging mill just over the hill. Fun layout when finished!
Top view.
Finished and ready for the trip to the UPS store.
The owner never sent me a photo, but this went into his coffee table and was covered with glass. Jim
I've mentioned building a sample of your proposed layout. One nice way is to build a diorama. You can practice on colors, plants, and scenery in general. When you are finished you have a piece of 'land' to plop down a loco or a car and take a picture. Dioramas are easy, fun and the perfect testing ground. This diorama is only 22 inches long and 8 wide. Check out what you can do. Z scale again.
I wanted to do a big desert layout, but of course knew nothing. This diorama helped a great deal. First I used foam for pinnacles.
Next I added some sand from Arizona Rock and Mineral.
I used a mixture of sands and laid my track.
Plants are easy and this small piece of work is a great practice area.
Thanks Ed. These dioramas are fun and generally quite easy to build. I like this one because it shows how to use foam. This was all WS foam so no beads. Simply spray and shake for the sand. Jim
I guess after building layouts full of trees and terrain like my home area (Oregon) it was time to build something completely different. I didn't really know how different this one would be because instead of working with paper and # shaped cardboard I found a supply of blue foam here in San Diego. This foam was just some leftovers of a large order. I bought three 4x8 sheets. This foam is not generally available here because of our climate being quite warm. A couple of hundred miles north it is available??
First, I did a design on paper, rebuilt my benchwork to reflect a larger layout. After building the tops is was time to install WS risers and inclines for the track.
Blue or pink foam is a wonderful to work with; a sharp knife, and some imagination is all you need.
As this layout was a cross between the Grand Canyon, Canyon Lands Nation Parks I needed sand; a lot of it! Here's the first coat.
Again I was forced into building the non-traditional back to front method so I could reach the corners over 4 feet away.
After track laying is was fun to work just a bit harder on certain scenes. After awhile this method turns out to be really great and impressive. When it is all finished these 'special' scenes all seem to blend together forming a layout that is scenic and exciting.
On the right side of the layout I needed a small town.
Desert streams are fun as well.
I always seem to build my own bridges and here's one with plastic and N scale gondolas forming this bridge.
When it was all done in about 5 months I was left with a couple of my favorite photos.
Changing layouts every year is sort of frowned upon by those 'wise' folks, but I feel it is way to develop and explore new techniques. For me, during my whole life actually, is has always been the journey not the destination. Cheers, Jim
