Basics

Layout shapes, turnouts, gradients, baseboards and wiring: the basics of a model railway.

• Cork and sound deadening under your track (10 November 2026)
  Where running noise comes from, when cork or foam helps, which track systems already have a roadbed and how to keep heights level at transitions.
• Laying track: from plan to baseboard (10 November 2026)
  Print your plan 1:1, transfer the centre lines, lay turnouts first and test run before fixing anything, so the plan reaches the board without strain.
• Rail joiners and joints: current and alignment (10 November 2026)
  A rail joiner keeps two railheads in line and carries the current. The types there are, where to insulate and how a joint behaves as temperatures change.
• Software to draw a model railway layout: overview (10 November 2026)
  Nine programs to draw a track plan side by side: platform, price model, 3D, phone use and what each does well. As of November 2026.
• DCC and Märklin Motorola: digital protocols (9 November 2026)
  DCC is the open standard most makers use; Motorola and mfx are Märklin's protocols. What each one does and how command station and decoder work together.
• DC and AC: two-rail and three-rail explained (9 November 2026)
  Two-rail runs on DC through both rails, Märklin three-rail on AC through the centre conductor. What that means for your locomotives and your layout.
• Analogue or digital control? (8 November 2026)
  In analogue you control the voltage on the track; in digital every loco has its own address. When each approach fits and what it means for your wiring.
• The right height for your model railway (8 November 2026)
  How high should your baseboard be? Choose by your own eye level, by sitting or standing, by who watches with you and by how far you can still reach.
• The helix: gaining height in little space (7 November 2026)
  A helix stacks turns: each turn rises 2 pi x radius x gradient. At 3 % in H0 that means a curve of about 40 cm. The calculation for each scale.
• Benchwork: open frame or solid baseboard? (7 November 2026)
  A solid baseboard is quick and flat; an open frame lets track climb and dip. Which benchwork suits your layout, and what to watch with height and reach.
• The double slip: when you need one (6 November 2026)
  A double slip is a crossing where trains can also change tracks: four routes in one turnout length. Where it saves space and which systems have one.
• Gradients: how steep can a model train climb? (6 November 2026)
  Plan on 3 % at most for ordinary trains and 2 % for long ones. How much length a gradient takes per scale, and how to avoid a kink where it starts.
• Sidings and buffer stops: why and where (5 November 2026)
  A stub siding ends at a buffer stop. What you use it for, how long it must be, where to put it and which buffer stops each track system offers.
• Left, right and symmetrical turnouts explained (5 November 2026)
  Left or right is read from the switch blades. What angle, radius and length tell you, and when to pick a Y turnout, three-way or curved turnout.
• Terminus or through station? (4 November 2026)
  In a through station trains run on; at a terminus they reverse. What each asks of turnouts, length and operation, and which one suits your layout.
• Passing loop: how two trains pass each other (4 November 2026)
  Two turnouts, two compensating curves and straight track as long as your train. How to build a passing loop and how big your baseboard must be.
• Shunting puzzle: designing a small yard (3 November 2026)
  A headshunt, two turnouts and three sidings of fixed length turn a little track into a game. With sizes for each track system, counted in wagons.
• Hidden staging and fiddle yards: trains out of sight (3 November 2026)
  Storage tracks out of view give your layout more trains than you can see. How much room hidden staging needs and how to get beneath the layout.
• Double oval: two trains at once (2 November 2026)
  Two ovals one inside the other, each with its own train. Which radii go together, how deep your baseboard must be and what a crossover adds.
• Shuttle line: running back and forth without a loop (2 November 2026)
  A line with two ends fits on a shelf where no loop will. How narrow it can be, how the train reverses by itself and how two trains share the line.
• The figure eight: crossing or bridge? (1 November 2026)
  On a figure eight the train changes direction of rotation every lap. What a crossing or a bridge asks in length and gradient, with numbers per system.
• The oval: the simplest layout and how to expand it (1 November 2026)
  Two half circles and two straights. How to size an oval, choose the radius and grow it step by step into a station and double track.
• Give your old box of track a second life (31 October 2026)
  Identify the track system by shape and part number, count each piece, clean it, combine with transition track and get a plan built from your own box.
• Eras I to VI: what do they mean? (31 October 2026)
  Era III or V on the box? This is how railway history splits into six eras, and how to pick rolling stock, markings and buildings that belong together.
• The dogbone: a long run on a narrow baseboard (30 October 2026)
  Two turning curves joined by two parallel tracks: how a dogbone works, how wide your baseboard must be and why a narrow waist costs length.
• Track spacing: how far apart do two tracks lie? (30 October 2026)
  Every track system has a fixed centre-to-centre spacing. Where that figure comes from, what it is per system and what goes wrong when tracks are too close.
• The reversing loop: how it works and how to avoid a short circuit (29 October 2026)
  A reversing loop turns your train without shunting. How it works, why two-rail DC shorts out and how to fix it with isolated sections or a module.
• How to make a track plan in seven steps (29 October 2026)
  From measuring the room to fixing the first track down: seven steps to a track plan that fits, closes and runs, with guide sizes per scale.