My Layout

Having my own layout didn't even cross my mind until early 2007. I went to a Model Railroad Show put on by Hoslters (Local club). That is when I saw it...a On30 K-28 #473. It was amazing. I grew up riding the trains in Durango and Chama and remember thinking that I would like to have a model that looked just like those trains. When ever I would go to a hobby store I would look for the any sort of a Mikado, but no luck. I was always disappointed when I would see train sets that would say, "Durango and Silverton set" and the locomotive was far from a true Mikado. In fact Durango's Gift shop sells a HO set that is a good example of what I'm talking about.

http://www.durangotrain.com/store/ModelTrains.htm

http://www.durangotrain.com/store/ModelTrains.htm

So when I saw my first real Mikado model I was so excited. I had earned some extra money doing some videography work and kept thinking about that Model Mountain Import K-28. When I bought it did not even have a layout yet, all I had was a piece of flex track that I could run it on. Our house has a mother in-law apartment so my wife agreed to let me build my layout in the kitchen.

Basic plans I drew

Before Construction


Before


Before


First Bench work piece

Bench work

Because space was limited and the required 26 inch radius needed for the K-28 I needed to build a duck-under.

Bench work

Always wear masks and goggles when cutting plywood!


Getting closer


I bought a bunch of flex track off eBay.


Track

When I first laid the track I thought I could get away with having a smaller radius for the curves...but I was wrong. When I ran the first test the locomotive would get stuck trying to go around the curves. So I tore it up and started again, but this time I made a cardboard template that was a little over 26 inches. The template worked like a charm and the locomotive had free reign of the layout.