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American Flyer 5' x 9' S-scale Train Layout
Medium sized track plan of nice S-gauge (1/64) layout, built over a tennis table with the classic American Flyer track pieces. Suitable for running and shunting of short freight trains.
Gallery
| Tracks & Route | ||
| Trackage: | American Flyer S scale | |
| Type: | Closed Route | |
| Line: | Single | |
| Min. radius: | 508mm; 20" | |
| Max. grade: | 4% | |
| Turnout angles: | 30° | |
| Features & Control | ||
| Traffic: | Freight, Shunting/Switching | |
| Power supply: | DC | |
| Turnouts: | Electric | |
| Uncoupling: | Manual | |
Description
See below the history of this layot and how his author started in the model trains hobby.
"I was fortunate to be the youngest of three children born in the 1950’s. My brother is the oldest with a sister in between. In the late 50’s my parents started purchasing American Flyer S Gauge trains and accessories for them.
Our father put together an over under figure 8 layout on a 5’ x 9’ table top. He told me, later in life, that he could purchase that size plywood from the hardware store because it was sold for making ping pong tables. The final layout had 3 sidings as more trains were purchased.
Our mother, who was an artist her entire life, had built a mountain and tunnel at the end, out of wood frame and chicken wire. My brother and sister helped her cover it with paper mache and paint it. From my earliest memories, I was watching and running trains on this layout until the mid 1960’s.
Those trains all went to my brother, and were sold off in the 1970’s as he started his family. I started purchasing American Flyer S Gauge in the 1980’s and putting layouts together with my 3 children. We have had several large permanent layouts that had to be taken down when houses were sold and we moved. I started collecting pre war 3/16’s O Gauge American Flyer at the end of the 1980’s and have built mixed layouts with combinations of S and O gauge.
Over the years as space becomes less available, I have built portable layouts. I was involved with the T.T.O.S. in Portland Oregon, and admired many layouts that were set up at conventions and public gatherings. Many of the O-gauge layouts were based on displaying the accessories and more toy like. At the same time, I saw many excellent HO, N, and S scale layouts completely model led as realistic layouts.
Last year I found the SCARM program while on line. I downloaded it and immediately started creating potential layouts. One that I kept going back to was the 5x9 over under plan from my childhood. I created it and started adding up what I needed for track and roadbed. Then I started working on what accessories I would want on it. I took some of my existing items, measured them and soon was creating them to scale in the program.
Early this summer, I started laying out track on the family room floor. With used building materials, I set up the figure 8. My wife was soon asking where this was going to go. I purchased a used ping pong table and set it up in the garage. I covered it with a painters drop cloth and moved the track and supports to it. Over the summer I have modeled the landscape from surplus styro foam and brought to life the layout created in the SCARM program. I kept with the plan that this had to be portable and easily moved. I wanted it simple, and still a blend of the toy like qualities with semi realistic landscape.
I hope this inspires others to create layouts and accessories in the system. The locomotives used in my layout plan were created by Ian Donohoe and shared to the SCARM community in the SCARM blog (see below). I thoroughly enjoy using this program and will continue to reproduce more accessories."
Described by Kirk Ainslie
See also
Detailed 3D Models of US Diesel Locomotives in SCARM by Ian Donohoe
American Flyer Structures and Bridge in S-scale by Kirk Ainslie
See below the history of this layot and how his author started in the model trains hobby.
"I was fortunate to be the youngest of three children born in the 1950’s. My brother is the oldest with a sister in between. In the late 50’s my parents started purchasing American Flyer S Gauge trains and accessories for them.
Our father put together an over under figure 8 layout on a 5’ x 9’ table top. He told me, later in life, that he could purchase that size plywood from the hardware store because it was sold for making ping pong tables. The final layout had 3 sidings as more trains were purchased.
Our mother, who was an artist her entire life, had built a mountain and tunnel at the end, out of wood frame and chicken wire. My brother and sister helped her cover it with paper mache and paint it. From my earliest memories, I was watching and running trains on this layout until the mid 1960’s.
Those trains all went to my brother, and were sold off in the 1970’s as he started his family. I started purchasing American Flyer S Gauge in the 1980’s and putting layouts together with my 3 children. We have had several large permanent layouts that had to be taken down when houses were sold and we moved. I started collecting pre war 3/16’s O Gauge American Flyer at the end of the 1980’s and have built mixed layouts with combinations of S and O gauge.
Over the years as space becomes less available, I have built portable layouts. I was involved with the T.T.O.S. in Portland Oregon, and admired many layouts that were set up at conventions and public gatherings. Many of the O-gauge layouts were based on displaying the accessories and more toy like. At the same time, I saw many excellent HO, N, and S scale layouts completely model led as realistic layouts.
Last year I found the SCARM program while on line. I downloaded it and immediately started creating potential layouts. One that I kept going back to was the 5x9 over under plan from my childhood. I created it and started adding up what I needed for track and roadbed. Then I started working on what accessories I would want on it. I took some of my existing items, measured them and soon was creating them to scale in the program.
Early this summer, I started laying out track on the family room floor. With used building materials, I set up the figure 8. My wife was soon asking where this was going to go. I purchased a used ping pong table and set it up in the garage. I covered it with a painters drop cloth and moved the track and supports to it. Over the summer I have modeled the landscape from surplus styro foam and brought to life the layout created in the SCARM program. I kept with the plan that this had to be portable and easily moved. I wanted it simple, and still a blend of the toy like qualities with semi realistic landscape.
I hope this inspires others to create layouts and accessories in the system. The locomotives used in my layout plan were created by Ian Donohoe and shared to the SCARM community in the SCARM blog (see below). I thoroughly enjoy using this program and will continue to reproduce more accessories."
Described by Kirk Ainslie
See also
Detailed 3D Models of US Diesel Locomotives in SCARM by Ian Donohoe
American Flyer Structures and Bridge in S-scale by Kirk Ainslie
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| Project: | Operational Layout | |
| Author: | Kirk Ainslie | |
| Designed with: | SCARM | |
| Posted on: | 03 Oct 2016 | |
| Views: | 18802 | |
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