Micro-Layout in HO Scale (and a bonus layout in N scale)

Who says layouts have to be big?  I hear people say “if I had room, I’d have some trains”.  What they mean is if I had room, I’d have an oval for trains.

Those folks need to check this layout out.  Spotted at the International Railfair in Roseville, CA about 2 weeks ago, this layout has 3 industrial spurs, a sector plate that allows the locomotive and one car to move between tracks, and requires about 45 minutes to complete an operating session.  The spur closest to the backdrop reaches a hidden opening in the backdrop that allows loads to be moved on and off cars spotted at the opening.

According to the owner, he built the layout from scrap lumber and parts, with only about $50 of new parts for shipping containers.  The scrap all came from his main home layout.  However, in my opinion, a small layout like this would be perfect for someone in an apartment, a dorm room, or with limited resources.  One small locomotive and a few cars, a power pack, and you’re basically out of the armchair.

Bonus Feature:  “Food Train Layout”

At the train show, my wife found a “Terrain for Trains” plastic-formed layout.  Since I gave up my N scale plans about a year ago, she’s wanted to find a way to run her “Food Train”.

You see, she’s a baker.  The fact that she loves to bake had lead her to collect N scale rolling stock with food-related products or decoration.

Tis being a light week, we’ve ben working on the new 3 foot by 5 foot layout in the evenings (my ow Yosemite Valley layout is waiting for a Boy Scout event to occupy the layout room one more time in early December before the benchwork starts going up).

Here is a shot of the little laout.  By the time we tested the track last night with a GP7, we discovered that all the turnouts were bad and need to be replaced.

Keep watching, I’ll post pictures as we make progress.  This is going to be a family project, so you’ll get to see our different interests occupy different spots on the little layout.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jeremy

PART 2- The Manson Dredging Warehouse in N Scale

Now as you may remember from the First Part of this article, we are using Windows Live lLocal and Google Maps side-by-side to aid in modeling a rather unremarkable, but essential structure for my Richmond Pacific Rail Corp. N scale model railroad. The railroad itself is a 2X4 Switching layout featured in this previous article.

So, now that we’ve built the walls, it’s time for their first layer of paint and a roof!

The Roof over the warehouse is pretty straightforward, Just 0.40 styrene measured and laid onto the angled walls. The ridge of the roof will have a tinfoil cap to make laying the tarpaper easier and make it look more realistic in the end.

Building a hip roof is a completely different challenge though. You could use a lot of geometry to make it completely precise, which I would recommend if you’re capable of such feats, but here’s a simple way to do it.

This first step has you make a sturdy flat roof placed flush with the top of the walls to act as a base for the angular sections. (Note that this method is simple and won’t offer interior roof detail, obviously.) Then I stacked two large pieces of balsa wood and cut the roof angles (usually 25-50 degrees) with my razor saw and then proceeded to the next step.

I then added some large roof trusses and angled them off the main beam to the edges of the walls. The corner posts are VERY tricky and will take some experimentation to get a nice flat posts for the angled roof surface to adhere to.

Next, using thin sheet balsa (I would have preferred to use Basswood sheet, which is not only thinner, but better looking and more realistic) I cut out shapes for the roof.

I then gave the roof a base coat of black to give the scale tarpaper something to adhere to along with the glue and provide some opacity. The final roof color will be a much lighter gray, to match the actual color.

Stay Tuned for Part 3, Tarpaper, Weathering, and Final details.

Building a Structure from SPACE!

Ok, so at least by using a satelite view and an isometric view using Google Earth and Windows Live Local, respectively.

For my Richmond Pacific Rail Corporation layout I needed a scale model of Manson Dredging’s maintenence building to sit on my water front. I’m roughly modeling Lauritzen Channel of which the RPRC railroad servicing facility is on one side and the Manson Dredging company sits on the other.

It’s a fairly unremarkable single story building that has two major parts, a medium sized warehouse portion and the larger storage building attached perpendicularly to the warehouse. (It has the angled hip roof)

Using Google Maps, I got a good clear view of the channel:

Then I went over to Window’s Live Local to get some isometric angular views…

I got these by clicking on the Bird’s eye button.

Since this is N scale, I had to purchase some Gloor craft windows to suit the building, and everything had to be scratchbuilt from evergreen styrene. The horizontal windows are from an HO scale AHM firehouse kit and the steel roll-up doors are from micro engineering, as is the normal doors.

What I didn’t realize until I finished the first wall is that you don’t need to cut holes in the walls for the Micro-Engineering roll up doors! Oh well, It worked just fine anyhow..

After carving out the holes I actually needed for the doors and windows, I built the rest of the wall, remember that the building butts into the medium sized warehouse.

Knowing that I didn’t have to cut holes for the doors, the rol up doors were glued in place without any problems. I still need to add the windows on the other two walls though.

Here’s a view of it sitting on the channel, just like in the satelite photos.

Stay tuned for Part TWO!~

(For those interested in actually following this buildng It’s already complete, so you can follow the build with confidence as I post it!)

Laying a Riverbed, Step by Step

One of the luxuries you’ll probably have as you build your future riverbed is that you won’t have previous scenery attempts lying in the middle of your project. I had to level out an entire canyon before even starting my river.

Here’s what it looked like BEFORE:

I use a lightweight way to build my hillsides, as covered in Woodland Scenic’s “Scenery Manual” which is basically old newspapers, junk mail etc crumpled up into little balls, taped to the board with 2 layers of plaster cloth and a thick layer of sculptamold atop the plaster cloth. They came down without a fight using a small hacksaw to cut through the plaster cloth.

A great tip I learned to recycle sculptamold is to heat up a large pot of water on the stove, then bring it out to the train room an ladle the hot water atop the sculptamold. The sculptamold turns back to the watery mush it was when you first mixed it, and can be recycled over and over. It even absorbs some of your scenery material like the ground foam and dirt, which adds to texture when you use it for scenery next.

The first part when planning a river that will include any rail or road bridge is to build the right-of-way and get it to a point in which it runs reliably, then begin scenery.

Once the track is laid down, shape your banks surrounding the tracks with care to observe how real rivers create banks. Erosion is typically a large part of the character of a riverbank, and trees are the only barrier to preventing the entire banks from being swept away in a flood. Hard stone outcroppings are also elements that add character to a river.

Looking at the above diagram, one can observe some of the neat features you can add to your river scene to add some more detail.

Other riverbed types would include small stones (don’t use ballast for this) and clay riverbeds.

As you can see in the diagram above, I cover the ENTIRE riverbed in an uneven, but somewhat smooth and thin layer of sculptamold. This makes you river look 100% more natural and gives that neat fast-flowing ripple effect that makes your eye think that the water is actually moving.

This is what the dry riverbed looks like with the layer of sculptamold down and the silty riverbed of decomposed granite in place. Any dirt you apply atop the sculptmold MUST be applied over a layer of FULL-strength white glue to prevent us from having problems when we paint the riverbed next. (It will also create a nice layer between the sculptamold and the acrylic glaze.)

Here’s a closeup of the bridge abutment in place, with low wooden retaining walls on either side to prevent eroding the mainline behind the stone pier.

Using techniques in the PREVIOUS ARTICLE on how to correctly paint your riverbed, we take our paints and paint DIRECTLY on top of the dried dirt. (make sure to use a medium sized 1/2 inch wide disposable paint brush)

In the next article, we’ll cover how to pour the river, it’s easier (and in some ways harder) than you might think.

Join the Fun! Micro Layouts are a Blast!

Micro Layouts are probably the most beneficial section of the hobby due to the fact that they, in the definition given by Micro Layout compiler and modeler Carl Arendt: “Micro layouts are small model railroads, usually less than three or four square feet in area, that nonetheless have a clear purpose and excellent operating capability. “

FOUR MAIN TYPES OF LAYOUTS

There are four main types of micro layouts, and about 80% of micro layouts are based on these concepts:

 

1. The Pizza Layout is a classic. Originally devised for HO or N scale, the pizza layout is a circle of track, usually scenicked. Rarely are these layouts build with any other trackwork like spurs, but there are notable exceptions. The term originated from either the pizza like look of the loop of track or the fact that some Pizza layouts were built in pizza boxes!

2. The Ingelnook Switching Puzzle dates back to 1978 and is the brainchild of Allen Wright, according to this source. The ingenious 5/3/3 ratio of 5 cars on the main and capacities for 3 cars on both sidings has been lauded as the “perfect” switching ratio. This type of layout is very portable and mentally challenging to shunt or switch cars around with. The Inglenook puzzle exists in real life on some railroads all around the world, like Italy and the US.

3. The Traverser is another very popular method of switching in even less space then the Inglenook. The problem is that a transfer table, a rather unusual piece of railroad equipment that is rarely found outside of railroad backshops, is the hallmark of this plan. This eliminates the need for switches, but realistically limits the modeling subject to a handful of prototype locations. Some variations on this layout can be found on Carl’s site.

4. Ridiculously small micro layouts like the curious “dime layout” that uses a US 10 cent piece as the inner portion of track in what one could term a “bite sized doughnut” layout. (In keeping with the food theme presented by the pizza layout. ) The coin conducts electricity and the outer rail is bent to an improbable radius. Here’s photos of one in action!

5. (Not Illustrated) would have to be the sector plate layouts. I really don’t like sector plates, because they’re not very realistic, and none exist in real life unlike turntables and transfer tables. They do add flexibility through the ability to move an entire train from one track to another, which is interesting.

These are certainly not all of the types of micro layouts out there. Some base their switching maneuvers around a turntable, some are actually small “traditional” loop layouts that feature sidings and the like, somewhat similar to MR 4X8 foot project layouts, but squeezed down to less than 4 square feet. Others offer unorthodox track-work or very complex track age with tight curves and clearances and lots of #4 switches.

THEMES

There are infinite stories a model railroad can tell, and micro layouts push the boundaries of the traditional railroad themes. Some of the more traditional layout themes, like Anthracite coal mining, or modern intermodal terminals would be an impractical. The interesting part of micro layouts is that you can create small portions of large industries and use the micro layout as a small vignette to portray that specific industry.

Some of the more popular themes include:

1. Railroad back shops. Rebuilding cars and locomotives required a lot of specialized switching maneuvers and is one of the few prototypical places for turntables and transfer tables.

2. Wharves and seaside scenes are always popular. From the dock to a point of interchange, or from a mine to the dock. Some layouts even incorporate ”live loads” of coal, ore or soil that dump from the railroad cars into the awaiting vessel. Car float operations are also another interesting facet of this theme. A good number of micro layouts feature lighthouses.

3. Urban Traction is a great space saving theme to explore. It’s one of the few places in which railroading can be accomplished with ultra-sharp curves and overhead wire. The scratch-built trolley cars, street cars and MOW motor flats whizzing around a small layout make for great fun.

4. Mining and Logging operations are popular subjects for micro layouts, although It seems silly to have a lumber mill 5 inches from the stand of trees being harvested..the same goes for most mining layouts.

5.  Using unusual gauges narrow gauge railroads are popular. Examples like Gn15, (1:29 scale using 1:87 HO gauge track, which scales to 15″ industrial gauge in G.) or On3 (1:48 O scale using scale 36″ gauge track) On30 (O scale on HO gauge track representing 30″ narrow gauge) Sn3 (1:64 S scale on their 36″ gauge track, which is almost HO gauge track)   HOn3 (HO 36″ narrow gauge) or HOn30 (HO scale on N 1:160 gauge track)  some crazy modelers even use Nn3 (N scale on Z gauge track)  are the backbone of the Narrow Gauge Movement.

6. Food related industries are popular. Winery layouts, Brewery operations, pickle factories and even a maple syrup factory are all represented among the  cadre of micro layouts.  

7. Brick works, Lime kilns, Railroad Tie creosoting plants and other realistic narrow gauge industrial railroads are very popular modeling subjects, this is another portion of micro layouts in which you can make a realistic layout in a small space.

8. The last main theme is dictated by the package it comes in. I’m building a shoebox layout, which when completed will be a small mining operation in HOn3 (The photo shows the plan in full HO gauge.) The packages can range from an orange crate, to a wine box to a shoe box, or even smaller, like a CD case. The business card layout is by far some of the most entertaining modeling I’ve seen. These unusual puzzle layouts can be excellently designed.

 

 

 

A small mining operation in HO scale is the theme, still a lot to be decided upon. Here are some photos utilizing my shoebox.

The Hopper will go from the mine (above track) out onto the Ore Trestle, where it will be dumped into a barge or equivalent.

For More inspiration, please visit his site, which features HUNDREDS of fantastic layouts that can be built on a shelf, in a briefcase, inside a pizza box or a shoebox, as a traditional diorama, or even as small as a CD case.

http://carendt.com/

Peninsula N trak – San Jose Show 2008

I always enjoy seeing the Peninsula N trak group’s setup. I remember seeing it when I want to my first trainshow back in Pleasanton in 1996. The club has grown nicely, and features a collection of visually pleasing modules. There are some exceptional modules, and they’ll be featured here.

First off, the most prototypical and visually impressive module was built by Glen Karcher. This impressive corner module is modeled after Altamont Pass, Ca. in the early 1990’s. These second-generation wind turbines and the distinctive Darrieus wind turbines known as “egg-beaters” to the locals are all scratchbuilt and modeled faithfully in N scale. These turbines have since been removed from altamont pass, and the more traditional propeller turbines are gradually being replaced with larger modern propeller turbines.

Here’s those distinctive Darrieus wind turbines.

Normal Wind Turbines

Here’s a closeup of the N scale sear’s catalog home built by Don & Carol Carney it has impeccable landscaping, it’s the highlight of the module.

Crossing the Los Angeles River is an interesting and rarely modeled subject, it was recently displayed at the NMRA Anahiem Convention.

An excellent backdrop makes this beach scene really come to life, I can almost hear the crash of the waves and feel the salt air.

The colors are way too intense on this module, but it’s a pleasant addition to the Ntrack setup. A nice mill pod has been created.

The Richmond Pacific in N scale- From Space!

My layout is going to depict the area, centered here on this map:

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&sp=Point.q9mmhs4t2gzf_Center%20of%20the%20N%20scale%20Layout____&encType=1

MAKE SURE TO CLICK ON THE “BIRD’S EYE VIEW” ON WINDOW’s LIVE LOCAL!!

Looking at the trackplan again, you’ll see how the layout will work. The Prerimeter of the layout is basically the Roadway on the top, the Crane barge at the bottom, and building flats will represent the buildings pictured below:

This is the lumber company spur.

Here’s the real building, I’ll probably add the extra trim to the sides.

This is the oil products company.  The model will require a total rebuild eventually.

The real Oil company structure has freight doors, and is made of Concrete and corrugated steel, which will require scratchbuilding.

This interesting series of tanks will have to be just a photorealistic backdrop, because there’s no room to model them. I’ll be making some photorealistic backdrops in the near future, and I’ll do a tutorial on that soon.

 

The RPRC layout: The Harbor is Dredged!

After months of my layout having been in disuse, covered with stuff, the positive comments I got on a british modeling forum, (With special thanks to “Shortliner”) I decided to dust off the layout and begin construction.

Here’s what I ended up laying down, which differs slightly from the original plans, but not by much.

The Harbor will occupy the middle of the layout and continue out the open end.

Without a hot-wire foam cutter, I was at a loss on how to approach how I was going to cut the foam for the harbor, until I went to the best hardware store on the planet, and returned with a small hacksaw.. I then began to cube up the foam so I could snap it off and create a relatively flat harbor.

 

Still hacking away with the hacksaw.. the pile of rough blue cubes grows, the surface is coming out rougher than I want it to, so I go back with a rough file and try to smooth things out.

The Harbor is 90% carved out, only a strip on the far end of the harbor needs to be widened. I’ve already begun to file the surface of the seabed. The Blue and Green utensils are plaster spatulas, for our next step…

Adding scruptamold and Hydrocal!  Using photographic aerial reference from windows live local, I plant the abandoned pier pilings EXACTLY where they are in the harbor. This took a while as you can imagine.

After the Hyrdocal and Sculptamold dried for a day, I went over it with some paint that matches the seafloor from the aerial photographs, it obviously looks too monotone, so I decided to blend it realistically.

Using some navyblue and black paint. There. I also painted the pierpilings dark brown to match the old wood.

All this work was done between April 16th and April 17th 2008, so it’s very recent work. Stay tuned for the next step in this journey into prototype modeling.

My N scale Richmond Pacific Rail Corp. Layout.

The Real Richmond Pacific Rail Coporation is located in Richmond, California and mostly serves the Levin Terminal, which is essentially the Port of Richmond. It used to be known as the Levin Terminal Railway. They operate a fleet of SW1200’s and other EMD end-cab switchers of 1950’s vintage. Another major feature of this railroad is that they still have a fully-operational caboose that they use everyday. It’s no “shoving platform” like the BNSF’s fading collection of cabeese. They serve a suprisingly diverse pleathorea of industries on less than 10 miles of impressive industrial trackage.

 The only photo I’ve had a chance to take of the local at the UP interchange, where the RPRC and UP exchange cars on a WYE, two legs of which are built as curved bridges over the I-880.

This layout is intended to be an exercise in prototype modeling, made more difficult by the fact that it’s in N scale. I’ll be attempting to keep in the present, which may prove difficult.

The Purpose of this layout was to try out blue foam insulation as a scenery base. Out in California, it’s EXTREMELY hard to get your hands on this stuff, if you can you pay king’s ransom for it. A guy came to our Club a few months ago and gave us a ton of this stuff and he let me have half for lugging it into the depot.

The plan below shows the upside-down “U” track plan serving a oil products warehouse, a lumberyard, a cold storage warehouse, and the docks where aggregate, sand and other commodities are shipped. The runaround on the right is part of the engine servicing facility, and the line at the top is the UP interchange. Although this is a severly compressed version of the actual railroad, it captures most of the interesting disguishing features.

Each square represents 12″ the layout is obviously 2′X4′ feet.

There’s a barge and tug in the Harbor there the lumberyard is the spur in the upper left, where the red/brown squiggles denote the area for the yard. The Brown dock at the bottom left will recieve sand and gravel.

Trackwork went by in an evening, I managed to dig out my Micro-Machines to act as stand-ins until I replace them with much nicer vehicles soon.

The colored Blocks are also stand-ins until I buy or scratchbuild replacements for them. A frame for a crane is in the lower left.

More Progress as it unfolds, but I can’t seem to find a good, affordable hot wire cutter to carve out my harbor! Any suggestions as to where I could find one would be helpful.