We may have looked at over 100 houses, but we finally found a decent one in 2004 that met all our needs including a clean, dry finished basis for--what else?--a toy train layout!  In 2006, Sylvia and I started work on our six foot by fifteen foot O-gauge toy train layout.

While many model railroaders have hills and mountain ranges with all sorts of scenery, we took a different approach with the Lighthouse Point Railroad, setting it in a beach town environment much like Cape Cod.  (Why "Lighthouse Point"?  Easy--we got engaged in the surf on Nauset Light Beach on Cape Cod in September 2004!)  The train layout in a beach town environment creates its own set of scenery challenges, but at the same time it offered a way to combine several different parts of our lives in our own little world.

The layout is "O-scale" (often referred to as O-Gauge) which represents one-quarter inch to the foot modeling, or for those who still remember their grade school mathematics, a 1:48 ratio of scale between the real life prototype and the model. 

We used Ross sectional track and switches, the top grade in the toy train world, along with foam roadbed, granite ballast and scenery material to create a very realistic appearance.  The outer loop mainline uses 0-64 curves which means a circle of the track is 64" across from center rail to center rail.  The inner loop uses O-54 curves which corresponds to a circle of 54" center rail to center rail.  All the switches (turnouts, if you prefer) are # 4 which provides a smooth divergence of track from the straight to either the left or the right.  Eleven switches are in use including one place where a "three-in-one" switch was used to save layout space. 

At the south end of the layout (to your left in the 3D drawing below), is a three track yard for Liberty Air Force Base where railroad cars loaded with missiles are based.  On the west side of the layout (to the rear of the 3D drawing below) is a passing siding for the combination freight and passenger terminal as well as two stub tracks, one for local freight deliveries and one to service the small two well oil refinery.  The long diagonal road moving from the center right of the 3D drawing to the upper left is Veterans Boulevard.  Its unusual configuration on an angle to the layout's perimeter is one not often seen in toy train layouts, but involves using perspective to make the scene go on and on to the horizon.

We hope you enjoy looking at the photos of our layout as much as we've enjoyed building it.  Hopefully, sometime in 2012, we'll hold an open house so people can see it "in living Technicolor"!

If you look in the left hand navigation area, you'll see other pages we've posted related to toy train topics.  We hope they help you with your layout!