Avoid a common mistake I made when building a model railroad

TRAIN SETS
3D PRINTERS
CAMERA
MICROPHONE
LIGHTS
MOTION CONTROL

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“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;
don’t be happy when they stumble.
For the Lord will be displeased with you
and will turn his anger away from them.
Don’t fret because of evildoers;
don’t envy the wicked.”

Proverbs 24: 16-19 NLT

[LordPhobos]

Backing up your point at 5:30: LET GLUE DRY.
A maker channel I watch, Laura Kampf, has a metal sign in her shop: "LET GLUE DRY". I've adopted this to also mean LET PAINT DRY.

I'm building a custom loco on a big scale. Lots of gluing, and lots of painting await me. EVERY TIME I glue a section, I have to put my tools away so I don't do 'just one more bit', because every time I have, I inevitably mess something up.
So everytime I do a bit, I say it out loud. LET GLUE DRY.

You'll thank yourself for adopting this mantra.

...It's 11pm here, so no coffee. Enjoying a nice cup of Yorkshire tea, which will be followed by a ginger & apple tea.

[abbofun]

Don’t forget the most important part: Be Patient and Don’t Rush

[wabisabi]

Another point to add: IF you are going to install a backdrop for sky and/or distant mountains, do this BEFORE you attach the layout surface to the wall.

[adriengadson]

Another precaution is to run a set of extra wires when you run the wires. This way if one wire gets damage or you add in the future they are already there. Also lighted parts can have a distribution block placed to run street lights, building lights, and etc to make easy multiple connections.

[edwardaudet]

Where were you 25 years ago, I could have used all those tips and ideas. Great video. And always sound advise. Thankd Jimmy your the best

[fermitupoupon]

Step 3.5 once you've done the preliminary laying of track, connect it to a power source and have your tallest, longest, widest, lightest, heaviest, and whatever-est stock take a good few tours of every bit of track to make sure clearances are in order.

I built my layout with the idea that it'd be primarily used with my Marklin Alpha train. This is an exceptionally tall set, as in the spoilers on the wagons are taller than the pantographs for most other models. So where Marklin specifies 74.5mm clearance, I needed 86mm, which was a good thing to find out before I glued everything down and fixed the helix between levels in place.

[robertbhatia]

Excellent video! One thing I learned from Everard Junction, a great UK modeller, is to build your baseboard with slots in the back for your backscene. It is then very secure but easily removable.

[jhoodfysh]

Nailed it! This is an excellent series Jimmy, it really deserves more views. Thanks for supporting the hobby and the people starting out.

[asaprocky]

Folgers Classic Instant ... Bwaaahhh... that aside, great prep video. You teach very well. The episode lengths are perfect, and not overwhelming. Mixing coding with building and running footage is superb. It's easier to learn when one can see the APPLICATION of the instruction, then able to follow through with DOING the lesson. That locks it in. Thanks... and Happy Tracks to all. :-)

[jeffklein]

I would add doing backgrounds after the base but before tracklaying. IMHO one needs to do a lot of leaning and squirming on the base to apply, roll and line up backgrounds. Keep up the good work!

[patrickmurphy]

My layout is comprised of 4 interconnecting modules. I found that by focusing on one module at a time everything went so much FASTER. I learned that stay focused on each area until it is complete or near complete. Good video.

[alanschultz]

well done great tips I am building a blended railway in ho scale using kato uni track and marlin track want to do a wall layout with a lift out bridge at the door also a helix going up to a shelf run sounds good in my head lol anyway catch ya next one cheers Alan

[schadowolf]

Great video Jimmy! Thanks for sharing your tips/techniques!

[HHExpress]

Hello Jimmy, Good Video on the Steps. I started my railroad almost 3 years ago and still working on it only finished 30% of the Scenery. so still a lot of things to do. But there are always coming things in between.

[Edward]

I'm new to the hobby. This is my first layout. I happened upon your site by chance and am glad I did. Your insights and tutorials are interesting, relevant, and presented clearly. Thanks for talking the time to make these videos. 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

[johnfloyd]

I have a track planning guide for my layout and I have laid my track out but I have to get the cork done and I broke my right hip and I can't work on my layout until my leg strength gets stronger and it's very frustrating because I have been going to therapy for a while now and it's very slow process and it drives me insane 😡😡, but eventually I will be able to get there 😎👍

[ricksavaiano]

Excellent video! So true what you've stated. I made every mistake in the book because of my eagerness to do the landscaping which by the way turned out fantastic! That is do to you and all the model railroaders out there who posted videos.

[jasonworden]

I was lucky enough to find a to spec built set of 4x8 tables to start my setup. Going to pick them up this weekend. I'm STOKED

[phantomanddelusionalrailway]

Hi Jimmy, coming to you from a different account today. Having built about half of my n gauge layout I have only now decided to put in street lights. I can therefore confirm that planning in fine detail is absolutely vital. Try getting a drill between all your buildings to drill the holes for the wiring! Another really great video Jimmy. Thanks so much. Mel in Portugal.

[SleeTheSloth]

Great video! I have one thought or two I'd like to leave you with. I paint my base color on the table top or foam, as soon as the bench work is done. Then paint the base color of your backdrop as well. May layout is multi level. The first level is the standard table top bench work type. So I paint the table top and visible leading edges dirt brown. My upper levels are of a shelf design. For my upper levels I paint the top and visible leading edges dirt brown and the under side sky blue. It is my experience that these things are best done before anything else.