As promised, here are some pictures of the two toy train layouts I made for my nieces. The goal was to keep it simple and inexpensive and although I lost track of some prices, each layout including train came in at about $12 a piece with material (and about $50 a piece in labor :)). The time was enjoyingly spent and I can't help but explain some details of the construction. It turned out long so if too boring just skip to the end for links to pictures.
Some background: The original set consisted of a simple battery (1 AA) operated engine with caboose and 6 pieces of plastic, interlocking curved track that forms about a 10" diameter circle (first picture below). These have shown up for Easter as the "Bunny Express" and range in price from $1.99 (Walgreens) to $3.99 (Michaels). Surprisingly, the gearing from motor to axle is metal so it may have some life to it.
Some modifications were in order: The track needed to be attached to something to represent a simple layout and the circle had to go. So I bought 2 pieces of 30"x20" x 3/16 thick Elmer's foam board at the craft store (on sale) and 4 of the train sets for extra track. To create straight sections, 3/16" square basswood strips were used. The height didn't quite match so some light trimming was needed to ensure a smooth transition from wood to plastic rails and back. I ended up doing one long straightaway on one side and S-curves on the other with two straight connections on the ends. To break the monotony, the S-curve section was angled, changing how close each corner is to the edge (see pics). Also threw in a small offshoot straight section to park cars not in use. The second layout was done as a mirror image to the first to further add some variation when placed side by side.
Since the plastic track was only designed to interlock one direction, the reverse curves had to be simply butted together. This and the fact that a plain corner couldn't be made with a 6 piece circle design, meant that a lot of cutting, fitting and aligning had to be done before anything could be glued down (I think they call this benchwork?). This took the most time.
Used wood glue to attach the wood strips, then spray painted the whole thing with a medium green paint followed by an overspray of lighter green. Decided not to paint the plastic track as sections would probably wear off, and the yellow showing through wouldn't look good. Instead found some matching yellow craft paint (also on sale) and rolled the upper surface of the wood rails. Could have painted in cross ties but that was going to take awhile. The kids can paint those in later if they want. The plastic track was glued down with white tacky glue and for extra grip, holes were drilled in track and #4 machine screws (heads painted) were screwed/glued in place (used a nail for a pilot hole in the foam).
Could have left the train colors as is (Engine: purple with silver roof and gold stacks, caboose red with silver roof and bunny stickers...) but wanted to experiment. A single screw held the caboose shell on and the engine's shell pops off by squeezing the sides (also battery access). Took the stickers off and shot a test coat of semi-gloss black on the engine with poor results: the metallic paint reacted bad with the spray (dried super glossy in parts, bubbled in others). Fortunately I had the extra set and a bead blaster at work (like an encased sand blaster but uses sandlike glass beads to strip paint or rust). Both the blasted engine and caboose shells took paint well after that. The engines a satin black and the cabooses a satin red/maroon that turned out good. The caboose looked too plain though so did some taping off and sprayed the roof and walkway black too.
This made the set look less toylike but it still needed more so picked up some various decals on sale at Michaels: large victorian styled single letters for the engine sides and a floral strip (it's for girls!) down the sides of both the engine and caboose. A mini set of 3D antiqued-clear bubble sticker numbers worked great for the headlights on the engine and a sort of rear light on the cabooses. Used a lacquer spray to seal everything up and help toughen up the surface for handling.
Still not satisfied, the extra caboose bases were used to make 2 gondolas (got to have some cars to haul "stuff" around in). More basswood pieces cut and glued together then stained, then glued to the bases. The extra pieces cut off the round letter decals were placed in front and back to help identify which train they belong to (each has a different color and pattern). Everything turned out pretty good (if I do say so meself) but I still wasn't sure if the whole thing would actually work and there was no way to test before everything was glued down. Would the straightaway allow too much speed to build up and send the train off the edge at the first curve? What about the dreaded S-curves I put in. Will the extra car effect anything? Is the wood to plastic rail conversion going to work? Sure it's just a cheap batt-opp toy train but I had hours of work put in over a 2 week period! Fears were for nought. Hooked it up, flipped the switch on the side and it went fine. Sigh...
Hopefully it will last but then again my nieces are between 5 and 10 years old and can be rough on toys. These photos may be all that's left by years end, but maybe not. And if they like it I may be able to make a real model railroad for them later. Anyway, on to the photos.
*** Original set.The original Easter Collection "Bunny Express" train set in package:
Overhead view of layout. Second layout is a mirror image design of this one:
Track conversion point close-up. This is one of the numerous points where the original curved plastic track connects to a pair of 3/16" wood straight rails. Also a good view of a painted screw that helps hold down the track at stress points:
Gondola 2 close-up:
Caboose close-up:
Train 2:
Engine 1 ("D") & 2 ("M") close-up:
Trains side by side on straight section:
Another view of trains in different areas:
Overhead view of train on S-curve:
Close-up of rear of Caboose 2:
Caboose comparrison. Shell sitting off to right is the original; red plastic with silver painted roof and sticker on side:
Loco with shell removed (no battery). Scratchbuilding a wood shell might be fun:
That's all folks. Thanks for looking! :) ~Brad H.