The Evolution of My Model Railroad Hobby 

Those n scale layouts are some of the greatest layouts I’ve seen. And I can’t wait to see the Current layout being complete.

I’m on the same journey right now. Same inspiration! Although, I’m still doing n scale. And HO lol I’m sick. Edit: your Disney railroad video is a HUGE part of my inspiration. One of my favorite videos on RU-vid. I’m not a big fan of what Disney has become, but I love the history and what it used to be. That’s coming from a 27 year old guy.

Hi Alex, I am impressed by the description of your journey, the use of traditional model RR techniques (I am an older "traditional" kind of guy) and your calm description of your layout. It is almost "therapeutic". Your descriptions are clear and concise, simple enough for beginners while being challenging enough for mature modelers exploring more realism. Peace be with you, thank you for sharing with the YT RR community, Ciao, L

It looks like it is going to be even more beautiful.

A man of many talents.... Thanks for posting.....

Nice vedio. You provide very useful information to new model RR builders. Thanks...

Ah hah. I'm onto you. You're a model train guy in addition to being a Disneyland freak. We're all the same!!! :) Coolest thing ever - I didn't know about Walt's train fascination until another railroader told me about that *while* I was riding the train at Disneyland!!! I've since learned much more about Walt's model railroad / live steam adventures. He was just like us!!! On30 seems pretty ideal for narrow gauge railroading indoors!!! Funny how things come full circle. After a lifetime of appreciating all types of layouts, including super "serious" layouts, I'm currently *really* appreciating the more Disneyland-style artistic layouts.

Alex, This was most enjoyable. I have my O scale Marx Allstate from 60 years ago. The cars and a few pieces of tracks and signage are displayed in our living room. My Dad was a railroad man and trains have been a big part of my life. Thank you for sharing!

this is so cool! thanks for telling us about this during the livestream the other day.

Thank-you!

It is people like you who I love seeing take part in this hobby. Not being super picky about detail and realism just getting and running what you love. Happy railroading

Model railroading is fun. I just got back into it this week ^^

good job that hobby takes time money & patience..my dad started with o then ho then n scales I ended up with lots of plasticville bldngs and trains in 3 scales..still have them

Consider putting capacitors on those lighted passenger cars. They are dirt cheap and will get rid of the flickering. Happy modeling.

Keep up the great work!

Very nice! Thanks.

Nice! I still have my model trains but haven't set them up in many years

For a while I have been thinking of making my own On30 model railroad. This was a very inspiring video and I think I'm gonna do it! Thank you!

Great job👍 I also enjoyed that you gave Dave a shout out. Looking forward to watching your progress

I’d love to see more of these types of videos. I’ve just started On30, my fictional railroad is called the “Dowdle Creek RR”.

How cool! I'm glad you're able to work on it again after the big move! I have a lot of train stuff for H-O. Even a big table-size block of Styrofoam ready to cut! Lots of fun buildings too. This will be my retirement/grandchildren project after my son gets his own place. Right now we have no room for it all. My son learned how to talk with model train and regular train videos. He was completely obsessed with them. Xoxo

walt disney love trians n i didn't know u built the train setup very cool .

Thanks!

i admire the meticulous detail people put into miniatures. your railroad is going to look great! :)

Great video! I love your Porter and Forney 😃🚂

I know nothing about model trains but I love this!

Great video Alex. Can’t wait to see the finished product of the new layout.

Nice job with the On30 layout! I keep hoping that Bachmann (or somebody) will bring out another 4-4-0 that replicates the typical 8-18C 4-4-0 that was popular on 3ft gauge railroads in the 1800’s (see the locomotive Eureka as a prototype example of this locomotive). Again, nice work-and I hope that model railroading continues to give you hours of enjoyment…

This is very inspiring Alex!

Just thought I might mention that it's possible to have sound without going digital, an ordinary bluetooh speaker will work fine, O. Winston Link's steam sound recordings (plenty more from all over on youtube)make for great ambience. MRC also made some stand-alone units that are basically two speakers and a remote with buttons to trigger all the various sounds, they turn up from time to time on ebay and the like for reasonable prices. The Symphony 77 was the best in my opinion, as it has the widest variety of sounds, and the chuffing rate can be controlled to match the speed of the train on the layout. Model in O-27 (old-school Lionel) inside, and G-Scale Live Steam outside, and also a big ocean liner buff, so I've been following the channel with great interest!

Such a cool video!

Thanks for sharing. I love your ocean liner videos as I have been a ship nerd from an early age and like you, the model railroading bug has been with me since I was probably 3 or 4. I’ve built two HO layouts but both are dismantled now….I still have tons of locomotives and rolling stock projects packed away and I never stopped buying :) I mainly model 1970-1980s Southern Pacific and DRGW. Keep up the great work on these videos…your style is great and very relaxing to view

Enjoyed the video very much thanks DD.

I had the bacmann n scale union pacific set with the 4-4-0 when I was a kid lol, I also had one of those huge life like Ho sets that came with the scenery paper and everything, which ended up bring my ony layout ever. That might change though. Also had a bunch of Tyco, bachmann and other brands of trains. Also had G scale electric set that was made by new bright that despide being 2 rail was 18v AC Movies like Cassandra crossing, and von ryans express got me curious about european trains. Which is what I buy now mostly. Also had the early EZ tech G gauge train Service express which was 49mhz and was much better than the post 2003 27mhz versions with lesser quality sound. Also had the later versions in fact i have one now.

I love the Bachmann Forney locomotives. They look just like B. & S. R./ B. & H. R./ Edaville #7 and #8.

enjoyed this video

Man, that was a long comment I wrote. Of you don’t know what to say in reply, a ❤️ will be ok. I’m not sure you read in some previous comments that I’m very autistic. At my age of 30 now I’m beginning to slightly mature. I take all the necessary pills needed to help me control myself. But I’m more an open book. In other words open to friendship on social media. And still if you prefer to be private I respect that as well. Let’s just agree to enjoy our love for trains, Disney history, and Ocean liners like Queen Mary and Titanic. While I enjoy the modern cruise ships for vacationing. I hope you continue to enjoy your apartment. I might get one too. Adjacent to my current house.

Very nice, Alex! That looks like a fun layout. I'm a model railroader myself. I'm looking forward to seeing this develop!

cool with the train...

Wonderful work on your project 😊

Great video, Alex! I was wondering about the trestle- I watched a bit of your build video and saw when you began to repair it, then didn't see it behind you on the livestreams... so I actually wondered if you had given up! So glad to see it's still there. Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

Great layouts, Alex. I kitbashed some N-scale Brill trolleys, added a modern motor and DCC decoder and made my own S.F. Cable Cars. I've been planning for 30 years and finally have a city in 36x44 inches. I'm working on getting the turntable and Nob Hill chain driven hill climb going.

Great video. Interesting history coupled with a nice tale of resilience and persistence. Can’t wait to see this layout evolve. Well done.

I have a similar issue with my layout. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment that is part of a formerly single family home divided into a 1 bedroom apartment and four studios. I have space for a roughly 4 x 8 table layout. At the moment I have two Bachmann 2-6-0 C-16 Moguls and a Bachmann 0-4-0 side rod Davenport Gas Mechanical Diesel with a 2-truck Climax on the way. I have a passenger train of two coaches and a combine, one of their 30 something foot boxcars, two 18 foot flat cars, three wood side side-dump ore cars and a Caboose. I have an ore bin, two false front stores (not the ones that go up against a backdrop, but the type of buildings found in Old West towns and many small towns today in Kansas and other western states.) Oh I also have a gallows and a water tower with another water tower due to arrive soon. I switched from HO to N to On30. I have a lot of leftover HO track and am going to used that for my On30's right of way. I have some left over N track too and am going to use some for an On18 mining tram with the ore bin and a scratch built mine hoist house that encloses the shaft. I am loosely basing my railroad on the real Kansas Central that ran from Leavenworth, Kansas to Miltonvale, Kansas and was a 3 foot gauge railroad from 1871 until the Union Pacific widened the gauge in the early 1890s. I am calling my road the Kansas River and Southern. It will service farms, quarries, ranches and coal mines in Shawnee County and Osage County, Kansas. I won't have tunnels, will have at least two cuts. As a slap in the face to history I am including a Kansas River riverport that will be the main yard of the KR&S. From the riverport the road goes south into Shawnee and Osage Counties to the coal fields south of the Kansas River. In the 1800s this road supplied coal to the riverboats and supplies to the mines, quarries, farms and ranches along its route. Due to my limited space I am using two spurs to represent the route beyond the layout, I have planned in the main yard and one mine spur and the riverboat landing spur where there will be a transfer bin for the side dump cars to dump coal into waiting barges. There is going to be a small town along with the yard to represent the town of Meek (named for Dave Meek of Thunder Mesa Mining fame.) The mine spur represents the coal mining town of Underwood named for Brent Underwood of Ghost Town Living. As to my timeline I am going into the mid-20th Century as the mining of brown coal lasted into the 1960s until the advent of the Clean Air Act (that legislation killed the coal industry of Kansas.)

Quite a labor of love! Your passion for all topics you bring to RU-vid is very impressive!

Cool video Alex. I want to build one someday like this. The wife says I have enough toys! Never! I love the little building and road you did. Creative.

Amazing layouts, much better than my o gauge layout by far.

I like what you've done so far. You can easily add either a small turntable, or reversing loop (with auto reversing module) that will allow your train to travel in either direction on your layout. You'll be amazed at how simple it is, and your layout will be much more interesting to run. Also I would advise that the layout be elevated to between 40 and 55 inches above the floor. This change automatically makes the layout appear more 'real' because you will be looking 'into it' instead of 'down on it'. These are some simple and inexpensive things that will give you much more enjoyment and 'USE' out of your RR. Happy railroading !!!!!! KYLE CREEL SUPT., GM BGRR an On30 project

Nice work so far. I have a On30 layout which has been in several magazines and I love O scale narrow gauge!

Love your setup! Nothing like a narrow gauge steam railroad! I’m actually working on models of the Disneyland locomotives and cars in 1:55 scale (using HO track to represent 3’ gauge, very similar to On30). I was originally considering HOn3, but similar to you, I decided working with a bigger scale would be more cost efficient and easier to work with. Anyways, can’t wait to see your layout continue to grow and evolve!

Super great job on the model rail road, I would make one suggestion, use a capacitor across each led light in the cars to smooth out the flickering, you are going to have to experiment with different values to see what works the best. Nice work Fellow (CM)

I love this!!

I know purists will scoff but I really like your idea of a fictional historical railroad. I have wanted to do something somewhat similar but in N scale. Similar to your idea it would be a fictional steam railroad doing historic excursions in the modern day, only featuring my favorite large, late steam era, standard gauge locomotives in an Appalachian setting. Locomotives like Hudsons, Mikados, and even a UP FEF 4-8-4 (my favorite all time steam locomotive). If I were to ever get a large enough space for a layout I would fancy an Allegheny and a Big Boy as well of course. I'm just a sucker for big powerful steam locos so for a practical layout I will need to stick to N scale. My experience with Kato's Union Pacific 4-8-4 is that it runs quite smooth and is very strong but it is a large locomotive and requires more gentle curves and of course has significantly more pick up wheels. Very pricey too but I digress. Unfortunately though modelling trains just isn't in the cards for me right now and i no longer have a layout or any locos or rolling stock. So I'm glad to see you are enjoying the hobby, I know how much enjoyment it brings.

Your layouts show a lot of skill and craftsmanship, even the ones you said you weren't happy with. I started collecting N scale stuff nearly a decade ago but never got around to building a full layout. Hoping to get back into it at some point.

Your a epic 3d artist

Welcome to portable!

Alex, I would love to come see this layout some day as I live just 3 hours away in Bend, OR. My father and I built a layout in our basement that is 15x35 HO scale, modeling the great NW logging industry. Modeling S.P&S (Spokane, Portland & Seattle). We have upgraded to DCC and run the trains from our phones. We have operating sessions if you're ever interested in operating, it would be a pleasure to have you by the layout in Salem, OR. Feel free to message me and we can connect in the near future. - Blair

yup HO was tuff, that is why I blew up the whole set when I was a kid, lol

Great video Alex. I remember getting my own N scale Disney trains, it’s what got me interested in you. I mean, you called out to me first when you saw that video. Until you told me you enjoy your privacy because of your schizo effect. So now I respect it all. And this video is making me enjoy your own ways of model railroading. I do prefer N scale all the way. However I did get large scale models of Ward Kimballs Emma Nevada from Bachmann and the Chloe from LGB. I also felt the need to get models of 2 Nevada native Narrow gauge wood burning steam locomotives that recently visited the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. There names are Eureka and Glenbrook. I’m sure you heard of them. And that Eureka and Palisade #4 “Eureka is privately owned by Las Vegas resident Dan Markoff. And the Glenbrook being a relatively recent restoration at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City NV. Well I have them. And I love them. I also managed to get an On30 model of ET&WNC 4-6-0 #12. An over 100 year old stable on the Tweetise Railroad in Blowing Rock NC. I also got a large scale mode of #12 in Tweetsie Railroad colors. Even though it was supposed to be part of a set, I ended up getting the locomotive online. Still like it very much. As of today I’m done collecting large scale model trains. And continuing my focus on N scale between modern steam locomotives and modern Diesel locomotives. Finally, if you are wondering, yes. I do still have my N scale Disneyland Railroad starter set with EP Ripley and the Retlaw 1 passenger train, as well as CK Holiday with his Retlaw 2 freight train. I even managed to snag an N scale model of Carolwood Pacific #173 the Lilly Belle from Walt Disneys Carolwood Pacific Railroad. And it’s a gorgeous model. Glad you still enjoying your On30 layout. It’s truly been missed. I had no idea you moved. And ever since you moved you’ve been talking more about historical Ocean Liners like Queen Mary and Titanic. And who doesn’t like the 1997 Titanic movie. And thanks to you and many other viewers we know the difference between and Ocean Liner and today’s modern Cruise ship.

Awesome I built an on30 layout a few years ago. But moved and had to give it away unfortunately

Kris broke the bridge LOL

e p i c

My wish it’s make a O scale train layout of a fictional route

I hope to start building my next layout it be a locomotive depo layout losiey based on the broadmedow depo in nsw

delivering a promise to watch some of your older videos. Is that a 4' x 8' board? I had one that size in HO that my dad built with me as a very young kid in the 1970s. I spent hours working with it.

i agree on the sound effects i have personally dont care for them.

Honestly i dont think you should cringe at your 2015 railroad, i think it looks very good and i dont even think i can even make it so maybe look at it as a special railroad and use it as from where you started and now where you are

Hey I own hornby and Bachmann!

Make a lake underneath made of epoxy!

On30 without sound? NNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!😂😂😂😂😂

Great work Alex! This is extremely impressive, especially your attention to detail. I was wondering if you plan to continue updating your D.H.T videos? I noticed you remade many of them but a few like Pirates and the Jungle Cruise are yet to be done (unless I’m mistaken). Any thoughts on this? Your work on this channel is greatly appreciated!

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Hi Alex. Quick question where did you get your C.K Holiday and Forney locomotive that was shown in the video.

Can you post a link to your new youtube showing your current layout and updates?

Where did you get the locomotives, carts (forgot the word), rails with gravel under them and stuff?

now do the Northeast Corridor, do it ok maybe that will be painful

1/48 scale On30 is gauge.

T r a i n

Where did you get the track from

THERES A THIRD ENGINE TO BE SEEN AT 7:19 can you please tell us about it ?

What track planner u use ?

Dude your into chu chu trains

Hey Alex have you heard of dcc sound for model railroading? I have a dcc sound Model Metrolink train set in ho

I have a Kato japanese commuter train and a Tomix freight set in n scale, I'd alo like to get a life like little joe just for nostalgia, along with another bachmann old timer set too. In Ho i have to stick with Roco and piko and mostly sine liiput and trix is overpriced for some of the 1970s era stuff they still make. I will not pay 130.00 with shipping and tax included for a set of 3 german boxcars that were first launched in 1978, (appears in the pld international Modelleisenbahn books)in Ho.

Can you make more videos of your models

If you going to try to make a cliff face somewhere on your layout would recommend this video then. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3d1U2HA7dXQ.html

My dad chose N scale all because of the space in his basement.

First

Nice job with the On30 layout! I keep hoping that Bachmann (or somebody) will bring out another 4-4-0 that replicates the typical 8-18C 4-4-0 that was popular on 3ft gauge railroads in the 1800’s (see the locomotive Eureka as a prototype example of this locomotive). Again, nice work-and I hope that model railroading continues to give you hours of enjoyment…