My Layout
I decided to make this a single main line suburban layout for local freights and a small yard. With all this in mind (everything small) I felt I would not run any 50' freight cars, nothing larger than a 41' gondola. Added a few siding then decided what they would be for. Warehouse, freight depot, fuel oil depot, scrap metal yard, plus a coal, sand and gravel trestle for small 2-bay hoppers.
I used these pins to hold the track in place while the glue dries. Also Note the track spacing tool that was used. In doing this a short 1¾" track section was needed between the short #4 E92 left switches (7 5/16" length).
Extra ties were used to fill the space between any rail joints. I used Elmer's white glue to glue them in.
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This track spacing tool is very importent when laying your track, keeps it to scale.
With all the track laid it was time for the wiring. Many joints were insulated so I made a wiring diagram showing where the wires would be connected. Also in the AR-1 reverse loop.
Soldering the wire to the track. Flatting the end and fold in a L shape and place against outside rail. Now add some soldering paste to the wire and rail, solder them together.
I also used an old orange extension cord for the bus wire. There are 2 terminal sections on each side for the wiring.
Doing the time of laying this out I had to make a few changes. The sharp curve on the left just pass the 15" radius curve that I thought I might have to redo. Diesels ran fine around it but I wanted to have a few small steam locomotive. They recommend nothing smaller than a 18" radius but a 2-6-0 would do fine on the 15" radius but it would jump track on the small sharp curve.The outside cork was trimmed back and removed. After fixing this the 2-6-0 ran fine, no 2-8-0 locomotives can run on the 15" radius, the 2-6-0, 4-4-0 and 4-6-0 work great now. That's all I need for steam locomotives on this small layout. See the changes in the below 2 photos. The short track in front of the drill also had to be changed, this is where the custom hopper trestle will be.
With this being a small layout, I decided to not run any freight cars larger than 40 feet. The only thing larger would be the some diesels. All my box cars do not have molded on ladders and grab irons except 2.
I use Apple Barrel: Burnt Umber for the ties and Model Master: Rust for the rail sides and other metal parts. You don't paint where there is contact in the switch. I like the look.
With this setup I can run different time period, steam train with box cars that have the brake wheel on top, 50's diesel era and the 60's diesel era. I used a few drawers in my Mac tool box for holding these HO scale models. All locomotives with sound.
