You see so many layouts, usually smaller ones, where there are tracks everywhere and industry on top of industry. I could never figure out how to do that and make it look good. Then I started to learn slowly over time that less is more. People who are new to the hobby and see your video are lucky.
Great video. After I tore up and rebuilt my layout for the 3rd time, I finally slowed down and focused on the whole thing making sense. Several hundred dollars later...Best advice? Do what makes you happy, it's your railroad.
Thanks for all of your videos. I'm close to retirement, and I've been wanting a train layout since I was a kid. I'm learning as much as I can, and your videos and advice are truly appreciated.
Wow, this was helpful. I've getting a bit frustrated with working on my layout, and this gave me a better foothold on how to work on it in sections. Thanks for making all these video's DJ, you don't even know how much your videos help me. Keep up the great work.
Growing up in Chicago, we had industry upon industry. One side of the city steel mills and yet the other General Motors, Brock's candy, and .....just way to many to mention. And with multiple road name like ... Burlington Northern, Norfolk Southern, Santa Fe, and of course CSX. BN and the Santa fe ...before becoming the BNSF R.R. Cannot wait to see some layout updates !!!
My layout will be a small tourist town with a Rail Road Museum that includes train rides , with few industries. The museum will be the main attraction because it will give me the chance of showing all my engines and passenger cars, buses etc. that I've got regardless of the year that they were used.
Take a look at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay WI. Between the loop of track and the inside and outside display areas, it would scale down with very little work. An added bonus is the spur track to CN, ex WC Ltd, exx C&NW; so you can always "receive" new equipment via rail.
A few other ideas to keep in mind when building a layout. What kind or type of compression will you do? In the example given, typically a Grainer and Oil facility will not be next to one another, much less share the same switch. However you can still have them near one another, but scenic them differently with a viable "line" showcasing the compression. That "line" would represent many miles in space. So while physically they are next to one another, representatively they are far apart. If you watch other videos from many other layouts (small or even club layouts) you can see this in practice. Where they will have large industries in a corner (usually like a Steel Mill), and either a yard or some other industry will be "nearby" by a few feet but there will usually be a scene of some sort in-between. Now with a normal layout you don't have that kind of space to give to a large break like that, but you can still do the same thing by making that "line" by visually breaking it up. Lighter colors to showcase the Grainy being out in the fields or in an open area, and darker colors to showcase the grit and grime of an Oil Facility. Using tall trees can help in making this "line" or modeling a cliff between them can give that visual "break".
Also don't be afraid to walk away for a few days to a couple of weeks. If you need to think things over or are stuck on something. A break helps from time to time.
Hi DJ wish I seen this video before I started my lay =out, have put the track down and pulled it back up that many times I have almost forgotten. I have drawn track plans and then found it will not fit onto my board so changed it again and again but happy with what I have now, a loop and a number sidings to factory's, Engine shed and siding and a terminus line at the station. Now have found building the town is now not as easy as I thought it would be owing to a lack of space. Keep the videos coming and I look forward to them every week or so, Wayne (Sydney Australia)
While I like seeing the choo-choo go whoo whoo, I also like operations (though I’m not someone that’s like 50 foot boxcars don’t go to a grain elevator! Ukejsiwjwhwowowbveks!) I keep a passenger train or a train of 50’ boxcars I run around if I just wanna run something. Also I have a small passenger station that I use for of course passenger trains, but since I got a transfer caboose last Christmas I enjoy using the station, pretending that I’m picking up my crew for switching. Typically I try and leave and return to my engine shed with just my engine and transfer caboose. Also sometimes I use the station to simulate a crew change. Also I have a rule for how I use locomotives 1)4 axle diesels (not including f units) are for switching and locals (switching industries) 6)6 axle are for picking up trains from my yard along with pickups/drop offs at industries For steam it’s a little different 0-6-0s & 4-6-0s are for switching and locals Anything bigger than that are for what I use 6 axle diesels for Also I’m an omnivore so I sometimes run modern or steam era equipment depending on my mood. Well done! Cheers! And keep up the good work! -Iron Horse Historian
My new railroad will be totally fictional, think of it as a different time line so to speak, will use three old rail roads in the mix. Totally made up town and area, etc. I'm a writer so the history part was easy for me. It will be a monster though, for me and my friends and sons to play and run on. Everything will be fictional down to the industries and will be doing an engine house based off of one of your videos about engine houses. Will be starting benchmark very soon! Can't wait!
Excellent video DJ. I have been planning my next layout and have forced myself to stick to many of the guidelines you talk about. With this being my second serious prototypical layout I will build on the pros and cons of my my previous design while continuing add the prototypical insight you bring to all of us. Thanks for all of the great videos over the years. All the best, John
I'm going to model small town America in the Midwest. Growing up in NE Iowa i remember seeing Illlinois Central and Burlington Northern. Nowadays its Canadian National and Iowa Northern Railroad.
You are so right DJ! I love passenger service and commuter railroads. I like the interaction between modes of transportation. I have the equipment and space to build an airport. I will run a commuter line from the airport to my “downtown” passenger service. I still have freight services (Union Pacific) and modern industrial parks. I enjoy your tips and ideas. You have so many great ideas and you express them so clearly. I can see how skill share is helping you get even better.
Thank you! I really like the Skillshare because the videos are very well made, and straight to the point, not a single wasted second. It is a pretty genius concept. Trying to find good tutorials on RUclips for editing and stuff was frustrating. Speaking of airports, the ho scale one in the massive German layout is mind blowing!
Very good explanation! I know I am one that has a lot of industries so close together but that is because I get board watching the trains go by or in circles. I like to do operations as it keeps me interested and gives me something to do and a purpose. Great video! - Jason
I have found it helpful to model a specific prototype. It helps focus you and I find the detective work about the prototype is almost as much fun as the modeling. In the end however, I have to know when to compromise and call good enough since you can never fit all the prototype in your small space and sometimes you just can't find the info you need/want.
They are great tips DJ. I've struggled for a while about what I want. It can seem so daunting and endless trying to make any progress. You have helped clear a few things in my mind. I'm in Australia and a lot of things are different but the main points are the same. You are the first channel I've come across that clears up the industry clutter conundrum. It has never made sense to me when you see four or five industries taking single wagons (cars) crammed into a 2 or 3 metre (6 to 10 feet in the old scale 😉). Your tips on prototypical operations and trackside details are great.
Got into the hobby around 11-12 I’m 25 now and on my fifth layout after having to take down a modular layout that was going to be 25 x 25 with a 20 peninsula in the center, I only had enough room for a maybe a third of it in my apartment now I own a home and last week started my 1x12 proto freelance shelf layout, I still have an entire 11 x 8 room that i will do my main layout but for now my first crack at the steam era rather than modern I’m highly enjoying!
This is why the main focus of my layout is the steel mill and the industries that support the mill. The only industry that doesn't support the mill will be a small glass factory which is the tip of the hat to my hometown of Jeannette.
Where I live we have a yard just off the main line (passengers on the main). But off the back of the yard is an industrial branch with grain processing facilities, a metal scrap merchant, and a steel mill. So we have grain inbound, and scrap metal and milled steel outbound (probably coal and iron ore inbound as well) - the food produced leaves the area by truck. The locomotive working the branch will serve all of the industries over time, but rarely simultaneously. But I would agree that for the most part multiple different industries are a rarity.
My Layouts Are My Happy Place.Right Now I am working On My N Scale working on the Railyard On the Inside Line I Have 2 Lines Need A Couple of Switches to Do the One line After Bowling I will Hit My Layout Hard And Finish the Yard Then go From there.
DJ do you ever visit club layouts? Not everyone has space at home for their dream layout, I'd like to learn more about what it is like to belong to a club with an operating layout.
i just started a new layout project in n scale, this video helped a lot...( first time im putting detail on my layout) my ho layout looks like a small short line
Hi DJ, I understand the point you're trying to make, but at the same time model railroading is about compromise which most like to call selective compression. Also I've found there are two general types of people in the hobby, builders and operators. A builder is someone who is trying to reproduce in miniature something they've seen in their lifetime. A builder would be someone who probably would not be happy placing a steel mill beside a grain elevator. I've also found once builders layouts near completion, they start over on a new layout. On the other hand, an operator is someone who enjoys modeling the movement of freight or passengers from one location to another and because they enjoy the operations end of the hobby, they probably would not be against placing a steel mill beside a cement elevator. Yes you have builders who are also operators, but there are also people out on the fringes of the hobby. I've met modelers who've scratch built and kit bashed locomotives and rolling stock that exactly match the prototype that inspired the model, but they do not have a layout. I've also met operators who had Plywood Pacific's with no plans of doing scenery because it might interfere with the operations. I understand when you say most people model what they grew up watching, but most prototype railroads have limited operations. What?? Let me explain, when I was a kid watching trains at my grandparents home, the only thing that existed was a main track and a passing siding that disappeared around curves on both ends of the line. About once every two hours a train would pass either traveling Eastbound or Westbound. So you had that moment of excitement that was surrounded by hours of boredom. Because of that I would never model that location because that was all it was, trains passing by on their way to someplace else, basically you could model that location as a loop of track on a 4' x 8' with a passing siding. Now on the other hand someone like myself who's interested in the operation of car movements aka switching, using the former P&LE Ohio River branch as inspiration where you had a Zinc smelter located next to a chemical plant which was located next to a plastic plant and in between all of that you had a coal loader. For me that sounds like an interesting operation. The only problem is I lack the space to create the Ohio river branch to scale, so I created a freelanced version based on the idea of several industries located beside each other like what you might find in a small rail served town. Yes I agree 100%, write down what John Armstrong called your Given and Druthers, aka must haves and what will fit in your available modeling space. Some other things to consider and write down, what modeling scale will fit your available modeling space and will your chosen passion aka mainline railroad, branch line railroad, short line fit your available hobby budget in the time period you'd like to model? Cheers, Rich S.
I can't be happy because as I was finishing my strong deck and running DCC switches(converted electric) and working on the backdrop, life occurred; my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson needed to move in and took over the area for storage. I didn't want to rent a storage unit, so it's my own fault. Keep up the prototype videos, especially the drones.
Could you please do a video sharing your ideas on modeling the turtle creek industrial railroad. No not the one MR did several years ago but the short line that used to exist near Pittsburg. I know it is now a hiking, biking trail but I think it would make an awesome model railroad. I saw your video that you did on it a few years ago showing there sw1 hauling steel near Murrysville. Any help and info on this railroad would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work on your videos.
The issue is that I did that layout twice. Once in an apartment on a 4x4' sheet of plywood in 1999, and then again in 2002, but I had a very poor resolution camera back then. It would have to be using mostly photos I took, but it is a great idea.
@@djstrains Thanks dj. The issue that I have is that I know very little about the line. Just enough to be dangerous as they say. But not nearly enough info to do it justice or to build a nice plausible layout. I guess I could start by hiking the trail and seeing what I can learn from there. Unfortunately trails usually obliterate any trace that there ever was a railroad there. Sometimes it seems as if the trails were built on an abandoned road instead of a railroad. Thank again for all your help and all of your excellent insider information from the real thing!
Email me: djstrains@yahoo.com if there is a specific question. Sadly, NO PHOTOS of the line during diesel PRR, PC, and few ConRail pics are out there on the line. Its as if people took a 30 year break from shooting it. Also, no good pics of industries during that time for reference photos. The book about Export is great for the mine stuff. Maybe copies at the export library.
my buddy Ron is actually doing a very non prototypical layout. It will more represent chapters in his life than an actual prototype. Find what makes YOU happy. :)
Awesome video! I railfan the CN Bessemer sub in Plum a few times a week so I really want to model that but I also want to model the DMIR because there engines are really cool. But I think I’m going to do the DMIR because, like you said, what ever makes you happy 😊!
Does anyone on here know if a train engine can run in forward and reverse at the same speed or does it have to be facing forward to go at top speed. I have seen many trains facing different directions but was wondering if the ones facing rearward were in Neutral. For the most part automobiles can only go fast in a forward gear but are trains different?
We have speed limits for tracks. In my area I can go 50 mph, and there is no difference in that if my engine is facing wrong way. The issue is visibility. We struggle to see around the engine, so naturally we take it easier.
The problem with that is that it’s an American organisation. People like me who live in Britain, the other side of the Pond, have to find something similar over here!!
@@djstrains Thank you very much. Over here, I belong to my local model railway club and learn a lot from helping with club projects. I also belong to the local University for the Third Age Railway Modelling Group, which I think might be something similar to the organisation from which you’re learning so much.
I had to fight youtube expansion servers and algorithms for you and Joe G i had to unsubscribe and resubscribe and set the bell to consistently get your videos
I only bring home 51% of my paycheck. Taxes, union dues, job insurance, health insurance, tier 1&2 taxes, 401K, and child support. 51%, that's it. Its freaking depressing. Plus the cost of monthly editing, website, domain security, the new computer, tripod, sd cards, I'm not rich, lets just say that, lol.
Most of all remember you only have one person to please. Your Self. Don’t worry how you compare to others. Have fun it’s your rail road.
You see so many layouts, usually smaller ones, where there are tracks everywhere and industry on top of industry. I could never figure out how to do that and make it look good. Then I started to learn slowly over time that less is more. People who are new to the hobby and see your video are lucky.
Great video. After I tore up and rebuilt my layout for the 3rd time, I finally slowed down and focused on the whole thing making sense. Several hundred dollars later...Best advice? Do what makes you happy, it's your railroad.
Thanks for all of your videos. I'm close to retirement, and I've been wanting a train layout since I was a kid. I'm learning as much as I can, and your videos and advice are truly appreciated.
Glad to help
Wow, this was helpful. I've getting a bit frustrated with working on my layout, and this gave me a better foothold on how to work on it in sections. Thanks for making all these video's DJ, you don't even know how much your videos help me. Keep up the great work.
Glad it was helpful!
I always feel happy when I am at my layout.
Growing up in Chicago, we had industry upon industry. One side of the city steel mills and yet the other General Motors, Brock's candy, and .....just way to many to mention.
And with multiple road name like ... Burlington Northern, Norfolk Southern, Santa Fe, and of course CSX. BN and the Santa fe ...before becoming the BNSF R.R.
Cannot wait to see some layout updates !!!
My layout will be a small tourist town with a Rail Road Museum that includes train rides , with few industries. The museum will be the main attraction because it will give me the chance of showing all my engines and passenger cars, buses etc. that I've got regardless of the year that they were used.
Very cool!
Take a look at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay WI. Between the loop of track and the inside and outside display areas, it would scale down with very little work. An added bonus is the spur track to CN, ex WC Ltd, exx C&NW; so you can always "receive" new equipment via rail.
I apologize; I didn’t realize I’d become unsubbed until I wondered why I hadn’t seen any new videos in a while.
Glad to see your videos again!!
Thank you, I am going to the train room now and will find happiness. I will fix the wiring to a remote switch or I will not come back
LOL!
A few other ideas to keep in mind when building a layout. What kind or type of compression will you do? In the example given, typically a Grainer and Oil facility will not be next to one another, much less share the same switch. However you can still have them near one another, but scenic them differently with a viable "line" showcasing the compression. That "line" would represent many miles in space. So while physically they are next to one another, representatively they are far apart. If you watch other videos from many other layouts (small or even club layouts) you can see this in practice. Where they will have large industries in a corner (usually like a Steel Mill), and either a yard or some other industry will be "nearby" by a few feet but there will usually be a scene of some sort in-between. Now with a normal layout you don't have that kind of space to give to a large break like that, but you can still do the same thing by making that "line" by visually breaking it up. Lighter colors to showcase the Grainy being out in the fields or in an open area, and darker colors to showcase the grit and grime of an Oil Facility. Using tall trees can help in making this "line" or modeling a cliff between them can give that visual "break".
The point about the color was spot on
Also don't be afraid to walk away for a few days to a couple of weeks. If you need to think things over or are stuck on something. A break helps from time to time.
100%!!!!!
Hi DJ wish I seen this video before I started my lay =out, have put the track down and pulled it back up that many times I have almost forgotten.
I have drawn track plans and then found it will not fit onto my board so changed it again and again but happy with what I have now, a loop and a number sidings to factory's, Engine shed and siding and a terminus line at the station.
Now have found building the town is now not as easy as I thought it would be owing to a lack of space.
Keep the videos coming and I look forward to them every week or so,
Wayne (Sydney Australia)
While I like seeing the choo-choo go whoo whoo, I also like operations (though I’m not someone that’s like 50 foot boxcars don’t go to a grain elevator! Ukejsiwjwhwowowbveks!) I keep a passenger train or a train of 50’ boxcars I run around if I just wanna run something. Also I have a small passenger station that I use for of course passenger trains, but since I got a transfer caboose last Christmas I enjoy using the station, pretending that I’m picking up my crew for switching. Typically I try and leave and return to my engine shed with just my engine and transfer caboose. Also sometimes I use the station to simulate a crew change. Also I have a rule for how I use locomotives
1)4 axle diesels (not including f units) are for switching and locals (switching industries)
6)6 axle are for picking up trains from my yard along with pickups/drop offs at industries
For steam it’s a little different
0-6-0s & 4-6-0s are for switching and locals
Anything bigger than that are for what I use 6 axle diesels for
Also I’m an omnivore so I sometimes run modern or steam era equipment depending on my mood.
Well done! Cheers! And keep up the good work!
-Iron Horse Historian
Exactly!! That’s why I’m modelling the heritage railway at which I volunteer!!
My new railroad will be totally fictional, think of it as a different time line so to speak, will use three old rail roads in the mix. Totally made up town and area, etc. I'm a writer so the history part was easy for me. It will be a monster though, for me and my friends and sons to play and run on. Everything will be fictional down to the industries and will be doing an engine house based off of one of your videos about engine houses. Will be starting benchmark very soon! Can't wait!
Excellent video DJ. I have been planning my next layout and have forced myself to stick to many of the guidelines you talk about. With this being my second serious prototypical layout I will build on the pros and cons of my my previous design while continuing add the prototypical insight you bring to all of us. Thanks for all of the great videos over the years. All the best, John
I'm going to model small town America in the Midwest. Growing up in NE Iowa i remember seeing Illlinois Central and Burlington Northern. Nowadays its Canadian National and Iowa Northern Railroad.
You are so right DJ! I love passenger service and commuter railroads. I like the interaction between modes of transportation. I have the equipment and space to build an airport. I will run a commuter line from the airport to my “downtown” passenger service. I still have freight services (Union Pacific) and modern industrial parks. I enjoy your tips and ideas. You have so many great ideas and you express them so clearly. I can see how skill share is helping you get even better.
Thank you! I really like the Skillshare because the videos are very well made, and straight to the point, not a single wasted second. It is a pretty genius concept. Trying to find good tutorials on RUclips for editing and stuff was frustrating. Speaking of airports, the ho scale one in the massive German layout is mind blowing!
Very good explanation! I know I am one that has a lot of industries so close together but that is because I get board watching the trains go by or in circles. I like to do operations as it keeps me interested and gives me something to do and a purpose. Great video! - Jason
Glad it was helpful!
You do it the way you want to and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
I have found it helpful to model a specific prototype. It helps focus you and I find the detective work about the prototype is almost as much fun as the modeling. In the end however, I have to know when to compromise and call good enough since you can never fit all the prototype in your small space and sometimes you just can't find the info you need/want.
I might have been part of the reason for this video lol. Thank you!
I was hoping to help you and others I recently received similar emails from. Hope it helps.
They are great tips DJ. I've struggled for a while about what I want. It can seem so daunting and endless trying to make any progress. You have helped clear a few things in my mind. I'm in Australia and a lot of things are different but the main points are the same. You are the first channel I've come across that clears up the industry clutter conundrum. It has never made sense to me when you see four or five industries taking single wagons (cars) crammed into a 2 or 3 metre (6 to 10 feet in the old scale 😉). Your tips on prototypical operations and trackside details are great.
Got into the hobby around 11-12 I’m 25 now and on my fifth layout after having to take down a modular layout that was going to be 25 x 25 with a 20 peninsula in the center, I only had enough room for a maybe a third of it in my apartment now I own a home and last week started my 1x12 proto freelance shelf layout, I still have an entire 11 x 8 room that i will do my main layout but for now my first crack at the steam era rather than modern I’m highly enjoying!
Very good advice DJ. I'm in the planning phase and it can be overwhelming.
Glad it was helpful!
DJ ....... you always make very helpful, learning and interesting videos!!!! You give great advice and I am happy that you do so 😊.
I appreciate that!
Great points! Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
All of that is done, just fine tuning now. Like eliminating a salt mine to add another 30x3' space to the steel mill plan.
This is why the main focus of my layout is the steel mill and the industries that support the mill. The only industry that doesn't support the mill will be a small glass factory which is the tip of the hat to my hometown of Jeannette.
love it
Great! never seen a video from anyone like this very good ideas
Glad you liked it!
The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/djstrains02211
You’re right, bro. Love it. Thanks for sharing. 😎👍🏼
Thanks for watching!
Where I live we have a yard just off the main line (passengers on the main). But off the back of the yard is an industrial branch with grain processing facilities, a metal scrap merchant, and a steel mill. So we have grain inbound, and scrap metal and milled steel outbound (probably coal and iron ore inbound as well) - the food produced leaves the area by truck. The locomotive working the branch will serve all of the industries over time, but rarely simultaneously. But I would agree that for the most part multiple different industries are a rarity.
My dream layout is that of the 1950-60s of nsw Australia as it would go from south Sydney through the blue mountains to Newcastle
I am stuck with my layout and left it for a while now, going to use the tips you said.
Fantastic
@@djstrains from what you mentioned I think I am doing too much on my layout which has become overwhelming
I really like the drone shots
My Layouts Are My Happy Place.Right Now I am working On My N Scale working on the Railyard On the Inside Line I Have 2 Lines Need A Couple of Switches to Do the One line After Bowling I will Hit My Layout Hard And Finish the Yard Then go From there.
DJ do you ever visit club layouts? Not everyone has space at home for their dream layout, I'd like to learn more about what it is like to belong to a club with an operating layout.
Yes, and I have some planned VERY SOON
Good points, like the way you put it👍👍👍😀
Thanks 👍
i just started a new layout project in n scale, this video helped a lot...( first time im putting detail on my layout) my ho layout looks like a small short line
Glad it helped!
you are doing a great job.. Good work...
So nice of you
Hi DJ, I understand the point you're trying to make, but at the same time model railroading is about compromise which most like to call selective compression. Also I've found there are two general types of people in the hobby, builders and operators. A builder is someone who is trying to reproduce in miniature something they've seen in their lifetime. A builder would be someone who probably would not be happy placing a steel mill beside a grain elevator. I've also found once builders layouts near completion, they start over on a new layout. On the other hand, an operator is someone who enjoys modeling the movement of freight or passengers from one location to another and because they enjoy the operations end of the hobby, they probably would not be against placing a steel mill beside a cement elevator. Yes you have builders who are also operators, but there are also people out on the fringes of the hobby. I've met modelers who've scratch built and kit bashed locomotives and rolling stock that exactly match the prototype that inspired the model, but they do not have a layout. I've also met operators who had Plywood Pacific's with no plans of doing scenery because it might interfere with the operations. I understand when you say most people model what they grew up watching, but most prototype railroads have limited operations. What?? Let me explain, when I was a kid watching trains at my grandparents home, the only thing that existed was a main track and a passing siding that disappeared around curves on both ends of the line. About once every two hours a train would pass either traveling Eastbound or Westbound. So you had that moment of excitement that was surrounded by hours of boredom. Because of that I would never model that location because that was all it was, trains passing by on their way to someplace else, basically you could model that location as a loop of track on a 4' x 8' with a passing siding. Now on the other hand someone like myself who's interested in the operation of car movements aka switching, using the former P&LE Ohio River branch as inspiration where you had a Zinc smelter located next to a chemical plant which was located next to a plastic plant and in between all of that you had a coal loader. For me that sounds like an interesting operation. The only problem is I lack the space to create the Ohio river branch to scale, so I created a freelanced version based on the idea of several industries located beside each other like what you might find in a small rail served town. Yes I agree 100%, write down what John Armstrong called your Given and Druthers, aka must haves and what will fit in your available modeling space. Some other things to consider and write down, what modeling scale will fit your available modeling space and will your chosen passion aka mainline railroad, branch line railroad, short line fit your available hobby budget in the time period you'd like to model? Cheers, Rich S.
Nice one DJ!
Thanks ✌️
I like seeing the CSX Garrett sub/ that is where I railfan I am also pretty modern and have a pretty big basement
Right now I have a double track square
Great tips for sure!
Glad you like them!
I can't be happy because as I was finishing my strong deck and running DCC switches(converted electric) and working on the backdrop, life occurred; my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson needed to move in and took over the area for storage. I didn't want to rent a storage unit, so it's my own fault. Keep up the prototype videos, especially the drones.
Very nice 👌 👍 👏 😀
Thanks a lot 😊
I like my large HO layout and love my design, but the O scale bug has bit. Time will tell if there’s a Proto 48 layout in my future.
Could you please do a video sharing your ideas on modeling the turtle creek industrial railroad. No not the one MR did several years ago but the short line that used to exist near Pittsburg. I know it is now a hiking, biking trail but I think it would make an awesome model railroad. I saw your video that you did on it a few years ago showing there sw1 hauling steel near Murrysville. Any help and info on this railroad would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work on your videos.
The issue is that I did that layout twice. Once in an apartment on a 4x4' sheet of plywood in 1999, and then again in 2002, but I had a very poor resolution camera back then. It would have to be using mostly photos I took, but it is a great idea.
@@djstrains Thanks dj. The issue that I have is that I know very little about the line. Just enough to be dangerous as they say. But not nearly enough info to do it justice or to build a nice plausible layout. I guess I could start by hiking the trail and seeing what I can learn from there. Unfortunately trails usually obliterate any trace that there ever was a railroad there. Sometimes it seems as if the trails were built on an abandoned road instead of a railroad. Thank again for all your help and all of your excellent insider information from the real thing!
Email me: djstrains@yahoo.com if there is a specific question. Sadly, NO PHOTOS of the line during diesel PRR, PC, and few ConRail pics are out there on the line. Its as if people took a 30 year break from shooting it. Also, no good pics of industries during that time for reference photos. The book about Export is great for the mine stuff. Maybe copies at the export library.
I grew up around a csx terminal and a short line
...Thank you
Welcome!
@DJ's trains. What about custom train layouts?? Non prototype train layouts
my buddy Ron is actually doing a very non prototypical layout. It will more represent chapters in his life than an actual prototype. Find what makes YOU happy. :)
@@djstrains does Ron have a youtube channel I would like to have some examples of custom layouts even if they are an oval.
@@ragedknuckles4611 no
Awesome video! I railfan the CN Bessemer sub in Plum a few times a week so I really want to model that but I also want to model the DMIR because there engines are really cool. But I think I’m going to do the DMIR because, like you said, what ever makes you happy 😊!
Does anyone on here know if a train engine can run in forward and reverse at the same speed or does it have to be facing forward to go at top speed. I have seen many trains facing different directions but was wondering if the ones facing rearward were in Neutral. For the most part automobiles can only go fast in a forward gear but are trains different?
We have speed limits for tracks. In my area I can go 50 mph, and there is no difference in that if my engine is facing wrong way. The issue is visibility. We struggle to see around the engine, so naturally we take it easier.
@The Generic Railfan I didn't know that, thanks.
FIRST !!
You win! Lol.
The problem with that is that it’s an American organisation. People like me who live in Britain, the other side of the Pond, have to find something similar over here!!
If I see anything like that I will be sure to pass it on!
@@djstrains Thank you very much. Over here, I belong to my local model railway club and learn a lot from helping with club projects. I also belong to the local University for the Third Age Railway Modelling Group, which I think might be something similar to the organisation from which you’re learning so much.
I had to fight youtube expansion servers and algorithms for you and Joe G i had to unsubscribe and resubscribe and set the bell to consistently get your videos
partnered with someone you say? So...being an engineer on a major RR doesn't pay the bills?
I only bring home 51% of my paycheck. Taxes, union dues, job insurance, health insurance, tier 1&2 taxes, 401K, and child support. 51%, that's it. Its freaking depressing. Plus the cost of monthly editing, website, domain security, the new computer, tripod, sd cards, I'm not rich, lets just say that, lol.