My dad and I used to have a train table when I was a kid and it never really went anywhere and when my grandfather passed away it got packed in a cardboard box and put away for many years. Fast forward 30ish years, dad is now retired and I'm a new dad. We started another 4X8 HO table and in short order realized we were having so much fun we needed more. Much of the winter was spent expecting my little guy and working on his future train layout. From design to function we are finally running trains again, but we have a long way to go. Thought I'd share and welcome the feedback on this forum. We are learning as we go and everything you see in the following pictures is a product of information passed along from others, youtube and reading magazines. Hope you enjoy and look forward to the comments and posting our progress! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Glad you are back in the hobby. Benchwork looks substantial. What is the overall size? Do you have a track plan sketched out?
Total is 59 sq ft. Rough track plan is shown below during the design phase. As-builts will be a little different with a bigger yard. We'll have a main line with a couple of passing options. Industry will be in each 4X4 square on the ends of the table, one side being a small town, the other with a country factory and grain coop and a road connecting the two ends. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Looks like a good start. If I might make a suggestion, the road could disappear behind view blocks (like woods or a building) and reappear elsewhere, maybe cross the tracks at an angle, etc. That would add interest and make the layout look larger than running it parallel to the track and benchwork.
Great call there. We'll look at changing the angle of the road on the bottom loop for sure. There might also be a Father's Day gift to help with you suggestion.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My intent was to show updates for our layout as they happened, but I got lazy. Here is a video of our layout and a picture of the yard from several months back. I'll try to do better going forward. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Been a long summer, but the weather is motivating me to put the golf clubs away and get out the hobby supplies again. Spent a few hours the last week getting back into the hobby by putting together some structures. Still need some weathering and paint, but here's an update.
Minimal progress this week, but did get the roof installed using sandpaper to create realistic look. Painted the storefront roof and the barn got a first coat too. Easy when it's the same color. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
More progress today. Can't wait to get this finished and on the layout and move on to the next challenge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My first foray into weathering a building. Surely it will get better, but this structure will always be a reminder of where I started. Windows were installed and some other finishing touches completed after the picture. Look forward to getting it on the layout.
We all made a start and learned from there. On down the road somewhere, you may even go back with greater learned skills and do more to these buildings.
Great work on the barn!!! The buildings look good too! The way the paint set on the left one... it looks like old wooden framing that is splitting and having the paint peel off! JMS
