# My first train video



## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

Well, several people in my family had been asking about my trains since my son and I had talked about it. So, I said I have this fancy phone with features I rarely use. I decided to make a short video of my layout and post it on Facebook for the family to see. Doing this, I found that another thing I had never done is create a YouTube channel to post videos. I honestly did not think anyone would be interested, but I did it and there is now a channel named Rothstein Model Trains. I am not going to put any advertising in it or allow YouTube to do so, if I can help it.

Anyway, after doing that, I thought that I had gotten a lot of help here and made some new friends who might be interested. Here is a link to the video if I get this working right. You will see why I do not make money in movies or as an announcer: 



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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Looking good.  

Magic


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## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

You're off to a really good start!


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

That's a home made video.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

D&J Railroad said:


> That's a home made video.


Well, it is a home made layout too. But yeah, it was a case of some family asking for a video and me saying "Hmm, I have this fancy phone that can act like a video camera, so let's try." Looking at it after I posted here, I realized maybe some introductions at the beginning might be nice too, especially on Youtube. I mean on Facebook and here, at least there is a header telling people who posted it and you can see a little of the profile to learn a little more.

Next one will be better, even get a little more of the table cleaned up. But it is obvious why I never tried for a career in movies, isn't it?


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Movies look better with the camera held horizontally.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> Movies look better with the camera held horizontally.


I'll keep that in mind next week.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

And here is the second video. Hope it works better for everyone. And yes, it is in landscape mode.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Much better.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

Now, get the camera down to track level like you would be viewing real trains.


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

And plant some trees!


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

D&J Railroad said:


> Now, get the camera down to track level like you would be viewing real trains.


I will be happy to try that. Having my son act as the cameraman this time was the first step, we can do that for the next video.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

Dennis461 said:


> And plant some trees!


That is definitely coming. There is a cutout for the planned lake, but like many in Texas, it is in a drought right now. I think Chris' plan for the scenery is to get the town laid out first, then the roads, then any landscaping to be done. Using the grass mat proved to be my undoing since I did not know how to get it flat enough that the trains would not derail from the wrinkles.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

You could use a spray adhesive like 3M 77. There won't be any ridges or bumps of glue under the mat using a spray adhesive.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> You could use a spray adhesive like 3M 77. There won't be any ridges or bumps of glue under the mat using a spray adhesive.


I did not think about a spray adhesive when I first did the mat, though I should have. I doubt it would have helped me as much as it would have someone else since I would probably have not gotten the mat smooth as I laid it down (though I do know to start in a corner and then press it flat as I go). When I posted about the problems I had, I was also given the suggestion to use a wallpaper roller to get the mat smooth. My son had wanted to start with the Woodland Scenics types of powders to flock the grass on and I thought the mat would help save time and trouble. I was wrong for our case, and I have given in to let him to the grass his way. 

I think I should stick to the areas I have some expertise in, like the mechanical engineering of laying out the track and getting the wiring done. Since Chris does have a degree in art, I will let him decide on how to do the landscaping and scenery and keep my nose out of it (well mostly anyway).


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

For those following along, here is the third video of my layout. I am not as pleased with it as the second video though. As usual, plans don't always work. We tested everything during the week and it was all working, then I had one locomotive that would not acknowldge any commands and a couple of cars that kept derailing. Chris painted where he thinks the scenery will go, just to give him a better idea of the overall layout and I think it helps visualize things, even if it is not too good looking right now. The big decision to make now is how to build the city. originally we planned to inset the Atlas track for the trolleys to run on, but we are now talking about using the Kato Unitram track and Dio-Town plates. We did get all the turnouts wired to switches and I have a problem with the Kato switches - I have trouble remembering which controls which turnout. I am ordering the 751K switches this week to build a good control panel just to solve that problem.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

It's coming along nicely and your trains look good.

You might find this handy to run trains at realistic speeds for your scale:

Railroad Speed Calculator


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

Thanks, @MichaelE, I am just starting to play with the CV settings for the speeds to speed match the trolleys. This calculator will be handy to keep the train speed down to something that is realistic. I know that they are running too fast right now.


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> It's coming along nicely and your trains look good.
> 
> You might find this handy to run trains at realistic speeds for your scale:
> 
> Railroad Speed Calculator


I was trying this and my timing of the trains was not good enough for an accurate speed check. I ordered a MRT model speedometer and it came in this week. I made this video yesterday when i was testing the trains to get the initial speeds so I can cut them down to scale speeds.I knew I was a little fast but I did not realize exactly how fast the trains were really going. This may be educational to some other new modelers.


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