JBucy Posted January 3, 2015 Hello everyone. I haven't posted anything in quite a while so I thought I would share my layout I put under my tree this year. (and I hope I am doing the pictures correctly) I put a LEGO train under the Christmas tree every year, but the last couple of years have been pretty basic. Just some track to run a train and that is all. This year I wanted to get back to making more of a layout and I mostly suceeded. I was just a little too ambitious for the time that I had to spend on it. It looks like a ghost town because it never got detailed. For the photos, I had to add the trees, plants, lights and anything that could easily be removed to the layout. I made the scenery as strong as I could to withstand my 14 month old and my 2 year old (who is almost 3 actually). What I didn't anticipate was the 2 year old taking it apart and then the 14 month year old trying to eat everything. So anything loose had to go. It was walked on and crawled on with very little damage so that goal was reached... There are no trains in the pictures because, honestly, I forgot to put it on there while I took the pictures. Nothing special though, I made a quick simple train that could withstand the kids. It didn't, but it was easy to reassemble. The transition between the snow and the grass is not as good as it was originally. If you look there are some chunks missing in the back. I also built everything to face the other direction, but when I went to set it all up, I ended up having to reverse everything. Luckily it is LEGO so I could change it, but it didn't end up as nice as it was due to the time that I had to change it. I had some nice lines with the banks of snow and grass that I really liked. I will post some WIP shots that show it. The building is old (around 10yrs old) that I had sitting around in a box from my COLTC days. I needed something sturdy and didn't time to build a new one. At one point the 14 month old climbed on the building and was sitting on it...luckily the roof didn't collapse! I probably spent the most time on the 2 curves and I am really happy how they came out although I think that they would look a whole lot better with bigger radius curves!! Overall I am pretty happy with how it came out, it is just not as finished as I would have liked. Enjoy, John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chubbs Posted January 3, 2015 That is simply amazing! Well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_spock Posted January 3, 2015 Very nice. Do you plan to do it again in another 11 months? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zephyr1934 Posted January 3, 2015 Heh heh heh... oh... wait... I mean Ho Ho Ho. Very nice work with a lot of great details. You are a brave man to put such detailed work within the path of a crawler. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScotNick Posted January 3, 2015 Looks great! I like the fence on the curved sections.... really improves the look! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted January 3, 2015 Nice snowy layout! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Srbandrews Posted January 3, 2015 Awesome layout; really impressed with the way the snow is banked up around the track. What trains did you run on it? That seems to be the key missing deatail in your pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JBucy Posted January 7, 2015 Very nice. Do you plan to do it again in another 11 months? Of course. My intent with this layout was to make it modular. It is, but I am not sure if it is modular enough to change it up much. The problem is that my wife has requested a smaller layout next year :) Heh heh heh... oh... wait... I mean Ho Ho Ho. Very nice work with a lot of great details. You are a brave man to put such detailed work within the path of a crawler. Thanks Benn! Yeah, it survived okay, but it was very bland since I couldn't leave any of the detailing there. I tried to top my 2011 layout, but I don't think I succeeded for that reason. Looks great! I like the fence on the curved sections.... really improves the look! Thank you. I debated if they would look okay, but it was too plain without them. Awesome layout; really impressed with the way the snow is banked up around the track. What trains did you run on it? That seems to be the key missing deatail in your pictures. Thank you! I spent a bunch time on that. I used Tony (or was it Cale's) curve ballasting as inspiration. Yeah, I got to run trains on it a lot less than I wanted to. I used the Holiday Train engine because I never got the time to build a toddler proof engine. It mostly was okay. I few pieces coming off here and there. I made a couple of basic passenger cars to go with it that were based on the Holiday Train version. I then had a flat car full of PF gear that I was intended to conceal in a boxcar, but that never happened. I didn't want to use the PF Train motor because it would run too fast. I wanted the 3 yr old to be able to run it without me around and he tends to just crank it up all the way! So most trains just go flying off the curve! I uploaded the WIP pictures so Brickshelf here: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=551542 Here are a couple of them since I don't know how long it take pictures to be moderated by brickshelf these days: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted January 7, 2015 Nicely done ...the whole layout is just perfect! I love the snow just on a single part of the track and the fences around the rails! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toxicbananna Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) extremely beautiful layout! I bet you will always need to tell the kids not to touch it Edited January 7, 2015 by toxicbananna Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
