# My Great Northern HO 4x8 Layout



## doorman29

*Hello everyone, new guy on board. I am 48 and have been around model railroading as long as I can remember. I began construction on a 4x8 freelance Great Northern layout in 1996, and have worked on it on and off since then. Historically I have only railroaded in the winter months, a habit I probably got from my Dad. I have skipped a winter here and there but over all I would say I am 70% complete.

I chose Burlington Northern as a Road as a teen in the 1980's, but quickly switched to the mighty GN which I model to this day.

I based my layout on a plan published in a 1996 issue of Model Railroader. I slightly modified it and I'm still very pleased with my choice. There is a mainline loop around the outside and a inside line with a figure 8 and a 27" bridge along with two tunnels. The plan from MR is pictured below.



The layout as it sits today. As you can see there is quite a bit to do, including final building positioning.





Here is my "cab". I can run the entire layout on either controller, or run the inside and outside tracks independently for two different operators. 



Which controller controls which track is set through a set of switches. Kind of a "poor mans dcc" lol.



I'll post some more pictures and info if there is any interest, I will also update this thread as I work on the layout.*


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## DT&I

that's nice


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## trains galore

Hi there!
Looks like a pretty neat layout, like the control setup, dpdt switches right
What is the little blue box with the red button for? Points?
I'm definitely very interested in this so I'll keep a watch on this


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## doorman29

trains galore said:


> What is the little blue box with the red button for? Points?


The four little toggle switches turn voltage to spurs on and off and the little red momentary switch used to control a homemade horn. It sounded like a sick cricket but my son was like 5 at the time and he loved it lol. Once I got the sound and power controller I disconnected it.


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## doorman29

Oh yeah, those switches lol. That is the the one thing I wish I did was buy better switches. I believe these are actually from a kit [Life Like IIRC] that Toys R Us used two sell. I think it came with two switches and some 9" straights and curves along with two controllers for the switches. Most of my motive power goes through them no problem, but things like 0-4-0 switchers have trouble.

Here is how the switch controllers are set up across the face of the layout.


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## model-a

Looks good man I almost built that layout years ago for a guy, he kept changing his mind ended up doing one small n-scale layout instead.


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## Southern

I love the sound and light power cab. Do you have any of the constant lights installed in your locos?


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## doorman29

Southern said:


> I love the sound and light power cab. Do you have any of the constant lights installed in your locos?


I have never installed any but my dad did a few in some of his B&O diesels.


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## mosinRR

Looks pretty extensive. Have you had to replace or redo something just because of the amount of time between now and when you started?


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## doorman29

mosinRR said:


> Looks pretty extensive. Have you had to replace or redo something just because of the amount of time between now and when you started?


Really the only issue I have had is "fallout" aka dirt, dust, lint from the dryer which is in the same room . Within the next couple months I am going to make a "folding cover" with 1/4" lauan plywood so I can easily cover it when not in use. When I was under the table a couple weeks back I looked at all the wiring and thought "How did I do all this"? lol. Lucky for me it all still works.


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## doorman29

Southern said:


> I love the sound and light power cab. Do you have any of the constant lights installed in your locos?


Speaking of constant lights, my brother recently gave me this proto 2000 switcher with constant lighting and on board sounds. It's a little fickle on my layout, I really need to keep on top of my track cleaning.


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## doorman29

I just happened to be down the layout re arranging some buildings and was lucky enough to catch an east bound freighter thumping across the bridge.


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## doorman29

Taking some time to clean the rails and arrange my structures. This is where I am at so far.

The City. I'm pretty happy with this arrangement. Lots of work yet to do with sidewalks, roads. people etc. To the far right are two spurs, one serves the little electronics company. I need something for in between my "city" and the little church visible in the background, a transition from city to rural. There is a Model Power kit, Builders Depot, that I think may fit the bill.







On the other side of the mountain and bridge is the "country" area. 

Al's General Store



Behind Al's on the other side of the tracks is the Super Market.



To the right of the Super Market is Home Coal [I need to justify my hoppers, right lol].



In the back is the feed store and behind that is two spurs.



Hillside Lumber is cut into the, er umm, hill side.



And the final structure is an abandoned machine shop.




As you can see I have a lot of finish detailing to do along with lots of ballasting, road making, tree planting etc.

Just thought I would post some pics.


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## DT&I

is that the bachman coal yard?


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## doorman29

DT&I said:


> is that the bachman coal yard?


Life Like "Build a Scene".


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## raleets

I didn't see a beer truck in front of the super market.  
Otherwise, it looks great. Nice work! :appl:
Bob


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## doorman29

raleets said:


> I didn't see a beer truck in front of the super market.
> Otherwise, it looks great. Nice work! :appl:
> Bob


Well, there is one building I left out, kind of a "hush hush" deal 'round these parts. That's old man Johnson's shanty. Now, he doesn't have any beer, but if you know the special knock you can get yourself a mason jar full some good time lightnin'. Now I'm counting on all you guys to keep this place on the down low. :laugh:


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## doorman29

Took some quick footage. Cheap digital cam in video mode, so don't expect much hwell:.

I got a mini "nanny can" for Christmas. I just need to get a power supply and or a correct cable hook up for a monitor for some on board video action.


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## raleets

doorman29 said:


> Well, there is one building I left out, kind of a "hush hush" deal 'round these parts. That's old man Johnson's shanty. Now, he doesn't have any beer, but if you know the special knock you can get yourself a mason jar full some good time lightnin'. Now I'm counting on all you guys to keep this place on the down low. :laugh:



Hey, we're all supposed to be "brothers" here on this forum .......so what's the special knock? :stroke:


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## doorman29

I decided to finally get some kind of cover made for the layout. I had all the needed materials on hand, so no more excuses. Here is a dry fit of the frame. It wil be covered in clear plastic and a piece will drape over the front to seal it all up. I wanted to make something light and easy to remove.


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## doorman29

Almost finished. I just need to cut and affix some plastic to drape across the front and attach a handle or two. Now if I am going to be away from the layout for a week or two I can cover it and avoid all the nasty laundry room fallout.


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## Bone1977

Nice  I like the cover a lot! even when you are done with it for the day it would make a great dust guard.


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## doorman29

Bone1977 said:


> Nice  I like the cover a lot! even when you are done with it for the day it would make a great dust guard.


It should work out nice, I added a handle this morning to make it easy to put on and take off. dust/lint is a BIG problem in my layout room and this will help loads.


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## doorman29

*Doing a little bit here and there. I started working on two corners of the layout. This scene is a little strange because of the cliffs edge but I decided this is where my fruit stand will go. I need to get it through my head that the layout does not have to make perfect sense. :retard: More details are needed as well as a background scene which I discussed in another thread.




In this other corner is an abondonned steel works facility/machine shop. I need more details here also.




I also cut back some sloppy plaster work to make room for my highway.

*


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## raleets

Doorman,
Rule #1......it's YOUR layout!!!
I also have a few scenes on my layout with no roads in or out. Access is gained by immaculate ascension, or flying car, take your choice.


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## doorman29

*One thing that is a high propriety is to do something with the Home Coal "ramp". I think I will blend it into the table with plaster so it looks like they built it up with dirt, then I can concentrate on roads, bushes etc instead of looking at the field of black.


*


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## wingnut163

paint a road on the wall, cover it with a couple of trees at the start and paint in a lot more going off in the distance.


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## SRV1

The dust cover is a great idea. That layout is looking good and full. I still cant believe its a 4x8 with all the scenery and buildings there are.

Sent from my SCH-R950 using Tapatalk 2


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## doorman29

SRV1 said:


> The dust cover is a great idea. That layout is looking good and full. I still cant believe its a 4x8 with all the scenery and buildings there are.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-R950 using Tapatalk 2


The track plan has worked out very well. With all the hills and tunnels the train "disappears" a lot too, which is nice. The cover I wish I did years ago but "better late then never" as they say.


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## doorman29

*Started work on the ramp. The plaster is heavier on the right because that side is in view. the other side is not and space in this area is at a premium, didn't want to the 3/4" or so. So far so good.*


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## doorman29

Shot the ramp with balck, then olive drab. I'm thinking I will do the ramp "timbers" [bottom pic] out of bbq matches.


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## doorman29

*Cutting up some match sticks to make up the end retaining wall. These will be stained and then I will install and ballast the track.*


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## doorman29

Ties are painted, ballast is about to be glued down.


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## doorman29

*Starting some turf etc. Had a minor set back, I lifted the track off the ramp and all the wet ballast went under the ties. 

All is cleaned and will be re ballasting shortly. hwell:
*


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## doorman29

One more shot for today while everything dries. Here is the retaining wall timbers stained. I figured I would get a shot now because once it's in place I won't be able to.


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## doorman29

I got back to working on some landscaping and threw together a little freighter. Cheap camera video but figured what the heck.


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## trains galore

Very nice :thumbsup:
I like your resourceful use of materials, the ramp looks great
Thanks for the video


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## golfermd

Impressive work. Hadn't thought about using match sticks for rough dimensional, lumber. Perfect! That's what I love about this forum, so much to learn from fellow modelers. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## doorman29

trains galore said:


> Very nice :thumbsup:
> I like your resourceful use of materials, the ramp looks great
> Thanks for the video





golfermd said:


> Impressive work. Hadn't thought about using match sticks for rough dimensional, lumber. Perfect! That's what I love about this forum, so much to learn from fellow modelers. :smilie_daumenpos:



Thanks guys, it's starting to come together, slowly but surely.....


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## doorman29

I got the Home Coal ramp re installed. It's needs to be "feathered in" with the surrounding landscape. I am coming along with the grass and bush laying, you can see where I stopped by the bridge abutment. I'm finally covering all the awful black.


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## doorman29

I also started landscaping around the General store, but maybe the church will be a better fit? :dunno:


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## doorman29

Working on some more landscaping, the Church will move to this spot. Lots of detailing to go but much progress is happening.


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## doorman29

Took a shot at cutting a piece of thin card board to make sidewalks. Hit it with some gray and scored expansion joints in it. I'm fairly happy with this. Road needs a lot of work still. This area is really started to come along.


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## doorman29

*Trying to get a little done today. I'm blending in the home coal ramp with the surrounding area.



I have been meaning to repair this steeple for about 15 years now. Today was the day. :appl::smilie_daumenpos:

I headed to the drill press to bore out the old glue.



Perfect fit.



Church in place with newly added turf, trees and phone poles. Some more detailing to do, but scene by scene she is coming along. Those switches are really becoming an eye sore. :thumbsdown:

*


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## doorman29

*I' happy with the blending results. Some bushes and a little more turf and it will look good. At last better than the dark gray plastic it started as . In the first photo you can see part of the ramp in the background.*


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## doorman29

Cars showed up today, something my layout needs desperately. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## wingnut163

you can cover the switch machines with a box that could be sand, or a tool box.
just make sure its not to high that it is hit by the cars.


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## doorman29

wingnut163 said:


> you can cover the switch machines with a box that could be sand, or a tool box.
> just make sure its not to high that it is hit by the cars.


Great idea, thanks!


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## doorman29

Trying my hand at weathering some rolling stock with stuff I already own. This is some spray paint and black shoe polish. Not fantastic, but not bad either I guess.


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## cosmos2002

Hi
Well done and keep at it. I can appreciate the time and effort you must have put in this layout. The eye for detail is what makes the difference between a nice and a great layout.


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## golfermd

Really nice work, DM. The weathering looks quite realistic. Can't remember who sells it but there are pastel chalks that can be used for weathering. One of club members swears by them. He said that the chalks stay in place very nicely. I also need to buy a drill press. I have problems hand drawing straight lines so drilling at precise angles is definitely a challenge for me. I've seen ones that you clip the drill on to, and ones that are true drill presses. Which do you have?


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## doorman29

cosmos2002 said:


> Hi
> Well done and keep at it. I can appreciate the time and effort you must have put in this layout. The eye for detail is what makes the difference between a nice and a great layout.


*Thanks. I suppose anything is better than the "shiny plastic" look. Athearn BB are not bad looking but the older cheaper stuff I have like these BN Tycos are too "toy" looking.
*


golfermd said:


> Really nice work, DM. The weathering looks quite realistic. Can't remember who sells it but there are pastel chalks that can be used for weathering. One of club members swears by them. He said that the chalks stay in place very nicely. I also need to buy a drill press. I have problems hand drawing straight lines so drilling at precise angles is definitely a challenge for me. I've seen ones that you clip the drill on to, and ones that are true drill presses. Which do you have?


*I have a bench top 8" drill press. I do hobby wood working from time to time so I grabbed one many years ago. It's one of those tools you really never use and they take up precious real estate, but when you need one it's nice to have.*


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## Big Ed

doorman29 said:


> Trying my hand at weathering some rolling stock with stuff I already own. This is some spray paint and black shoe polish. Not fantastic, but not bad either I guess.


I never thought about using shoe polish. 
That looks nice. :smilie_daumenpos:

Did you seal it on with a sealer?


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## doorman29

big ed said:


> I never thought about using shoe polish.
> That looks nice. :smilie_daumenpos:
> 
> Did you seal it on with a sealer?


I am going to try shooting it with dullcote tomorrow. I will post the results.


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## Dirtytom

Great work,,,,

DT


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## MtRR75

wingnut163 said:


> you can cover the switch machines with a box that could be sand, or a tool box.
> just make sure its not to high that it is hit by the cars.


You could also attach some weedy shrubbery to the non-moving parts of the switch machine to help hide it.


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## trains galore

Nice weathering, turned out good I really should try but I'm too scared that I'll ruin my trains
I was lucky enough to be given an old drill press, it is fairly big but you can just stand it on the bench. It makes drilling holes ina straight line MUCH easier, you just take your time to line up the drill bit, clamp down your work and go


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## doorman29

I shot the car with dullcote. Seems like it's going to work fine.


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## Big Ed

I was wondering how the sealer would work over the shoe polish.
I guess it didn't react bad with the shoe polish?

I never thought about trying a shoe polish, and there are a bunch of different colors.
I think the cost factor would be higher then using chalks?

Just ask everyone you know if they have any half cans of shoe polish you could have. :thumbsup:

Was that the wax type shoe polish? Or the liquid kind?


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## doorman29

I was afraid of some sort of reaction as well, but no issues. This is the wax type in the round thin can. I bought one about 15 years ago for weathering. I like the "grimy" effect.


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## Big Ed

What did you do just rub it on and then wipe it off some?

Use Q Tips?

I guess after you rub it on and let it sit, it will sort of dry some. 
I never thought about using shoe polish.

Now if you make an oops, how would you wash the shoe polish off?


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## doorman29

I just used a paper towel to smear some on, and then take off any excess.


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## Hutch

I would never have thought paint would adhere to wax. You've proved it can and it looks great!


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## doorman29

Thought I would show some of my motive power......

Athearn SD-9. I have had this since the 80's. I just got done fixing her up a little along with making a missing front handrail.



Athearn SD 40-2. Currently being revamped, will be back in service shortly.



Athearn Great Northern F 45. The trucks need to be painted the correct color. I found a picture of the prototype and they are black. I also have a dummy unit of the same loco and those trucks are black.




Athearn Burlington Northern F-7



Athearn Great Northern SDP-40?



Bachmann Plus Great Northern GP-35. I have two of these. One unit "bucks". 




Athearn Great Northern GP-9



Athearn Burlinton Northern Santa FE C44-9w


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## Big Ed

Are you going to make any dirty?


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## doorman29

big ed said:


> Are you going to make any dirty?



Yes, but I'm still practicing my weathering techniques on old Life Like rolling stock. :laugh:


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## DonR

About your BUCKING BACHMANN:

Is it possible there is some sort of
gunk fouling the truck gear train?

I just had to clean ground up scenery from the gears
of one Bachmann 70 ton switcher truck. It too
was bucking. The idle gears of the switcher are
exposed and easily suck stray particles in. I have
now covered them to avoid that problem.

Don


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## doorman29

DonR said:


> About your BUCKING BACHMANN:
> 
> Is it possible there is some sort of
> gunk fouling the truck gear train?
> 
> I just had to clean ground up scenery from the gears
> of one Bachmann 70 ton switcher truck. It too
> was bucking. The idle gears of the switcher are
> exposed and easily suck stray particles in. I have
> now covered them to avoid that problem.
> 
> Don


I need to investigate it more closely. I know it has done it since just about new but I never gave it a fair trouble shoot. I am currently trying to clean/upgrade/fix my roster so I will be looking into it shortly.


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## doorman29

Rivarossi Great Northern Mikado







Bachmann 0-6-0 "Smoky Mountain Express". This is actually a pretty good runner.





Bachmann New York Central Niagra. She runs a little stiff but over all a decent loco.


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## Biggie

Interesting running stock.


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## doorman29

I have been wanting to build one of these for a while now, a self contained loco wheel cleaner. I had a spare "toy" controller and some time on my hands so I threw this together. The controller is mounted to a piece of furring strip and there is 18" of track. I lay a piece of paper towel over the tracks and soak a small section of the towel with Goo Gone. I then place one set of trucks on top of the paper towel and turn up the juice while holding the loco in place. It works pretty well. You can see all the crud left behind on the towel. I used to do this process on the layout but it's much nicer to be able to do it out on the work bench.


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## mustangcobra94

that's a great idea:thumbsup:. do you put the towel under the front wheels when your done with the back?


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## doorman29

It's that time of year again where I am plugging away on the RR. Some more roads, bushes etc have been put in, but lot's of detailing remains to be done.


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