Covering Our Tracks
October 29, 2014 12:44 PM Subscribe
Covering Our Tracks
My son and I are building an HO scale model train layout. I've started a blog to document the process.
Not content with a 4x8' sheet of plywood, we're building a relatively small layout (by model railroad standards) with techniques often used for larger layouts.
I started the blog mostly to document both the practical and personal aspects of this project. Practical, so that others who want to do a similar thing might learn from our experiences, and personal for, well, a bunch of reasons.
The end goal is to have a medium-sized layout roughly based our town as both he and I remember it. We plan on building models of our house, my childhood home, a local diner, a former brewery, and hopefully a few other town landmarks. Maybe even the Twinkie factory! We'll see.
We have a long way to go. This project will involve carpentry, electrical wiring, building and soldering a control panel, laying track, model building, landscaping, painting, and, most of all, patience. Some of these skills we have, some we can learn, others we'll just do the best we can.
With the blog I hope to document the blood, sweat, and tears throughout. It's also an excuse to get me writing again, which is something I enjoy doing but never seen to actually do anymore.
My son and I are building an HO scale model train layout. I've started a blog to document the process.
Not content with a 4x8' sheet of plywood, we're building a relatively small layout (by model railroad standards) with techniques often used for larger layouts.
I started the blog mostly to document both the practical and personal aspects of this project. Practical, so that others who want to do a similar thing might learn from our experiences, and personal for, well, a bunch of reasons.
The end goal is to have a medium-sized layout roughly based our town as both he and I remember it. We plan on building models of our house, my childhood home, a local diner, a former brewery, and hopefully a few other town landmarks. Maybe even the Twinkie factory! We'll see.
We have a long way to go. This project will involve carpentry, electrical wiring, building and soldering a control panel, laying track, model building, landscaping, painting, and, most of all, patience. Some of these skills we have, some we can learn, others we'll just do the best we can.
With the blog I hope to document the blood, sweat, and tears throughout. It's also an excuse to get me writing again, which is something I enjoy doing but never seen to actually do anymore.
Role: writer, builder, father
This project was posted to MetaFilter by joseph conrad is fully awesome on November 2, 2014: Covering Our Tracks
Very cool project.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:01 PM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:01 PM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
My Uncle Matt was one of the most angry people I ever met, and wasn't fun to hang out with...unless you went down to the cellar with him and helped with his model trains. His entire basement was nothing but cities and country farms and stations and fields and trees, all in HO scale. He had elaborate schedules that he kept to, and it just made him so happy where nothing else did.
I'm so happy to see you and your son embarking on this project together. It looks like you're having a great time and learning a lot right now.
posted by xingcat at 4:53 PM on October 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
I'm so happy to see you and your son embarking on this project together. It looks like you're having a great time and learning a lot right now.
posted by xingcat at 4:53 PM on October 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Thought I might share this site with you. It's a bottomless hole of reference material collected by some model railway enthusiasts in the UK.
I'm not even very interested in railway modelling, and somehow I lost an entire afternoon on their site. But I think you might find some good tips there.
Have fun!
posted by pipeski at 2:44 PM on November 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
I'm not even very interested in railway modelling, and somehow I lost an entire afternoon on their site. But I think you might find some good tips there.
Have fun!
posted by pipeski at 2:44 PM on November 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
Thanks ! "You have too much time on your hands" is something I've been told before and it always enrages me.
Last night we pounded in the first track nail and laid about 15 feet of track. I put the engine on, connected the controller with some alligator clips, and handed it to my son for the ceremonial "first run", though since the track isn't complete the run didn't go very far.
posted by bondcliff at 6:38 AM on November 19, 2014
Last night we pounded in the first track nail and laid about 15 feet of track. I put the engine on, connected the controller with some alligator clips, and handed it to my son for the ceremonial "first run", though since the track isn't complete the run didn't go very far.
posted by bondcliff at 6:38 AM on November 19, 2014
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posted by Think_Long at 1:28 PM on October 29, 2014 [3 favorites]