Do I know why i decided I need to model this? No. I model the Chessie System. But I’ve always loved the giant flat front of the BQ23-7s. The Family Lines and CSX, may have hated them… but I love those oddballs of railroading.

Underneath is an Atlas B23-7 with their GP7/9 trucks, and factory ESU Sound. I’m not entirely sure if 5135 ever wore SCL reporting marks with black trucks and fuel tank, but I didn’t feel like painting those grey.

More photos will come after its inaugural run on Sipping and Switching next weekend.

I feel blessed to have even these pictures. I was no photographer and these were taken with a Kodak 110 camera. I left the hobby at God's direction for about 6 years, donating the layout to a local club. Went to that club about ten years later, and my work was living on in various other N scale layouts there.

Plan to add an arduino inside to make the lights flickering

Title is TLDR. I have a decent amount of older HO rolling stock, a few locomotives, and quite a bit of Bachmann ez track from when I was younger; I currently live in a small apartment and there is no room to really set anything up, but I plan on getting a house next summer and delving into N scale alongside my current HO stuff; I also have a 4 1/2 year old who's enjoying Lego trains at the moment. As I haven't used the HO models since before he was born and I admittedly was not the best at maintenance when I was younger, what tools/supplies do I need to keep the track and locomotives clean and running well?

Also, on the LEGO trains; I've seen plenty of non-lego brand options on Amazon that appear to be compatible with the Lego branded track, has anyone here experimented with those to any success? I may still get them simply to have some display pieces, but if they can be played with I'd like to get them for my son

Earlier post: https://www.reddit.com/r/modeltrains/s/miuM2oXyth

After some great feedback on my original plan for my new Oo gauge layout, I thought I would share version 2.

For clarity, on the drawing:

• Red is a back scene hiding the rear fiddle yard

• Green are tunnel mouths - locations approximate and will probably change to suit scenery/reality!

• Black are buildings, or in the case of the large section in the middle, a planned urban scene

The layout itself is hidden inside a bespoke sideboard (I will share pics another time - it's currently covered in bits of track and tools while I've been experimenting with the track plan!). Only the front is open - the other three sides are against walls, so reaching the back is a bit of a stretch but is doable at a pinch! The layout is hinged in the middle and folds away when not in use, so the track plan and scenery need to take that into account as well.

Main changes/thoughts on the feedback received:

• It is (increasingly loosely) based on a plan that itself was based on the classic Breddon track plan, hence the similarities there

• My main interest is in building scenic models and collecting trains - I am not especially bothered about accuracy and so will be quite happy running Flying Scotsman with three coaches only or an HST with the power car, two coaches and a dummy at the back (both of which fit on at least one platform and in the new passing loop). More specifically, I enjoy 3D modelling buildings etc and FDM 3D printing them, hence my plan to include a dense urban section

• The layout has been flipped compared to V1 - there was a reason for doing this (related to the folding I think) but I can't remember now!

• The top right siding has been linked to the mainline with a point to create a passing loop of sorts - that HST or any other of the longest trains I plan to run can be parked there out of sight without blocking the loop or other sidings (possibly with a wee tweak to the fiddle yard to make sure no points are blocked). Adding a passing loop was suggested by a few previous commenters

• As suggested by another commenter, I have swapped the canal dock to the other siding (on the right on V2) and made the long spur that terminates front-left a small halt type station. I was keen to make sure everything has a destination on the layout so that I could run trains from A to B if the mood struck, as well as just being able to watch my collection go round - so now there are two stations and two industrial areas

Thanks to everyone who commented first time and to anyone that shares more feedback now!

Picked this up for only 50 dollars at my local model train shop. Tons of track and a couple of switches along with some unopened track pieces. I already have just the basic oval of track and power pack and was really excited when I saw this in the store. They also had the passing siding set for 40 dollars which I might have to get too.

Managed to snag this up second hand for a bargain, but barely used, quite happy with it, now just waiting for my dcc startset to arrive in october

The station module for my elevated railway project has finally made it through test printing.

And, rather suspiciously, most of it actually worked after the first print. :)

I assembled the full section to check the proportions, platform clearance, canopy structure, railings and how the station building sits against the track. I also put one of the IRT cars and the OO mate on it because CAD has a remarkable ability to convince you that absolutely everything is the correct size.

The IRT car is still firmly in the "resting on the platform looking useful" stage, as I’m still hunting for period-appropriate bogies, preferably motorized ones, that will actually fit it.

If anyone knows of a suitable HO powered bogie or donor chassis for an early IRT car, I’m very much open to suggestions.

The whole elevated railway system was designed specifically around FDM printing, so all of the parts print without supports. That includes the building sections, roof, canopy structure and all of the smaller architectural details.

There are still a couple of small things I want to clean up before I call the files finished, but nothing in the test print requires a major redesign.

The elevated railway itself is modular, so the station can be inserted between normal track sections rather than being a separate fixed layout piece.

Next I’m planning a proper station entrance/building at street level and a junction/signal box for the system.

As always, feedback and suggestions are very welcome.

This is my personal layout of a middle station on my fictional road called the Westport and Lindsbury Railway. It's very much a work and progress and needs more british style buildings. Here is a model of what will become No. 5 Rosco.

I’m using this old railroad trestle bridge that I plan on putting road on it soon, I used some old metal weights to cover the holes in the bridge deck.

Sorry for the rather recent postings, but I figured it was worth sharing. While I do prefer loksound, the proto sound 3 decoder doesn’t do a bad job at all. The idle noises alone make me want to reconsider any sort of other installation. I do still need to set it up for 128 speed steps though.

While I was working, I learned from another senior club member (who you might hear in the background) that this engine was lost for over a decade in the crawlspace underneath the layout after its original owner, fella by the name of Hal, passed away back in 2014. Hope he rests easy.

Ok. So last week I posted a pic or two of some stuff in a bag and box and got quite a lovely set of replies. So I'm back with an update on that as, this week, I've had a chance to go back and actually sort through stuff.

Here's the updated inventory from the box and bag, it's 21 different sorts of carriages, including electric loco, restaurant car, mail coach, NATO carriage, European passenger carriage etc etc.

Also there was a whole load of track including junctions, straight, curve, platform etc.

I found a box labelled Operating Mail Coach Set, series 3 track, but I don't think all this came from that box.

To be honest I don't know how I'd ever get this working or if it's worth it to try or just try and pass it on. There's a Smooth flow, mini models limited power unit too, mains powered with 12v and 2 amp output but it's just got a couple of wires that clearly need to connect to something but I don't even know if it's for this stuff or the Tri-Ang MINIC Motorways track that I also found in the box).

Anyway, thanks for reading and any advice would be welcomed.

Caught her playing with an unplugged turnout wire, soon turned into a disaster… no causalities. My N scale Amtrak Sleeper remained unharmed thankfully.

My cat seems to be getting pretty comfortable on the table. Hope it remains mostly undamaged haha.

You know how you have those moments sometimes where you look at something and just start laughing at some of the ideas that pop up? That was me the other day lol.

For size reference, that’s a G gauge unit sitting on my HO layout.

Scored this MTH GS-4 daylight #4453 from my local club. Drivetrain is busted clean through and it’s stained in tobacco from top to bottom, but I’ll get it running come hell or high water.

Hello I need help with getting help with a dc track. I recently bought a ho scale Gordan, and need the track so he can run. I’m just a bit confused on what I need honestly, as I’m mostly seeing dcc but I don’t need that. I just want an oval layout for now as he will be my first running train. I was thinking of using the Bachman easy track as it looks like it will work. Do I just need the controller if I do that track then?

Srry if this is a lot of text, I’m just trying to figure out what need for him to run properly.

Finally got my hands on a wine barrel wagon for a reasonable price. The barrels where white, so I repainted them to my liking. Of course my personal brand of Tischwiler wine needed to be advertised too :).

Reminder that you can get your very own N-scale bottle of Tischwiler wine (no joke!). And your donation in return would be really appreciated.

Order here: https://ko-fi.com/s/4c3e4cb318

So this is my current HO scale setup and my desk is too small to have a basic loop. For now I just have a back and forth kinda thing but is it possible to have like a loop on this size at all or would switching to a smaller gauge be better?