Planning a Model Railroad with Josh Clark

Hi guys, my name is Josh. Welcome back to another Model Railroad Academy video. Today, we're gonna be starting a video series on how to build a model railroad from step one, all the way to the end. So, we're gonna be covering things all the way from designing the layout and getting inspiration from the layout, all the way to the last and final touches of scenery and everything in between. But before we even get started, we need to figure out what we're gonna build and what we wanna model and kind of go from there. So, for instance, today, we're sitting here in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and this is actually exactly where I grew up. I remember sitting right here by the tracks on the caboose that's behind me, and watching Hunter Carter coal trains go by. So that's something that I really wanna incorporate into this layout. I think it's something that you should consider as well. So, whether you grew up in the United States or anywhere, wherever you're watching this video, whatever you wanna model, I would recommend, if you can go outside, take some pictures, look at the track, look at the scenery, look at the trains and see what they look like, and what you wanna model. I think that's a great place to start, is just to get a little bit of inspiration and to think about what you wanna model. So, we're here in Hendersonville. This is what I'm gonna be basing this layout on, but of course you can base your layout on whatever you want it to be. But this is just the first step in the design process. Is just getting a little bit of inspiration and kind of going from there. Step inside, let's take a look at just some of the scenery and track around here. And then we'll go ahead and head over to the work bench and start designing this layout. So, once again, guys, I look forward to getting started and I think it's gonna be a great series. So, as we look at some of the scenery around the Hendersonville, the Depot here, take a look at the caboose on the right, the siding on the left and how all of it is laid out. And just use that, as you go out and look at your own scene to inspire you and look at the details. One small detail that I noticed is that the siding is lower than the main line. It's a small detail, but a lot of people don't do it. And I think it's something that we're gonna incorporate into the layout and it captures the idea well that the small details at the end of the day, really add up to make an incredible scene. So, look at the buildings, the roads, and even the backdrops, 'cause that's gonna be something that we're gonna add to the layout, and all this is gonna come together to make an incredible model railroad and an incredible scene. So back here in the layout, and as you can see a lot of the inspiration from this layout, even though this isn't the project layout, this is our main layout, at our house, a lot of the inspiration is taken from the railroad. And so, this is just like the caboose there that we saw at the Depot, and I think it's just a neat reminder of things you see in real life. And so, that is kind of some of the things, and that's kinda the mentality we wanna approach and encourage you guys to do when designing the layout and thinking about, kind of what you wanna put in it and what you wanna model. So, once you can have an idea of the area that you wanna model or, the location that you kind of wanna base your layout on, the next to do is to design a track plan. And that really depends on the room that you have. However, I think if I could recommend one thing, I would say that more track isn't always better. A lot of times, I think it's easier to be tempted to just kind of put as much track into the layout as you can, which is neat for operations, but realistically, I think that's not always the best. When you just add one track and have tons of scenery around it, that adds a lot of realism. So that's something that it does take up a little bit of space and maybe you compromise a little bit regarding operations, but I think realistically, it's gonna add a lot more realism and believability to your layout. So that's something just to consider, and think about when designing your layout. Well guys, from the HO scale, Hendersonville Depot, I really appreciate your time. Thanks for watching. I hope this was helpful, and I look forward to the next part of this series, where we start building the bench work, and then going on from there. So, once again, guys, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time, bye.