# Polar Express - North Pole Layout



## seabilliau

This is a log of the 4x8 O Gauge layout I am doing for my son. I originally had plans to do a 4x12 layout (one 4x8 table connected to a 4x4 table) and make it a layout based on a portion of the New Haven Shoreliner run along the Connecticut shore line with a section that could pass as the Polar Express North Pole scene. My wife kindly reminded me that my son would have his hands all over the layout and that I should focus more on his enjoyment rather than build something that cannot be touched.

With that in mind I decided to just do a full Polar Express layout for my son that would allow him to play and move things and be his curious self (i.e. lots of flat space). I am leaving the 4x4 for me.

Why Polar Express? There are two things that my son loves in life. 1, is the Polar Express. 2, is Christmas. He will sing Christmas songs until about early March and he will easily be heard requesting to see Polar Express on the 4th of July.

In Other words - Polar Express is his Star Wars (for those of you who are between 40 and 50yo, you will understand).


STATUS: I put the layout down (sorry I forgot to take photos of it) and tested it, success. I then placed the inclines down (can only do a 3' rise due to space), ran track, and tested it again, success again. 
I am now covering the tunnel using the technique I saw on this forum, Mesh screen with drywall. The pictures only have the first coat.


----------



## Massey

Looks like it is going to be alot of fun for your kids.

For the cars I recomend the Athearn Heavyweight coaches. They are a close match to the cars in the movie, they have truck mounted couplers that can couple on corners and are able to hadle 18" radii just fine. The last car in the consist is an observation car that has a bay window type rear bulkhead. I do not know where to find one of those with out scratch building my own so I am going with simplicity and simply using the standard Athearn heavyweight observation car that matches the rest of my equipment.

THe engine will be a little harder to find in safe for kids quality so I would recomend a Bachman Spectrum 2-8-0 which is a great runner and can be bought for around $100 new. Stay away from the Bachmann heavyweight cars tho since the coupler boxes are a little delicate and not as kid friendly.

Massey


----------



## seabilliau

Thanks, unfortunately the gauge is O. I forgot to put that in the orig post so I fixed it.


----------



## Massey

"O" well in that case I think that there is a set from Lionel already painted up for you.
Me I am doing an HO version and need to paint my own equipment.

Massey


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

The Lionel Polar Express sets come along all the time on eBay.

Here's the passenger cars: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lionel-Pola...656827?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item3cc0adda3b

Here's a complete set for $245, he appears to have several of them: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIONEL-6-31...745461?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item5ae48172f5

Lots more Polar Express stuff, it's very popular: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...kw=&_osacat=19145&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313


----------



## seabilliau

*Update #1 - 1-15-12*

Finished laying drywall on the mountains and inclines. Need to sand and level and then paint. Also finished the bridge going to the North Pole. I made it using 3" styrofoam from the LHS. It was the Woodland Scenics brand. I should have used 4" to allow for a raised side on the back of the bridge, but I think it will do for what my goal is with this layout. Next step is to prep and paint the bridge as well.

Anyone who is interested, everything you see in this post that I created, I learned from reading posts on this forum. Thanks guys!

Sea B


----------



## 05Slowbalt

That is alot of lines on that bridge. More power to you sir!


----------



## Xnats

The bridge and tunnel portals are looking real good. Can't wait to see the bridge light up


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

Nice work, you're obviously a quick study!


----------



## tjcruiser

Ditto to the above. The bridge / mountain are really beginning to come to life!


----------



## seabilliau

Finished the bridge:










I will be putting on lights probably after and after I finish the layout. I'll probably use something like this.


----------



## tjcruiser

My exact words when I saw that pic above ...

"Oooohhhh!!!!!"

Need I say more?

TJ


----------



## Big Ed

Excellent bridge:thumbsup:, what did you cut out the arches with?

Unless you did and I can't see it, why don't you finish cutting in lines under the arches too?


----------



## Xnats

big ed said:


> Excellent bridge:thumbsup:, what did you cut out the arches with?


This and what kind of paint did you use? That is just amazing work from a hunk of Styrofoam, very nice :thumbsup:


----------



## Big Ed

Also,

Did you draw the lines?
Carve the lines?
Burn in the lines?
Paint in the lines?

Another words, how did you make the lines?


----------



## seabilliau

Thanks for all the kind words. It really makes me happy to have you all appreciate what I made considering many of you have layouts that have inspired me to do something like this.

To start, I got the idea for this from fighterpilot's post. He used pink foam board to make his tunnel portals. 

I used styrofoam because that is what I had. I highly suggest using foam over styrofoam. The styrofoam wasn't too bad but I am sure foam board is a lot easier to cut. 

Making the bridge:

1. After measuring the distance and height needed I drew the viaduct on graph paper and determined the measurements. Then I drew a one dimensional (the front) pattern on firm cardboard paper that I had in the basement and cut it out.

2. I then taped the cardboard cutout on the styrofoam block. I now needed to cut the block. I started out with the sharpest knife I had. Useless. I switched to Grandpa's electric knife. Again, useless. So I turned to only tool I had left, a jigsaw. Worked like a champ. _(Note: my lesson learned here is to be aware of the blade. Mine was very pliable so as I turned the blade when making the arches the blade went "lazy" and would bend, thus changing the able of the cut. Easily repairs after words, but something to be aware of)_.

3. After using the jigsaw to cut the block (Which I will use again if I have to do this again) I then went to making the bricks and and blocks. 

4. [Pics taken after I was finished] This picture has all the tools I used in making the viaduct after all the cutting was done.










5. The next step was setting the scale. I set brick height at 1/4" and width at 1/2". This is not O scale at all, but I am not going for scale here. I like the idea of Tinscale and feel its a great tool that only O gauge (and smaller scales) has _[my opinion]_. 










6. I then started marking my scale marks before I started making the brick.










7. A ruler and a pencil can go a long way when it comes to making something.










8. For colors, I went to the Walmart craft section and bought the following colors: Pueblo, Apple Red, and Grey. My SWAG was that pueblo and Apple red would make a nice bright brick red. And grey... well grey is grey, baby.










9. To answer some folks questions: No I will to be doing the lines under the arches. As mentioned above, the jigsaw cuts awkward on curves and thus the arches are not all smooth. The viaduct will be in the distance so i am using the art of "the mind will fill in the rest" for that and for the little parts that didn't get fully covered in paint.


----------



## tjcruiser

SeaB,

Excellent "how to" post above, packed with details. Thanks for sharing!

TJ


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

Nice work, and makes me think if I do something similar I'll go down into the shop and use the bandsaw!


----------



## seabilliau

Finished the benchwork and laid down the track for the first run with the drywall over the incline. I have a little fine tuning to do as the train is derailing on the down slope. It ran on the initial test runs but I am sure with the layers of drywall the inclines may need some leveling and I may need to bank the lower curves.

But other than that she works! Now on to the wiring... then the Christmas tree and North Pole buildings in the loop... then the boy's houses on the outer loop... then the night time back drop... I'll leave that for later in the week. I'm pooped.


----------



## Massey

Looks like you are on your way to a good start... or is this a good almost finished?

Massey


----------



## seabilliau

Massey, it's definitely at good start stage. My biggest issue right now is the joint compound over the incline has altered the level of the incline on both ends (noobie lesson learned). I have to now go back and do some more leveling on the inclines and possibly raise the track that runs along the front of the layout. The incline is a 4% grade, which the train handles okay, but I am currently running o-31 turns and unless the loco is actively being controlled it may roll off the track on the way down one of the inclines. 

I am hoping that leveling the top portions of the incline (so the track is flat against the incline (plaster has made it a slight curve), raising the lowest portion of the track (the front of layout) about an inch, and slightly banking the two turns near the front.

Also, the two switches are giving me issues but gunrunnerjohn and Servoguy have helped me on that I believe..

I thought this would be easy


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

I'd slightly bank the curve if you're worried about it taking a header. You still need to exercise caution, but that will help.


----------



## 93firebird

I'm glad you used your Pink safety glasses while making the bridge.:laugh: 
Seriously, though it looks great!!:thumbsup:


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

That bridge is certainly some nice work, hard to believe you can make a chunk of Styrofoam look like that.


----------



## Big Ed

93firebird said:


> I'm glad you used your Pink safety glasses while making the bridge.:laugh:
> Seriously, though it looks great!!:thumbsup:



It is Apple red?

Very nice I agree.:thumbsup:


----------



## seabilliau

Wi three kids under 7 in the house there's bound to be something weird in every pic.


----------



## seabilliau

*Update #2 1-19-12*

After examining my incline (4% grade going to 3") I knew something was wrong. The loco was struggling way too much and this incline would not work as an enjoyable layout. The loco ran fine during test runs with the incline using the current layout plan, but once I was done with the plastering, something was wrong. I determined I had too much plaster over my inclines and that the tops were uneven in spots and adding to the grade.


So, I decided to cut the top off the plaster covering the inclines:



















I put the track back on and, viola! the loco ran the layout with ease. But, speed was still an issue. I knew I would need to bank the turns as the loco was running off the rails when I pushed her coming down the inclines on both sides. (I needed to push the speed as I wanted her to handle my son in case he went Casey Jones on me). I placed tiny 1/4 inch pieces of stryofoam in places on the turns to create a bank, and the loco handled the curves at speeds well beyond what I or my son would actually run the loco at. But I needed something more permanent than pieces of styrofoam and wanted it to look nice since I just tore up a bunch of plaster...

I was flustered... I was confused... then I turned around and looked on the shelf...



TA-DAH!



















The banks are a little steep right now and once it dries it will need a little TLC to pretty it up, but I wanted to go big on the grade of the bank and then be able to sand down to the best grade rather than have to build up the bank grade. I don't know if this will work. If it doesn't I suppose I can tear the spackle up. I probably started with an ambitious project but I know that if I had done anything less I would have regretted it.


Now I feel like this...


----------



## Big Ed

93firebird said:


> I'm glad you used your Pink safety glasses while making the bridge.:laugh:
> Seriously, though it looks great!!:thumbsup:



I did not see the glasses, Elton John would like them.


----------



## seabilliau

Alll aboard!










Things are starting to take shape. Hoping to get some good ideas for houses and the buildings for the North Pole at Amherst Saturday.


----------



## seabilliau

*Update 01MAR12*

Hey everyone, I just wanted to show off my latest addition to the layout - LED RIBBONS - Whooop Whoop!

I have pictures of how I made it which I will post later.


----------



## Fighterpilot

Just came across your thread and want to tell you how great your bridge came out. I did something similar for my buddy, who had a short water crossing and needed a bridge. I just used a piece of pink 3/4" foam on each side of the track which was raised up on 1/4" ply. It did not have the arch going all the way through, which makes your look even better. Great job.


----------



## tjcruiser

Hey Sea,

What can you tell us about those two "brick" buildings? I like 'em! Are those cardstock fabs? 'Fess up some details, man ... 'fess up!

TJ


----------



## seabilliau

Thanks guys. I Took shots of how I made the buildings and the light system and will post them tonight or tomorrow. Really easy and found a great website for building flats.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn

The lights look great, fits right in with the Polar Express theme.


----------



## Kwikster

I love the way it all comes together. Looks very well lit up, bet it's great with the lights off.

Edit: What radius curves are those?


----------



## seabilliau

Kiwkster, The curves are all 031.


----------



## tjcruiser

Sea,

Any details on those buildings when you have some time ???

Thanks,

TJ


----------



## seabilliau

TJ,
Finally got around to it. Here is the post:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=128175#post128175


----------



## tjcruiser

Saw that ... many thanks!


----------



## seabilliau

*Polar Express Layout Night Background*

Was reading some Eric Carle to my children last night and got inspired. 

I have been waiting for inspiration to either work on the brickwork for the North Pole or start with my night time backdrop. After reading Eric Carle, I got a brilliant idea for the back drop.

I once spotted this micro layout background that Simon Dawson did based an impressionist painting and thought it was such a great idea, but I didn't now how to incoporate it.











Then I read Eric Carle and got my inspiriation. So, my next phase will be doing the night time background of the Polar Express based on the style of Eric Carle. I've been enjoying keeping the layout more "Tin Scale" than "real" and think this will really seal the deal. I can't wait to get started.

Below are some pictures to get a better idea of what I am talking about:


----------



## tjcruiser

If you and your kids enjoy Carle, you might enjoy the Carle museum near Holyoke, MA ... not too far from your neck of the woods.

TJ


----------



## seabilliau

I didn't realize it was so close. I'm gonna try to get there this weekend.

CB


----------



## tjcruiser

Bear in mind that's it's more of an art museum than a full-on play place for the kids. Galleries with displayed paintings and the like. They do have a fun, hands-on craft/art center for kids. My kids enjoyed it, but attention spans got pushed to the limit.

If you're in that area, and the weather is nice, I'd recommend a hike across the dam at the Quabbin Reservoir, and a climb up to the top of their lookout tower. Great views, a fun (short) hike.

Amherst nearby is a nice (college) town for lunch. Also, the hike (or drive) up to the top of Mt. Holyoke at Skinner State Park.

And, you can have the kids walk in REAL dinosaur tracks along the CT River ...

http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/pioneer-valley/dinosaur-footprints.html

"Been there ... done all that ... great fun!"

TJ


----------



## Norton1972

Wow, just searched for how to cover up foam grade material. Nice job. And spackle we have - - -


----------

