jimsmodeltrains

Recently I started creating some name boards using MDF lettering for my various micro layouts. Here is the one I made for the Pier 39 layout. Brooklyn, NY being the area the layout is supposed to represent. I couldn't easily acquire MDF numbers '3' and '9', so opted for the name of the place where the layout represents instead. Regards, James

I did something similar with the modular layouts I had, including making the configuration flexible so that they could be in numerous configurations, so I could set up the layouts in various available spaces, from straight to 'L' shaped to 'U' shaped, by simply adding or removing or 'flipping' modules. There were 4 'core' modules, with other ones changed / constructed / scrapped according to space. Track plans / modules of my last modular layout are here if your interested: http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/dolton-illinook/ Regards, James

I've had a number of modular layouts over the years. Definitely the way to go if you have to have flexibility to fit various sizes of available space.

Recently I started creating some name boards using MDF lettering for my various micro layouts. Here is the one I made for the Petra Micro Pizza layout. The EMD / GM FT has a lot less overhang at the front and back than a GP3x / GP4x!

Recently I started creating some name boards using MDF lettering for my various micro layouts. Here is the one I made for the Box Street Micro layout.

Terraforming is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying something to make it more Earth-like, usually to make it habitable by Earth-like life. It is something that to date has never been done in the real world, but the concept abounds in science fiction and has done for many years. A model railway builder engages in a sort-of terraforming when he or she builds layout. Especially when when the goal is to make the layout as realistic and earth-like as possible. Over the last few weeks I have been engaging in “terraforming” the scenery on the HO scale Tropical Pizza micro Layout I have been building. before I could do that I had to settle on a track plan. This is the track plan I finally chose: The layout started with a blank and flat XPS foam surface on top of the wooden base and frame, and has progressed to having some hills, gullies, and other changes in elevation, as well as all track laid. The end result has provided a good base for the next step – adding ground cover, foliage, buildings, etc. Here are some photos of the layout as it’s construction progressed. You may notice a different sleeper / tie spacing between the sector plate track (in the quarter circle section in the photos) and the other sections of track. That is because I removed quite a few sleeper / ties and re-spaced the remaining ones to be further apart to give the impression of a lightly built railway on those sections of track with sleepers / ties more spaced apart. But as the sector track is basically a section of sectional track and I needed the rigidness provided by the piece of sectional track, it’s sleepers / ties were not adjusted. I tested what rollingstock and motive power would fit on the sector plate, and found that a OO scale Ruston & Hornsby 48DS and two 22 scale feet British outline wagons fits. As they fitted (just), I decided to purchase two HO scale 4 wheel NSWGR S trucks, which are 18 scale feet long. This should give me just enough room to have a loco such as an X200 NSWGR shunter / switcher and two S trucks or trucks of equivalent length on the sector plate. I have also been giving some thought to which structures to have on the layout. There will be a port in one section, and at the other extremity of the layout (on the opposite side of the hill that runs roughly down the middle of the layout) I am planning a warehouse with a bamboo plantation nearby. Something like this. The building in the above photo might be a bit big for the layout and probably doesn’t really fit the theme of the layout, but it gives the general idea of what I am planning. I may try scratchbuilding a more rustic warehouse or freight platform to better fit the space. I am also considering the idea of having a passenger train on the layout (maybe for tourists to the island), so I may add two small passenger depots to cater for that train. Layout Scenario I have sort of settled on the general idea for the layout now, too. It will represent a fictional western pacific small island nation, whose main industries are tourism, and bamboo and agave production for export. But how to justify a standard gauge railway when virtually all small island railways are narrow gauge? The railway on the island is standard gauge because the standard gauge railways in Australia, one of the nearest developed countries, were replacing or decommissioning their older motive power and rollingstock creating a huge glut of those items, so those railways were considering all offers for purchase or even giving the items away which was particularly attractive to the somewhat strapped-for-cash small island nation the layout represents. Being somewhat strapped-for-cash, the small nation may also resort to fashioning some rollingstock of it’s own to fit specific purposes.

With the left over bamboo, palm trees, and agave plants purchased for my Brazilian Micro Layout, and a fairly large amount of XPS insulation foam left over from construction of my Brazilian Micro Layout, it seemed like a good idea to build another micro pizza layout. This second micro pizza layout has been in the early planning (ie, just thinking very vaguely about it and wondering what scale and gauge to use on it) for quite some time, with the Petra Pizza layout positioned on legs with a new 600mm x 600mm baseboard under those legs around June 2020. With the provision for the second pizza layout, that flat space became a place where many and varied items found themselves. Items like scenery and foliage, tools, wood, etc. Until recently. Now I have started construction of this tropical pizza by adding the XPS insulation foam to the existing base under the legs. After this, I had to decide on a track plan. I didn’t want this pizza layout to be just a plain circle of track like the Petra Pizza, so I made various track plans in GIMP to give me an idea of the possibilities. So far, I haven’t settled on any of the plans above. Although I am leaning heavily towards a plan somewhere between plans 4 and 5 above. Plans 4 and 5 are somewhat inspired by the late Carl Arendt’s ‘Square Foot Estate’ G scale layout. I figured that if 1 square foot can work for G scale, the 4 square feet should work for HO scale! The plan so far is to make the layout to depict a part of a small western Pacific tropical island nation, where bamboo and agave are grown and exported. The railway itself will be HO scale, standard gauge like all my other layouts, and will be operated with Australian outline ready to run equipment (eg, small ex-NSWGR X200 series 2 axle switcher / shunter and some 2 axle open wagons).

Hi Alex. NE could mean North Eastern Railway (NER), which according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Eastern_Railway_(United_Kingdom) was later grouped into the London North Eastern Railway (LNER). Whether NE marked wagons would have made it into BR times I don't know, and if they did I don't know how common it would have been to have a GW wagon or BR loco with an NE brake van. Regards, James

A You Tube video I made featuring my Ruston Light Railway layout. Regards, James

I have been on RM Web for a while now, but haven't added links to my layouts. So here they are (my jimsmodeltrains website link first, followed by the RM Web for the same layout): Petra Micro Pizza (HO scale, US): http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/petra-micro-pizza-layout/ Box Street Micro Switching / Shunting layout (HO scale, US): http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/box-street-micro/ Pier 39 Micro Switching / Shunting layout (HO scale US): http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/pier-39-micro-layout/ Ruston Light Railway 'almost nano' Micro layout (OO scale, British): http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/ruston-light-railway-micro-layout/ Porto Do Rio Sul Switchback Micro layout (HO sclae, Brazilian): http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/brazilian-micro/

Hi all. Just so you are aware, the page in the URL for jimsmodeltrains.ws is now at: http://www.jimsmodeltrains.ws/dolton-industry-park/dolton-layout-operation-environs/ I upgraded the website to use Wordpress some time ago and so the URLs had changed. Regards, James (jimsmodeltrains)

Since the last post I have done a lot of work on the scenery. All the track is now ballasted. The palm trees mentioned in the previous post have been added to the layout, although there are a few trunks and leaves left over which I might make into another few trees. I have added some grass areas to the layout. The bamboo and agave plants I ordered from China in early August have arrived and some of them have been added to the layout, although there is quite a large amount of those left over. The bamboo added to the front right hand side of the layout added a good scenic break, so that it gives the impression that the industry spur on that side of the layout continues on beyond the confines of the layout. So the question is do I try and fit the left over bamboo and agave plants on this layout? Maybe. But I am thinking the 2nd micro ‘pizza’ layout I have been thinking about for some time could be where those left over plants will eventually be used. Maybe a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific, where bamboo and agave is farmed and exported? More on that in future. The vegetation has really made a difference to the overall look of the layout, adding that much needed ‘life’ and vibrancy to the scenery. Although I think the scenery can be still enhanced - some of the obvious borders between layers of foam could be filled in / covered over - there really isn’t much more to do on this layout, except enjoy operating it, of course.

Interesting backstory.

What is salt weathering? How is it done?

Three new cars for my HO scale Brazilian micro switchback layout. That brings the total number of cars for the layout to 6. But realistically I couldn't use much more than that, maybe just a couple of flat cars with containers would be about all that it might need. Regards, James

Thanks Ian. The same company that produced the models I used for this layout (Frateschi) also does models of African and New Zealand railways, and believe other railways as well. At the time I chose to do a model of a Brazilian railway scene I was tossing up whether to model a New Zealand, or South African railway scene instead. But in the end I chose a Brazilian theme. Regards, James

A video I made of recent scenery work done on the layout and an operating session I had today, using the chain shunting system. The video quality is not that great, I think it was partly because of the camera I was using for the video - a Panasonic Lumix DC Vario. I was also holding the camera (rather than using a tripod) while also operating the trains which makes the video a bit shaky in parts! But it gives the idea of what it is like to operate the layout including the chain shunting.

Thanks TechnicArrow. Yes, I was going to use wooden cotton spools (and have actually use one of those elsewhere on the layout for the same purpose), but I would have had to order them over the internet and it seemed a bit silly to order just those, so I asked my wife what she had that I could use and she suggested these spools. I think they will work very well.

Since my last post about my Brazilian micro layout I have had the opportunity to have some operating sessions on it, which has proved very enjoyable. But the lack of a locomotive escape was something I felt needed to be remedied. More on that later in this post. The HO scale Coconut Palms have arrived. The HO scale Bamboo and Agave plants haven't yet arrived, but they were ordered from China so it might be a while before they arrive. While I have been waiting for the order from China to arrive, I have been assembling the Palm trees, and doing more scenery work on the layout itself. This included painting of the scenery base, adding some small hills, and creating a rock / landslip feature roughly in the middle of the layout. The Coconut Palms are surprisingly slow to construct as I have to hold the trunk so that the branch I am adding is vertical so that it doesn't fall off while the glue is setting, and have to wait for the glue to set sufficiently before adding the next branch. In the previous post, I showed the start of a low relief building I had started. That low relief building was inspired by a colonial gate and wall in a MacGyver episode called “Trumbo’s World” about an ant plague in the Amazonian jungle. It's strange where inspiration for model railroading can come from! I had built stucco looking walls before and had used a rough sandpaper as the wall covering which was then painted a white-ish color. It worked well when I tried this in the past, and it worked quite well this time too. Low relief colonial style wall with metal roller gate – obviously the roller gate is not an original feature of the wall! After watching a video on YouTube about employing chain shunting on a micro layout (see Green Lane Wharf - OO in a shoebox, By TechnicArrow on RMWeb) to add interest and allowing more interesting switching moves, I decided I would try that on this layout. I acquired a couple of plastic cotton bobbles, painted them a mid-grey color. After testing for the best location, and having purchased some small link chain from a craft shop, I tested the chain shunting idea using a couple of carriages, and after I was satisfied with it I glued the bobble down in a suitable place on the layout. Chain switching guides and chains. I still havent added a dirt layer to the layout base, but am hoping once I have the palm trees constructed and placed on the layout that I can start to add that.

Scenery done so far: Have been working on a low relief building for one end of the layout. Have painted the whole layout a dirt color. Have added a rocky area / landslip roughly in the middle of the layout. I did some research and found out that Brazil has coconut palm plantations, bamboo (both wild and cultivated) and Agave plants, all of which I found models of on eBay. So I purchased some of each. This should give this layout a very different scenic look to all my other layouts which don't have any of those types of plants on them.

I got the track arrangement more or less sorted out, and so as I was creating the track arrangement, I was checking clearances to see how much would fit on each switchback spur. Loco + 1 car - fits! Loco + 2 cars - fits! Once I was happy with the track arrangement I managed to build I got the track base (thin plywood) cut and laid down, and laid the track. Then the extremely simple wiring was done. This was very basic and involved 2 wires being added from the power track to the controller, and a jumper wire between the power track and one of the tracks near the corresponding track furthest from the power track to allow for power when the insulfrog Y turnouts insulate various sections when they are thrown. And voila! It was ready for a test. Track base laid. Track base painted Track laid on the track base I put all the cars and the locomotive on the track, and ran the loco back and forth, moving carriages between the yard and the various spurs. And it worked really well. So now the layout is fully operational. Loco and all 3 cars on the layout, ready for test run. Next: scenery. But that is for a future post.

In many areas of life we make plans. When planning a model railroad, we make track plans, plans for scenery. But sometimes they don't work out quite as we planned. This is what happened with the HO scale Brazilian micro layout I have been working on. Before I purchased the Frateschi G22 locomotive for this layout I calculated that it would be around 6 inches long. When it arrived and I checked it's length, it was a bit over 7 inches long. I thought I had a track plan all figured out, but when the Peco short radius Y turnouts arrived, and I tested the G22 locomotive and 2 of the longest cars I purchased, I realised that that a locomotive and 2 cars wouldn't fit on all the switchback spurs. Part of this is my mis-calculation of the length of the locomotive, and possibly a second mis-calculation on mine part regarding the geometry of the Peco Y turnouts I purchased. Hmmm! What to do? I thought about it for a bit. After a bit of testing with the rollingstock and locomotive I realised that I could still have 2 cars on one of the switchback spurs, have slightly longer yard tracks, and have the other 2 switchback spurs able to hold 1 car + locomotive. This would allow for some interesting switching movements, while only limiting capacity to a locomotive and 1 car on one of the switchback spurs. As a cost cutting measure, that is, so I could use as much of my recycled track as possible (including one of the turnouts), I also flipped the track plan. This is the plan before the changes: In this plan, it was hoped that the Cold Storage and Sugar Mill & Storage switchback spurs could hold a locomotive and 2 cars. But after adjustment, and re-arranging the industries, this is the revised plan: In this plan, the yard is on the top right hand side, the Coffee & Cocoa Warehouse switchback spur will hold the locomotive + 1 car, and the Cold Storage switchback spur will hold the locomotive + 2 cars. But that will still be workable.

A left over piece of MDF produced the idea for “Yet Another Micro Layout”. My youngest daughter recently acquired a new bunk bed for her room, and wanted a place to do some painting without painting on the walls of her room. My wife purchase a large piece of MDF for that purpose, and had it cut to size at the hardware store, and a 1200 x 240mm piece of MDF and a few extra pieces about 70mm deep, were left over. My wife specifically said to me “can you use these for a model railway”. Of course I can, I thought! But how to use it? I perused the various eBooks by the late Carl Arendt until I settled on an expanded and customised track plan based on the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the “Creating Micro Layouts” eBook. That track plan is only about 600mm x 300mm, whereas the track plan I will be using will cover 1200 x 240mm. The next thing to do was to decide on a prototype / theme. I had thought of a tram / streetcar layout like that suggested for the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the eBook, with the possibility of a Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) Tram layout. But in the end I settled on a Brazilian themed layout. The reason for this is that I have a limited budget, and a Melbourne Tram model was over $250 (Australian) – a huge chunk out of my model railway budget. I had previously come across the Frateschi HO scale models, made in Brazil. So I did some research about them and from what I read they seem like reasonable models, and very reasonably priced. I went onto ebay, and found a model of a Brazilian G22 Bo-Bo diesel electric locomotive with an RFFSA (Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima) paint scheme which is about 7 inches long, for $99. And so I purchased it. To make the most use of available space, I purchased 2 Peco short radius Y turnouts to minimise the space for the layout. The combination of the reasonably short locomotive and Y turnouts should give me some space to also have up to 2 freight cars attached to the locomotive to able to move through the switchbacks on the layout. Not only is this the first Brazilian themed layout I have built but it is also the first one where I employed multi-use foam board (called XPS insulation board) which is very similar to extruded foam board used in the USA. Because of the use of XPS foam board, it is also likely to be the first layout that I use no nails or screws on! Photos above, top left to bottom right: XPS foam board info, the MDF left over that is the reason for the layout, the layout base from the front, the layout base from the back. Rather than the layout being a passenger switch-back between multiple tram stops like the original “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan, this layout will be a freight switching layout, with a small 2 track yard, the switch back, and various industries on the different legs of the switch back. This gives a fair amount of operational interest in a micro layout space. Because the RFFSA only operated between 1957 and 1999, and the layout will be run with an EMD G22 diesel rather than steam motive power, the era is fairly well defined to between 1967 (when the G22 was introduced) and 1999. This era is about the same as the other model layouts I have, and is purposely broad to allow for the use of more types of rollingstock. As well as the locomotive, I also purchased some Frateschi rollingstock: a reefer, covered hopper and boxcar. After testing the G22 locomotive and rollingstock on one of my other layouts, I am quite impressed with the quality and running ability of the Frateschi models I purchased. I’m particularly impressed that the locomotive and 3 cars cost less than $200 (Australian), and that the cars have metal wheels and are reasonably close coupled when connected together.

Recently I added a stone / aggregate storage area next to the Team Tracks lead track which means that the Team Track lead track can now be used as another 'industry' for spotting cars. Here are some photos of the building of the storage bins, with the last one being of the finished product. The storage bins are made of coffee stirrers and craft matchsticks.

Thanks Jack. I wasn't really thinking of having the plank layout I'm planning to fit in a storage box as I plan to have the 'plank' layout on top of a bookshelf most of the time but knowing that there is a box like the one you mentioned is helpful, especially if I plan to store it somewhere if we have to move house. Three of the 4 micro layouts I currently have are either stored in a box or housed in a custom built bookcase. The other one, a 4 sq foot pizza, is easy fitted in the boot (or is that trunK?) of our car.