#scale model railroad

[sharknoseshenanigans1951]

STEAM POWER RAHHHH

I LOVE NEW YORK CENTRAL 4-6-4 HUDSON STEAM LOCOMOTIVES

HERES A COOL VIDEO

AND GIFS

[whirligig-girl]

[pyro-hairedguy]

My club got this mini layout in a donation and we've been upgrading it for show use. It's actually starting to come together nicely and already good for some photogenic shots.

[chibahideaway]

One of my models running around the club layout~

[trainsinanime]

This is the newest section for my model railroad. Yes, it seems chaotic, but that's the point.

My model railroad consists of small sections that I build whenever I feel like it, and arrange on a suitable table. Since my apartment isn't that large, I have exactly one model railroad table, which also serves as a general hobby and random stuff table. That makes it difficult to actually run trains - there's always random stuff in the places where I want to put model railroad sections. This here is the solution. Hopefully.

It's a model railroad module that also serves as a holder and organiser for random stuff. The idea is that it remains in place at all times, and I can connect other modules to it as I want and need. And I get to have model trains running through my pencils, cutters, dead battery boxes and so on.

Just to be clear, by definition, anything that is in the fields of that module is stored away properly and organised. This means I will not take any criticism about the way things are arranged there (and it's bound to change anyway).

Some technical details:

This module (mostly) follows the T-Trak standard for small table-top modules in N scale. As part of that, the tracks at the ends are Unitrack. The main semicircle is Tomix track, which offers a few more options, in particular these nice curved turnouts that mean the module works as a crossover as well. As of right now the turnouts are hand-controlled, I plan to add a DCC decoder at a later date (potentially much later).

The basic construction is probably mostly what you expect: A plywood box with strips as dividers.

Main box, floor and track section are 7 mm pine, the inserts are 4mm poplar. Some inserts end up mostly or fully covered, those have access from the bottom to put cables in. The whole thing has power connections, which is not required by T-Trak standards, but I put it in every module anyway.

The edges of the road bed are covered with a 1mm thick strip of wood from an architecture supply shop, which makes the edge look smooth (it's not, I cut it out with a jigsaw) and holds back the ballast.

Because this wouldn't hold any pens or similar, I designed some special inserts with higher interlocking parts.

Those were a bit annoying to build. Finally the whole thing was painted in varnish, giving the look you see now. I'm really happy with how things turned out there, and I think this'll be a useful addition to my model railroad table for the years to come.

Now I just need to find a different space for my 3D printer, and build some curves to run the trains around the WiFi router and…

[krazyjoe]

2"X2" mini N scale layout

[eltristanexplicitcontent]

Poles, as opposed to pantographs, were by far the most popular means of current collection for interurban lines in North America. The pick-up is held against the live overhead wire with about 28 points of pressure applied through a spring-load3d trolley base mounted on the roof. (This is why they are called "trolley cars" -- much to the amusement of the Brits 🛒). 2-rail DCC in HO scale may or may not have a live overhead, but getting the pole on the wire is one of the most fiddly bits of model railroading ever...

"Poling" is something else entirely, where freight cars are shunted ...with a pole! One end of the thick pole is seated in a cast iron "poling pocket" on what the Brits might call the buffer beam of the locomotive and used to push against the same poling pocket hardware located on any corner of every freight car. Tight radius, incompatible couplers, adjacent tracks -- all problems that poling solved. Obviously not OSHA compliant, but it was railroading!

Andy Gautrey has done a bangup job of modeling North American traction -- Yakima Valley Transportation Company's General Electric interurban steeplecab freight motor and other very typical equipment and operations that were archetypal of electric lines, especially those that engaged in a large amount of interchange freight business.

More vids on Andy's channel -- seems he's moved on so look for oldest vids…

[punalippulaiva]

Today I went and assembled the teeny Multicar M22 models in N scale I bought earlier this week. I'm glad I had two different pincers, working just with my giant fingers would have been a nightmare.

[pxmun]

This is Buckle a 2-6-2 prairie tender engine for Union Pacific.

They've been a way for a while but are thrilled to be back on the Dream-A-Way railroad, especially once they got the word that the railroad was in trouble with the a good chunk of their engines out of commission.

Personality wise, Buckle is a "smokebox in a steam cloud" kind of engine. They can get distracted easily, but is a loyal friend and will work their hardest to help out. Buckle is extremely shy around people, this they prefer doing freight work. They also love bird watching and bug catching.

[primerjohn]

I was awestruck by this display. The density of detail between the buildings, people, and ships, is almost overwhelming. This was the last diorama of the series (or the first depending on which way you were coming from). The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento was worth visiting for this series of dioramas alone.

*Smuggler’s Cove*

This O scale narrow gauge layout, Smuggler’s Cove, built by Michael Flack and the late Geoff Knott in Australia, depicts a fictional New England fishing community modeled after towns in coastal Massachusetts and Maine. Small and large fishing boats and the steamboat Sabino near the Maritime Museum play a prominent role in this coastal diorama. Look for intricate details such as the scratch built lobster traps, floats, and fish crates stacked on the pier. How many seagulls can you spot in Smuggler’s Cove?

*Geoff Knott and Michael Flack*

The late Geoff Knott and Michael Flack were insprred to build Smuggler’s Cove after discovering the history of rum-running along the East Coast of the US, in the carly 1900s, their inspiration for Smuggler’s Cove came after Geoff and Michael traveled to New England and visited Cape Cod, Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, and Kennebunkport, Geoff and Michael helped to popularize O scale models. <Layout furnished by the Australasian Region of the NMRA>.

[sharknoseshenanigans1951]

I got a 671 turbine

Absolutely love it

[pyro-hairedguy]

It was kettle night

[trainsinanime]

Something for the model train fans following me: It's my newest locomotive, an EMD BL2 in N scale by Life-Like. I bought it at the international model railroad show in Gangelt (international because Gangelt is right on the border between Germany and the Netherlands, and so about a third of the exhibitors were dutch).

Now, "new" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, this was bought used. Based on a website I found, this appears to be the 1991 version of the design. Detailing and so on isn't exactly at the highest end, it was a budget model even then, but I think it reproduces the overall shape nicely. You get why the BL2 was apparently called the Ugly Duckling.

Getting DCC into this machine will be tricky, as will be new headlights. The current approach has one single light-bulb that shines both through the front and rear, and is visible through the plastic shell, and that will definitely cause issues with DCC. I'll also need to change the couplers to Micro-Trains ones, and for that I'll have to see whether I have any appropriate ones around.

Still, for 50€, you can't complain. I'm really happy with it, I didn't even know anybody made a BL2.

[wncrails]

Finally back at the work bench. Finished up adding decals to this Delaware Valley Airslide. Also added an etched metal walkway from Plano Model Products.

[eltristanexplicitcontent]

Modeling Realistic HO Scale Pacific Northwest Trees

[punalippulaiva]

Ihmeellisen pienen maailman päivä 1 oli meidän osastolla niin kiireinen, että en ehtinyt juuri kasoa näyttelyä muualta, saatika ottaa mitään kelvollisia kuva. Sen sijaan omasta radastani sain kuvia kulmista mistä sitä ei yleensä näe, joten joudutte näkemään lisää sitä.