# Avidesk's First Layout - HO



## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

I am starting a 4x8 HO layout in a spare room in the basement. This is the first layout I have done on my own. I had a layout that I worked on with my dad when I was younger made up of a lot of things he had when he was young. Unfortunately everything was lost in a flood in 2008, so this will all be started from scratch.

I started the benchwork at the end of December 2011 then took a break for a couple months. I just started working on it again on March 4th.

*Layout (Subject to Changes)*









*First WIP Photos*


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## brik-el (Feb 24, 2012)

So far, so good.

I like the caster idea under the legs.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

WoW!  Where do I start!
The grid and bench work are incredibly well done, I know you'll hear 100 people that will say it's over built but I like them that way!
The nutserts and adjustable table legs are how I set all of mine up!:thumbsup:
The track work looks simple but interesting enough to run and work on, great starter! And staying with 22" curves will allow for use of almost any engine and rail car!
Hey I started off with go a pencil compass just like that works great! I later pulled the T off of a drywall T-square and use that also serves as a 3 foot long strait edge too!

OK now for the scratching my head moment...Are you leaving the cut ply ark under the cork, for attachment reasons I would guess?
You can use clear latex caulking (not silicone) or some say white craft glue to attach the cork directly to the foam sheet and then clear latex caulking or craft glue to attach the ties and rails to the cork.


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## Conductorjoe (Dec 1, 2011)

Off to a good start . I like the benchwork. Nice :thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Avidesk,

A big thumbs-up on your benchwork. Very well executed ... rigid crossbracing, adjustable feet, small/stiff panel sizes. Overbuilt, really, but in a nice way!

The track layout itself is pretty simple ... oval with a few spurs. Nothing wrong with that, however, do think about your plans for train operation. I suspect after some running time, you'll be thinking about track configuration expansion. Train layouts are never done, of course ... they're always being modified, so plan/build your scenery with a bit of that in mind.

Do think about adequate space needs for your switches/turnout. Though your track plan is simple, you might want to draw it up accurately with a track layout software ... they have build-in libraries of various mfr's track/switch/crossover pieces.

I suggest you download the free demo version of AnyRail ... you can build a layout with up to 50 pieces of track ... should work OK for your layout ... www.anyrail.com

Keep us posted ... looks like your Dad taught you the handiwork thing quite well!


TJ


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks for the comments, guys. Yeah I know its way overbuilt, I knew I could use 1" lumber but I guess this is just how I roll. 

I know that the plywood under the roadbed is a little weird, I had never seen it done before, and it may be a bad idea, I'm not sure. But I had this idea and I wanted to kind of try my own method. The idea is that I'm adhering the plywood to my foam base, and I can still take up the track and manipulate it if I have to. Since I have never really laid any decent track myself until now, I'm not confident enough to glue it down. So now I can nail to the plywood through the cork. I'm planning on ditches along the rails in a lot of places, but in areas where its more flat I'll be building up the scenery base with 1/4" foam to compensate for the plywood. We'll see how it turns out. 

Here is my track that is laid as of today. I think I'm already regretting my layout, and sounds like you guys might not think its so great either.. but at this point I can't bring myself to tear it all up and start over. I had a hard enough time coming up with this track plan. If you guys have any suggestions of where I could adapt this plan to make it better, I will take it into consideration before I go much further.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Give us some direction to point you.
What would you like to change about your design?
What don't you like?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Avidesk,

You can use a few dabs of clear silicone or clear latex caulk to hold the track to the foam. Enough "grab" to hold it, but easily cut/removed if you want to reposition track.

A few steps down the road, but you can X-Acto cut some spare RR ties from a scrap piece of track and friction-fit slip them under any track-to-track joint sections where you're missing ties. An easy "fill in".

Enjoy!

TJ


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

Once I tried to design my layout in Anyrail (awesome program, thanks for the tip) I realized that the little siding I have will be completely curved unless I have kinks at the joints between the turnouts. It's just way too short to be of any use. So I just started drawing using the turnouts I have on hand...

How dumb is this? I don't know anything about real rail operations, so I don't know how ridiculous this might be, but I'm just thinking I can get some more stock on the rails this way, plus an extra industry or two.










One thing I've been thinking about is since I have all these spurs, I can't roll in off the main oval and continue on back to the oval. I'll have to pull past a turnout, decouple, then have a switcher come out and grab the cars. If I wanted to be even remotely realistic, is that all wrong?


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Try this out.


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Great ideas for layout add-ons


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Interesting idea using the plywood under the cork, but I think you'd find that you could just nail through the cork into the foam just as well. NIMT, that's a lot of siding track, nice job. For those of us less up to speed on real railroad operations, could you show some arrow heads showing normal train movement direction? Keep up the good work avidesk, run those trains, and keep building!


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

More work done today. I have been in a bad mood since Thursday when I bought my Zephyr and a decoder for my SW1500. The decoder was bad so nothing worked, and it burnt out a reverse light. But, thanks to the generosity of another local model railroader with a spare DH123, I replaced the decoder today and it's working great. I'm in a much better mood now. 

Thanks NIMT for the track layout suggestion, I'll mess with it in AnyRail and probably go more in that direction.

Once I got the decoder problem all sorted out I started on my wiring.

The new Zephyr and programming track.









Starting my wiring. Trying to stay neat!


















A few shots of my SW1500 and a couple covered hoppers.


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

avidesk, that's a lot of progress! I think you'll like the digitrax system!


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

Not a lot of progress the past couple days, but I did put together two Accurail covered hopper kits (Both CNW).

I took a lot of pictures considering I didn't get a lot done.

Some artsy photos. Too bad I don't have any decent scenery. Pink ground and an Elmer's wood glue bottle kind of ruin the realism.









I like this one for some reason, I'll have to try it again when there is some good stuff in the background.


















The grain train!









My two newly-built covered hoppers.









CNW 180135









CNW 180057









My humble work area.









A guy gave this hat (is it an engineer's cap?) to my dad when he was a kid. He was probably 10 or 12 years old at that time. The guy worked for a railroad somewhere in the area, I'm not sure what road it was. My dad added the Milwaukee Road patch himself, so the guy may have worked for Milwaukee but I'm not sure.


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

I completed my goal of finishing my track before the weekend ended. I also picked up a couple things over the weekend.




























The lighting in this picture is poor, but I bought a few packs of wheel stops and painted them safety yellow (technically CNW yellow according to the bottle). I also painted on some wear on the wheel contact areas with some dark brown.









I found someone selling some HO stuff on craigslist. One item was a corrugated metal grain elevator kit, I had to pick it up. I think I overpaid for it, but I can't find any info on it which tells me it is possibly rare, and it seems fairly old by looking at the box and the documentation.

















Here's an HO Scale Kenworth I found at Hobby Lobby for 6 bucks. Seemed like a good deal. It has nice detail, unfortunately this pic is a little dark.









When I got the grain elevator kit I also got this Athearn Kenworth kit from the same guy.


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## Conductorjoe (Dec 1, 2011)

Looks great :thumbsup:


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

I weathered some track last night and then tonight I ballasted a little portion of what I have weathered so far.



















Just a shot of plain track for comparison. I find that the weathering is fairly subtle unless its right next to some clean track. I guess subtle is good?









Ballasting supplies. I converted a recently used-up canister of Lowry's into my ballast shaker.









So far so good I guess, although the ballast isn't sticking to the beveled edges of the roadbed as well as I would like. I need to thicken up my Elmers/water mixture a bit I think.


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## brik-el (Feb 24, 2012)

Everything is coming along nicely.
And boy, do I ever like those hoppers.
Keep up the great work.
I will be watching your progress.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## myjrbear (Mar 2, 2012)

Looking good so far but the ballast needs work, you need to get a fine mist bottle and mix 70 water with 30 denatured alcohol spray ballast and then use 50 50 glue mix with an eye droper. good find on the model, its from a company called california model co. but no longer around. I forgot to ask you at the rock island meet if you are going to join the cedar valley railroad club? by the way this is randy.


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## Ranger (Mar 4, 2012)

That's a real nice layout you have there can't wait to see it when it's finished. Keep up the good work.


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## Ranman (Mar 20, 2012)

nice layout


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## Squadcars42 (Feb 26, 2012)

I like it.

I also just started a new layout and just finished my benchwork. I must say yours is fabulous compared to mine. I may have to shift gears and do things a little more like yours.

Awesome.


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## avidesk (Mar 6, 2012)

It's been several months since I've worked on my layout. Lots of work around the house, inside and out. But I've used the extreme heat as an excuse to head down to the basement and get a few things done.

I started weathering my rails by mixing my own paint to get a nice color and painted them by hand. I got tired of this in a hurry and ended up buying Woodland Scenics paint pens. I was able to finish weathering my rails in one night. The color isn't exactly what I was after, but it's better than nickel silver.

I started on my river on the corner of the layout. I got the foam carved away and laid down some plaster cloth to form the bank of the river.




























On the opposite corner of the layout I have started a two lane road going over a culvert (Woodland Scenics Concrete Culvert).



















Hopefully tomorrow night I can start painting the river area. Maybe even some groundcover. I also might lay down some plaster cloth for the stream that is flowing through the culvert.

Nice to be back in the action!


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## Kwikster (Feb 22, 2012)

Looking really good so far. Keep it up.

Carl


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## Ranger (Mar 4, 2012)

looking good


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## brik-el (Feb 24, 2012)

:thumbsup:Love that culvert. Lets hope the heatwave keeps up! (jj)


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

avidesk said:


> It's been several months since I've worked on my layout. Lots of work around the house, inside and out. But I've used the extreme heat as an excuse to head down to the basement and get a few things done.


Hot stuff! Nice progress. I like the culvert run.

Cheers,

TJ


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