Recommended Books?

KDC86,

 

Try Atlas they have one about how Built a nice Layouts and Track Plans.

 

Also try looking on you tube too.

 

Good Luck,John 

Forget the books, go to youtube and do a search.

 

Books are nice, but I've really grown to enjoy the tube.  And, I'm an old school guy.  

 

There are people who love to make videos of anything you can think about and most share step by step instructions.

 

If you go to Eric's trains, he has an 8 part series on building tunnels!

As far as scenery. There is so much new product available a lot has changed over the years. Just check out the Scenic Express site. My layout is 25 years old. My go to book over the years was Dave Frary's. Easy reading and formulas for coloring rocks and such. I believe he has done videos and has a few newer books out. Check him out as well.

SCARM is a good track planning program, and also free. That may be better than a book, especially for smaller plans? There are also a lot of smaller track plans posted here on the forum. As one example, forum member Ace has posted some smaller and very interesting track plans over the years. There have also been others posting plans as well, just can't think of any other examples just now.

 

Woodland Scenics has how-to videos for their products on their web site. Scenic Express is another, however, I'm not sure about videos there? 

I highly recommend forum sponsor Dennis Brennan's book:

http://www.brennansmodelrr.com...x.php?categoryid=122

I also highly recommend his products, especially ballast.  Best part, if you know how many feet of track you need to ballast Dennis gives you a darn near perfect estinate on how much you need.

-Greg

Yes, agreed.  A very good source of information.

Kurt,

  I would agree about Dave Frary. Good advice and easy to follow. Never tried YouTube for scenery, but that should be helpful, too.

 

 Good luck and post pictures as you move along, 

Tom 

I can recommend two, in this order.

 

First, since you are working with a 4' x 8' space, check out:  Realistic Track Plans for O Gauge Trains by Martin J. McGuirk.  There are some ideas there for expanding your layout.

 

Later, as you acquire more space, look at:  Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong.  This is a fantastic book for when you are ready for a bigger, more realistic empire.

 

Best of luck.

 

George

Kurt, I would add my voice to those recommending Dave Frary's book, and since no one has  done so let me add the book's information so you can find it.  This is "How To Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery", 3rd Edition, by Dave Frary, published by Kalmback Publishing, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 2005.  It's paperback, 144 color pages, about 8 x 11.  

 

I knew absolutely nothing about model railroad scenics and I learned what I needed from this book.  I have gone back to it over and again.  It covers everything you need to know to have a lot of fun and get great results on your layout.  Before this book, I had been kind of intimidated by what I thought would require "art" talent.  Not so. Just follow his instructions, experiment a little, and you'll end up with a grin on your face.

 

david

Thank you all so much for the replies! Thinking about it I really need to concern myself with getting a solid track plan down for my limited space. 

 

Kurt