Customer Reviews

Layout Plans for Toy Trains

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Basic background information about trackwork and benchwork contained within the first few chapters of this book are excellent information for the novice model railroader. (Note: The L-girder benchwork diagram is mis-labeled, pieces #7 form the X brace between the legs, while pieces #3 & 5 form the triangle between the legs and the "L" girder support. Dimensions for these pieces are correct)

Layouts at all interesting, however, slightly less than half of the layouts in this book come with track/accessory material lists. If you're using this a inspiration for your own layout, that should be no problem. If you want to actually build the layout and there's no list, you may be able to guess what you need. There is also a good variety of layout sizes, from small to room size.

If you are interested in O-Scale layouts from 4'x8' small and simple to large and complex (12' x 32'), this book is a great small compendium both of interesting designs and tips for successful layout construction. It is well illustrated and very practical.

But, buyer beware... there are curious errors... I did a detailed study of John Long's 'Tinplate Central' layout included. The article claims that the layout is an O-32 layout and lists O-32 track segments required. But the layout is clearly an O-27 layout and a careful look at the measurements on the layout page show curve radii of 13.5 inches. That major error slipped by the editors both of the original article as well as the reviewers of the articles chosen to be included in the book.

At least one other reviewer has found similar errors.
- Markus Robinson, Tunkhannock, PA

After 50 years I returned to "playing" with my boyhood Lionel trainset. With help from my electrically competent son, it still worked.
But I wanted ideas about layouts and how to set it up. This book gives many plans for many different room sizes. It also is most informative about the different types of tracks available, their merits, and the components that can be purchased. It is well worth the money. I'm young again!

Being new to model railroading I felt I needed something that would give me the insight into putting a layout together. This short pamphlet is definitely not that. It has layouts that don't relate to today's new digital age. How do you wire? How do you elect track size? None of these questions were answered!!!!

I always find it difficult to buy books without being able to browse through them first because you never know what you'll get. This is a typical example. I was expecting a larger number of layouts, particularly for a 4x8 size table. Not only the variety of layouts were limited, there was not enough information about the track pieces needed.

The information in this book is good, but if you've purchased a train with Lionel fastrack it isn't very useful for specific train layouts. It does provide great information on all the different track types, other than fastrack and has some good ideas for larger train layouts.