Building a Model of a Model Railroad Part 1

Building a model of a model railroad is a great planning tool that gives the modeler a means to analyze his or her track arrangements, structures, and scenery elements. Dave Frary and other modelers have been using these planning models for many years.

Tools Needed:

• Hobby knife w/blades. (#11 blades works great)
• Steel ruler
• Glue stick (the kind children use for school arts and crafts projects)
• Sanding stick or Emery board
• ACC or Elmer's glue
• Glue applicator (toothpicks work in a pinch)

Materials Needed:

• Two copies of your track plan (I am using the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot)
• basswood sheet material (I used 1/32” x 3” x 24” basswood sheet, but balsa or card stock will work too)
• card stock material

Let's get started!

Step 1

Use your steel ruler to mark off your layout base on the basswood sheet (my base is 2” x 4”). Carefully cut out the layout base using the #11 hobby knife. Next, cut out both track plans with the hobby knife.

Scale of plan is one inch to the foot.

Step 2

Take the glue stick and coat the back of each track plan with glue. Attach one track plan to the cut out basswood piece (the layout base), and then attach the other track plan to the remaining basswood sheet. Allow the glue to dry before proceeding to step 3.

Step 3

Carefully cut out the second track plan from the remaining basswood sheet. This will be used as the raised roadbed.  Next, glue the cut out sections of your second track plan to the first basswood piece (the layout base). Use the first track plan as a guide for gluing the raised roadbed.

Step 4

Use the card stock to form your structures and the sky backdrop. Be sure your homemade structures and the backdrop are to scale, but don't worry about making them look like detailed models. The scale is important, not the fine details.  Cut out as many structure bases as you need from the extra basswood sheet. Attach the structures to the basswood bases using ACC or Elmer's glue. Color the structures and the backdrop with colored markers or craft acrylic paints. Attach the backdrop to the layout base with ACC. (Note:  Elmer's will work, but ACC is much faster!)

Now you have a basic model to help you visualize your layout:

In Part 2, I will show you how to finish the model with scenery detail.