Members' Layouts

Sam Deo's Layout

Prewar meets modern times

By Sam Deo 05-59610

 I've been collecting and running trains for as long as I can remember. But it wasn't until the last 10 years or so I got hooked on Prewar tinplate. I remember going to shows with my father when I was a child and drooling over the standard gauge pieces, thinking one day I'd have one. I never forgot about that shiny engines with the brass and copper pipes. As I got older I realized the amount of space needed for a nice size standard gauge layout was way more then I could fit in my basement. So I opted to go with the smaller O gauge prewar pieces and keep my small standard gauge set for going around the tree during the holidays.

 

These days my layout is a mix of modern MTH reproductions, original Lionel rolling stock and modern Lionel accessories just to add some life to the layout.

 

The layout itself is 5' x 13 ' and is shaped like an offset dog bone. I'm running 4 main lines and plan to add a Leland Monorail and trolley in the future. The lower level is my freight lines. On the outer loop is a MTH 260, the inner loop is a Lionel Classics 44 freight set. The upper level is the passenger lines with a MTH 1694 Ives reproduction and MTH 249 pulling a 600 series passenger set.

 

I'm running 2 MTH Z4000's for power. My accessories include an older MTH 840 power station, a Lionel Hellgate wide enough for 2 trains, a Lionel Irvington Factory, a Marx freight depot and a few other pieces such as original water tanks, modern animated accessories and a MTH 116 station. The trestles are home made from plywood, 2x3's and some left over ½ x 3 stock. The grass base and rock walls are both outdoor carpet and the table is actually 3 separate parts bolted together.

 

Jeffery Corrick's Layout

The Lionel Postwar O Layout

by Jeffery Corrick 08-62417

(click on any pic for a larger version...)

 

This is the main layout.  The idea is to limit it to Lionel 1945 - 1969.  Yes, there are a several accessories and some rolling stock that doesn't qualify -- but I don't have the prewar layout started yet <g>.  And the lift bridge?  So sue me -- it was in the 1950 catalog -- I say it counts <another grin>.  The track work and wiring are all done, so now I'm down to landscaping, grass, trees, roads and all that -- which are not my forté...  I'm much better at wiring it up than making it pretty.  But hey, got to get this one finished...  and then get the snow on the SG layout.  And then...

The Mountain Loop

The only part of the layout that's pretty much finished.  The cars were my step-dad's as a kid.  I added the engine -- one of my first (of WAY too many) eBay finds.

 

The Super-O El

When I started all this, I didn't know Super-O existed -- so I did the whole layout out of my old O-27 track.  Then I found some of my rolling stock just wouldn't make it through the old switches -- so I ripped them all up and replaced them with new O-27 switches.  Then I bought the Class J Northern...  I almost cried.  The arrival 2353 warbonnet and Santa Fe Red Stripe set pretty much settled things.  Everything got ripped up and replaced with vintage O-31 except for a couple of new O-31 turnouts.  Yet another mistake...  Soon the modern turnouts were replaced with vintage 022's.  Live and learn, right?

Then I learned about Super O.  Well, I wasn't up for ripping everything up yet again -- but I did have a bunch of new (old) stuff I didn't have a place for on the layout...  So I carved a couple of more tunnel portals in the mountain, and scratch-built a double-line El out of Plastruct girders.  Glue, small plastic things and patience not being my strong suits, I nearly put a brick through it many times -- and it's not perfect -- but I was still pretty proud of it when it was finished.  And I got some Super O on the layout!

 

Landscaping

OK, I finally got around to getting the grass and trees and,,,  well all that stuff started.  The town is pretty much finished now.  That's at least a tenth of the layout <g>.

 

and "The City at Night"

 

And for more layout pix -- and some of the Standard Gauge layout, feel free to stop by my website at http://clintjefferies.com/trains.html