Custom Build Layout – by The Western Reserve Model Railroad Museum (pics) Finished 5-17-06

[johnandjulie13]

Spanky:

Great job, kudos to you and your workmates! You guys did a wonderful job, especially given the short amount of time you had to get the work completed.

Regards,

John O

[Anonymous]

Great job Tom! Awesome work that you and the crew spent time on putting a layout like that together. I have no doubt that Colin will have lots of play time with it for years to come. [tup]

[mitchelr]

Tom & Crew

Super Job. Very well done. What a great present.

Mitch[swg]

[1688torpedo]

Looks like Colin will have a very Happy Birthday today Thanks to Tom & the Guys.That layout will make a very nice present for him.

[tmcc man]

Spanky, very nice job by you and your crew. That is funny that his name is Colin, because mine is too. Even spelled the same way.

[dougdagrump]

Tom, For you and the rest of the crew.
[^] [bow] [bow] [bow] [bow] [:D] [tup]

[dwiemer]

Great Job. Ya think his mom will adopt me?
Dennis

[Anonymous]

Very nice Tom.

[spankybird]

The Layout is now done and delivered. We were very lucky that the rain stop just as we were ready to load the truck and leave the museum.





and then the trees were planted







Tonight is Colin’s party and receiving his present.



tom

[Anonymous]

"Also remember this is for a 5 year old boy."

That's exactly why I suggested it. The "disappear and reappear" aspect can be very captivating for a child (as well as adults) rather than having all trackage visible at all times.

[spankybird]

QUOTE: Originally posted by thatboy37

quick question what is the price and if it hasnt been asked yet what is the size of this layout

Labor and benchwork was $2,000.00. She provided all track, power supplies, buildings and trains.

This is made of Olk and the size is 6 foot by 8 foot.

[thatboy37]

quick question what is the price and if it hasnt been asked yet what is the size of this layout

[spankybird]

Graz - WE did consider something like that but by the time the forest is planted, we will have the same effect. Again I can't complete that until we deliver the table. Wait until you see the finished producd.

Also remember this is for a 5 year old boy.

[Anonymous]

I think that it could really benefit from some removable hill shapes in some of the flat open areas. That would create more places for the train to "pop-out" from rather than being visible all of the time (with the exception of the corner tunnel. These could be stacked and glued foamboard that can lift right off for transport.

[spankybird]

Time to answer some of your questions:

What did you use to get the brick look on the side of the mountain?
The mountain face is made of stone and is carved with a knife and ball point pen.
Is McDonalds paying you royalties?

Nope, not yet anyway.

What did you use for the fence?

The fence came from the dollar store and the post are toothpicks.

Any guesstimate on the number of man hours that went into building this?

I would guess about 300 total man hours. At many times it was two of use working on it.
Also, what tools would you consider requisite for a project like this?
The benchwork was built with a hand circler saw, saber saw, hand drill and sander. Soldering Gun, wire crimps, etc. My partner in this is a profession carpenter by trade.

Why RealTrax instead of FasTrack?

3 reasons.
1.
Noise
2.

Noise

3. overall size of the layout. Realtrax comes in 031 as to Fastrack at 036. The owner didn’t want that wide of a layout.

Is the RealTrax fastened down to the foam? Just curious, since I switched from RealTrax to FasTrack 'cause the weight of the engine going around curves would eventually pull the RealTrax apart. I eventually had to fasten it down.

Yes it is fastened down. As to move this to it’s final resting place, it will have to be turned onto its side and walked thru a sliding glass door. All the building have quick disconnects on the wiring, so they can be unplugged and removed.

Are the trains on standard control instead of DCS/TMCC?

As for now, it is conventional control. The little boy is just going to be 5 years old. I am sure in the next 2 years, I will be adding command control to it. It is already wired to accept DCS.

Why no hills and bumps? Or is the intention to provide a flat table surface that allows the child to reconfigure the trackplan as he desires?

With all the switches wired, he won’t be able to change the track plan. No hills is because it won’t fit thru the door when we deliver it. The mountain is made as a removable item. Also with such a small layout there isn’t much room for any grade changes.

tom

[Anonymous]

Tom,
Just a quick question:
Why no hills and bumps? Or is the intention to provide a flat table surface that allows the child to reconfigure the trackplan as he desires?
Mike

[Brutus]

Man, I like it better every time I look at it. There is a lot going on in this layout and the workmanship is really fine!

[1688torpedo]

I saw this layout last night & it is a super layout indeed! And the best part is that the little boy who is the new owner of this layout does not know about it yet! He will be one happy kid after it is delivered to his house. Tom did a very professional job here. That's for sure. Take Care all

[jefelectric]

Nice job Tom. The shelving idea at the end of the layout is a winner.

[Frank53]

This was coming along pretty well. I thought the table was excellent

[Anonymous]

That layout has been coming along nicely it seems.

[spankybird]

Update on the layout, as it is almost done. Just a little clean up on the roads and centerline needs to be added. After we deliver it, we will be added all the trees.

[darianj]

Really Nice work Tom!

[spankybird]

QUOTE: Originally posted by johnandjulie13

Spanky:

That is a really sharp layout! How long, from start to finish, will it take to get the layout complete?

Regards,

John O

The first time Karen came into the Museum was 5 weeks ago and we started it about 1 month ago and less than a week left







[:D]

[wrmcclellan]

Nice Tom! Thanks for the updates!

[johnandjulie13]

Spanky:

That is a really sharp layout! How long, from start to finish, will it take to get the layout complete?

Regards,

John O

[Jumijo]

John, Some N scale flat cars or gondolas would make good "passenger cars" for that amusement ride.

[jefelectric]

dougdagrump, N gauge calculates out to 16.95" in O gauge. That sounds about right for amusemnt park ride. You would probably have to scratch build the rolling stock. I am not aware of anything that could be converted. It would be easier to do with HO as there is a lot of HOn30 stuff out there.

[Brutus]

Looking great Tom!