Basic Tips

Tip # 1 - The Very First Step to a Great Model Railroad Layout
Careful planning is the key to a well-developed layout. Avoid frustrating mistakes, start-overs, and complete overhauls as your railroad grows by roughing out your plan on paper first. Graph paper keeps your measurements accurate, and you might even want to make templates of regularly used track sections (9" Straight, 18" Curved, etc.) Sketching your ideas not only helps you determine whether they'll work, it will make the most of what you have now and aid in planning for future expansion.

Tip # 2 - Setting Up Made Simple with Push-Pins
Okay, you've roughed out your plan on paper, and now it's time to see whether it's going to work with actual track. Instead of nailing in each track section when you connected it... and then pulling them up when things don't fit quite the way you wanted... use common push pins to hold your track in place until you're sure about your track configuration. Push pins keep the joiners tight and your layout won't shift. When something needs to be adjusted, you can remove a few pins as needed. Then when you're satisfied, you can exchange the push pins for track nails.

Tip # 3 - Platform For Smooth Operation

All train sets run more smoothly when attached to a stable platform. Track stays in alignment, there's less dust and lint from floors and rugs, plus there's space for landscaping.

Materials needed: a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" or 3/4" thick plywood (you can also use 4' x 6'), and HO Spikes or Track Nails.


Step 1 - Start with plywood. (You can laminate Homasote to plywood for easier nailing.) Draw a line lengthwise down the center of the wood. This is your centerline. Mark the center point on the line. If you have a 45" x 36" oval track, draw two cross lines at a 90-degree angle to the centerline. Make each 4 1/2" from center point. Make marks on cross lines 18" from centerline.

Step 2 - Mark your track centerline by measuring 18" from where the platform centerline and cross lines intersect.

Step 3 - Arrange your track on the platform so the nail holes in the track are over the track centerline. Sight along the rails to make sure there are no kinks. Adjust the track if there are.

Step 4 - Using HO spikes or Track Nails, attach the track to the platform. Push nails or spikes into holes in track only to the top of the ties. If ties bend, the nails are too tight. Now your platform can be mounted on legs with a frame, set on a table or set on the floor.

Tip # 4 - Top Off Your Platform with Foam
A thin foam sheet on top of your platform allows you to make indentations that becomes realistic-looking ditches and rolling hills. Before mounting the foam, you can also glue small, gradually sized pieces of foam or wood to your platform. Then once the foam sheet and grass mat goes on top, you'll have more variation with larger hills as well as small peaks and valleys. Foam provides a good base for nailing structures and track without damaging them, or the platform beneath.

Tip # 5 - Index Cards to the Rescue
Driving your track nails in too far can damage your platform, Homasote or your track. And, they can be tough to remove if you need to make changes. A few snips off an index card, and you have made a gauge that helps avoid this problem. Cut a small triangular shape into the edge of the index card. Place it as shown around your nail or spike. Even the slight thickness of the card acts as a buffer and can prevent damage!