Category: Layout Building
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James’ N Scale Train Layout Project– Episode #2
After I posted the first video episode to my YT channel, I got a few hits and some nice compliments. It made me feel good that people were interested enough to respond, even with a thumbs up!! I joined a few Facebook N Scale Train groups and posted a link to the video there. I…
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Train Layout Design with Woodland Scenics
The answer to “Exactly HOW do I build a train layout?” is answered in two words: Woodland Scenics. I discovered this website early in the development of my train layout, thank goodness. Woodland Scenics makes products used to build train layouts. Sure, the products WS sells can be used for other creative purposes as well,…
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My SCARM Track Plans for Kato Unitrack
Learning Kato’s naming conventions for its track is easy once you realize it’s all in millimeters. SCARM gives you information on each of the track parts in the library including part numbers. Every single item on the KatoUSA site’s UniTrack section was part of SCARM’s UniTrack library, so it gave me tremendous control over the…
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I Question my Permanent Layout with Bachmann EZ Track
With my EZ Track plan put together on the table, I saw for the first time what a decent amount of model train track looks like on a table. It’s a lot! Much cooler than the smaller ovals. I think I was using this plan at that time– And I still had two separate tracks,…
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Building a Beginner’s Baseboard (and starting to video my progress!)
In November of 2021, I had bags of Bachmann EZ Track, a SCARM-developed 4×8 foot EZ Track track plan and an 8-foot by 30-inch plastic table. I bought 1/2-inch plywood to cover the table. I would have loved a single, 4×8 piece of plywood. But I could not get that home with my car (tying…
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Bachmann EZ Track Plans and Purchase
Just to catch you up with what I’m doing on this blog, I’m going back through the last year to document my experience in building my first N Scale train layout. I should’ve started the blog then, lol, but better late than never! In October 2021, two months after I got my first 2 Bachmann…
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SCARM PC Software for Perfect Train Layout Planning
SCARM stands for Simple Computer Aided Railway Modeller. It’s a simple-to-use, challenging-to-master CAD train layout planning tool. When I started visiting the N scale model train Facebook groups, I saw references to SCARM consistently with regard to layout planning so I went to the website and downloaded the free version of the program, which allows…
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Beginner’s Benchwork: Home Depot’s 8 Foot Fold-in-Half Plastic Table
This is the plastic table I purchased from Home Depot to assemble my first Bachmann starter set layouts. It’s 96 inches long, 30 inches wide and 29 inches high. It folds in half and when assembled, it has a sturdy, smooth-ish surface. My first thought, when I decided I was going to make a permanent…
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Time to Make Things Permanent!
It took about 2 weeks of oval-track-on-cardboard train-running to decide that a permanent layout was going to happen. I was becoming accustomed to running my trains every day, and needed them to run every day. Sometimes with the chuffing sound of the Whistle-Stop steamer and an occasional whistle blow, but mostly with sound off. The…
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Learning the N Scale Ropes with Bachmann Starter Sets
I continued to use my Bachmann set-up to learn about modern N scale trains with DCC and how I can grow in the hobby. One of the first things I learned was that although Bachmann EZ Track was easy to put together, it was also easy to put together incorrectly. The joiners need to be…
James' N Scale Train Layout Project 