Layout WIP: I've finally started a real layout!

[kyphur]

Image is link to the Update Set

I've got the track that will encircle the Village of Anna laid-out. The Winter Village sets will get slight modifications (like snow removal and backs added for the buildings) then I'll build some missing structures like a small firehouse, village hall and train station just to name a few.

On the end near the Rail Yard there will ba a small train platform for the commuters who work in the Yard. Inside the loop of track on that end there will be a farm complete with a Barn, Farmhouse, Silo and a field or two of crops.

In the Flickr Set you'll see that I now have the Fire Brigade Modular Building, it will serve the Urban Suburb but the fire truck fits into the winter village theme well so it gets transferred to the Village of Anna (a pic in the update set shows it next to the Postal Truck, they look like cousins).

BTW, a little bit of Real Life hitting the bricks... Our little guy (4 years old) was diagnosed with Autism last month. He was born deaf and has Cochlear Implants so it's taken a while to get to the point where they could say his social issues are no longer hearing related. Since Gabby loves is own LEGO and really enjoy watching Daddy's LEGO Trains I've decided to dedicate my Layout in his honor to Autism Awareness. In the coming weeks you'll notice billboards with Autism messages appearing in the Flickr set and eventually on the layout. When I can start showing the layout at Cons and events I plan to leave the Autism messages in place in hopes to support Autism Awareness and encourage others to talk about the issues.

[WesternOutlaw]

Hi Kyphur. Your layout is looking better each time you post an update. I like the use of the green baseplates for a green layout and while the Christmas village buildings seem small in the picture, that's a big layout. The Engine Shed looks good in the distance - that's a great set. I think the farm addition will look great, especially with all the green. I really like the LEGO Farm sets and had them on my small layout at one time.

I also see the start of what appears to be an incline. Will that be another loop or is it the track next to it that just needs lifting up? Great layout and it looks like you've got a lot of space to work with. I look forward to seeing your progress.

On a side note, I wish you the best with your little guy. Your layout is certainly dedicated to a meaningful and important cause.

[Deeks]

Looking ever better! After seeing the layout diagram you posted a little while back I was wondering if you might add and small spur line to connect your village loop to the rest of the track network. Obviously not a section of track you would use much but I'm sure the holiday train needs to get to the engine shed every once and a while or perhaps do a "cross-country" tour. Just a thought. It looks great & I'm quite envious!

[roamingstop]

A great looking layout and im sure the little one will get to enjoy every bit of it. Life is never easy; but the rewards will be there in heaps.

As to the Train Museum track - this could be a nice little side section with vintage locos, running (or stationary?) on blue track with old white plates. A real 'Lego Train Museum' dedicated to vintage age... it was my plan but ive never any space laid out.

[kyphur]

Hi Kyphur. Your layout is looking better each time you post an update. I like the use of the green baseplates for a green layout and while the Christmas village buildings seem small in the picture, that's a big layout.

I think once I have the building MODed (with backs) and added a few more structures it with have the feel of a small rural hamlet in part due to the scale of the layout. That is my goal anyway.

The Engine Shed looks good in the distance - that's a great set.

The Engine Shed is in a great spot, eventually there will be a warehouse workshop and offices in that general area also. The only problem is that some of the newer Engines don'e fit into the shed (3677, Maersk) as a result of this I'll probably move it to the Train Museum that will be between the Main City and the Urban Suburb. It will be replaced with a MOC Engine Shed that fits larger engine models though.

I think the farm addition will look great, especially with all the green. I really like the LEGO Farm sets and had them on my small layout at one time.

I'm thinking that it will make the layout more interesting showing all of these little bits of life in different areas (Urban, Suburban Rural & middle of nowhere). The far will fill a few baseplates in the loop at the rightside end. It will have pigs, goats, chickens & cows. I might try my hand a MOCing a Harvester (Combine) for the rows of crops in the field.

I also see the start of what appears to be an incline. Will that be another loop or is it the track next to it that just needs lifting up? Great layout and it looks like you've got a lot of space to work with. I look forward to seeing your progress.

I just have the track off the incline as I'm replacing the good quality bricks with some "seconds" I have since the supports will eventually be covered-up with landscaping. The track is laying where the 2 lane highway will be eventually laid for traffic to go between all 3 cities and the 2 Train Yards.

On a side note, I wish you the best with your little guy. Your layout is certainly dedicated to a meaningful and important cause.

Thanks, he's a tough little guy and I know things will get on track for him once we get better educated on how to help him.

Looking ever better! After seeing the layout diagram you posted a little while back I was wondering if you might add and small spur line to connect your village loop to the rest of the track network. Obviously not a section of track you would use much but I'm sure the holiday train needs to get to the engine shed every once and a while or perhaps do a "cross-country" tour. Just a thought. It looks great & I'm quite envious!

I've been thinking about if I want to connect to two suburban loops to the main line and I can't say either way right now. That would be a nice way to sneak a couple of the double crossovers I have (seven in my collection in total) into the layout. One problem is that I have the incline on on side and I'm hoping to put a tunnel on the other side so I'd have to see where I could fit the spur line. Each short end of the oval will have a station or platform so I can't connect there either.

BTW, the Holiday Train is sitting there just for storage at the moment. I'm considering building a motorized box car and using it on that loop but then it would be the only active (in the traffic pattern) Steam Loco on the Layout as all of the other Steam Engines will be at the Museum.

A great looking layout and im sure the little one will get to enjoy every bit of it. Life is never easy; but the rewards will be there in heaps.

LEGO is Gabby's favorite toy... We have to keep our eyes on him as he tries to abduct his older brother's sets all the time! He'll sit and watch my trains run until the batteries go flat and he never tries to grab them off the tracks. He loves to sit at the table with me and tinker with his blocks while i'm building my models.

As to the Train Museum track - this could be a nice little side section with vintage locos, running (or stationary?) on blue track with old white plates. A real 'Lego Train Museum' dedicated to vintage age... it was my plan but ive never any space laid out.

I've been thinking of having at least on representative Engine from each of the LEGO Train Eras represented in a static display at the Museum. The older models will probably be modern remakes as I don't own any trains stuff before the 9v era. I would like to have one running train on a loop around the grounds.

I have a lot more plates to buy before I lay that track though...

[Cunctator]

Great layout and even more great thanks to the cause it was dedicated

[LEGO City]

Wouldn't it be easier to not use the plates, and just put the track directly on the green baseplates?

[kyphur]

Wouldn't it be easier to not use the plates, and just put the track directly on the green baseplates?

Only Straight Track attaches directly to baseplates...

Flex-Track, Curves and Switch Points can't and must be ballasted.

Also, I like the look of ballasted track, what you see is not the final ballast design (which will be 2 plates high).

Edited February 10, 2012 by kyphur

[Piranha]

Looks much better with the baseplates.

Great job and I can't wait for more updates.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Macoco

[L@go]

It's getting ever better - so inspiring to see such a huge layout being built from the ground up :)

Best of luck with your kid, and with the learning curve about autism.

[kyphur]

Minor update:

Acquired 2 sets, some track and some baseplates yesterday:

10211 Grand Emporium, Donated to the layout by my wife!

7637 Farm Set, purchased from BrickLink

6 each 16x32 Green Baseplate, purchased from BrickLink

2 each 32x32 Green Baseplate, FREE using VIP Points!

8 each Straight Track

16 each Flex Track

As you can see I've laid the spur line that connects the Switching Yard to the not yet built Freight Yard.

My MODed version of the 7937 Train Station sits on this line. I used 2 copies of the set to create the station. The Commuter Line that connects the "Big City" to the Urban Suburb will run through this station to the left of the spur line (which will not stop at the station. The purpose of the walkway is to allow commuters to cross over the spur line safely.

Finally, the building of my Farm has begun with the 7637 Farm Set!

The image is a link to the update Flickr Set

Edited February 15, 2012 by kyphur

[L@go]

I kept searching for a farm set with number 9637, thinking that it was maybe a Dacta set that I didn't know about. Then I realised that you probably meant 7637... :)

[Piranha]

I like that shot, your modded station looks great. I had a plan to do something similar as it looks better when two sets are combined.

Are you planning to add a lot of foliage? A couple cypress trees would like great.

[kyphur]

I kept searching for a farm set with number 9637, thinking that it was maybe a Dacta set that I didn't know about. Then I realised that you probably meant 7637... :)

Ha ha ha, yeah I got it right on the Flickr Set but missed the "7" hitting "9" apparently...

[Legochief]

Kyphur, your layout is looking awesome. I can't wait to see the additions of the Farm and Grand Emporium. Congrats on adding them. I'm interested in learning more about your ballasting design. I'd like to add baseplates and ballasting to my layout, but I don't think I know enough about ballasting to begin. The little info I've found on the subject is kinda tough to decipher. How do you determine how many 1x1 plates you need to even begin ballasting? I love the look of the layouts with ballasting and lots of landscaping.

[kyphur]

I like that shot, your modded station looks great. I had a plan to do something similar as it looks better when two sets are combined.

Are you planning to add a lot of foliage? A couple cypress trees would like great.

Thanks for the compliments on the Station.

There will eventually be a ton of foliage. I'm collecting greenery in preparation for that stage of the build. I can't really do a lot of that until I've decided on the exact layout of buildings, roads and such though. Maybe I'll post a pic of the Green and brown bits I've amassed so far.

Kyphur, your layout is looking awesome. I can't wait to see the additions of the Farm and Grand Emporium. Congrats on adding them. I'm interested in learning more about your ballasting design. I'd like to add baseplates and ballasting to my layout, but I don't think I know enough about ballasting to begin. The little info I've found on the subject is kinda tough to decipher. How do you determine how many 1x1 plates you need to even begin ballasting? I love the look of the layouts with ballasting and lots of landscaping.

I've decided that I'll MOD the Apple Tree House to serve as my Farm House. The garage door will be replaced with a bay window but I think the exterior will remain otherwise untouched. I'll probably also get the Pig Farm set just to add the small structure, not sure what I'll do with the tractor. I'm planning on having a couple of baseplates worth of "crops in the field" and might tackle a CITY Scale Combine (Harvester).

For ballasting, what you see currently on the layout is just temporary. I'm loosely basing my plans on the Railbricks ballasting info but really doing my own thing. I do believe I'll be going with a height of 2 plates and a bottom width of 10 studs. This means the plates directly attached to the track will be the same width as the track but sitting on a base that is one stud wider on each side. Once I've worked out the details I'll post them here and in my Flickr.

Edited February 15, 2012 by kyphur

[Sokratesz]

Nice progress mate :)

[kyphur]

I'm giving more thought to the ballasting design for my track.

I think this is the base design I'll go with and then I'll speckle the ballast with 1x1 round plates of varying colors (black, white, light gray, dark gray a little green and brown).

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I'm giving more thought to the ballasting design for my track.

I think this is the base design I'll go with and then I'll speckle the ballast with 1x1 round plates of varying colors (black, white, light gray, dark gray a little green and brown).

Holy cow, that is going to be A LOT of round plates! And regular plates for that matter... Given any thought to an estimate?

Edited February 18, 2012 by Leg Godt Gud

[kyphur]

Holy cow, that is going to be A LOT of round plates! And regular plates for that matter... Given any thought to an estimate?

Yeah, I estimate it will be somewhere just north of 5,200 1x1 round plates!

Fortunately I don't have to get them all at once. I'll be ballasting the track as the parts come in a little each month.

[patje]

I have not yet passed through the entirely topic

but it sees already very nicely.

I will give you a place on the most beautiful layouts

which I have already seen in private

on my trainforum in Belgium...

Beautiful private train layouts

Edited February 18, 2012 by patje

[Legochief]

I'm giving more thought to the ballasting design for my track.

I think this is the base design I'll go with and then I'll speckle the ballast with 1x1 round plates of varying colors (black, white, light gray, dark gray a little green and brown).

Awesome ballasting idea kyphur! This looks great and will be even better sprinkled with varying color round plates. How will you do the curves though?

[kyphur]

Awesome ballasting idea kyphur! This looks great and will be even better sprinkled with varying color round plates. How will you do the curves though?

Under Curves & Switches I'll have to use tiles with strategically placed plates that the track can snap onto.

Layout update:

First I've finally started the task of sorting all of my loose pieces. I had to move all of them into the main area of the basement before I can do any sorting and that's done now!

Here's the beginning of my landscaping supplies:

Then I moved the 2 tables in place that will support the Freight Yard. I've even laid out the Track for the Freight Yard. The first switch is 32 studs from the bridge, I'm thinking of reducing that to 16 which would increase the length of the 2 topmost line each by 16 studs. I just need to be sure that the Engine & Rolling Stock can negotiate a curve that close to the bridge.

There will be a small office complex in the upper left of the table that will include the Harbor Master's office.

The lower half of the tables will have the area for transferring cargo from Ships or Trains to Trucks.

[Kazz]

What can I see in the background, is that a rather long santa fe lined up?

[Mr Benn]

Yeah, I estimate it will be somewhere just north of 5,200 1x1 round plates!

Fortunately I don't have to get them all at once. I'll be ballasting the track as the parts come in a little each month.

The best you could hope for is to find them in the PaB at your local Lego store - you can get a LOT of those into one of the cups rather than paying a few cents each! Sadly the only colours I've seen them in at the stores is trans orange and lime green... only good for psychadelic ballast!

Edited February 20, 2012 by Mr Benn