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Posted in Layout Tours by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, April 02, 2020 at 21:32:00 ADT.)
Thursday, April 02, 2020
LAYOUT TOUR: Marble Mountain Quarry Company (HOn30)
Over the last several weeks I had the honour of seeing one of my smaller layout designs come to life on the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts Facebook group. The micro layout was built by Chris Broughton and is based on my Hn30-scale Marble Mountain Quarry Company design, which you can find here. As you can see from the...
Views: 1208 | Comments: 0
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 18:07:29 ADT.)
Sunday, March 29, 2020
HO SCALE: Port Able Railway (ISL)
This HO scale Port Able Railway industrial switching layout design was done for a member of Micro/Small Model RR Layouts to fit his 18-inch by 96-inch space. The line is located in the Northeastern United States during the 1979 IPD box car era. The layout owner wanted to include a food processing company, a manufacturing company, a furniture...
Views: 2624 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Modular Benchwork, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Switching Operations
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 19:02:52 ADT.)
Thursday, March 26, 2020
HO SCALE: Arizona Eastern Railroad
This design has an interesting back story and was the result of almost a year of planning and research of the prototype Arizona Eastern Railroad. The original plan was to be built in On30, and the owner eventually decided to drop the centre peninsula and go with a layout just around three of the walls, plus the staging. In my version of the design, I kept the...
Views: 847 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Helix, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Mining, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Arizona, American Railways: Arizona Eastern Railroad, Types of Industries: Smelther Complex
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 15:43:00 ADT.)
Sunday, March 08, 2020
On30 SCALE: Crooked Mountain Railway
This design was done back in February of 2018 for a member of the Railroad Line Forums who was looking for ideas for an On30 layout to fit on a 36"x6'8" hollow-core door in his office. The layout owner wanted a continuous run with a few sidings, however, he was more interested in watching trains run during the workday, than operating the layout. I adapted...
Views: 1495 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, USA (Regions): Southwest
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 13:23:00 ADT.)
Sunday, March 08, 2020
I was asked by a member of the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts group to design a layout for a western US mining railroad with lots of switching in On30, and this is the result. The owner of the layout is actually a very accomplished layout designer, and he just wanted a fresh pair of eyes to see what could be done with the theme in his space. Since I...
Views: 1955 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Mining, Theme: Single Station / Town, USA (States): Arizona
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 12:56:00 ADT.)
Sunday, March 08, 2020
HOn30 SCALE: The Island of Misfit Trains
This 2x7-foot transitional era HOn30 layout was done for a member of the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts group using Atlas code 80 turnouts and flex track. The owner dubbed the layout the mythical "Island of Misfit Trains" which would focus on the beer brewing industry on the shores of Lake Michigan. The owner wanted a hops farm, a wharf...
Views: 1443 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: Single Station / Town, Theme: Waterfront, USA (States): Michigan, Types of Industries: Breweries, Types of Industries: Wharves
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 11:12:00 ADT.)
Sunday, March 08, 2020
HO SCALE: International Pulp and Paper Company
This design was done for a client back in March of 2019 that liked the paper mill I used on my Great Lakes & New England Ry design which was actually taken from another layout that was in progress for yet another client and his Brownville & Ashland Ry (Yes, I do like to recycle my pixels.) This latest client was looking for a single...
Views: 3101 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: Single Industry, Type: 3 Turnout Layout, Type: No Run-Around Track, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 10:41:00 ADT.)
Sunday, March 08, 2020
N SCALE: End of Branchline Station in UK (with staging)
This design was done for a member of the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts Facebook group back in February of 2019. The layout owner wanted an N-scale layout depicting an end of branchline station in a rural/farming location in the UK. He also wanted to include Walther's gravel crushing plant, and a few other structures. Those that I have designed...
Views: 1091 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, March 07, 2020 at 7:19:00 AST.)
Saturday, March 07, 2020
HO SCALE: Iowa Branch Line Railway
This modern-day prairie branch line railway was done for a client back in March of 2019. Originally he had seen an N-scale layout I designed to fit on a hollow core door, and he wanted to try and duplicate that in HO-scale on a 4x8 sheet of plywood. I knew that it would be impossible to give him everything he wanted in such a limited space, so I...
Views: 6339 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: End of Line Station, USA (States): Iowa
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, March 07, 2020 at 1:24:00 AST.)
Saturday, March 07, 2020
HO SCALE: Great Lakes & New England Ry
This 16-inch by 12-foot single station design was done for a member of the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts Facebook group. The layout depicts a fictional Northern Vermont location on the free-lanced Great Lakes & New England Railway. The town is to be set in the 1980s-1990s, and it had to include a small paper mill, a feed mill, a log transfer area...
Views: 2383 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town, USA (Regions): New England, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills
Posted in Articles by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, March 06, 2020 at 6:31:00 AST.)
Friday, March 06, 2020
ARTICLE: How long does it take to design a layout from start to finish?
I was recently asked how long it takes to design a layout from start to finish, and mock up these 3D presentations. As you might assume, the length of the process varies because of the steps involved, the size of the layout, and whether or not the design will be based on prototype locations. Some of you might even be surprised that small layout can...
Views: 870 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Articles: Layout Design
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 05, 2020 at 21:05:09 AST.)
Thursday, March 05, 2020
HO SCALE: Port Arthur Belt Line Ry
Back in August of 2017, I was contacted to do a modern industrial switching layout (ISL) for a 13'x15' room. However, instead of cramming the space with a lot of industrial tracks, I convinced the layout owner to go with more of a branch line feel that offer a good variety of car types, with some very nice scenery and a good variety of structures. I kept...
Views: 1238 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Wednesday, March 04, 2020 at 6:06:12 AST.)
Wednesday, March 04, 2020
HO SCALE: Florida Central Railroad
This HO-scale Florida Central RR design was done for a client back in March of 2019 that wanted a small layout based on an industrial park in Orlando, Florida. I was very impressed with the possibilities in the area depicted on the layout; the curves are sharp and the equipment is modern, making for quite a contrast. Many buildings have rounded...
Views: 4038 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Park / District, Theme: Single Station / Town, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), Type: No Run-Around Track, USA (States): Flordia, American Railways: Florida Central RR
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, March 01, 2020 at 10:29:00 AST.)
Sunday, March 01, 2020
N SCALE: Kinsey, Long & Northern RR
I was asked by a member of a railway forum to design an N-scale layout based on his proto-freelanced Kinsey, Long & Northern RR. The layout was L-shaped with each leg being 5-foot long, and 18-inches wide, and would depict a modern sawmill operation in Oregon. The layout owner wanted to model a sawmill, a woodchip loading area, and have...
Views: 1133 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Type: No Run-Around Track, USA (States): Oregon , Types of Industries: Sawmills
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 13:17:00 AST.)
Saturday, February 29, 2020
HO SCALE: Delta Valley & Southern Railway
Well it doesn't get much smaller than the Delta Valley & Southern Railway located in Arkansas and owned by the Wilson family to serve their cotton farm. The two photos below represent the entire 2-mile long line, and what's even more interesting, the line could be still operating today, although I can't find definite proof...
Views: 1062 | Comments: 0
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Industrial Railway, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), USA (States): Arkansas, American Railways: Delta Valley & Southern Railway, Types of Industries: Cotton Processing Plants