Month: April 2012

German Railways, Layout PlanningLeave a comment

Deciphering Oliver’s HO-scale Neustadt Layout

traiNmaster

While commuting to and from work, I had the time to read thoroughly, and repeatedly Oliver Bachmeier’s Neustadt HO-scale layout. I read his descriptions of his layout building as well as analysed closely the track plans and photos to decipher some missing information. The more I read and analysed his layout, the more I like his layout. Overall, his layout is based on 2 oval tracks on a 3.3m by 1.5m base. However, the beauty of his layout is compounded by the presence of a helix and a staging yard below the top main layers. In fact, there are 3 … Continue reading Deciphering Oliver’s HO-scale Neustadt Layout

German Railways, Layout Planning, Planning BookLeave a comment

Adopt and Adapt in Model Railway Building

traiNmaster

Have you ever had the feeling that you wanted to incorporate many things into your model railway after looking at those wonderful, impressive, realistic models at shows, Youtube and magazines? Or, even to incorporate many things in real-life. Well I do. And sometimes, I just have to be realistic with space and effort. Let’s talk about space before talking about effort. For many years I had this book “Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads” by Ian Rice (published by Kalmbach Books). In Malaysia, I had a train room (but never got to build one). Now that I am in Germany and … Continue reading Adopt and Adapt in Model Railway Building

BenchworkLeave a comment

IKEA IVAR Shelf Layout

traiNmaster

This is my first post for 2012, which means I better start doing something about my layout. I have a small apartment here and have to be realistic with the available space. I found the IKEA IVAR shelf which I think, makes a suitable N-scale layout. This frame is actually the side frame of the IVAR shelf system. It comes in 3 heights – 124cm, 179cm and 226cm and 2 widths – 30cm and 50cm. The above is 226cm high and 50cm wide. I got 2 of these frames to make a 226cm by 100cm layout (if arranged as below) … Continue reading IKEA IVAR Shelf Layout