Make your own scenery elements and save money

Today's topic - making custom scenery and other elements for your model railroad. Now, this is not what you think. I know if you are making a hillside or a realistic roadbed, you are going to have do that on your own. What I am talking about is custom made elements that fit the theme of your layout. Two general themes I have my town/railroad are beer and the Midwest. Super...I know!

Situation #1: When I drink in moderation and have a beer, I usually always go for a flavor made by Leinenkugels. So logically, I would need a Leinenkugels delivery truck for my town. Yes, I am already thinking about beer delivery before I have even built the town. I have priorities. Anyway, good luck finding a Leinenkugels truck in HO scale. If you are so lucky, prepare to pay at least $25.

Digitizedmind solution #1:

1. Go to eBay and buy an Athearn #2742 Ford C-Series Truck (Red & White) for $6.50 ($3 S&H)
2. Go to Google image search and look for a nice image of the Leinenkugels logo
3. Save it and print it
4. Glue it to side of truck

Here is how it turned out:



Sweet! I have a custom made Leinenkugels truck for less than $10!

Situation #2: I picked up a box of highway signs from an older gentleman on Craigslist. Actually it was a throw in with some other items I bought. The stickers for the traffic signs were so old that they weren't even sticky any more. Anyway, I pondered what I could do with these signs. Then I thought, wouldn't it be cool if I could make the exact highway signs I see in my area? One Google search later, here is what I came up with:

Digitizedmind Solution #2:

1. Decide exactly what your signs will say
2. Pick up a cheap set of road signs off eBay, Craigslist, or a garage sale. I have some old Atlas signs from the 70's.
3. Go to this website: Signmaker --- Note this site runs on Java. It was a little hard to understand what was going on at first, but basically it runs a Java program which allows to create ANY highway sign you want. From there, you need to do a Print Screen and dump into a basic program like MS Word and print.
4. Based on step above - print sign and glue

I created a sign for Route 31 in Algonguin which happens to also be Main St. Here is how it turned out:

Once again, a pretty cheap custom made scenery element. These are just two creative ways I was able build custom made scenery that aligned to my theme - beer and the Midwest. That's it. Contact me if you have a frugal way to make HO scale scenery!

First Update - The Table

Yes, so here is the first update. So if you are familiar with the book I am using for this layout, I am at stage 1. I have built the table. How did I do this? Well, I did not follow the book. I know I titled this blog "4 x 8" because that is the most common size plywood comes in.

I re-purposed an old 4 x 4 table and built some extra legs. I also purchased a fine 4 x 8 piece of cabinetry plywood (cost me $23 at Home Depot) and placed it one foot away from the edge of the old table. And thus I created a 4 x 9 table! The space in my "man cave" would only accomodate this size. I added the extra handy feature of wheels. Oh yeah, my table moves!

Here are the photo updates:

If you build it......well, you have just started

Hi all,

I decided the best way for me to document my journey back into the world of model railroading was to create a blog. It is so easy these days and with the advent of Blogger, there is no shame in publishing mundane, geeky manifestos to your passion in life. So here is a neat and tidy summary of what I will be posting on this blog:

The Objective

Share my experience building a HO scale model railroad on a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood based on the book, HO Railroad that Grows by Linn H. Westcott.

My Background

I am not mechanically inclined and I always hire an electrician when it comes to household wiring. I, however, like to challenge myself in both areas. If I can fix something and get it working again, then I am a happy camper. My passion for model railroading came from my father and the now defunct Tyco toy company. My old man and I built a version of the layout I am embarking to build back in about 1979/1980. Actually, my dad did most of the work and I just played with the trains. I had a Tyco set with a Santa Fe engine and numerous buildings, etc.
This past Christmas I stumbled upon the old Tyco set and got it running again. So that is what inspired me to build the layout once again. I live in a suburb of Chicago and it is rich in railroad history. I will share my experience with what I come across in the Midwest as far as where to find good train stores and swap meets.

The Theme

I would like to keep my railroad mostly old school. And when I say old school, I mean no computer chips and wireless, handheld controllers. I will use new code 100 Atlas track, Atlas switches, old Tyco trains, track, and buildings, old MRC transformers, and new Life Like products. Have I plugged enough vendors yet?

Updates

I plan to post updates of the progress I am making with the layout and share my successes and failures. For instance, is it me or is it like totally impossible to put the little wire rails on an Athearn engine?!?!?! Good lord, I almost broke down and cried it took me so long to get the rails placed all in the right order and on the engine. Here is how it turned out:

I will also post any tips and neat info I stumble across during this journey. If I help out one other 40 year old train geek along the way, then mission accomplished!!

The Disclaimer

One thing you have to know about me is that I am not ultra serious. I have quickly found that one aspect of model railroading is the extent to which you stick to realism. So here it is....we are working with a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plywood (or in my case, I made it 4 x 9) and there is NOT much space to work with. You can not make a realistic railroad that is fun on such a small board. So my design will be whimsical in many ways and a land of enchantment. Is a Lowenbrau Brewery enchanting? An update on the brewery will be forthcoming. Yah hey dare! Point being, I am not trying to win an award for realism. Thanks! I hope you enjoy this journey with me.