Fifty miles west of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR division point of Creston, Iowa, lies the town of Red Oak, the inspiration for Model Railroader’s 2015 project model train layout.
Named for the trees that line the Red Oak Creek, the town came into being with the arrival of the Burlington in 1869. Until 1901 the town was known as Red Oak Junction, since the Burlington’s branch to Lincoln, Neb., began in Red Oak. Even today, the town recalls its history each summer with a Junction Days celebration.
Registered users can click the following links to view the first video and the desktop wallpaper. Model Railroader subscribers can download the track plan. We will also be posting more subscriber-exclusive installments of the Red Oak video journals throughout the series.
- Download the Red Oak track plan
- Download the Red Oak desktop wallpaper
- Building the N scale Red Oak model railroad video journals
- Part 1: An overview of the model railroad and building benchwork
- Part 2: Transferring the track plan to the benchwork
- Part 3: Foam board, track, and structures
- Part 4: Placing structures and testing track wiring
- Part 5: Scenery, structures, and road construction
- Part 6: Scenery along the model railroad backdrop
- Part 7: Finishing touches on the N scale model train layout
My California Zephyr passenger train arrived by UPS today. Colorado Section bench work under construction. Keep up the good work.
Please do an operating session. You've brought us this far. My track is about down and getting close to running trains.
Transitions without the benefit of mountains and tunnels will be helpful to those of us who model flat or hilly terrain. I like the hidden staging with continuous running, so it doesn't look like an idiot loop and trains can disappear and later show up again. I already have a large HO layout but am considering adding an N scale layout about this size as a "fun diversion" after retirement.
I would love to see the wiring schematic for this. I haven't progressed to wiring the plan yet and having the schematic would be helpful.
After many false starts in several model RR scales during my working life, I am now retired and am ready to start again.
My thanks to all the MR staff for their articles and videos on construction of the Red Oak project railroad. I am ready to restart my model RR and am have great examples of which to follow.
I have also settled on N Scale since Mr. Popp started with modular units that have expanded to a great looking NE Model RR. Red Oak can be easily expanded as time and money permit.
Again, many thanks for a job well done.
Stephen Force
Will there be any video or article on how to operate the layout? I'm still unsure of how that branchline staging would work.
First of all, what a great layout, track plan, execution and visual appeal…Kudos to all involved..
Now…a bit of Nit-Picking… On the layout, there are 5 metal grain bins of the circular, galvanized metal style that are all over the country…especially the mid-west. I noticed immediately that they don't look like ANY other grain bins I have ever seen. I am not sure what the effect of having each of the panels uniformly variegated from new galvanized metal to, what I am guessing is supposed to be a rusty end, is supposed to represent. I grew up on a farm in W. KS…and we had one of those bins..a Butler, as I recall. Many of the neighboring farmers also had similar or identical bins, many of these were 30-50 years old and NONE of them had the distracting pattern of the Rix that are on this layout. I've probably seen in excess of 10,000 of these over the years all across the country…none have looked remotely like these 5.
Since modelers are known for being compulsive about being as accurate as possible, seeing these atypical buildings is not in keeping with the quality and accuracy of the remainder of the layout. To see exactly what I mean, first of all, go to the Rix website and look at the models that are shown there. Then, do a Google search or, if you have Flickr, search on "Grain Bins" and you will find several thousand photos of these common structures…and about 98% of them will be uniformly galvanized grey…a few very, VERY old ones will have a few spots of damage, some rust, bent panels, etc….but NONE of them will have the uniform and unrealistic patterns of the 5 on this layout.
You mention in the article that you had lots of photos of Iowa to guide you in the construction, so it's a puzzle to me as to why the builder chose to attempt to "weather" (??…was that the intent?)..these nearly indestructible structures…and if so, why was this non-prototypical pattern used?
Again…a GREAT overall layout…the plan and presentation were first rate…'scuse my mini-rant, OK?
I have looked closely at the installments and the videos – what is unclear to me (still) is how the styrene backdrop gets placed – one picture appear to show the top foam layer as two pieces – did you do that for both layers? I'm gathering wood/track although I like the idea of a team track where the train station is and moving the train station to the other side (I'm modeling "roughly" Lyle, WA on the SP&S). The station in Lyle was originally on the "town" side of the tracks. But in general this is a great plan to start with.
In the January issue you mentioned that Hornby America announced a GE U25C in the Burlington scheme, which I assume means you will be adding it to the roster. My question is which of the two (or both) road numbers are you getting?
To Neil and the MR staff, this is a really nice layout and article. I do have a question though.
You mention the Carolina Central from the December 96 issue. I could not find this layout track plan in the on line data base. Am I missing it or is it not there?
I guess my next step is to look into my own archives (boxes) and find the December "96" issue. I have been getting MR since 1973. But I only have the last few years on my book shelves.
I have a rather large HO layout to work on, but I have also been thinking about building a small N scale layout. This article has sparked that thought again. But I think I would like to look at the Carolina Central again to see what may be different. I remember the Clinchfield layout from many years ago, I built a small 2×4 N scale layout after reading that article. That was back in the 70's if I remember right. I think you recently had an update about that layout being repurposed into a new layout.
Anyway, thanks for this new layout project and I look forward to reading more.
Steve
I am really intrigued by the two pieces of foam core, but how are you getting the drop lines to the main electrical line? You show the lower piece of foam core 2" smaller. No problem but I did not see you connecting or routing the drop lines
Fred Mattox from Indiana
I found all structures either with a MRR outlet or Amazon / eBay.
The first installment of the Red Oak included a list with Walthers catalog numbers for the major structures used on this layout, however many of the models are not listed in the catalog or found in online store. The one building I really would like to obtain is the feed mill, it is listed in HO but I could not find it in the catalog.
Very very nice !
The minimum radius on the Red Oak project layout is 13 inches. You can find information like the minimum radius, maximum grade, length of mainline run, etc. on the track plan page. There is a hyperlink that leads to the track plan page on "Download the Red Oak track plan."
One thing that I have found somewhat disappointing for the recent project layouts is the lack of videos. The Bay Junction project had 21 videos, and they went into great detail. I really hope for the 2016 MRR project layout they do at least 10-15 videos and go into depth about building the structures, adding scenery, etc.
nice
Lowell Burruss: That information, and more, is in the magazine articles about this project. Look at our January 2015 issue.
Scott Daunheimer: We taped a good number of episodes of the video blog as construction of the layout progressed, but we don't want to run out of them before the magazine series finishes in the April issue, so we're releasing one every few weeks.
James Foster, the track plan will work in HO scale; just scale it up approximately double. There may be issues with reach-in distance, though, so an access hatch or two may be necessary in the middle.
What's the point of asking questions when they are ignored (no answers)? For instance: what is the minimum radius? It seems as though it is a simple question, inquiring minds would like to know of this stuff.
Scott Daunheiner -> I am not a staffer but it's the holidays and you might not get a reply from them for a while. My experience is that in the past MR has released the videos chapters as they appeared in the magazine. Since the February issue has just been released in digital form, we should see the next chapter shortly. In other words, the videos are meant to go along with the story in the magazine.
Where are the rest of the chapters of the video blog?
Can it work in HO. Thank you for all of the Projects Railroad that you are building.
What is the minimum radius?
This layout looks great, and it would look great in my room.
Can't wait to see this n scale project layout. A great N scale layout for operation potential. This layout has similar design to the Carolina Central project done a few years ago. This design could fit many Midwestern theme designs.
Jackson, Michigan
Mike
I expect this will be an interesting Project Railroad. Looks like a great track plan for operating or roundy-roundy, whatever one's mood! When will the videos be posted?