Thank you 😀. My prior layout on this 6x16 benchwork was just flat. So when I decided to replace it I wanted tunnels, bridges, and elevation. I now have a lot of buildings from first layout in boxes.
I like the fact you move the camera with the trains. So many other videos show stagnant, close in shots of the train passing by, which is ok, for some of the video. But I like that you follow the trains and we get to see how dynamic your layout is. Thanks.
Thanks 😀. I like the full moving view as well but I don’t like including parts of my garage in the frame. Moving around, keeping the train in focus, and avoiding garage stuff can be a challenge. I just wish I had run the train with WiThrottle on my iPad which I could have carry around. I wouldn’t have missed part of the run going back to the computer to change turnout on the top section. I did the fixed position videos with tripod as well a in past.
Thanks Carlos 😀. I cut the video off just before to Loco derailed 🤬. I’ve got this gap in the track just before a turnout that trips a loco about 25% of time. I’ve been procrastinating the repair but doing it tomorrow. 🤞
Thanks Anthony 😀. Seems like I’m always struggling with track issues and dead turnouts. Spent couple hours this morning fixing problems that I had been procrastinating on. I need to have my track in good order so I can write a JMRI script program to run a train thru all areas of the track automatically. This would be very useful for running my track cleaning car on all parts of the track.
London UK here. A terrific layout and excellent camera work. I don't have a layout myself so I am very curious how you keep such a large area free of dust?
Hi London 😀. Good question. Yes, dust is a bit of a problem here in hot dry San Antonio, TX. Over time It slowly builds up on the top of my buildings. I call this ‘natural weathering’. I keep the garage door closed unless it’s a nice calm day or I need light for video. When I leave TX for the summer I cover entire layout with plastic sheet. I use a small vacuum occasionally to clean the track. My biggest problem is with my Peco turnouts failing to transfer power to the switch rail. Sometimes cleaning between the connection fixes it but a have 3 right now that refuse to work. It might be that my switch motors are not pushing the switch rail tight to the powered main rail. Most times my locos with ‘stay alive’ devices can speed over these turnouts with just slight hesitation. Turnouts are the most frustrating aspect of my TX layout.
@@FredE528 Thanks for that information. I had a very basic British model railway when I was young but that was over half a century ago. I am now 78 and these days all I can do is admire other people's skills in producing the amazing layouts that they do. Best wishes and a Happy New Year.
Thanks Peter. Be well in upcoming 2025 to you as well. I’m 75 and got into the hobby couple years after I retired. I love to visualize, plan, and build technical stuff. I was in Information Technology most of my career. Started programming with punched cards. Now I write programs to run my train and use iPad on wifi to control loco sound and turnouts. Big technology advancement in our lifetime. Like you I had a small simple DC train when I was young. Atlas track I’d put together and run on the floor. I remember running it under the bed (my improvised tunnel) and thinking how cool it was to see the light on the loco emerge from the dark. I watch my grandson play his video games. He has one that responds to is arm swing to play tennis. He plays the NFL Football game that surprises me with the realism. Model railroading can’t get young people excited compared to today tech games.
@@FredE528 Wow, you obviously have a great deal of technical knowledge and skill, the complete opposite of me. It would be difficult to find anyone with less technical ability than myself. It takes me all my time just to work my mobile phone and laptop. Back in the 50s and 60s I had Triang two rail track and models which many people considered superior to the Hornby Dublo three rail products of the period. My late brother was an engineer (not engineer/train driver) and made several non-powered model steam locomotives. We were both fans of real life steam locomotives. My late wife and I never had any children so I have no descendants who will ever be railway enthusiasts of any kind. My late wife and I visited the USA twice. On the first occasion we visited New York and Washington DC, and on the second occasion visited Boston and Fort Lauderdale, in all cases to stay with relatives of my wife. We travelled between New York and Washington by Amtrak. But all that was over thirty years ago.
Thanks for sharing some of your background. I’ve never been to England but my Son took his family there a few years ago. They were so impressed to see the history. Nothing like it in USA. How did you find your long Amtrak trip? I’ve watch people’s videos but I’ve only don’t short day trip on Downeaster from New Hampshire to Maine and back. Took our daughter,8, to beach. Her first time on train. After 30min she was bored the rest of trip.
Nice. I have space for 16 x 4 ft middle up to 5 ft on the ends in our bonus room ... I want to do UK theme rolling hills / village / pastures / hedgerows with one short tunnel and raised long stone bridge/overpass. Originally was gonna go with Hornby OO but may need to revise to HO... for space and not yoo tight turns. Need to write up a plan but still thinking.
Sounds like a ‘dog bone’ plan. You can do good size curves on the ends with 5’ space. Suggest you keep track at least 2” from the edge. When I started in 2017 with 4x8 I had hinged to the garage wall. I thought I might get a second car. It makes me laugh at myself now thinking that I could just reach across 4’ span. From the ends I could reach in far side but had to actually crawl onto the top to work in the middle of the far side. 😵💫 I eventually abandoned thought of second car and unhinged the layout from the wall. I put heavy duty cabinet casters on the four legs so I could roll it back and forth from the wall. Works well even with the heavy weight of the layout. There a many places to get ideas on what to plan for your layout. Pinterest has a lot of layout photos. Several sights offer free track plan ideas. I spent a lot of time before a finally locked in my original 4x8 plan. I just winged the next 4x8 add on as I didn’t really think I’d get so addicted to this hobby. You’re thinking right, plan it well at the beginning. You planning on videos to document your journey? Good luck.
@@FredE528 yeah dog bone is prolly best and will keep that in mind... I built my own tables before with 2x4's for a frame so that should not be too much of an issue. At very least I will take photos 😂
Thanks Mark 😀. I was disappointed to miss the train coming out of the tunnel. I had to hustle back to computer to change turnout. I thought I turn on video recording again but NO! 🤬 I can’t seen to do quick things in a row…. Senioritus.
Good question. The benchwork is supported by 6 heavy duty cabinet casters. It rolls away from the wall very easily when I want to video or work on far side.
Thanks Jonathan 😀. I’m planning to do a full over head video when I get a couple of troublesome turnouts fixed. The link below starting at 2:00 shows this on previous layout. th-cam.com/video/Xhkp777UvjI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Lzk3BTPDoCIHvx_O
No actual store, just items for sale. I’ll be adding more in coming weeks. Unlike someone I know, MARK, I realize I have too locos and cars. Need to refill the train money bank for the next layout. 🤑
Yes, a minor miracle. 😀. At the end of the run the loco derailed on gap in between track. It happens occasionally so I haven’t fixed it. But will today. I thought 🤔 about ending the video with the derail and foghorn but decided against it. I was expecting a problem of some type during the run. When it finished the full run then derailed, I thought - nope. I’m publishing just the good part. Thank for comment Dave. Happy New Year Buddy.
Great layout. I’ve been away from this hobby for decades. My last experience was with DC cab control and blocks. How is track power polarity controlled for the reverse loop? It appeared automatic in the video.
Thanks George 😀. I got into the hobby in 2017 using really old DC locos and brass track from decades ago. If interested I’ll put a link in this response talking about my ‘journey’ in this hobby. th-cam.com/play/PLPYeOPCFexrFa3prZhGFepK58YxdlJkKR.html&si=y58rC7tK7jaZTvXo Gotta go I’ll answer your question later today…
DCC is totally different from the DC environment. Commend station talks to individual locos thru the track. Locos have ‘decoders’ to interpret these codes and respond to just theirs. There are auto reversers under two sections of my track loops backs that change polarity. Lots of videos on TH-cam explaining DCC. This is the best way to get back into the hobby in my opinion and i testarted with DC
Oh you are so right. I’m not great at getting the track work perfect. I worked couple hours today fixing couple of my problem spots. I have two pretty bad kinks going into the switch coming out of the upper Coop siding to work on. My BLI locos always derail here but my Atheran or Atlas locos will handle the entrance into coal loader. Only my NS GP15-1 can exit the Coop. I also have some kinks in tunnel #2 where I set the auto reverser but seldom have derails here. My biggest frustration is my Peco turnouts. 🤬. I have 4 that can’t consistently get power to the switch rail.
Wow what a cool layout. Love the elevation change. Great track plan!
Thanks! My prior layout on this benchwork was just flat. When I decided to replace it I wanted tunnels, bridges, and elevation.
@@FredE528 Awesome, what you have now is really cool!
Thanks Tony 😀
Very creative use of tunnels and ramps - well done! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you 😀. My prior layout on this 6x16 benchwork was just flat. So when I decided to replace it I wanted tunnels, bridges, and elevation. I now have a lot of buildings from first layout in boxes.
Nicely done,excellent layout,,thanks for sharing,,😊
Thanks for the kind words 😀!
Excellent Fred , no major issues, looking great
Thanks James 😀
I like the fact you move the camera with the trains. So many other videos show stagnant, close in shots of the train passing by, which is ok, for some of the video. But I like that you follow the trains and we get to see how dynamic your layout is. Thanks.
Thanks 😀. I like the full moving view as well but I don’t like including parts of my garage in the frame. Moving around, keeping the train in focus, and avoiding garage stuff can be a challenge.
I just wish I had run the train with WiThrottle on my iPad which I could have carry around. I wouldn’t have missed part of the run going back to the computer to change turnout on the top section. I did the fixed position videos with tripod as well a in past.
if you say "no issues" then in Fred We Trust! The layout is looking freaking amazing! Time for me to go back an keep working on my 4x8 🙂
Thanks Carlos 😀. I cut the video off just before to Loco derailed 🤬. I’ve got this gap in the track just before a turnout that trips a loco about 25% of time. I’ve been procrastinating the repair but doing it tomorrow. 🤞
Great layout lots of tracks and yards😊😊😊
Thank you 😀. It’s more interesting to run trains on this layout compared to my prior flat one. But a lot fewer industries for switching.
Really nice layout 👍
Thanks Anthony 😀. Seems like I’m always struggling with track issues and dead turnouts. Spent couple hours this morning fixing problems that I had been procrastinating on. I need to have my track in good order so I can write a JMRI script program to run a train thru all areas of the track automatically. This would be very useful for running my track cleaning car on all parts of the track.
You have inspired me to get back to my layout also.👍
Good for you.
Very cool and creative layout!
Thank you Randall 😀. My previous layout on same benchwork was just flat. I wanted to have tunnels, bridges and height on this new one.
Cool running’s 👍👍👍
Thanks Ron 😀. My video work wasn’t great but no $&#@🤬 .
great vlog running train
Thanks Lee 😀
awesome run, great bridges
Thanks 😀. Original plan was to have 2 bridges split just out of the upper tunnel but just could find bridges that worked well.
London UK here. A terrific layout and excellent camera work. I don't have a layout myself so I am very curious how you keep such a large area free of dust?
Hi London 😀. Good question. Yes, dust is a bit of a problem here in hot dry San Antonio, TX. Over time It slowly builds up on the top of my buildings. I call this ‘natural weathering’. I keep the garage door closed unless it’s a nice calm day or I need light for video. When I leave TX for the summer I cover entire layout with plastic sheet.
I use a small vacuum occasionally to clean the track. My biggest problem is with my Peco turnouts failing to transfer power to the switch rail. Sometimes cleaning between the connection fixes it but a have 3 right now that refuse to work. It might be that my switch motors are not pushing the switch rail tight to the powered main rail. Most times my locos with ‘stay alive’ devices can speed over these turnouts with just slight hesitation. Turnouts are the most frustrating aspect of my TX layout.
@@FredE528 Thanks for that information. I had a very basic British model railway when I was young but that was over half a century ago. I am now 78 and these days all I can do is admire other people's skills in producing the amazing layouts that they do. Best wishes and a Happy New Year.
Thanks Peter. Be well in upcoming 2025 to you as well. I’m 75 and got into the hobby couple years after I retired. I love to visualize, plan, and build technical stuff. I was in Information Technology most of my career. Started programming with punched cards. Now I write programs to run my train and use iPad on wifi to control loco sound and turnouts. Big technology advancement in our lifetime.
Like you I had a small simple DC train when I was young. Atlas track I’d put together and run on the floor. I remember running it under the bed (my improvised tunnel) and thinking how cool it was to see the light on the loco emerge from the dark. I watch my grandson play his video games. He has one that responds to is arm swing to play tennis. He plays the NFL Football game that surprises me with the realism. Model railroading can’t get young people excited compared to today tech games.
@@FredE528 Wow, you obviously have a great deal of technical knowledge and skill, the complete opposite of me. It would be difficult to find anyone with less technical ability than myself. It takes me all my time just to work my mobile phone and laptop.
Back in the 50s and 60s I had Triang two rail track and models which many people considered superior to the Hornby Dublo three rail products of the period. My late brother was an engineer (not engineer/train driver) and made several non-powered model steam locomotives. We were both fans of real life steam locomotives. My late wife and I never had any children so I have no descendants who will ever be railway enthusiasts of any kind.
My late wife and I visited the USA twice. On the first occasion we visited New York and Washington DC, and on the second occasion visited Boston and Fort Lauderdale, in all cases to stay with relatives of my wife. We travelled between New York and Washington by Amtrak. But all that was over thirty years ago.
Thanks for sharing some of your background. I’ve never been to England but my Son took his family there a few years ago. They were so impressed to see the history. Nothing like it in USA. How did you find your long Amtrak trip? I’ve watch people’s videos but I’ve only don’t short day trip on Downeaster from New Hampshire to Maine and back. Took our daughter,8, to beach. Her first time on train. After 30min she was bored the rest of trip.
Good run Fred. Layout is looking good👍👍😁😁OperateOnOperator
Thanks Ed 😀. Did I get your name right?
@@FredE528 Yep that's me😁😁👍👍
Very Nice Layout !😊
Thank you very much! 😀
Nice. I have space for 16 x 4 ft middle up to 5 ft on the ends in our bonus room ... I want to do UK theme rolling hills / village / pastures / hedgerows with one short tunnel and raised long stone bridge/overpass. Originally was gonna go with Hornby OO but may need to revise to HO... for space and not yoo tight turns. Need to write up a plan but still thinking.
Sounds like a ‘dog bone’ plan. You can do good size curves on the ends with 5’ space. Suggest you keep track at least 2” from the edge.
When I started in 2017 with 4x8 I had hinged to the garage wall. I thought I might get a second car. It makes me laugh at myself now thinking that I could just reach across 4’ span. From the ends I could reach in far side but had to actually crawl onto the top to work in the middle of the far side. 😵💫
I eventually abandoned thought of second car and unhinged the layout from the wall. I put heavy duty cabinet casters on the four legs so I could roll it back and forth from the wall. Works well even with the heavy weight of the layout.
There a many places to get ideas on what to plan for your layout. Pinterest has a lot of layout photos. Several sights offer free track plan ideas. I spent a lot of time before a finally locked in my original 4x8 plan. I just winged the next 4x8 add on as I didn’t really think I’d get so addicted to this hobby. You’re thinking right, plan it well at the beginning.
You planning on videos to document your journey? Good luck.
@@FredE528 yeah dog bone is prolly best and will keep that in mind... I built my own tables before with 2x4's for a frame so that should not be too much of an issue. At very least I will take photos 😂
nice run Fred!
Thanks Randy 😀 I had a bit of trouble getting video done but no #$&@🤬 with the actual train run.
Awesome video
Thanks Mark 😀. I was disappointed to miss the train coming out of the tunnel. I had to hustle back to computer to change turnout. I thought I turn on video recording again but NO! 🤬 I can’t seen to do quick things in a row…. Senioritus.
Nice run Mark.
Thanks JD 😀
Nice layout, but how do you maintain the tracks against the wall?
Good question. The benchwork is supported by 6 heavy duty cabinet casters. It rolls away from the wall very easily when I want to video or work on far side.
Good overhead shot, like you are a drone.
Thanks Jonathan 😀. I’m planning to do a full over head video when I get a couple of troublesome turnouts fixed. The link below starting at 2:00 shows this on previous layout.
th-cam.com/video/Xhkp777UvjI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Lzk3BTPDoCIHvx_O
👍🏽👍🏽SUCCESS 👍🏽👍🏽😊
Yes, no #$&@🤬
nice run!
Thanks John 😀. I felt lucky that there were no #$&@🤬 during the run. It actually did derail at very end but I cut that part out. 😬👍
👍👍👍❤❤❤🚂🚂🚂
Thanks Michael 😀.
Nice run Mark. You have an eBay store?? Hmmm… I could own some Fred E merch… this changes everything.
Ok, one old guy calling me Mark is understandable. But I draw line at two. 😀.
No actual store, just items for sale. I’ll be adding more in coming weeks. Unlike someone I know, MARK, I realize I have too locos and cars. Need to refill the train money bank for the next layout. 🤑
ps. No shipping to foreign countries but you can come to NH and pick you some special stuff this summer.
@@FredE528 I like the sound of that!
Well what do you know it’s a real Christmas miracle. Lol. Layout looks great Fred. Although I did kinda miss the foghorn. lol.
Yes, a minor miracle. 😀. At the end of the run the loco derailed on gap in between track. It happens occasionally so I haven’t fixed it. But will today. I thought 🤔 about ending the video with the derail and foghorn but decided against it. I was expecting a problem of some type during the run. When it finished the full run then derailed, I thought - nope. I’m publishing just the good part. Thank for comment Dave. Happy New Year Buddy.
Great layout. I’ve been away from this hobby for decades. My last experience was with DC cab control and blocks. How is track power polarity controlled for the reverse loop? It appeared automatic in the video.
Thanks George 😀. I got into the hobby in 2017 using really old DC locos and brass track from decades ago. If interested I’ll put a link in this response talking about my ‘journey’ in this hobby. th-cam.com/play/PLPYeOPCFexrFa3prZhGFepK58YxdlJkKR.html&si=y58rC7tK7jaZTvXo
Gotta go I’ll answer your question later today…
DCC is totally different from the DC environment. Commend station talks to individual locos thru the track. Locos have ‘decoders’ to interpret these codes and respond to just theirs. There are auto reversers under two sections of my track loops backs that change polarity. Lots of videos on TH-cam explaining DCC. This is the best way to get back into the hobby in my opinion and i testarted with DC
nice looking layout except the track work: track joints have a kink and dont have a smooth radius
Oh you are so right. I’m not great at getting the track work perfect. I worked couple hours today fixing couple of my problem spots. I have two pretty bad kinks going into the switch coming out of the upper Coop siding to work on. My BLI locos always derail here but my Atheran or Atlas locos will handle the entrance into coal loader. Only my NS GP15-1 can exit the Coop. I also have some kinks in tunnel #2 where I set the auto reverser but seldom have derails here. My biggest frustration is my Peco turnouts. 🤬. I have 4 that can’t consistently get power to the switch rail.