James' N Scale Train Layout Project

Hey Everybody! Here’s a streamlined compilation of the entire series of videos I’ve made featuring the building of my N Scale 4×8 Train Layout. It’s great to see it progress from concept to reality and I hope you enjoy it. Check out my website, jamesNscale.com for track plans and lots more video of my layouts.…

Hey Everybody! Just another view of what I’m running on my 4×8, N Scale scenic train layout: Kato Chicago Burlington and Quincy EMD E5A Silver Streak Zephyr 6-Unit Set Broadway Limited Imports CB&Q EMD F3A and F3B with Mixed Freight

Hey Everybody! My Kato EMD SPD40F pair are beautiful locomotives that are pulling 10 Kato Gunderson MAXI-I Double Stack Cars. The sets come with 5 cars, and I got 2 sets. These cars are articulated to work as one long car (or two in this case) so while it’s a bit challenging to put together…

I’ve caught up to mid August with this last video I posted for the Scenic Layout Series! This is just another beautiful video of trains, no commentary. This is the Kato Chicago & North Western EMD E8A and Pullman Bi-Level “400” Train 6-Unit Set.

No commentary, just video of my two favorite steam locomotives.

Just trying some new ways of capturing the trains! Here’s Episode #24:

I love this gorgeous Kato locomotive and passenger car set.

Look! We’re already up to June 2022 with this blog re-telling of the building of my 4×8 Scenic layout. This Summer Update episode features the work of another videographer, Totemworlds. I hired him and his Canon 90D to take some great footage for me that’s all over this website!

Just a fun, atmospheric video of my amazing Kato EMD FP7A/F7B Milwaukee Road diesels plus the “Olympian Hiawatha” 9-car set.

This episode gives even more detail on the construction of the double tunnels to allow support for the removeable mountain, one of the best features of my layout, in my opinion. There is no way I would be able to comfortably clean and manage what’s going on under that mountain relying on just the backdoor…

Welcome to my most-watched Episode!

Giving more love to the Bachmann GP40 CSX. It’s the most dependable train in my collection and it’s the one I recommend for everyone. I pair two up in consist to get over my track smoothly. Here’s Episode #18:

Here’s an update on the layout, featuring more buildings and lights, including the Just Plug light system and the Kasa Smart LED wi-fi light strip #KL430. This was another popular (relatively) video for me, so people do like watching my Kato E7 New York Central A/B run. Here’s Episode #17:

This episode features an update on the lighting system for the layout. I used the Woodland Scenics Just Plug lighting system exclusively, and I’m super-happy with the results. As one of my subscribers said, “the lighting really makes the layout come alive” and I believe that’s true! Just Plug also has a handy Tidy Wire…

Gosh, ANOTHER significant episode for me (that’s why I recorded them! So I can remember all these great moments in my life, when I was building this layout.) Anyway, it was significant because after all that messy construction with plaster and paint, I was able to get all my track back on the layout… and…

We’re up to March 3, 2022, when I launched this episode featuring my painted layout with Woodland Scenics Earth Colors™ Liquid Pigments. I’ll be totally honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the lack of vibrance in these colors. I totally get it for a natural look that everyone is going for in building scenic…

Just a very necessary episode that goes over some of the challenges a modeler has to face before painting a plaster layout. You really get to learn every inch of the layout in this step, and it’s amazing how much of it you can “ignore” until right up to pre-painting when you realize there’s lots…

Here’s episode #12:

Because “Plaster Blaster” is such a cool title for an episode, it had to be brought back for part two. Of course, plastering the layout was a huge step forward for me, and I was excited to show it off. I was lucky I only made small mistakes and not big ones! Here’s episode #11:

Yes, I came up with “Plaster Blaster” and I’m pretty proud of it. Here’s Episode #10:

I love this episode because it give a really clear look at how I created the structure of the double tunnel system that is kinda perfect in my mind. It’s exactly what I was hoping for, building the tunnels in the corner in the highest elevation of my layout, eventually forming a support for my…

Wow, this is a favorite episode because SO many more people watched it than my previous episodes. It’s always nice to see a jump in viewings! Here’s Episode #8:

I really love this episode, because I was really proud of being able to recycle my awesome Bachmann Blinking Light Bridges and use them on my Kato UniTrack. I used the Bachmann DC controller to power them and it worked out just PERFECT because I was also able to dim the blinking lights when I…

This is the episode where I started sub-titling the episode names. This one’s about the roads I chose to build in my layout. They are plastic roads from CMR Product’s Inc. and they’re called “Easy Streets”.

Just a short episode showing how I discovered U-shaped dressmaker pins to help keep control of wiring in the layout. Keeping track of the Feeder Wires (as well as the wires to the Crossing Gate!) was one of the big challenges I had in building my train layout. I’m usually a pretty buttoned-up guy, but…

It’s with Episode 4, launched on News Year’s Day 2022, that I started appearing in my videos. I realized people want to see the person behind the planning and even if they don’t, I wanted to have a documentation of what I looked like before I lose all my hair haha. It’s great for me…

So I’ve caught you up to mid December, 2021 with the story of the making of my first train layout. I developed a SCARM track plan, purchased Kato UniTrack and set it up on my Beginner’s Benchwork table. I got my Digitrax Zephyr controller and hooked it up to a few feeders using Kato’s 3-way…