NOTE: I'm in the process of updating the scripts that run the blog, so there will be changes made in the next few months. Comments no longer need approval, but you must be logged-in to view posts. If you want to become a member of this website, just click on the 'Sign-In' link on the menu bar for more information. Cheers, Rob.
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, June 02, 2022 at 23:47:53 ADT.)
Thursday, June 02, 2022
N SCALE: Central Alberta Railway (A Beginner's Layout)
Back in August of 2018, I had a request to do a prairie branch line in N-scale that had to include a simple grain elevator scene, and a small rural town scene. The client left it up to me the exact dimension of the layout, but he wanted it as small as possible. He also wanted Atlas code 55 track used, and he insisted on having...
Views: 3766 | Comments: 9
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Fiddle Track, Theme: Branch Line Railway, Type: Beginner Layout, Canada (Provinces): Alberta, Articles: Operating Small Layouts
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at 8:46:03 ADT.)
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
HO SCALE (6'0" Broad Gauge): Happy Valley RR in Proto87
Back in July of 2018, I had a request from a member of the Micro/Small Model RR Layouts group to do a 2'x8' layout based on John Allen's timesaver track plan. The layout was to be done in broad gauge (6-foot wide) using Proto:87 standards with all track hand laid. It is proto-freelanced based on the Middleburgh & Schoharie RR during its 6-foot gauge...
Views: 2191 | Comments: 1
TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town, Type: Time Saver Design, USA (States): New York
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Sunday, May 29, 2022 at 9:05:02 ADT.)
Sunday, May 29, 2022
HO SCALE: Kendallville Terminal RR
Back in August of 2018, I was asked to do a small layout based on the 1.1 mile long Kendallville Terminal RR in Indiana. After reading up on the line, I thought it would make an excellent choice for a small layout. I wanted to include all major features of the line if I could, and decided as a minimum that I had to include the Rush Street Yard; the salt...
Views: 6755 | Comments: 7
TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Sector Plate, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway, Theme: Single Station / Town, Type: Based on Actual Location(s), Type: Inglenook, Type: No Run-Around Track, USA (States): Indiana, American Railways: Kendallville Terminal RR
Posted in Articles by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 1:04:27 ADT.)
Thursday, May 19, 2022
ARTICLE: Designing the HO-Scale Pennsylvania Shortline Terminal for Robert (Robin) Mountenay
Introduction by Robert (Robin) Mountenay: As a Lutheran pastor I've lived my adult life in parsonages-church-owned homes. When I retire in the near future, I'll suddenly be responsible for my own housing. In anticipation of that day, my wife and I recently bought a house in south-central Pennsylvania, a three hour drive from our current home...
Views: 26385 | Comments: 8
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town, USA (States): Pennsylvania, American Railways: Pennsylvania Railroad, American Railways: Reading Company
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 8:16:28 ADT.)
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
In exchange for my layout design services back in July of 2007, a client offer to send me something that I still needed for my On30 layout. But since I had all the motive power, rolling stock, and track that I required, I thanked him for the generous offer, and thought that was the end of it. However, he insisted that he compensate me from my time, and the...
Views: 1657 | Comments: 1
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Staging Options: Staging Yards, Theme: End of Line Station, USA (Regions): Mid-West, American Railways: Soo Line
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, April 18, 2022 at 11:48:48 ADT.)
Monday, April 18, 2022
On30 SCALE: Lazy Town (Single Station Design)
Judging from the date on this design (2001), I think it is probably one of my very first designs done in On30 scale (On30 was still in its infancy back then). The original track plan was done using PECO HO turnouts, but I converted them to Fast Track #5s. The client I designed this layout for wanted a very simple track plan...
Views: 1924 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Theme: Narrow Gauge Railway, Theme: Single Station / Town
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 14:45:00 ADT.)
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The owner of this layout had a dormant model railroad in his basement that he started in the early to mid-1990's. He felt the space could be better used, and decided to start over from scratch if he could find a track plan that he liked. The space was quite long at 22½-feet with a 12½-foot height at the widest end, but it also had to...
Views: 1627 | Comments: 3
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Medium Layouts, Theme: Mainline Trains, USA (States): New York, USA (States): Pennsylvania, American Railways: Penn Central
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 15:50:56 ADT.)
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
HO SCALE: Redwood Lumber & Timber Co
This layout was originally designed for a client a few years ago. His space was more limited than what I show here, so I reworked the plan to relax the design a bit. For a small layout, it packs a lot of scenic punch. Operations consist of Shays hauling logs from the loading point at Camp #1 down to the sawmill. Non-geared locos then handle the finished lumber from the mill to the wharf for export.
Views: 2376 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Design Feature: Continuous Run Option, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Logging Railway, Types of Industries: Logging Camps, Types of Industries: Sawmills
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, April 01, 2022 at 7:29:11 ADT.)
Friday, April 01, 2022
HO SCALE: Lobo Creek & Western RR
Now this design has quite a backstory that started in February of 2014. The first version of this design was done to fit on a 4x8 sheet of plywood, and it was based on a track plan that I had found on the Internet. After I posted my adaptation online, I was contacted in March (of 2014) by another modeler who wondered if I could fit the plan ...
Views: 1622 | Comments: 10
TAGS: Design Feature: Interchange, Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Monday, March 28, 2022 at 15:45:23 ADT.)
Monday, March 28, 2022
HO SCALE: Langsport & Southern Ry
This design from February 2021 turned out much differently than my client initially wanted. When originally contacted, my client was only looking for a 1-turnout layout based on one of Lance Mindheim's track plans with a modern bakery as the single industry. During the discussion, I showed him my Sweet Tooth Bakery & Milling Co done in a 14x72-inch...
Views: 1540 | Comments: 1
TAGS: Layout Size: Small Layouts, Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway, Theme: Switching Operations, Types of Industries: Bakeries, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 5:46:08 ADT.)
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
This was done on a special request from the late Jack Shortliner who wanted to see what I could do on an "extended" Iota design. Iota was originally built in HO scale on a 17" x 56" board, and was meant to represent an end-of-the-line station on a short line railway. I lengthened the board another 16"...
Views: 8297 | Comments: 6
TAGS: Layout Size: Mini Layouts, Staging Options: Cassette Staging, Theme: End of Line Station, Theme: Single Station / Town, USA (Regions): Mid-West
Posted in Shortlines by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 18:26:00 ADT.)
Thursday, March 17, 2022
SHORTLINES: Warrenton Railroad Company (1871-1985)
To get a complete story as to why the Warrenton Railroad came into existence, we must travel back to 1838, when the proposed right-of-way for the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad (R&G) was being surveyed through Warren County with the intentions of laying track through the county seat of Warrenton. Although railroads were starting to prove...
Views: 1127 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Theme: Regional / Short Line Railway, USA (States): North Carolina, American Railways: Warrenton Railroad Company , Articles: Railway You Can Model
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Friday, March 04, 2022 at 6:23:29 AST.)
Friday, March 04, 2022
HO SCALE: Brownville & Ashland Railway
This design was done back in November of 2021 for a client who had plenty of high-end custom locos and freight cars that he wanted to showcase on a layout. The layout was to showcase a modern day paper mill setting in a remote part of Northern Maine. The owner wanted a design that depicted his fictional modern-era Brownville & Ashland Railway...
Views: 920 | Comments: 2
Posted in Layout Designs by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 03, 2022 at 22:18:11 AST.)
Thursday, March 03, 2022
N SCALE: West Coast Pulp Company
The modern-day N-scale layout depicting the West Coast Pulp Company was designed for a client to fit on two 2-foot by 4½-foot modules. The layout is proto-freelance and based on western Canada coastal pulp mills with incoming traffic being introduced by a rail barge. My client wanted a pulp and paper mill, a general office building...
Views: 2002 | Comments: 2
TAGS: Layout Size: Compact Layouts, Staging Options: Car Float, Theme: Industrial Railway, Theme: Single Industry, Canada (Provinces): British Columbia, Types of Industries: Pulp and Paper Mills
Posted in Information Request by Rob Chant. (Updated Thursday, March 03, 2022 at 22:15:40 AST.)
Thursday, March 03, 2022
INFO REQUEST: Philip Morris Cigarette Plant (Louisville, KY)
I am looking for more information on the Philip Morris Cigarette Plant near 18th and Broadway in Louisville, KY. The interesting track work and switching at the site was brought to my attention by Chris Broughton, who is a member of the JoMRD Facebook group. He suggested the plant would make a great single industry to model, and I quite agree.
Views: 641 | Comments: 2
TAGS: USA (States): Kentucky, Types of Industries: Cigarette Plant