Very productive Saturday! I’ve started adding the track feeders, switch machines and block detectors to the first staging yard board. So far I have added the feeders for the detected blocks (orange for the Freight yard, and yellow for the Metra yard), installed two Digitrax BDL168 block detectors (one for […]
LAYOUT UPDATE: Tracking laying on Board 1 almost finished
2nd evening of track laying, and I’ve almost finished laying the track on the first board of the lower staging yard. All the turnouts are laid, and I just have a few pieces of flex track to lay. I’ll lay these once I have re-installed the board on the wall […]
LAYOUT UPDATE: Track laying starts!
I’ve finally started laying track! Tonight I laid almost half the track for the lower freight siding – so almost one of the 6ft boards. Tomorrow I will lay the track for the Metra yard on this board, and then put the two layout boards together so I can run […]
LAYOUT UPDATE: Episode 10 – Building Baseboard Kits
Follow along as I continue the build of my N scale model railroad. In this episode I show you how I put together the baseboard kits I am using. Be sure to view my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/chicagosubnscale as I will be adding photos and updates to that as I build […]
YARD DESIGN: Testing the track spacing
Nothing better than testing the track in 1:1…as I found out, the initial track plan had a flaw, where the throwbar hit the track next to it, so I had to adjust the spacing (adding in 2cm pieces of track) to move the turnouts slightly away from each other. In […]
YARD DESIGN: Planning the staging yard
Planning is progressing well for the lower level staging yard. Using AnyRail, I’ve been trying out a few designs for the two staging yards, one for the freight and one for the Metra passenger service. While using track planning software helps a huge deal, nothing beats laying it out in […]
LAYOUT UPDATE: Episode 7 – helix test & track planning
Follow along as I continue the build of my N scale model railroad. In this episode I do a test of the helix using a freight and passenger train, as well as giving an update on my track planning using AnyRail. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to […]
Quick Helix update
Bit of a delay with the next video, but in the meantime the rest of my Kato track has arrived for the helix…so here’s a photo of the first train to the top!! New video out later this week!
HELIX BUILD: Episode 6 – unboxing helix kit
Follow along as I continue the build of my N scale model railroad. In this episode I unbox the laser-cut N scale helix kit, and then progress with the building of this kit. I’ll show you all the steps and explain the process as I build this helix. Be sure […]
LAYOUT UPDATE: Episode 5 – track planning and helix
Following on from my fourth video, in Episode 5 I finally start on my track planning, beginning with the helix, which will be the anchor point from where the track planning starts. Follow on as I explain why I’m doing this, as well as what track I have chosen for […]