military theme for HO layout??

[Anonymous]

I'm new to model railroading and am trying to come with ideas for a layout. I'm interested in the military, and would like to incorporate that theme into the layout. Are there any web sites, magazines, people or clubs where I can get ideas?
all help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Kim

[Anonymous]

Kim- Two magazines come to mind-Fine Scale Minitures which features a lot of military stuff and there was I think another one called Military Modeler(I might be wrong on this one) What scale are you planning to model in? Getting what you need may be tough but not impossible. Do a web search to see if there are websites for this. Also you might want to check Model Railroader Magazine
and see if any of the manufacturers listed deal in military models. Many have websites you can go to.
You might want to check www.walthers.com. They carry a large selection and I think some military aircraft.
Hope this helps some. Goos luck. Bob

[Anonymous]

thanks Bob, I'm looking at HO scale, as I think there are more options. I'm really new at this, but want to get as much info as possible before I start. Maybe the military theme is too tough for a first timer?? I'll check out those magazines and try a web search.
thanks again . . . .

[Anonymous]

Kim-Good ides. Just starting I would start small,get a feel for all aspects of the hobby.Even small layouts can be expanded later on. There are numerous books you can check into for beginners info,especially from the publishers of Model Railroader Mag. You may also want to check-
www.nmra.org. They have a lot of useful info for those just starting out in the hobby.Bob

[mhdishere]

There was also a piece in the last Walthers catalog on building a diorama based on military rail transport, moving the tanks and such by rail

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I don't know about military modeling resources but I live near an Army munitions complex that was once served by several rail sidings. If you don't make the entire theme of the layout military at least you could have your trains serve a large military installation. The complex near me has several industrial looking buildings and a variety of military vehicles on the grounds.
Chain link topped with barbed wire surrounds everything and there are gates where the tracks enter the military property.
Ralph

[Anonymous]

thanks Ralph,
I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, but I appreciate the ideas . . . .

Kim

[BR60103]

Kim:
I can see two possibilities.
One is a railway serving a battlefield or supporting a war. You probably wouldn't model the actual fighting area because the railway at that point would be unusable.
Other is a railway serving a military camp or naval dockyard. Bring in loads of supplies, lots of passengers.
England had the Longmoor Military Railway which was a training camp for soldiers who would have to operate trains. They kept some steam locomotives going for a long time.
US Navy had some Alco switchers for years -- lots ended up on museum lines -- you might try to find out what they used them for.

David

[Anonymous]

thanks David, those are some good ideas to look at. I was kind of thinking of a rail line to a base, moving tanks, supplies and men to and from the base. I have seen this out near Barstow, where flat cars were hauling tanks to the base for training.

Kim

[Anonymous]

Hi there, Kim,

A lot of the things you have been discussing already exist on my layout. I have a similar setup that Ralph mentioned-an Army depot/munitions area. This area is served by both rail and road. I have buildings from Faller, Pikestuff, Roco, Model Power, and Walthers in this facility. I built my own chainlink fencing from bradwire nails and screening-cut to scale, and used thin wire for the top 3-strand barbed-wire. There are two huge lots for military vehicles, an inspection area, a receiving/shipping area for both civilian-contracted and military vehicles, a warehouse for storage, two vehicle storage buildings, a fuel and service area for vehicles, docks and sidings for the freight cars and flat cars, and a main building for manufacturing, assembly, and retooling of military vehicles and hardware.

This facility also has two cranes to facilitate loading and unloading of rail cars, and guardshacks at both rail and road entrances.

In addition to the munitions/depot, I also have an area set up in my Intermodal yard for military trailer and container loading and unloading with corresponding container and trailer park areas.

Manufacturers in HO scale to consider are:

Roco-accurate US military vehicles, accessories, structures, and they also provide some flatcars with loads.

Faller-good line of military buildings, vehicles and figures.

Preiser-military figures.

Model Power-some military-related structures, and many freight cars with the military theme.

Trident-excellent line of US military vehicles and accessories. They also provide Russian and British military vehicles (one of the things most often seen in any military installation is the "war trophy" that was brought back from Kuwait in 1991. I use a Trident Russian vehicle with some damage and heavy weathering, to represent one of these "war trophies").

Both Trident and Roco have a website and a printed catalog. Once you see these, you will be amazed at the level of detail these vehicles possess!

Have fun!

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

Hi Kim I do a lot of military modeling also. A great site is www.miltary.railfan.net It has a lot of pics of rail car loads. I use this site a lot. As the other guys told you there are a lot of stuff our there for military layouts I like the Roco stuff it is the best for the money.

[widave]

The munitions complex is a good idea. They have one that is mothballed near me that has an ungodly amount of track inside. Something like 150 miles including yard tracks. Typical of these places, it is massive!
IIRC, the local Reserve Unit in Milwaukee, WI has a layout featuring an active military base as the theme. They take it to shows in the area and use it for recruiting purposes, along with highlighting their models. They do know what they are showing off, as they are one of only a couple Railroad Units left in the US Army. Their job is to go in and run the railways in foreign lands during war. Their HQ in Milwaukee has speeders and hi-rails in the yard along with other MOW equipment and pretty much all present types of military vehicles, except heavy offensive combat vehicles.
I plan on modeling access to a base by having a siding cut off my main and duck through a fence and behind some trees to get into my "base" to deliver cars. That way I can have all the military trains I can run, and still have a "normal" layout.

[Anonymous]

Wow! That sounds really cool! Does this reserve unit have any pics or can you get pics of it? I would really like to see this military layout. Also, any pics of this military munitions complex would be cool too.

My first love is military-practically been modeling military models since I was 7... I have been wargaming for over 15 years, and have an area for 1/285 scale miniatures, plus have an extensive array of Roco minitanks and Trident miniatures sitting on display shelves with terrain. I also had my time in, as I was with the 7th ID when they were based in Monterey, California.

The only reason my military complexes took a backdoor to my railroad was the fact that I wanted to put in a hump yard, and after the hump yard and auxiliary services, there just wasn't room for a large military area. So, I settled on a small munitions/depot for the layout, with a second smaller area in the Intermodal yard.

Perhaps later I will create a larger layout for my military stuff.

In any case, Kim should have good inspiration and ideas from this thread.

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

For an Air Force base, you could provide tank cars of jet fuel. Eglin Air Force Base in Florida once had its own railroad which ran about 25 miles from the main base to its connection with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. My understanding is that they used RS-1's or RSC-1s for power. They line was shut down in the 70's and pulled up in the late 80s.

Nearby Pensacola Naval Air Station also received tank cars of jet fuel by rail. These came in on the Frisco.

Speaking of the Navy, at one time, when the USS Lexington was still based in Pensacola, they were working on the berth at the Navy base, so they had to tie up the Lexington in the Port of Pensacola. I thought that would be an interesting scene to model, with the port with its rail lines and an aircraft carrier. I quickly gave up that idea when I realized how HUGE a model of the Lexington would be - even in N Scale!

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Eglin still gets old Russian equipment on a CSX spur out side of Mossey Head. Which is another route you may want to take. Which is having old Russian equipment being delivered to a base for testing or targets.

[Anonymous]

thanks everyone for the good ideas. I've printed off every ones notes and plan to start doing some research now. I like the idea of a military base on a siding, with normal trains running also.
Again, thanks for the ideas, this forum is really great.
Kim

[Anonymous]

thanks for the ideas wolv33. do you have any photos you could send me? I like your depot plan, and would love to see it. If you have any pictures, please send me one.
[e-mail]
Kim

[Anonymous]

Hi Kim,

Not yet. I jotted down your email, so when I do you will be the FIRST to know. I am still doing work on it. I just finished all the chainlink fencing for it.

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

Kim,

I might have a couple pics of my finished vehicles though. I remember having them sit on the shelf and taking pics of them. I could also send you my RTS file of the floorplan of my facility. You will need the Atlas Right Track Software though.

Lemme know.

-Wolv33
You can get it at www.atlasrr.com

[Anonymous]

As a USAR transportation officer, I've had the opportunity to "play" with some of the military's railroads. The prior comments are all accurate and great for modeling.

One resource I didn't see mentioned was the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis, Va. Ft. Eustis is the home of the Transportation Corps and has lots of neat rail stuff.

On another note, if you model the Civil War era, there are even more opportunities for military trains. Railroads were never far away from battlefields and were often the reason a battle took place.

Good luck with your modeling.

[Anonymous]

hey Wolv33,
I just added the software to my PC, and am ready to go. Send over your layout.

Kim

[Anonymous]

someone had already mentioned jet fuel to a siding for the usaf so let me throw this in for thought...us coast guard! model a water scene, have a coast guard small boat station there. it won`t take up much room as all you would need is a small dock with/or without a single fuel pump, a small building for the boat crew and watchstander, radio antenna and a vehicle or two and a utility boat(you wouldn`t even need a boat as it could be out on patol!) and a bit of chain link fence. good luck and semper paratus!