Thomas the Train Layout

Ok, I was not sure where this would fit into the forums at but I wanted to document the layout I am building with my two sons, that way they can have some positive feedback on what they are working on. ( They love trains just as much as me and when they "found out" that I was building a layout, they wanted to make one of their own with their trains. They have remote control train engines, so they can control forward, reverse and where they want to stop the engines at. We will be adding extensions to this layout once we get this one built and completed. I know its not normal but we are building the layout on cardboard, its all we had at the house to work with at the current time, but it will later be moved onto a 4X8 piece of plywood. There will be a small lake with a feeder river in the middle of the curve below, you can see the raised track in the bottom left of the photo where a bridge will be placed at a later date. There will not be a super detailed scenery, my sons are 6 and 3 so we are going to make the scenery as real as possible for the level they are capable of doing. I hope to get some good feedback, this is our first layout that we are building together.


This is the only curve that will be going uphill. it goes from 0" to 2.75". The trains make it up this pretty easily ( thankfully ). There are two other graded curves but these are both downhill slopes ( unless the boys decide to make the trains run the opposite direction that I have planned ).


This is the layout from the long view. The track curve on the right circles around and goes under in two locations of the upper track. This is where I stopped for the night. My bad knee started killing me, so I decided to call it a night.


This is the wide view of the track. Pardon the lysol cleaning wipes, it was the heaviest thing I could find to hold down the cardboard to make the clue stick better. I am in the process of building the upper level of track in this picture.


Here you can see my "benchwork" that holds up the upper level of track. It holds very well for being cardboard. There is no movement when the trains cross the upper level, so I must have done something right


That is all for tonight. I have a lazy day tomorrow. No running around to do, and no kids have any appointments, so we get to work on the layout all day long. Plans for tomorrow are to finish with the sloping of the curves and to get the track secured to the base. Then it will be onto getting the hills started.

 

You didn't say how old your sons were, but from the "Thomas" layout, I'm guessing toddler to 5 or so. I've got a 7 yr. old grandson that started with "Thomas", and now has his own "N" scale "Unitrack" layout that "Papa" just built him for Christmas.
There is NO BETTER way to spend quality time with you family, and have fun doing it. Keep up the good work. May I suggest that when you get to the point of moving it off the cardboard, you consider pink foam insulation board?? It comes in thicknesses from 1/2" to 2", is sturdy(especially the 1-1/2 or 2", and is a good bit lighter and as cheap or cheaper than plywood.

 

My oldest started with that same type of thomas trains when he was about 2... We have enough track to fully occupy all floor space in the living room and drive momma mad this past year we built a small n scale layout for him and got the thomas/annie/clarabel set which he loves. We never had the remote control trains, but I think a lot of the fun came in dismantling and rebuilding to work out a whole different plan each time.

 

That's looking real good. My girls are grown and I don't have grandkids. Yet. But would like a layout for my little friends.
Are there different scales and levels besides the remote control? What scale would they be?
I currently have a small N scale layout and a HO oval for under the Christmas tree until I can get a bigger place.

 

Did not get as much done as we had wanted today sadly. We accomplished getting the track completely built up, and they have been enjoying running their trains since we had to stop. Unscheduled grocery shopping took up most of our day sadly.

Here is a look at what we have done with some spare boxes


Guess I forgot to upload the pictures of the track that I had taken, I will do my best to get them up shortly. I also took a video of them running their trains on the layout after we finished getting the track laid down. I will see what I can do to get that up on here as well. Hopefully tomorrow will be the lazy day we had hoped for and we can start building some scenery and start working on the mountain. Well, until tomorrow I hope everyone has a great night.

 

As far as scale goes, I am not positive what scale they would be considered as they are not real objects. They are larger than HO scale engines and cars, and they do make them not remote control, but they are just made to run continuously without stopping at that point until you stop them physically.

 

I figured so. The picture with the container on the tracked looked like you say. Bigger than HO but not as big as O. That's probably good as then, being a whimsical theme, I can try some more work with the Polymer Clays to make buildings.

I'm enjoying your postings. Keep 'em coming.

Richard

 

Thank you shortround. I was finally able to get some more pictures loaded off my phone, but the video is not transfering from my phone to my computer sadly. Here is what we were able to accomplish yesterday.

Here are a few pictures of my three year old putting glue on supports and then using the lysol wipes to put pressure to keep the support held down for drying.


Long view of the layout after getting all the supports in place. We had just finished doing test runs in both directions to make sure the grades were not too steep and to ensure there were no derailment issues anywhere on the layout. The test runs went off without a hitch.


Side view of the layout, you can see the vertical supports. The cardboard works extremely well for these trains, there is no flex at all anywhere along the upper track nor on any of the curves.

 

And here are a few more photos. This shows the loop and station position. Behind the station will be a few buildings to add some structure and "work" to the layout.


This is the curve that will go around the mountain. It will have a small tunnel to break up the monotony of the track, and then another tunnel will take the trains under the upper level and out the other side behind the station.


And last but not least is Persy showing the clearance for the upper level of track. There are no issues getting under the track so thats a huge plus.


Today we are going to glue the track down so that there are no gaps or possibilities of the track accidently coming apart or slipping. Then hopefully we will get to starting the scenery ( fingers crossed )

 

He is the one who wanted to make a train like daddy's. So I figured it fittinf that he do work too. He has had a lot of fun putting his layout together so far. The real fun is still to come when we start making the mountain and scenery. He is honestly so excited about his train he wont leave me alone he just wants to keep working on it non stop. Doesnt bother me but my wife is starting to get upset cuz im not giving her any attention due to my son wanting to work lol.

 

Happy times today. We finally started working on the scenery. We only gor a small portion of one turn started but we finally got started. What do you guys think, paint needs to be added but I think it looks pretty good.

 

Got more work done on the layout scenery today. Far from done but a little work is better than no work. Would have pictures but there isnt much more to look at than what was posted yesterday. Got one tunnel entrance finished up, and alot more of the hillside done, but its far from finished up. Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will have the scenery pretty much finished up so we can start painting and geting the true scenery put into place ( trees, bushes, rocks). Hopefully we will also be to the point of starting work on the lake and river. Well, till next time happy railroading.

 

Very Nice!
We need to hide this tread from "Lady Grandure". She will want to turn my layout into a Thomas layout for her grandson. Hmmm,
Er, Ok, Now I want to build one for her grandson. Hmm.

 

Well busy last few days,not spent on the layout sadly. Doctors appointments took us out of town for an entire day. We did get some work done though. Finished up a lot of the hillside as weall as got two tunnel entrances completed. Hopefully we can start work on the mountain tomorrow. Ill post pics as soon as possible. Cant wait to get some pics up and see what you guys think. Its been fun not having to worry about extreme details and getting to work with my boys. This was a definite good idea cuz they love every minute of it.

 

Finally got some pictures uploaded. The lower hill is almost complete, just have to finish up a couple of areas. I never put how we were building the layout. Since my sons, Kayleb 3, and CJ 6 are helping me we are using plastic bags and paper mache since it is easier for them. Using molds and plaster just wasnt on their level yet. The paper mache is working out extremely well though.

Here shows some pictures of Kayleb repairing track that had come apart and removing Thomas the Train due to him derailing where another track section started to come apart. We really need to get around to glueing the tracks down, but the paper mache is so much more fun for the kids at the moment.


Here is the lower hill portion of the layout and you can see the tunnel entrances below the upper switch. We are going to make timber portal entrances to cover the tunnel portals, it should be really fun.


Today is another busy day, my daughter has a doctors appointment and we have some shopping to do, but hopefully we can get around to starting on the "mountain" and finishing up the lower hill area. Let us know what you guys think of the layout so far.

BTW, has anyone else used the paper mache method we are using, and how well has it worked for you ?

 

You're definitely making good progress and it looks like the little ones are enjoying it also.

Here's a tip you might need for the future... somehow we managed to get a unidentified liquid (I'm guessing water or juice) inside our 'Charlie' loco. I opened it, cleaned it all out, cleaned the contacts, but still wouldn't move. Removed the motor and tested direct with a AA battery and it didn't move. It's a good thing there's a good selection of spares available... NOT! I found a (almost) compatible motor on ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/230690397222) just needed to trim a little off the end of the shaft. I just finished installing it and my son is having fun with it right now

The specs for the motor I got are at http://www.hoipo.com/products/f13.htm I browsed around the manufacturers site but couldn't find a exact match, but this was the closest.

 

Every generation needs their trains to get them into the hobby...The Baby Boomers had Lionel, Generation-X had TYCO trainsets, today's youngsters have Thomas The Tank Engine...