(UPDATED) The 48 Club *** Announcing Division 59 Membership ***

Jerry- I'm honored to be a charter member ! Thanks.

Funny thing is I never had a 4 X 8 layout till now. I had two different HO layouts growing up, one was a 8 X 10 L, and the second was 8 X 12.

I'm in for kielbasa any time too!

Here's my track plan and another plan for a switching layout I can fit on a 30" door.

Bob

Jerry, great idea for the club and nice use of a 4x8 in the plan you shared.  May I suggest another honorary member, Thor Sheil of the Thortrains website which has recently been reborn by forum member @Dennis-LaRock as  http://www.thortrains.us/  His website is an inspiration to those operating in a small space and his hints, tips, and tricks are a great resource.

Sadly, at 5.5ft x 8ft I am on the outside looking in, but maybe I'll throw something together on a single 4x8.

@RSJB18 I always enjoy seeing your layout

Here's one that I set up for Easter before COVID stopped family visits.  BTW: I am showing images of another Easter layout that I set up this year in Scott Smith's weekly photo fun - 2 or 3 images per week.

- walt

Walt, what kind of floor covering is that you're using under the track? I came across a green 6x8 indoor/outdoor carpet made from recycled plastic that I used under my tree/trains this past Christmas, kind of like a heavy duty 1/8" felt. It was easily cut with scissors and the color and texture was pretty good match for something used with toy trains. Lowes website lists it at about $22 but I picked up a couple in York for $16 each. The only draw back I see to it is sawdust and straw from my manger scene was a bear to remove even with a vacuum cleaner and sitting it directly on a hardwood floor it would slide easy so unless it were attached to an underlayment of some kind I'd recommend a non skid mat under it.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EcoRu...W-x-8-ft-L/999992360

Jerry

You can't have 4 x 8 without the Razorback Traction Co!

And, of course, Norma Bates Kitteh...  ;-)

Mitch

I think I qualify.  Pictured is my very standard single loop layout with two sidings.  It’s on a 4x8 slab of 1/2 inch thick plywood and a layer of homasote.  This layout is S Gauge.  

I love the spirit of this topic and would have been a proud member up until recently when I dismantled my 4x8 train layout and build a 5 x10 Crappy Basement Layout.   Here are some shots of my old 4x8 layout

Here are the rough beginnings of a 32” x 84” trolley layout. Notice my crappy basement layout in the background!

My own layout is 4x12, but I've always read that the most popular size is still 4x8 despite what you might see in all the magazines. Even the simplest oval on green-painted plywood is still fun!

My 4x8, a work in progress (to say the least). First is original layout. Second image hard to see: Two more spurs added near cross, and long spur was converted to a passing siding. Third image: No basement, and no extra rooms to take over for trains, so i hung it off the garage ceiling. Lower (and raise it) with pulley hoist onto sawhorses, so a little tedious. Otoh, wiring relatively easy.

love the art deco logo of the 48 club!
Mark

I qualify to be a member. My postwar Super O layout is a 4x8 table. Currently it is an accessory focused table which runs two interconnected loops.

Great stuff folks. Keep it coming. 👍

Well my layout started out as a 5x8 and grew from there so I never qualified but I just wanted to comment that I love the Logo! Looks and sounds like a great place to go for a drink! Anyways, carry on and enjoy running trains!!

That came about by virtue of the name, I thought it sounded like a Night Club from the 20/30's so I ran with that idea. I did consider The 4x8 Club but the logo didn't look right with an X in it  and The 32 Club logo (32sq' of a 4x8) looked too soft and rounded, I liked the sharpness of the 4 better. I had a heck of a time getting that font to play well with all 3 graphics packages I have, finally resorted to going with a ridiculous size in Word and then copy/pasting it into Inkscape to get the yellow to completely fill the thin areas in the characters and then shrinking it back down to a reasonable size.

@JD2035RR posted:

May I suggest another honorary member, Thor Sheil of the Thortrains website which has recently been reborn by forum member @Dennis-LaRock as  http://www.thortrains.us/  His website is an inspiration to those operating in a small space and his hints, tips, and tricks are a great resource.

Duly noted and membership amended to show Thor Sheil as an Honorary Member in The 48 Club !

@Madockawando posted:

I love the spirit of this topic and would have been a proud member up until recently when I dismantled my 4x8 train layout and build a 5 x10 Crappy Basement Layout.

I think a title of Member Emeritus would be most applicable to you then, consider yourself a member. That's the nice thing about starting a club, you can make up things as you go along !

Jerry

And for your first Club Car, might I suggest one of the 40 & 8 boxcars from WWI??? They were so named because they supposedly could carry 40 men or 8 horses to the front. A number of them were given to the US in gratitude after the war - this one was in the B&O Museum in Baltimore when I visited some years ago...

Shucks - over by four square feet...

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Walt, what kind of floor covering is that you're using under the track? I came across a green 6x8 indoor/outdoor carpet made from recycled plastic that I used under my tree/trains this past Christmas, kind of like a heavy duty 1/8" felt. It was easily cut with scissors and the color and texture was pretty good match for something used with toy trains. Lowes website lists it at about $22 but I picked up a couple in York for $16 each. The only draw back I see to it is sawdust and straw from my manger scene was a bear to remove even with a vacuum cleaner and sitting it directly on a hardwood floor it would slide easy so unless it were attached to an underlayment of some kind I'd recommend a non skid mat under it.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EcoRu...W-x-8-ft-L/999992360

Jerry

It's just painted Homasote.

Hi Jerry and all the other members of the 48 Club!  I’m honored to be a Charter Member of the Club!  It’s too late now, but it reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”  

John

@Kelunaboy posted:

Shucks - over by four square feet...

"DILLY DILLY!" welllllllllllll, I was never too good at math. (luving on the layout) <salute> I am still learning about how to create interest in layouts, and yours looks fun.

@Madockawando posted:

I love the spirit of this topic and would have been a proud member up until recently when I dismantled my 4x8 train layout and build a 5 x10 Crappy Basement Layout.   Here are some shots of my old 4x8 layout

Great video, and I love the flying broomstick with a Witch in the background! what was your layout design please.

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

You can't have 4 x 8 without the Razorback Traction Co!

And, of course, Norma Bates Kitteh...  ;-)

Mitch

and, what about a subchapter for those that renew the Dusty,  the Tossed, The forgotten, the scrounged? Vote MITCH and Fortesque for president of the chapter

@CA John posted:

Hi Jerry and all the other members of the 48 Club!  I’m honored to be a Charter Member of the Club!  It’s too late now, but it reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”  

John

Like Minds...... <salute>

Here's my 4x8 based on the D-190 display layout.

@Apples55 posted:

And for your first Club Car, might I suggest one of the 40 & 8 boxcars from WWI???

I had thought about a boxcar and kicked around a couple ideas. Yours is interesting, I remember seeing it several times when I visited the B&O Museum, might be kind of hard to find an O gauge model of it to try it on. MTH has made a similar boxcar that might make a passable clone. Might make for an interesting modeling project.

This is what I worked up this evening, I'm figuring in keeping with the Art Deco style of the logo make it all black with yellow/gold lettering except for the hobo graffiti on the car. I wanted to use the Art Deco font for all the markings but they just didn't look right, almost overkill

And in an effort to actually make this car I'm looking into an HP Ghost White printer that uses colored toner and  white toner to make the decals. I've watched a few YouTube videos and it looks pretty good at making decals. Problem is it clocks in around $600 and a white toner cartridge is $200-300 depending on where you get it. I know I can use it for my other printing/computer needs but OUCH!  Another option would be to buy a less expensive printer that can take those toner cartridges. But I would then also be able to do my other 3 projects, an all white train with black lettering, an all black train with white lettering and an all glow in the dark train with black lettering using the standard boxcar, gondola, tank car, hopper and caboose pulled by that venerable work horse the Lionel 675.

I'll be totaling up the Charter Membership to see where we stand, I was going to do it this afternoon but I was busy watching SpaceX blow up another rocket, kinda making me rethink that whole buying a chance to go into space on a Falcon 9 thing, but I digress. I will post the membership roster hopefully tomorrow.

Jerry

Just got finished updating the membership roll, not a bad start.

Founding Member
1. BaltimoreTrainWorks

Honorary Founding Member, Honorary Charter Member and Honorary Member
1. Amfleet25124

Charter Members
1. RSJB18
2. Conductor Earl
3. bptBill
4. CA John
5. Walt Rapp
6. M. Mitchell Marmel
7. OKHIKER
8. Coca Cola guy
9. Nucci
10. Rich Wiemann
11. CSXJOE
12. graz

Honorary Members
1. Harry Miller ... My grandfather
2. Jerry Makowiecki ... My dad
3. Thor Sheil
4. Alan Arnold
5. Allen Miller
6. Rich Melvin
7. Ed Boyle

I included my grandfather and Dad as Honorary Members since they were the ones who got the ball rolling for me train-wise. My grandfather started setting up trains under the tree on a 4x8 before WW2 and handed the trains over to my dad after I was born in 1960 to continue the tradition. My dad set up trains until I took over in 1978 and I've had trains set up in some way ever since then. I still have my grandfathers first locomotive, a Lionel 1666E, which every now and then will see some run time at Christmas.

Jerry

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

I included my grandfather and Dad as Honorary Members since they were the ones who got the ball rolling for me train-wise.

Very rarely do I run into a first-generation train person any more.  Seems that we are all 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation and begin with a set handed down from above, so to speak.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with that...and it's my story, too!

Thank you Jerry.

I am honored to be a charter member of THE 48 CLUB. I hope to fulfill my duties and discharge my responsibilities in a manner that befits the high standards of the club. 😁 Appreciate the backstory and all the effort that went into the logo creation!

That logo would look great anywhere. I can easily see it on some high end private varnish Pullman on The Twentieth Century Limited.

And the boxcar: sign me up! (Wait; what did i just sign up for?) Looks great. Nice tie in to the WWI 40&8 boxcar. Great idea by Apples55

Mark

I will have to see if the depth and color saturation of the logo can be achieved on my Canon Pro 100. Callie would be the pro way, She just makes it happen. inkjet need to be sprayed finish coats. Salute

Great update Jerry. I work with a local sign shop if you need some outside assistance. They could probably pull off what you want to do.

Bob

We still have the 4x8 Christmas Layout up and running.

Is there a link to sign up

Thanks Melvin

@Miggy posted:

Great video, and I love the flying broomstick with a Witch in the background! what was your layout design please.

Please see: https://ogrforum.com/...y-larger-with-photos

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

This is what I worked up this evening, I'm figuring in keeping with the Art Deco style of the logo make it all black with yellow/gold lettering except for the hobo graffiti on the car. I wanted to use the Art Deco font for all the markings but they just didn't look right, almost overkill

Spiffy!  I like! 

I'll be totaling up the Charter Membership to see where we stand, I was going to do it this afternoon but I was busy watching SpaceX blow up another rocket, kinda making me rethink that whole buying a chance to go into space on a Falcon 9 thing, but I digress.

That's "RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly)", if you please. 

Mitch

LOL when I first saw the title of this thread, I thought it was a take on being over 48 years of age, which I thought was a bit superfluous that would constitute over 99.99% of O gauge hobbyists  (including myself)

Well actually I think it would be more accurate to say that 99.99% are WAY over 48! 

@Melvin P posted:

Is there a link to sign up

Nope, just a declaration by you that you are a member ( whether your layout is permanent or seasonal is irrelevant), much like the Brotherhood Of The Crappy Basement Layout. We don't even have a FB page mostly because it's a boring pain in the butt to deal with something like that unless there is a lively and robust membership and a back and forth of ideas. For now we're just a small group here on the Forum.

@Nucci posted:

That logo would look great anywhere. I can easily see it on some high end private varnish Pullman on The Twentieth Century Limited.

HMM, you're right, that would make a cool looking drumhead.

@graz posted:

We still have the 4x8 Christmas Layout up and running.

Consider yourself in the club. (see roster above)

Jerry

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

That's "RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly)", if you please. 

What ever you want to call it, it definitely wasn't norminal!

Jerry

Hi all, this is timely as I am just about to start a new 4x8 Fastrack layout. Can anyone tell me what the outside dimensions of a 036 circle of Fastrack is, including the plastic roadbed? What about 031 Fasttrack? Thanks for all of the good hints, tips can ideas here. Also as a memorial membership I would suggest my late mother. In late 1980, after my grandfather was killed she built me (8 years old at the time) a 4x8 layout with a loop of track and some green construction paper. That was a huge undertaking for a single mother with four mouths to feed on a school teacher salary in the big city. Great memories.

@ChooChoo1972 posted:

Hi all, this is timely as I am just about to start a new 4x8 Fastrack layout. Can anyone tell me what the outside dimensions of a 036 circle of Fastrack is, including the plastic roadbed? What about 031 Fasttrack? Thanks for all of the good hints, tips can ideas here. Also as a memorial membership I would suggest my late mother. In late 1980, after my grandfather was killed she built me (8 years old at the time) a 4x8 layout with a loop of track and some green construction paper. That was a huge undertaking for a single mother with four mouths to feed on a school teacher salary in the big city. Great memories.

Hi Frank, my old 4x8 layout had an O-36 outside loop with a half length straight track on the ends in the middle of the loop.

On the inside I had an O-36 figure 8. All track was Fastrack.