Layout Development

This is my HO Model Train layout today. My layout has a 1950's British theme based around the end of the great steam era. The base is constructed with an 8x8 and a 7x4 connected with a 3x1 all plywood construction. I've used Bachmann EZ track and have 8 DC Blocks, 1 Halt and 10 points. There is an overhead line, an inner loop on the 8x8 and a Main line that I estimate is about 50 feet in length. I can run up to 4 trains at once. Currently I have 4 tunnels, 2 stations and 6 sidings.

First Layout

My HO layout started on a 8 feet by 4 feet plywood base and consisted of an outer and inner loop with 1 spur on the outer loop and a 3 line yard on the inner loop. The layout had 2 Tunnels, 3 blocks and 6 switched points. There was a single switched transfer point between the inner and outer loop.

I use HO Bachmann E-Z track but pretty much everything else is home made. My tunnels are built with materials from insulation panels from Home Hardware covered in light-weight spackle over crunched newspaper painted with Dollar Store acrylic paints. For the tunnel portals I cut out a plywood base and covered them with with a light-weight spackle coating. I used the back of a knive to cut out the stone shapes and then painted with a base coat of grey and then several coats of a watered down black and white wash to weather them.

Extension 1

I added an extension to the 8x4 layout of a 4x4 connected with a 3x1 to the 8x4. This extends the outer loop and has a switched siding where I can park a 3 coach train.

Starting in this section I put in a straight Overhead Line running the width of the layout with a couple of single span bowstring bridges to cross the lower tracks. Trains can only go back and forth on this track but its cool to watch them crossing the two bridges.

Extended Extension

I've now extended the extension to add another 3 foot loop and used the long straight to form 2 long sidings where I can park my Mallard and Cock'o'the North trains. I've formed a tunnel which is lit by LED's and my office stuff and monitors sit on top of this tunnel.

The curves on this extension take trains though both left and right 18" curves and needed a lot of work to avoid derailing especially on the bigger engines. Check out my De-Rail page to see some notes I made on how I solved de-railing on my layout.



Check out the menu links above to see my trains running and see more details of the layout.



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