Model Railroading with Tom

The Owensville Terminal Micro is an operating diorama I completed back in August of 2023. The layout baseboard is made from foamcore board and uses a sector plate to switch trains between the three tracks on the layout. Layout size is right around 481 square inches, excluding staging. In this video, I show how this micro layout operates. A local brings an inbound car for the feed mill, and will pick up one outbound empty car. A very simple scheme that adds purpose to this micro layout*. *“Micro layouts are small model railroads, usually less than three or four square feet in area, that nonetheless have a clear purpose and excellent operating capability.” -Carl Arendt .

In this video, I will be demonstrating a typical operating session on my H0 scale Owensville Terminal OASIS District Layout. This 1' x 8' layout was designed with a focus on switching/shunting operations. The scene is an industrial yard (Fourth Street Yard) that serves several industries located at Owensville, Missouri. The layout can be operated by one to two people. I use an operating sequence that features a transfer train delivering cars for Fourth Street Yard and the Rock Island interchange. This transfer will return to the main classification yard (South Owensville Yard) at the end of the session with cars from the industries located at Fourth Street Yard, as well as cars from the Rock Island interchange track. The second train features a yard local that will switch/shunt cars to various spots in and around the Fourth Street Yard complex. A typical operating session takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Car cards and waybills are used for cycling cars on and off the layout. Thanks for watching! Tom

I will show you how I color rock faces using a foam brush (1") and craft store acrylic paints. This technique can be used on plaster/hydrocal rock castings, as well as carved rock surfaces made with patching plaster. The colors I use and the mixing ratios are given in the video. You can also use different colors to create any type of rock color you need for your project. Thank you for watching! Tom

I recently completed a repaint of an old Athearn Blue Box SW1500 locomotive into my Owensville Terminal Railroad custom paint scheme.

A train running in the Fourth Street Yard in Owensville, Missouri. The Owensville Terminal Railroad is an H0 scale model railroad by Tom. Thank you for watching!

The Owensville Terminal OASIS District Layout was completed in November of 2022. This video features a photo slideshow of the construction of the layout. Music Attribution: "Angel Share" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Please Note: I posted this video earlier, but I deleted it due to an issue with monitization. The issue has been corrected. Thank you for watching! Tom

I'm building a new H0 scale micro layout for a build contest on the Micro Model Railroad Cartel Facebook Group. Track has been laid and the layout is wired, so a first run is in order. The layout baseboard is made from foamcore, and the visible portion of the layout measures 16.5 inches by 30 inches. No turnouts can be used for this layout build challenge, so a sector plate is used to switch cars between all 3 tracks. Thank you for watching! Tom

I recently participated in a layout build challenge at a micro model railroad group on Facebook. The challenge was to build an operating micro layout within 24 hours. A micro layout measures 4 square feet or less. My shadowbox HO trolley line baseboard is less than 57 square inches. The trolley has no motor, so fishing line is used for locomotion. Basically, this shadowbox micro is an operating diorama, but its purpose is to represent a streetcar picking up passengers at a trolley stop near the storefronts, reversing direction, then returning back from where it came (hidden staging on the left side). This was a fun project. Very satisfying! Thank you for watching! Tom

The Herrin Micro Layout is an HO scale layout smaller than four square feet. It's been sitting dormant for about ten months, so I decided to dust it off and switch some cars. Despite its small size, there's still a lot of operating potential. I like using the car cards and waybill cards from Micromark.

The Broadway Limited Imports HO scale Trackmobile (DC unit) is a personal favorite; however, its traction limits the number of cars it can move without wheel slippage. I was having difficulty moving any car combinations in excess of 60 scale feet. I managed to add some additional weight to the unit, and now it can move a couple of 50' boxcars without the wheels slipping. The Trackmobile may become a permanent addition to my Owensville Terminal OASIS District Layout. Thank you for watching! Tom

Model Railroad Action* on my HO scale layout. The OASIS Transfer arrives at the Fourth Street Yard in Owensville, Missouri. The transfer will drop off cars to be switched later by the yard switching crew. The transfer crew will then pick up cars to take back to the South Owensville Yard located to the southeast (offline industry). *This is the same model train video posted previously on this channel, minus the narration segments. Thank you for watching! Tom

This is an example of operations on the Owensville Terminal Railroad OASIS District layout. I use an operating sequence for two different train crews on my HO scale layout. This video features the arrival and departure of a transfer run at the Fourth Street Yard in Owensville, Missouri. I also use car cards and waybills along with card boxes purchased from Micromark. Thank you for watching! Tom

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! A scene on my On30 micro layout featuring a railbus stopped at the passenger shelter with snowfall beginning to get heavy. The overall layout size is 135 square inches and does operate. Woodland Scenics Soft Flake Snow is being dusted down while recording.

I recently completed ballasting the track on my 1' x 8' HO scale switching layout. First time running the layout in almost 3 years. Fortunately, no issues with scenic cement fouling the track during ballasting. A base coat of scenery material has been applied, and I still have a long way to go before the scenery work is completed. Layout lighting will be added last. I am using a Bachmann 70 ton switcher with a DCC decoder. No sound unit is installed. I created custom decals for my Owensville Terminal Railroad herald and applied them on the loco. Going to weather the unit further in the near future. Thanks for watching! Tom

I am using an HO scale, DC powered Trackmobile from Broadway Limited Imports as motive power on my Herrin Micro Layout. It has fair pulling power, and can pull two 50' boxcars on level track with no wheel slippage.

Railroad switching action on my Wetterau Food Services Micro Layout. This micro model railroad is based on a prototype located in Desloge, Missouri along the old Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railroad. The layout is 8 feet long, but total square footage is less than 4 square feet. Thank you for watching! Tom

An HO model railroad micro layout. This is my most recent model railroad project featuring a scene based on a prototype located in Herrin, Illinois. Micro layouts are usually four square feet (576 sq. inches) or less in size. The Herrin Micro is 523 square inches, including staging tracks. The scene is based on the former Maytag appliance manufacturer located at Herrin. I am using a Broadway Limited Trackmobile (standard DC) Thank you for watching! Tom