Category: Layout Planning

Benchwork, Layout Planning2 Comments

The Challenge of A Tilting House

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I lived in an old but modernized house (Altbauwohnung) near Frankfurt. Most of the houses in my area are of these types. While the owner has done wonderful job in modernizing his 3-story house, one of the challenges I face is uneven floors at every part of my apartment. Even in the living room, different corners have different degrees of tilt (I don’t think the house is of any risk of collapsing; else, it wouldn’t be fit for occupancy) I have taken some measurements from a spirit level app on my smartphone (showing inches of rise per foot) This means … Continue reading The Challenge of A Tilting House

Benchwork, Layout Planning, Product ReviewLeave a comment

New Home for Collections

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It was a quiet Christmas in Deutschland. Unlike in Malaysia, where the streets and shopping malls are crowded with people and decorations, Christmas in Deutschland is a rather private affair. 2 weeks before Christmas, I bought quite some stuffs from Ikea and this was the only time I could fix them. The new BILLY book shelf was a welcomed item to the home. I could now take out my collections – models and reference books and have them properly shelved and easily to reach. Model railroad magazines, reference books and planning materials, both German and American railroads. Finally BR185 and … Continue reading New Home for Collections

Layout PlanningLeave a comment

Track Clearances: NEM102 vs NMRA S-7

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I always wonder what are the differences in track clearances or loading gauge between the European and North American model railroads (and also in reality). Visually the American locos are larger and taller compared to its European counterpart. This photo (HO models) shows that. For those who want to run both the North American and European models on your layout, these measurements will help you. If you are sticking to European (or American), then it is good to know what the other side of the Atlantic have (just to satisfy your curiosity) The above dimensions did not take into account … Continue reading Track Clearances: NEM102 vs NMRA S-7

Layout Planning, Planning BookLeave a comment

Turnout Planning with Peco Template and NEM103

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PECO has finally updated their turnout templates and I managed to download all the N-scale turnout templates in code 55 (3,47MB) and code 80 (1,93MB). I intend to use mainly PECO turnouts but am open to try others such as those from Fleischmann and even at a later stage handlaid tracks from Fast Tracks. You can download the 1:1 templates here. An example of a code 80 template below. To print correctly, make sure there is no sizing of the printing (Print > Properties > … ) Once printed, the ruler on the right side allows you to check with your ruler … Continue reading Turnout Planning with Peco Template and NEM103

Layout Planning, Planning BookLeave a comment

Lucky Draw Win: “DB Netze Infrastrukturprojekte 2012” Coffee table Book

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One advantage of working for Deutsche Bahn is you have information about trains and its operations (only publicly available information are published here). DB Projektbau GmbH, a subsidiary of DB Netze (railway infrastructure company) published a coffee-table book about their infrastructure projects in 2012. I won this book through an internal lucky draw. This wonderful book (in German/Deutsch) is available for Eurailpress from 48 Euro. A good book to have if you want to follow the construction guidelines of tunnels, bridges and right-of-ways of DB. Definitely an idea book for my N-scale layout. Continue reading Lucky Draw Win: “DB Netze Infrastrukturprojekte 2012” Coffee table Book

Layout PlanningLeave a comment

NEM Standards for N-scale Modellers

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Update (11 November 2026): This 2012 post has been superseded by my updated article, Essential MOROP NEM European Model Railway Standards for European N-scale (1:160). I’ve kept this earlier post for reference, but please use the newer article for the updated standards information. Looking for the N-scale measurements of various NEM (Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen) standards? I made JPG files of them here. Feel free to download and refer. Note: depending whether you are using code 55 or code 80 tracks, with or without cork roadbed and extra under-layers, these measurements below are always from the top of the rail. So … Continue reading NEM Standards for N-scale Modellers

German Railways, Layout PlanningLeave a comment

Deciphering Oliver’s HO-scale Neustadt Layout

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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

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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

Layout PlanningLeave a comment

Ideas Worth Noting

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I got myself an Idea booklet to jot down my ideas and observations. Always good to put down on paper what you have in mind rather than store in memory. There is so much to think about each day; so better to have it in black and white. I had one when I did Rosenberg Meet a few years back but never got to execute that layout. But it made good sense to check what I had written and see if I could use them for germaN160 layout. Hope you keep one too. Continue reading Ideas Worth Noting