Rail-Uke
Chief Flunky - PVRR
These photos of my layout were taken without any set up and only with a Canon Powershot 400. I think if I had a better camera and studied up on how to set up a good shot I could get some great photos.
There is still much to be done to build up the layout but I hope it's coming along. My goal was to have something that looked relatively realistic but at the same time still having a Lionel toy train like charm about it.
The Pearl Valley Railroad is an O guage 3 rail switching layout. It is 15 inches wide and 10 1/2 feet long. It uses Lionel Fast Track with two O-36 switches...... very, very simple. It has a poor man's but curious sound system by utilzing a salvaged Lionel "Train Sounds" engine innards (diesel sounds only as I also run an RS-3 and GP-20) that is located right behind the Larry's Letterpress building flat. It's powered by a second transformer and with the throttle up and volume turned all the way up it sounds pretty darn good.
The layout is built from the scrap wood and items from a larger layout that I abondoned 1 year ago. It's present state took about nine months of saying I'm going to do this and not doing it. Actually the way it looks now has popped up in about three weeks time. As for the larger layout I looked at my grandiose plans for my larger layout and realized I was fooling myself. I knew I could no longer afford this hobby like I could 20 years ago. I also knew that I no longer wished to maintain another monstrosity layout. At almost 46, having worn glasses for 42 of those years my eyes are not as sharp as they were years ago so airbrushing and fine details became harder to use and model. I was an HO scale modeler and was very much into scratch bulding, painting and detailing cars and engines. I was a prototype modeler as well and sniffed my nose at O gauge toy trains. I was also such a perfectionist that I finally even irritated myself and finally burned out on the hobby. I abandoned model railroading for 5 years.
When I did come back I purchased a new old stock 1976 Lionel train set for kicks. It was a crappy little set but it reminded me of when I first started model railroading when I was 12 years old with brass Atlas track, Snap-Switches, Athearn kit cars and a Bachman 4-4-0 "General" steam engine. I blissfully ran my 4X8 layout in my dad's garage, ignorant of much and not phased by derailments and the imperfections of my craft. I soon fell in love with Lionel Trains and sold off much of my HO stuff.
I try to model things that utilize some of my skills from the past with the store bought toy train look of "Lionelville". I do really like the Lionel fantasy world and the look of those old Lionel and Marx Christmas layouts that department stores would display in their main window many years ago. Things will be detailed to a certain point. Some buildings like the Ameritowne factory kit at the left end look more realistic, while the other buildings being ready built Lionel mfg. look....well, very Lionel. The right end has an old 1950s Marx water tower which I love more than anything prototypically built. It has gone through some minor scratch built modifications that are not shown in the photo. The row of three buildings at the right will eventually be replaced with one large factory. I just placed them there to fill in the area untill I get around to building it. The cheesy billboards will be replaced with better ones but the present ones just give me an idea of where I might place them. buildings will be illuminated, lights and one or two signals added. Signage is only temporary mock ups untill I design and print better ones and actually most buildings will be repainted with signs and details added later. The background is still bare and I may build an elevated stone bridged "bump and go" trolley line behind the buildings...we'll see.
I set some conditions for myself in the new O guage hobby as well.
1. Lighten up. Model Railroading really should be fun. I live in the real world so why would I want to recreate it exactly in miniature.
2. No more ultra detailing and worrying about being prototypical. No matter how you slice it it's still all fantasy and not the real thing.
3. No more weathering engines and cars. I was a weathering fool as well as painting and decals. Well sorry folks but in my railroad world I keep my cars and engines clean. I will weather buildings and such but not the equipment.
4. No more laying down rails, ties and driving tiny spikes. I'm sick of it.
5. No more emphasis on scratch bulding. I do a little bit of it and have plans for more of it primarily for small details and modifications of the buildings in the future but scratch building takes time and attention away from a my God, my Wife, my family and my life. Kits and ready built seem satifactory for me now.
6. Stay conventional. I can't afford TMCC nor the engines that have it. I cannot justify the cost to my wife or myself really.
7. No control boards, toggle switches, mini lights and automation (except for the turnouts). It's OK to stick my big 1/1 scale hands in my O gauge world. Even with automation a real railroad job is still a hands on occupation. I have no problem uncoupling my cars with my index finger. I built this with my hands so I might as well work it with my hands. A brakeman doesn't do his work with a toggle switch and lightbulb, he does it with his hands.
8. Don't worry about trends, fads and what other people might be doing (runs you big $$$). Be your own modeler don't follow the pack.
9. Support the hobby as a whole. All scales, all skill levels. Arrogance sucks the joy out of the hobby. It's not only just about what you and your buddies are in to.
10. Wear an Engineer's hat when I play...........well actually I've always done that.
All this tend to make me a loner in this hobby but I'm happier about it all than I was years back.
Best regards,
There is still much to be done to build up the layout but I hope it's coming along. My goal was to have something that looked relatively realistic but at the same time still having a Lionel toy train like charm about it.
The Pearl Valley Railroad is an O guage 3 rail switching layout. It is 15 inches wide and 10 1/2 feet long. It uses Lionel Fast Track with two O-36 switches...... very, very simple. It has a poor man's but curious sound system by utilzing a salvaged Lionel "Train Sounds" engine innards (diesel sounds only as I also run an RS-3 and GP-20) that is located right behind the Larry's Letterpress building flat. It's powered by a second transformer and with the throttle up and volume turned all the way up it sounds pretty darn good.
The layout is built from the scrap wood and items from a larger layout that I abondoned 1 year ago. It's present state took about nine months of saying I'm going to do this and not doing it. Actually the way it looks now has popped up in about three weeks time. As for the larger layout I looked at my grandiose plans for my larger layout and realized I was fooling myself. I knew I could no longer afford this hobby like I could 20 years ago. I also knew that I no longer wished to maintain another monstrosity layout. At almost 46, having worn glasses for 42 of those years my eyes are not as sharp as they were years ago so airbrushing and fine details became harder to use and model. I was an HO scale modeler and was very much into scratch bulding, painting and detailing cars and engines. I was a prototype modeler as well and sniffed my nose at O gauge toy trains. I was also such a perfectionist that I finally even irritated myself and finally burned out on the hobby. I abandoned model railroading for 5 years.
When I did come back I purchased a new old stock 1976 Lionel train set for kicks. It was a crappy little set but it reminded me of when I first started model railroading when I was 12 years old with brass Atlas track, Snap-Switches, Athearn kit cars and a Bachman 4-4-0 "General" steam engine. I blissfully ran my 4X8 layout in my dad's garage, ignorant of much and not phased by derailments and the imperfections of my craft. I soon fell in love with Lionel Trains and sold off much of my HO stuff.
I try to model things that utilize some of my skills from the past with the store bought toy train look of "Lionelville". I do really like the Lionel fantasy world and the look of those old Lionel and Marx Christmas layouts that department stores would display in their main window many years ago. Things will be detailed to a certain point. Some buildings like the Ameritowne factory kit at the left end look more realistic, while the other buildings being ready built Lionel mfg. look....well, very Lionel. The right end has an old 1950s Marx water tower which I love more than anything prototypically built. It has gone through some minor scratch built modifications that are not shown in the photo. The row of three buildings at the right will eventually be replaced with one large factory. I just placed them there to fill in the area untill I get around to building it. The cheesy billboards will be replaced with better ones but the present ones just give me an idea of where I might place them. buildings will be illuminated, lights and one or two signals added. Signage is only temporary mock ups untill I design and print better ones and actually most buildings will be repainted with signs and details added later. The background is still bare and I may build an elevated stone bridged "bump and go" trolley line behind the buildings...we'll see.
I set some conditions for myself in the new O guage hobby as well.
1. Lighten up. Model Railroading really should be fun. I live in the real world so why would I want to recreate it exactly in miniature.
2. No more ultra detailing and worrying about being prototypical. No matter how you slice it it's still all fantasy and not the real thing.
3. No more weathering engines and cars. I was a weathering fool as well as painting and decals. Well sorry folks but in my railroad world I keep my cars and engines clean. I will weather buildings and such but not the equipment.
4. No more laying down rails, ties and driving tiny spikes. I'm sick of it.
5. No more emphasis on scratch bulding. I do a little bit of it and have plans for more of it primarily for small details and modifications of the buildings in the future but scratch building takes time and attention away from a my God, my Wife, my family and my life. Kits and ready built seem satifactory for me now.
6. Stay conventional. I can't afford TMCC nor the engines that have it. I cannot justify the cost to my wife or myself really.
7. No control boards, toggle switches, mini lights and automation (except for the turnouts). It's OK to stick my big 1/1 scale hands in my O gauge world. Even with automation a real railroad job is still a hands on occupation. I have no problem uncoupling my cars with my index finger. I built this with my hands so I might as well work it with my hands. A brakeman doesn't do his work with a toggle switch and lightbulb, he does it with his hands.
8. Don't worry about trends, fads and what other people might be doing (runs you big $$$). Be your own modeler don't follow the pack.
9. Support the hobby as a whole. All scales, all skill levels. Arrogance sucks the joy out of the hobby. It's not only just about what you and your buddies are in to.
10. Wear an Engineer's hat when I play...........well actually I've always done that.
All this tend to make me a loner in this hobby but I'm happier about it all than I was years back.
Best regards,
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