Model Railroad Layout Design for Beginners

Welcome back everybody! Be sure to subscribe! Today we are taking a look at how to go from a model train set or a simple loop of track, to a large layout and everywhere in between. We will talk about realistic track plans, and what you can do to emulate real world railroads! Model Railroading is a fun hobby. Let's share it together!

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Samaritan’s Purse

“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

[wills_corner]

I'm having a real tough time in life right now, my Grandma just passed away and the funeral is in a week. These kinds of videos help me bond with my model railroading Grandpa, and it helps us both get better. Thank you for helping us get through this together!

I like British Trains (my freelance design is the East-Western Railway), and he likes Chesapeake and Ohio

[schmarrenheimer]

You are the Bob Ross of model train TV. Thank you for doing this, all the best!

[hilbridanongoogle]

So refreshing to have someone who speaks fluently and calmly with pleasant background music. So many uploaders sound like manic "but wait, there's more" infomercials, selling themselves and their personalities rather than their hobby. Love the non-pushy "what makes you happy is what's right for you", approach. Subscribed, and I'll be back. Cheers from the antipodes; New Zealand.

[bobsinclair]

BEGINNER OR OLD GUYS OVER MANY YEARS I STAY WITH THE OLD WAY NOW I AM LEARNING FROM YOU AND ENJOY MY HOBBY MORE OUT A LOT OLD IN WITH NEW THANK YOU SHOW ME THE NEW YOU ARE GREAT

[russcrawford]

Ah ... I see my mistake ... I shouldn't have tried to fill the entire 800 sq ft floor area as a first effort ... I could just about fit the entire Omaha hump yard in N-scale ... best I start with a simple loop on a sheet of plywood ...

[charleswatson]

Thank you. I watch hundreds of YouTube clips and I think this might be my first subscription. I have two very young grandsons and two son in laws. In my home I have a bedroom for my grandsons which has stairs leading up to it rather than a door in one of the walls. I hope to have a track running around the whole room and space for stations and sidings. All way too advanced for me. For my track and rolling stock I am buying a huge amount of mostly unboxed items. It is all from one source. A friend of mine gathered it all together thirty years ago but sadly passed away. It is 0 gauge. Four hundred feet of straight track. So, going against your advice, I will plunge in! I’m seventy-four years old and hope that this long term project will be continued by by the two little boys whose several times great grand father was chairman of the Great Eastern Railway in the UK.

[RonsTrainsNThings]

Good overview, Jimmy. Those huge basement empires are rarely built by one person. They usually have a host of friends who help all along the way. If building alone, one has to be realistic about how much railroad one person can build and maintain.

[tjlaroidesign]

Youre videos are a life saver as I dive DEEP into this hyperfixation

[philhamsher]

just re-watched this after watching the current video from yesterday. I just dismantled my layout benchwork because i realized that I had bitten off way more than I could chew. :0) I have an entire extra room to work with and tried to fill it with my dream layout.. Thanks for reminding its ok to start small.

[bruceshodgepodge]

one of my favorite layout designs is using a double track going through a mountain with 2 tunnels, but, the tunnels are covered with industries that use the same rail cars. For example you can have a coal mine on one side that allows empty coal hoppers on one track and loaded rail hoppers on the other track and on the other side of the mountain you have an industry that uses coal again with one track for empty hoppers and the other with loaded hoppers. it creates the illusion of a coal mine producing coal and an industry using coal. bring the loco motive to the coal mine to pick up the loaded hoppers and deliver them to the coal run industry. when the locomotive pushes the loaded hoppers into the industry it looks like coal is being produced at the coal mine on the other side. Then the locomotive switches tracks and grabs the empty hoppers and delivers them to the coal mine again creating the illusion of the industry using the coal as empty coal hoppers emerge from the industry side as the empty hoppers are pushed through the coal mine to get loaded. the only down side of this is that the numbers on the empty hoppers and the loaded hoppers will not match if you're into trying to create some realism to the layout.

[tammylovescats]

I want to say thank you for sharing your video and talking about different types. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, and I have a 6' folding table to set up my track.

[guitarman]

I’m currently emotionally separating from my job and the dream job it would have brought, and somehow I have found myself at model railroading for comfort. It sounds silly but here we are. I love the content. It makes railroading feel more simple and achievable. Im a conductor at the Disneyland railroad and all we are is a loop and a track switch. I want to build a slightly more complicated version of what I work, a few more switches or a figure 8. I ramble but thank you for the kind assistance and non demeaning help

[penncentral]

You are dead on right!!! Been a model railroader since I was 6, I'm 60 now, I've built N scale, HO scale, and have always loved 3 rail O, so I'm building a 120'X 42' building for my final build I will retire with in 3rail O.
I plan on a ceiling HO railroad around the bar at the entry end of the building.

[jvanamb]

Hi Jimmy,
HOWEVER, there is one important thing for beginners to remember. Before you buy ask yourself why.
Setup a monthly budget. (One reason I love your dollar store episodes.) Habitually Newbies buy Rail Stuff just to buy something. A drug of choice compulsion. Not for something new and useable on your layout. But to get your hands on the Hobby Store register receipt or on the thin plastic logoed bag.
Over the past 50+ years I have bought so much stuff, on the cheap, from former RxR Modelers that they bought for their now defunct line, that saved me hundreds of my pennies on their lost dollars.
One good thing for me was when I started rebuilding and expanding my layout, in 1963, my Dad, Mom, and Girlfriend wouldn't let me spend more than my allowance (date night) cash monthly. That includes the cost of Prom before a new 4-8-4 StreamLined Hudson NYC Loco. She enjoyed Prom. I'm still wondering how much that 7th NYC Loco would have looked great on my line.
Model RxR Stuff must be part of your Entertainment Budget not your first fruits spending. Start a realistic budget.
~Jim

[ChrisJones-ombz]

Very good explanation, I’m doing a large expansion going from a 16 X 8 to 32 X 16, it includes 2 continuous passenger lines serving city and country, 1 continuous freight line and 5 point to point industrial lines! Also has 3 large staging yards. Your videos and info are very informative and help us “up our game” thanks for helping!

[jonathanjones]

This was really good. I’ve been a model railroader for a long time and this is good advice. One other thing about those large layouts is that they are usually built by a group of modelers helping out the individual owner of the layout. They are rarely a one-person endeavor. Thanks for sharing.

[averageguy]

Great video Jimmy. I’ve been a real world railfan for a while and only got into modelling last year. I agree with everything you said in this video. Knowing how real RR’s operate has been a huge help in designing my layout for both enjoyable switching ops and continuous running.

[Mike-pjkv]

If it isn't fun I can't think of why you'd do it! So yes, make it fun for you.

[TheGamingEevee]

I have a room dedicated to my trains but I can't seem to think of a plan I like to use on it, right now I just run my trains on a small loop until I can figure out something usable.

[johnarthur]

Great video! I love that you covered keeping things manageable. We all want that massive layout, but space, budget, and frankly, skill constraints mean most of us should start with something a bit smaller. Personally, I started with an industrial shelf layout to hone my skills a bit before incorporating it into something larger. The smaller layout also means more detail, if one is so inclined.