A model railway site designed for beginners to railway modelling. Supplying practical model railway advice, information, hits and tips to railway modellers building their first model railway layout. Same goes for your wagons if you are planning to place a wide load on them. back to the top Track Layout Design. What model railway track. If you’ve arrived at the point where you’ve decided that you would like to become a model railroader and invest the time to plan and build a model train layout, you’ll soon discover that you’ve made a great choice for a hobby.
My long-lasting interest in the Akron, Canton & Youngstown (AC&Y) can be attributed to visits to grandparents in northeastern Ohio. They lived near the AC&Y in Fairlawn/West Akron. The chime of a Nathan M5 air horn was my incentive to bicycle to trackside.At the time, the AC&Y’s locomotive roster consisted entirely of Fairbanks-Morse (FM) road switchers. Passing trains dispensed the characteristic blue-gray FM exhaust and a distinct sweet aroma of newly minted tires from Akron’s many rubber plants. I’ve always had a passion for model railroading. I live in Belgium, and I’ve spent many years modeling European railroads, especially German and Swiss narrow gauge lines.Some time ago, however, I decided to try a new modeling challenge. I’ve always been attracted to North American railroads, which are very different from the railroads we see in Europe.
The many North American prototype Class 1 railroads, as well as regionals and short lines, offer an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and they open a lot of what are for me unexplored horizons. It was time to discover this new world, so I built my first U.S.
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Switching layout in HO scale. Marine operations in and around the Philadelphia waterfront weren't as extensive or complex as those in New York City, but they were no less interesting or diverse in their functions and activities. The Baltimore & Ohio, Reading Co., and Pennsylvania RR were the major participants in the Philadelphia and Camden, N.J., waterfront areas.The Reading's Linden Street freight station was located at the end of Linden Street in the shadow of the Ben Franklin bridge on the Delaware River in north Camden, N.J.
It was the only Reading property retained by the railroad in southern New Jersey after the formation of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1993. Constructed in 1891, the line resembled and functioned like compact railroad facilities along the New York waterfront that were isolated and served only by car-float operations. With apologies to Margaret Mead: Never doubt what a small group of thoughtful, committed model railroaders can accomplish.Brian Pate is an interesting man. A nuclear scientist with many professional achievements to his name, he is also an accomplished modeler whose models have won the National Model Railroad Association National Convention’s Best of Show Gold Award – twice!
Brian’s passion is researching and reproducing in miniature the machines and environment of Canada’s far north, specifically the railways, sternwheelers, dredges, and structures used by the miners of the Klondike gold rush. Steve Williams built a wonderful HO model railroad. It was largely finished when it was featured in Great Model Railroads 2012. But a couple of years later, Steve and his wife moved into a larger home.
Preparing for the move, Steve first considered dismantling and simply reassembling the railroad.But it was likely he would have a larger space and different footprint than the 300 square feet the lower floor of his townhouse provided. So while he planned to stick with the Baltimore & Ohio branchline theme and use the same rolling stock and structures, he would need to create a new track plan. He would not only have the features he liked, but also work to avoid some issues he had with the former railroad.
Thousands of layouts have been designed and built using 3rd PlanIt. From tabletop Z scale, through 4x8’s, room- sized layouts, basement and outbuilding empires and a full- scale ethanol plant, 3rd PlanIt is the CAD software chosen by the most discriminating hobbyists.3rd PlanIt now includes an incredibly powerful design tool: SoftTrak.
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Draw track from point to point, while SoftTrak creates the curves and easements automatically. It’s like using a multi- segment spline, but made of the same track elements used in prototype railroads.
The curve radii and easement lengths are optimized to fit in the available space. You are able to design your layout to professional standards without all the learning!Take a look at 3rd PlanIt’s full features set in the rest of this site, and you’ll find everything you need to create a layout you never considered possible. Accurate turnout templates are key to achieving optimal geometry and knowing you can build exactly what you design. El Dorado Software thanks the manufacturers who contribute DXF files of their product line so we can offer you exact templates. They are sharing the precious Intellectual Property, and we thank them sincerely for their trust. Without a doubt, this list will grow over time. Both manufacturers and their customers benefit!The O- 100 turnout shown here is from Gargraves, our newest contributor.
These companies deserve special consideration!