I have had several frustrating "false starts" in model railroading because I've always read that the absolute minimum size for a layout is 4ft x 8ft. I lay out the board, lay out the track, put down a building or two and realize I could never possibly finish the project of filling all that space. Your smaller layouts are so refreshing and have inspired me to give it another try with a size/scope that I can manage. Thanks!
I've had exactly the same problem, we have been working on our 9x9 loft slowly for years for the same reason , it's too daunting, whereas I've finished about half a dozen smaller ones in that time
Cracking! Just made for a Hattons Barclay or a Hornby Peckett even a Model Rail Sentinal, wait a minute? I have all three! Guess what my next project will be! Thank you for you inspirational videos.
That's quite impressive! Back when I was just a kid, I started out with a very rudimentary HO scale layout on a piece of 4x4 foot plywood. I think that's the most common scale in the US... 1:87 vs OO's 1:76 (for those like me that had to look up OO scale). I very quickly switched to N scale as soon as I discovered it, thanks to a $7 unboxed set I found at an open air fleamarket. I originally built a pair of 2x4 foot modules in N scale. I seem to recall really feeling like the size was confining, even at N-scale, and wanting to go larger... Maybe 3x4 or 3x5 foot modules Granted, I was obsessed with expansive scenery, rural fields, realistically scaled recreations of actual buildings around my town, and large American freight locomotives and cars... hehe, I _needed_ my big trains... My smallest engine was a Chessie System F7 A (the engine from the set I got at the fleamarket). I also found a dummy Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 F7 streamlined Hudson "Hiawatha Express" in N scale. Definitely looks cool, but being a dummy, it's not that useful for anything more than just display, which is probably what It'll be used for, if I ever get back into the hobby. Build a nice little park with a monument to railroading past... That'd be a nice callback to older times, even on a relatively modern (lines from 10-30 years ago) layout. I My third locomotive was a Union Pacific DDA40X... Yeah, I _REALLY liked_ having some *_big iron..._* As such, I preferred wider turns for my track. It's still cool to see tiny layouts, even if short cars and locos are required to roll on them. Since all of the local trains were always freight, I had always wanted to get some appropriate locomotives and rolling stock. My plan, back then, was to pick through and find my favorite locomotive models out of models like the SD-9, SD38, SD40, SD60, SD70, GP40, ES44, or AC4400CW and then decal them with primarily "Dakota Minnesota & Eastern" and a few "Chicago & Northwestern" markings. Of course, this was something I planned to do when I eventually expanded the layout. Those types of locos looked a lot like what I'd typically see, or used to see, rolling through in my area. Had my layout grown large enough, I'd probably have throw in an "Iowa, Chicago, & Eastern" and maybe even a CP loco into the mix. They were often seen rolling together. These days, DM&E and IC&E are no more, both bought by CP... I miss those blue and yellow locomotives with individual units marked in honor of cities along the routes. They even had a Mount Rushmore Locomotive, commemorating the US presidential monument! Even my tiny little hometown had a locomotive named after it! The city I live in now had a locomotive bearing it's name! I mean, what a cool idea! it REALLY made seeing the trains roll by into an absolute joy! I'm grateful that there are decals available to recreate them, cause those amazing locomotives aren't around anymore. CP really ended a wonderful thing... ): Anyway, both of the modules I'd built were countryside layouts, and only one was ever finished. It was a loop with switches going off the ends. There was a spring lake on a hilltop, feeding a small waterfall and a pool that went off to the edge of the layout. I had a small bridge over the stream, and a tunnel going through the hill. I used the cores of hair curlers (like those plastic brush dish scrubbers with a coiled wire core holding the bristles together) cut into the shape of coniferous trees, and spray painted green. I had a couple shades of green, and I'd just spray 'em. I had a few garbage bags of sawdust that I'd dye green, and a spray bottle with watered down glue, and I used that to make the grass, and to give the trees a little extra texture. For gravel and ballast... I just sifted gravel from the road outside my dad's farm! I found green pipe cleaners could also be used for small coniferous shrubbery. Pretty sure I had a gravel road passing through the module as well. The module was a loop, but it had multiple directions that lines branched off, basically making it my countryside hub. I would have spread the layout outward from it, eventually connecting a smaller rural village, and a larger town. I would have made modules with themes... Farmland, quarry, landscapes, industrial, downtown, etc... The second layout was intended to be a continuation of the first module's small hill with the tunnel. It continued the contour of the hill off the edge of the first module and into more mountainous terrain. That one was never intended to have a loop. It was going to wind around the mountain and off to the other side of the module. I probably would have had one line wrap around the mountain, and a switch to lead off to a pass via a tunnel. The mountain was fully framed up, and I had half the track laid, but I never finished that particular segment before multiple moves and many years ended up losing track of them. One thing I always found limiting, was the radius of the curves. A 24 inch wide layout almost seemed too small for me. I had some big rolling stock, and at least one loco that was even bigger! I guess I felt like building without restriction on what could roll. I'm sad my original layout appears to be gone forever, but it was really quite minimal... Some fake water, a track loop, a few switches, a tunnel, and some crossings. I lost a lot of my fake trees. I can easily remake all of that. No unique buildings or vehicles were lost... That module never ad any buildings, and I always kept my trains, vehicles, and buildings separate. All my buildings are hand made, and I still keep them all on display, It was the building that I loved most, and all that was preserved!
I am in the process of building an N scale set but I have always wanted an OO scale set. This gives me the opportunity to afford to do that just to putter with. Thank you so much for the idea! Great video as always.
Wow this is really stunning nice that there is a loop so you can let the engine run but there is also a great amount of shunting that is possible in such a small space. Keep up the superb work!
Just bloody brilliant. Impressive on 2 fronts, the compact size which is inspirational and the slow running Lima loco. Lima are often regarded as rubbish, but I've picked up cheap ones over the years and with a deep clean clean service and lubrication they can produce very surprising results. I often think that the lima pancake motor was well designed but hampered by poor quality control in the factory which is why they need a bit of fettling, not to mention a lima pancake motor could comfortably pull a huge rake of wagons.
Thanks, very kind. I've had this pulling huge rakes of wagons much more than most shutters so you are right. I have a plan to restore another and double head them to see how much they will pull?
I've a few lima loco's on they layout and they are great if you give them big express train or heavy freight duties. MikesMovies has a great video on how to get the best out of a lima pancake motor, he can make them run as good as anything else really. I have a soft spot for Lima, when I was a kid it usually a Lima train set at Christmas because they were always a bit cheaper than hornby.
Still great ideas for minimalist layouts here. Good job to be able to put a OO layout on a 381 x 685 mm board, a little less than a A2 paper sheet size to give you a practical indication (sorry to be so metric !). Even if I have theoretically more leeway with my N scale hardware than you in OO, do more for less is always something to consider. And British people are great at this challenge, look at what Mr. Cyril Freezer had done for instance. I pick this one for inspiration. And give you a tip with how I get good N Scale layouts plans, besides coming here to pick some ideas :1) take a OO scale plan 2) keep the original dimensions and the trackplan, but use N gauge track instead 3) have fun !
Hi Oliver, an A2 sheet is a good way of explaining the size, thanks. Cyril Freezer was a genius I've bigger him up on videos several times, we tend to fit more into a small space due to generally smaller houses, we don't have large basements for instance which many US layouts seem to be based in. And of course step 3 is the most important but the mainstream of the hobby seems to forget this often!
@@BudgetModelRailways I have seen books about US layouts and, well... When you have plans wich requires the size of your condo and your annual income to buy the rails just to be made (and hiring full time for three month a carpenter to have the frame done, if you're a failure in woodwork like me), you're looking for others more European solutions. I'm talking about paper sizes because I am developing a solution to have modular layouts, inspired by your use of cardboard. I will use strong cardboard sheets, 3mm thinck and up to 80 x 120 cm, to do something inbetween the track mat (what Hornby does) and the traditional layout. Everything should be removable but the track and the ground, because I have no other solution to have this stored at home. I'm working on it now, just requires some good rulers and cutters, and good sized cutting mat (got one 90 x 120 cm for the larger sheets to cut out !). I agree with you about Mr. Freezer, and I will do my own Minories just because it is a magnificent idea. I alreadu have made a copy of it on a temporary layout (Kato track on a folding table) and it was a great fun to simulate the exploitation of a small station with it. But, in the US, I also pick some ideas from John Armstrong and John Allen. They have good scenic ideas sometimes. For step 3, it seems to be lost in France for model railways... You have the choice between strict reproduction of, let's say, the railway station of Lyon Perrache on the 6th of may 1956 between 9h52 and 23h17 (including functional trash bins in HO scale in all of the coaches) or narrow gauge 100% home made, because no ready to run available and artisanal kits the price of a Bachmann Class 47... It reminds me a video of an exhibition, where amateurs of old tinplate, usually bought for pennies in antique sales, were running old clockwork-powered Märklin and like on period tracks. One of them told us that they set up their layout in one hour, and have great fun, when hardcore modelers the stand besides them took half a day just to have everything installed... Honestly, if someone sells someday tinplate trains in HO or OO scale, with modern design locomotives for 50€/£ each and 5/10 €/£ a wagon or a coach, I would certainly have a look at it. US O tinplate like Lionel or MTH today is overingeneered aud awfully expansive (and take too much space). That is a way to have fun with trains tha had been lost too...
@@BudgetModelRailways No problem, I start this saturday. I certainly would put it on a blog to exchange ideas. I took your moto for this concept : cheap, easy and fast to do, looks good, and lot of fun !
Hey Hey..Just in from a days G Scale running outside in the garden,and viewed this....Love it..Again,looking forward to the finished layout....Such a great idea !!...Ade
Hi Mike and Douglas. For my own layout I have recently bought an N gauge locomotive Fairburn 2-6-4 tank engine in LMS livery by Graham Farish /Bachmann. My layout has now found itself with a new home where I now have about 9' x3' of space to work with. Besides other rollingstock I bough a Gaugemaster Combi controller. However, I find myself in need of a connection between the combi controller and my N gauge rails. Where can I buy a suitable rail connector and wires to link with my Combi, Please? Simple to most folks, but it has been many decades since I last had anything to do with model railways. Take care...
Assuming you have a couple of wires coming out the back of the controller then the easiest way is to buy a couple of Peco pre soldered fishplates, just use a connector block to connect them. You could also ring Gaugemaster for help as they are very helpful,.
Very good idea, just goes to show you don't need a big space for a 'large' scale model railway. Could you adapt this idea to be a 'Rabbit Warren' layout? It would, of course, take up more space but could be quite fun. Another way to use it would be to make an 'Industrial Network'. It wouldn't want to be overly complex but you could have sidings going into industrial buildings and what not. Anyway, great video and I cant wait to see the next part.
Brilliant as always.........how do you think these up?....can’t wait to see finished article...,also creeping up towards 8 k! ace...keep up the good work!
Nice little layout I'm actually from the United States of America and I mostly build small scale to large scale ho layouts it took her the 4 by 8 and I like buying Steam and Diesel locomotives a little bit of different sometimes it's great
Look cool it is amazing how much space of that size of ho much Limited to make amazing stuff on the layout you don’t mind making it a coal mine on one side and the other side a factory power plant that makes electricity I like what you’re doing all this time it amazes me of how much you can accomplish with cheap stuff and to have fun for the Hobby and you guys inspire me to do more scratch building projects Of locomotives because of doing it on a budget
we all know that spare time and a piece of board are a dangerous combination lol. I have cupboards full of layouts because of this combination . on30.japanese n gauge ... tram ... you name it lol . looks good with the right building placement you could hide the fact that its an oval.
Well done! My layout IS mainly larger locos, but some of them struggle round 2nd radius haha! I'm pretty much set on going to Bluebell - roughly how many layouts were there last year? Keep up the great work!
A good buget railroad needs a $500 budget you guys have been showing $25/$30 dollar place savers i love them all but can there be a time in the near future for a 4x8 model railroad with a moderate amount of seanery and possibly bigger locomotives (my case EMD SD70ACe's, SD40-2's and, GE ES44's) i am currently running a EMD GP38-2 and GP40 and it would be nice to see a $500/$600 budget build a layout. Oh and by the way hello from the USA!
Hi to the USA. Bear in mind we tend to run smaller layouts in the UK, due to smaller houses in general. Our exhibition layout is 3x5 feet and only cost us approx £200 ish.
Great job can you please review the dapol turntable kit please if it's good quality I'll be buying 2 of them for my 2 layout's if you can review it I will be a very happy train fan
Hey boys Very interesting, with it being industrial it looks right with the tight curves. Almost like the ones around loco workshops (maybe the BMR locoworks?) with a lone Shunter or two working the small yards Really am a fan of that Lima, and ,due to relaxations in the rules, you could enter it into my Shunter Showdown competition (if your interested)? Informative and idea sparking as usual Cheers OR
You only need that if you intend to run two locos and the same bit of track, I can run three locos at a time on my main layout with DC. Is it really worth the extra £50/£100 per loco just for that?
@@BudgetModelRailways I think it depends on the size of the layout. Also, I'm quite jealous of the small locomotives you can get in the UK, especially in steam. Our club layout has a dead switcher like that, but it's quite large. Earlier incarnations were DC but the members prefer DCC. I kinda wish there was something like the Hornby 0-4-0s here though.
Nice one mike, Douglas's camera work up to usual high standard. How do you seperate the body on those lima locos, as I have one, took the screws out but could not find how to sereate the body and chassis, very noisey at the moment so needs a service. Regards Kev.
It's just a push fit, you pull it off. The screws hold the motor to the chassis not the body, hope this helps. In the centre of the can motor on each side is the end of the bearing and I found a small drop of oil on this made a lot of difference to the noise and smoothness. Also the wheels need a really good clean usually
Love this. Small and industrial is what my next layout will be. Going to watch this one with interest. Probably already know the answer, but will an 0-6-0 go round it?
The tape measure does not lie! Lol. Sometimes you just have to try things, people are told it can't be done so they don't try , it's exactly the same with slow running on DC. People are told only DCC will do it so they don't try.
Budget Model Railways you’re left me stunned , I’m still skeptical so I might give it a try - might work well with a scratch build I have been thinking of doing Thank you so much truly inspirational
Scale doesn't look very good? Isn't that like saying reality doesn't look very good? Perhaps when scenery is added the overscale and scruffy ballast will not shout its presence quite so much.
I'm not a rivet counter, I don't worry about such things, usually I use ballast mat because it's quicker,simpler and more reliable. It's not always about trying to make a perfect recreation, sometimes it's just about having fun and playing with trains.
I have had several frustrating "false starts" in model railroading because I've always read that the absolute minimum size for a layout is 4ft x 8ft.
I lay out the board, lay out the track, put down a building or two and realize I could never possibly finish the project of filling all that space.
Your smaller layouts are so refreshing and have inspired me to give it another try with a size/scope that I can manage. Thanks!
I've had exactly the same problem, we have been working on our 9x9 loft slowly for years for the same reason , it's too daunting, whereas I've finished about half a dozen smaller ones in that time
Those mehano controllers are amazing. The slow speed is insane. And it also has a nice turbo zone for express trains.
I've been pondering about doing a mini layout for old Triang 0-4-0s. Your video really does show the viability of the project. Thank you :-)
Happy to help have fun with it. The old triang 0-4-0's are great fun
We don't just "like" this kind of thing but "LOVE IT."
Cheers & have fun!
Thanks for your support
Lovely little layout
Thanks, it changed to a country scene , got exhibited a couple of times and then sold
Just fantastic, small and perfectly formed!
Cracking! Just made for a Hattons Barclay or a Hornby Peckett even a Model Rail Sentinal, wait a minute? I have all three! Guess what my next project will be!
Thank you for you inspirational videos.
Thanks Steven, all three would look great, I guess they will handle he sharp curves ok?
That's quite impressive! Back when I was just a kid, I started out with a very rudimentary HO scale layout on a piece of 4x4 foot plywood. I think that's the most common scale in the US... 1:87 vs OO's 1:76 (for those like me that had to look up OO scale). I very quickly switched to N scale as soon as I discovered it, thanks to a $7 unboxed set I found at an open air fleamarket. I originally built a pair of 2x4 foot modules in N scale. I seem to recall really feeling like the size was confining, even at N-scale, and wanting to go larger... Maybe 3x4 or 3x5 foot modules Granted, I was obsessed with expansive scenery, rural fields, realistically scaled recreations of actual buildings around my town, and large American freight locomotives and cars... hehe, I _needed_ my big trains... My smallest engine was a Chessie System F7 A (the engine from the set I got at the fleamarket). I also found a dummy Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 F7 streamlined Hudson "Hiawatha Express" in N scale. Definitely looks cool, but being a dummy, it's not that useful for anything more than just display, which is probably what It'll be used for, if I ever get back into the hobby. Build a nice little park with a monument to railroading past... That'd be a nice callback to older times, even on a relatively modern (lines from 10-30 years ago) layout. I My third locomotive was a Union Pacific DDA40X... Yeah, I _REALLY liked_ having some *_big iron..._* As such, I preferred wider turns for my track. It's still cool to see tiny layouts, even if short cars and locos are required to roll on them. Since all of the local trains were always freight, I had always wanted to get some appropriate locomotives and rolling stock. My plan, back then, was to pick through and find my favorite locomotive models out of models like the SD-9, SD38, SD40, SD60, SD70, GP40, ES44, or AC4400CW and then decal them with primarily "Dakota Minnesota & Eastern" and a few "Chicago & Northwestern" markings. Of course, this was something I planned to do when I eventually expanded the layout. Those types of locos looked a lot like what I'd typically see, or used to see, rolling through in my area. Had my layout grown large enough, I'd probably have throw in an "Iowa, Chicago, & Eastern" and maybe even a CP loco into the mix. They were often seen rolling together. These days, DM&E and IC&E are no more, both bought by CP... I miss those blue and yellow locomotives with individual units marked in honor of cities along the routes. They even had a Mount Rushmore Locomotive, commemorating the US presidential monument! Even my tiny little hometown had a locomotive named after it! The city I live in now had a locomotive bearing it's name! I mean, what a cool idea! it REALLY made seeing the trains roll by into an absolute joy! I'm grateful that there are decals available to recreate them, cause those amazing locomotives aren't around anymore. CP really ended a wonderful thing... ):
Anyway, both of the modules I'd built were countryside layouts, and only one was ever finished. It was a loop with switches going off the ends. There was a spring lake on a hilltop, feeding a small waterfall and a pool that went off to the edge of the layout. I had a small bridge over the stream, and a tunnel going through the hill. I used the cores of hair curlers (like those plastic brush dish scrubbers with a coiled wire core holding the bristles together) cut into the shape of coniferous trees, and spray painted green. I had a couple shades of green, and I'd just spray 'em. I had a few garbage bags of sawdust that I'd dye green, and a spray bottle with watered down glue, and I used that to make the grass, and to give the trees a little extra texture. For gravel and ballast... I just sifted gravel from the road outside my dad's farm! I found green pipe cleaners could also be used for small coniferous shrubbery. Pretty sure I had a gravel road passing through the module as well. The module was a loop, but it had multiple directions that lines branched off, basically making it my countryside hub. I would have spread the layout outward from it, eventually connecting a smaller rural village, and a larger town. I would have made modules with themes... Farmland, quarry, landscapes, industrial, downtown, etc...
The second layout was intended to be a continuation of the first module's small hill with the tunnel. It continued the contour of the hill off the edge of the first module and into more mountainous terrain. That one was never intended to have a loop. It was going to wind around the mountain and off to the other side of the module. I probably would have had one line wrap around the mountain, and a switch to lead off to a pass via a tunnel. The mountain was fully framed up, and I had half the track laid, but I never finished that particular segment before multiple moves and many years ended up losing track of them.
One thing I always found limiting, was the radius of the curves. A 24 inch wide layout almost seemed too small for me. I had some big rolling stock, and at least one loco that was even bigger! I guess I felt like building without restriction on what could roll. I'm sad my original layout appears to be gone forever, but it was really quite minimal... Some fake water, a track loop, a few switches, a tunnel, and some crossings. I lost a lot of my fake trees. I can easily remake all of that. No unique buildings or vehicles were lost... That module never ad any buildings, and I always kept my trains, vehicles, and buildings separate. All my buildings are hand made, and I still keep them all on display, It was the building that I loved most, and all that was preserved!
Lots of good ideas there thanks.
woah, you make my small layouts dreams come true! This summer i'll have some fun then!
I am in the process of building an N scale set but I have always wanted an OO scale set. This gives me the opportunity to afford to do that just to putter with. Thank you so much for the idea! Great video as always.
Thanks Hans. I tried N but couldn't get on with it, hence my various attempts at micro OO/HO layouts
I think you call it "fiddly stuff" LOL but I love the challenge and have invested in a good pair of magnifying glasses. Till the next time.
I have never seen curves that tight!
It is a great idea !😁
Great Video as always,i love to see trains running slow with tight curves.
Simply brilliant.
Many thanks
Wow this is really stunning nice that there is a loop so you can let the engine run but there is also a great amount of shunting that is possible in such a small space. Keep up the superb work!
Thanks for the suppory
Just bloody brilliant. Impressive on 2 fronts, the compact size which is inspirational and the slow running Lima loco. Lima are often regarded as rubbish, but I've picked up cheap ones over the years and with a deep clean clean service and lubrication they can produce very surprising results. I often think that the lima pancake motor was well designed but hampered by poor quality control in the factory which is why they need a bit of fettling, not to mention a lima pancake motor could comfortably pull a huge rake of wagons.
Thanks, very kind. I've had this pulling huge rakes of wagons much more than most shutters so you are right. I have a plan to restore another and double head them to see how much they will pull?
I've a few lima loco's on they layout and they are great if you give them big express train or heavy freight duties. MikesMovies has a great video on how to get the best out of a lima pancake motor, he can make them run as good as anything else really. I have a soft spot for Lima, when I was a kid it usually a Lima train set at Christmas because they were always a bit cheaper than hornby.
Most of my diesels are Lima, the class 26/27 are particularly good
Still great ideas for minimalist layouts here. Good job to be able to put a OO layout on a 381 x 685 mm board, a little less than a A2 paper sheet size to give you a practical indication (sorry to be so metric !). Even if I have theoretically more leeway with my N scale hardware than you in OO, do more for less is always something to consider. And British people are great at this challenge, look at what Mr. Cyril Freezer had done for instance.
I pick this one for inspiration. And give you a tip with how I get good N Scale layouts plans, besides coming here to pick some ideas :1) take a OO scale plan 2) keep the original dimensions and the trackplan, but use N gauge track instead 3) have fun !
Hi Oliver, an A2 sheet is a good way of explaining the size, thanks. Cyril Freezer was a genius I've bigger him up on videos several times, we tend to fit more into a small space due to generally smaller houses, we don't have large basements for instance which many US layouts seem to be based in. And of course step 3 is the most important but the mainstream of the hobby seems to forget this often!
@@BudgetModelRailways I have seen books about US layouts and, well... When you have plans wich requires the size of your condo and your annual income to buy the rails just to be made (and hiring full time for three month a carpenter to have the frame done, if you're a failure in woodwork like me), you're looking for others more European solutions.
I'm talking about paper sizes because I am developing a solution to have modular layouts, inspired by your use of cardboard. I will use strong cardboard sheets, 3mm thinck and up to 80 x 120 cm, to do something inbetween the track mat (what Hornby does) and the traditional layout. Everything should be removable but the track and the ground, because I have no other solution to have this stored at home. I'm working on it now, just requires some good rulers and cutters, and good sized cutting mat (got one 90 x 120 cm for the larger sheets to cut out !).
I agree with you about Mr. Freezer, and I will do my own Minories just because it is a magnificent idea. I alreadu have made a copy of it on a temporary layout (Kato track on a folding table) and it was a great fun to simulate the exploitation of a small station with it. But, in the US, I also pick some ideas from John Armstrong and John Allen. They have good scenic ideas sometimes.
For step 3, it seems to be lost in France for model railways... You have the choice between strict reproduction of, let's say, the railway station of Lyon Perrache on the 6th of may 1956 between 9h52 and 23h17 (including functional trash bins in HO scale in all of the coaches) or narrow gauge 100% home made, because no ready to run available and artisanal kits the price of a Bachmann Class 47... It reminds me a video of an exhibition, where amateurs of old tinplate, usually bought for pennies in antique sales, were running old clockwork-powered Märklin and like on period tracks. One of them told us that they set up their layout in one hour, and have great fun, when hardcore modelers the stand besides them took half a day just to have everything installed...
Honestly, if someone sells someday tinplate trains in HO or OO scale, with modern design locomotives for 50€/£ each and 5/10 €/£ a wagon or a coach, I would certainly have a look at it. US O tinplate like Lionel or MTH today is overingeneered aud awfully expansive (and take too much space). That is a way to have fun with trains tha had been lost too...
The layout sounds really interesting, let us know how it gets on
@@BudgetModelRailways No problem, I start this saturday. I certainly would put it on a blog to exchange ideas. I took your moto for this concept : cheap, easy and fast to do, looks good, and lot of fun !
Superb little layout - bravo
Thanks
Hey Hey..Just in from a days G Scale running outside in the garden,and viewed this....Love it..Again,looking forward to the finished layout....Such a great idea !!...Ade
How fantastic, I love the idea of a garden railway
and they said it couldn't be done! It's these fits of inspiration , when you get a "wild hair" - SLING something up on a board & spin it 'round 👍
That's it, sometimes you have to throw the rule book away and just try things
great little layout
Love this!
Thanks
You have done it again, brilliant.
That's very kind, thanks
the mehano controller brings back many good memories
Well men, You've done it yet again!!
It's looking good and has great promise for being a very attractive micro layout. Take care...
Thanks John
Hi Mike and Douglas. For my own layout I have recently bought an N gauge locomotive Fairburn 2-6-4 tank engine in LMS livery by Graham Farish /Bachmann. My layout has now found itself with a new home where I now have about 9' x3' of space to work with. Besides other rollingstock I bough a Gaugemaster Combi controller. However, I find myself in need of a connection between the combi controller and my N gauge rails. Where can I buy a suitable rail connector and wires to link with my Combi, Please? Simple to most folks, but it has been many decades since I last had anything to do with model railways. Take care...
Assuming you have a couple of wires coming out the back of the controller then the easiest way is to buy a couple of Peco pre soldered fishplates, just use a connector block to connect them. You could also ring Gaugemaster for help as they are very helpful,.
Hi Mike & Douglas, really great looking little layout and it sure looks like slow running to me so who needs DCC. Well done. Regards George..
My view exactly!
Love it. Nice job!
Very good idea, just goes to show you don't need a big space for a 'large' scale model railway. Could you adapt this idea to be a 'Rabbit Warren' layout? It would, of course, take up more space but could be quite fun. Another way to use it would be to make an 'Industrial Network'. It wouldn't want to be overly complex but you could have sidings going into industrial buildings and what not. Anyway, great video and I cant wait to see the next part.
I had the same thought , use the small radius but build a larger layout
You must be a wizard!!
Well my surname is Potter!
It’s amazing
Thanks
Your welcome mate
I love these little layouts. I am thinking of doing one myself. great vid :)
That's a small layout alright. Looks really good though I,m quite surprised by the curved track that is tight well-done
Super compact, nice
Neat. Thank you. Good luck getting the Bluebell ready :)
Brilliant as always.........how do you think these up?....can’t wait to see finished article...,also creeping up towards 8 k! ace...keep up the good work!
Nicely done! Right, I'm off to find a small piece of wood. :-)
Nice little layout I'm actually from the United States of America and I mostly build small scale to large scale ho layouts it took her the 4 by 8 and I like buying Steam and Diesel locomotives a little bit of different sometimes it's great
Thanks for watching
Brilliant!,
Nice and compact. A bit hard to do with American type equipment though. Maybe a Plymouth Switcher but rolling stock would have to be kit batched.
Hope to try this soon but more for a street running trolly.
very good .. have got stuck into N gauge (RMRG Runcorn) YT/ Channel
DC very very basic beginnings ..
Look cool it is amazing how much space of that size of ho much Limited to make amazing stuff on the layout you don’t mind making it a coal mine on one side and the other side a factory power plant that makes electricity I like what you’re doing all this time it amazes me of how much you can accomplish with cheap stuff and to have fun for the Hobby and you guys inspire me to do more scratch building projects Of locomotives because of doing it on a budget
Thanks Nathan, I've seen a few double sided layouts and love the idea
we all know that spare time and a piece of board are a dangerous combination lol. I have cupboards full of layouts because of this combination . on30.japanese n gauge ... tram ... you name it lol . looks good with the right building placement you could hide the fact that its an oval.
That's the plan
love it
Well done! My layout IS mainly larger locos, but some of them struggle round 2nd radius haha! I'm pretty much set on going to Bluebell - roughly how many layouts were there last year?
Keep up the great work!
Thanks, not sure how many as we only got to see those at HORSTED Keynes
Ahh right, about how many were at Horsted Keynes then?
About 10 exhibition layouts and quite a few traders. Also this year we are building the two layouts in two days.
Thanks for that, that's confirmed it for me... See you there!
Half a dozen or so,they probably have details on their website
A good buget railroad needs a $500 budget you guys have been showing $25/$30 dollar place savers i love them all but can there be a time in the near future for a 4x8 model railroad with a moderate amount of seanery and possibly bigger locomotives (my case EMD SD70ACe's, SD40-2's and, GE ES44's) i am currently running a EMD GP38-2 and GP40 and it would be nice to see a $500/$600 budget build a layout. Oh and by the way hello from the USA!
Hi to the USA. Bear in mind we tend to run smaller layouts in the UK, due to smaller houses in general. Our exhibition layout is 3x5 feet and only cost us approx £200 ish.
Great job can you please review the dapol turntable kit please if it's good quality I'll be buying 2 of them for my 2 layout's if you can review it I will be a very happy train fan
this is great,nice work,shows what can be done.jpj
that's TIGHT!
Hey boys
Very interesting, with it being industrial it looks right with the tight curves. Almost like the ones around loco workshops (maybe the BMR locoworks?) with a lone Shunter or two working the small yards
Really am a fan of that Lima, and ,due to relaxations in the rules, you could enter it into my Shunter Showdown competition (if your interested)?
Informative and idea sparking as usual
Cheers
OR
But I'm still working on my 18" radius layout, i can't keep up!!
I know I have the same problem!
DCC will always have one advantage that DC won't: independently controlled locomotives. Though a layout like this doesn't need more than one.
You only need that if you intend to run two locos and the same bit of track, I can run three locos at a time on my main layout with DC. Is it really worth the extra £50/£100 per loco just for that?
@@BudgetModelRailways I think it depends on the size of the layout. Also, I'm quite jealous of the small locomotives you can get in the UK, especially in steam. Our club layout has a dead switcher like that, but it's quite large. Earlier incarnations were DC but the members prefer DCC.
I kinda wish there was something like the Hornby 0-4-0s here though.
Nice one mike, Douglas's camera work up to usual high standard. How do you seperate the body on those lima locos, as I have one, took the screws out but could not find how to sereate the body and chassis, very noisey at the moment so needs a service. Regards Kev.
It's just a push fit, you pull it off. The screws hold the motor to the chassis not the body, hope this helps. In the centre of the can motor on each side is the end of the bearing and I found a small drop of oil on this made a lot of difference to the noise and smoothness. Also the wheels need a really good clean usually
cheers Mike.
Love this. Small and industrial is what my next layout will be. Going to watch this one with interest.
Probably already know the answer, but will an 0-6-0 go round it?
Phil Bandy if you get a bachmann thomas the tank engine it will run on those curves.
The Hornby 0-4-0 will, as 0-6-0 won't go round my 9in radius I've not even tried on this one!
YOU ARE JOKING ME, your a magician, I’m sorry but I don’t believe you
The tape measure does not lie! Lol. Sometimes you just have to try things, people are told it can't be done so they don't try , it's exactly the same with slow running on DC. People are told only DCC will do it so they don't try.
Budget Model Railways you’re left me stunned , I’m still skeptical so I might give it a try - might work well with a scratch build I have been thinking of doing
Thank you so much truly inspirational
Thanks for your support Harry
Scale doesn't look very good? Isn't that like saying reality doesn't look very good?
Perhaps when scenery is added the overscale and scruffy ballast will not shout its presence quite so much.
I'm not a rivet counter, I don't worry about such things, usually I use ballast mat because it's quicker,simpler and more reliable. It's not always about trying to make a perfect recreation, sometimes it's just about having fun and playing with trains.
It's so tiny
what ever happened to this
I donated it to the bluebell railway to help with a demo, it came back covered in grass scatter, so at some point it will be resurrected
@@BudgetModelRailways oh cool