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Hi Jim, David Barrow pioneered the "domino" concept for layout planning. A number of articles by and about him were published in Model Railroader and Model Railroad Planning in the 1990's that contain very detailed information about what dominoes are and how he constructs them. I've used...

I've decided to rip out about 85' of fixed, shelf-style benchwork and replace it with hollow core door "modules" to give me more flexibility -- a la "dominoes". A painful and costly decision, but ultimately worth it to me in terms of flexibility.

I've recently decided to rip out about 85' of fixed, shelf-style benchwork and replace it with hollow core door "modules" to give me more flexibility -- a la "dominoes". A painful and costly decision, but ultimately worth it to me in terms of flexibility.

Gorgeous! Too bad steam power in the real world wasn't as "easy" as in the modeling world. These photos give me pause as I gradually reduce the number of steam locomotives vs. diesels on my roster ... although I'll probably never retire my Challengers!

These look better than about 95% of what gets posted. Ignore the rejection and keep learning -- and posting them!

I tried 1/2" G1S plywood (probably construction grade :cry:) last summer when I first started this "side project" -- it warped like a canoe, even pulled out some of the screws!

I can control the temperature within a range of 55-60 in winter to <=80 in summer. I've looked into a humidifier, but at the volume of the train room, the price is prohibitive, not to mention the ongoing cost of power consumption. Do you have a recommendation (re) sealer?

My benchwork is already at 57"; adding another 2" of foam on top of that would be unacceptably high. Besides that, the sides of the foam would have to be painted. I don't mind blue sky; blue subsoil I've never seen in the real world ;-)

I'm trying to decide whether to use 3/4" birch plywood for the "surface" of my next layout which I'm planning to be a "domino"-style modular layout and I am concerned about how well 3/4" birch plywood will hold up against the humidity variations in the Midwest. I'm thinking about attaching...

I am an obsessive layout planner, and one of the things I really enjoy is taking a plan like this and expanding or reducing it to fit it into different-sized spaces. Hey, we selectively compress the real world for our model railroads, why can't we do the same with layout plans? :twisted: For...

I like those wheel stops, and the curved ones, too! (re) the transition problem you've identified ... when I get stuck on things like this (happens a lot!), I just go outdoors and wander around awhile until I see how the 1:1 world does it... sign1

I knew I had one of these in the engine shed...

Exactly. I have two locomotives that came with sound (I couldn't get them any other way) ---- I shut it off in both of them.

Thanks for your thoughts, Wayne! My ultimate goal, like yours, is to have "enough equipment to operate the railroad in a manner that keeps it interesting and ever-changing [that's why I have two interchange tracks], without clogging it with too much stuff". Quite often, for me, the...

After three years in acquisition mode I'm beginning to think I've bought virtually all the rolling stock and locomotives I want for my model railroad. Even the ads aren't all that enticing these days. I look at them (the new Athearn FP-45s in HO, for example) and think, "very nice, but do I...

I had forgotten about this triple-header shot from my old layout until it popped up on my screensaver...

I'd Forgotten How Many Santa Fe Locomotives I Have... I start with this one bcs it's got my only BNSF diesel: Here's an ancient mariner (in model RR terms): The "Safety Stripe Group" could use a bit of dusting off - they've been in storage a while... Let's not forget the...

This is very similar to the way I do things when I want to see a train running when I'm switching or even just working on a project on the layout or nearby. I have two interchange yards and a grain elevator complex that I've isolated from the main line. They each have their own throttle so I...

If basic decoders are ~$25, why are DCC-equipped locos $50 - $100 more than the same model without DCC? I know I have to be missing something here, otherwise it would make way more sense to buy DCC-ready and add a $25 decoder than buy the same model DCC-equipped.

Wow! What a transformation! It gives us all hope :-) I put your excellent pics into my "exemplars" folder. Thanks for sharing!