50 Year Old Atlas 4x8 HO Scale DC Layout Tour and Test Run (It has Brass Track!)
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- čas přidán 21. 01. 2023
- Hello model railroad fans. In today's video we will take a tour of and old school DC only HO scale layout.
If you like this video you can help keep my hydrated by buying me a Coke Zero at this link: www.buymeacoffee.com/VintageRR
Thanks for watching and Happy Model Railroading!
Imagine the hours and hours of work that went into building that layout. What was great about model railroading was you could have 10 people make the same track plan out of an atlas track planning book and all of them would be different even if the track plan was the same. We model railroaders live in a world of our own making. People laugh but I say it is an art form just like sculpting or painting just different.
That's an old Atlas track plan from the 50's or 60's. It puts a lot of track into a 4x8 area! Nice!!!
I think I found the book the layout was in.
I still have that Atlas Book !
This layout is in a pamphlet 'Atlas Fantastic Layouts' copyright 1993. It is HO-31 Waterlevel Western. Thanks for the video!
That brass track lasted well and it still works fine.
WaterLevel Western plan. I built this w my dad in '74 (3rd grade) Learned wiring and the basics that lasted a life time,. Thanks for sharing. I have the plans also - old hobby shops will have a copy.. Many thanks that you shared - Ed C
Back then the intensity it took for two people to run two trains and meet and pass and keep up with the blocks was a fun all of its own. I had something like that as a12-13 year old. We would run til mom would say it's midnight. Time flew. We begged for another hour since it was Friday.
Time flies when having fun. 🙂
I would fall asleep with the training running. Hard to turn it off and go to bed.
Look at the classic space tape... very 70's from the disco era. My 1976 6.6 T/A had the space tape gauge cluster in it. That stuff was popular in the 70's.
The other button may be for the diesel horn that comes in that Bachmann Shell fuel tank. I love the layout.
That's what I suspect as well.
7:39 I won one of those train diners on ebay last year, had no idea it was THAT old. still works and i love the whistle sound
I have this exact same layout! My grandfather (who just passed away on January 1) and my father built it out of an Atlas book called the "Custom Line King Size Plan Book" around 1980. Still have the book, it was pretty detailed and had pretty good instructions on how to build everything. The name of the plan is the Waterlevel Western. Ours was never fully completed, but it works enough that I still run trains on it. Yours is the exact same track plan as the one shown in the book, the passing siding and everything. I like mine, but it's not in the best location in the basement to run trains on it. The way that my dad and grandpa built it, it had a wooden border around the whole thing, and the track was set much farther in on the board. Dad added a trolley line and used a Troller Autopulse 5 to control both the trolley line (which is separate) and the main layout.
I can’t find my old Atlas books! I may have tossed them back when I was Mr. Scale!
WOWZA, I am a “collector “ since I was 18(now turning 65 Cinco de Mayo) I have bought several collections over the years including 3 layouts. One 4x8 with three train running, 2 simultaneous and one siding. Another 4x8 that folds up into itself that is in my sons bedroom ( unfortunately he never got the fever of trains). My other was an unfinished ( only working track working) 5x10.. all three bought at a cost 💲 of $300-350 each. One came with all the buildings and 35 running engines. This layout you bought was a steel (lol) well a brass. Awesomeness and congratulations because it will give you a lot of satisfying experience and possibly memories sharing with kids!!!
I use to set up the 4x8 at Ponchartrain Elementary school (1,000-1,200 students, every year around Christmas time. It was placed in the kindergarten commons area and the whole school enjoyed it including the faculty and staff. Each year I would theme the setups with a”table of contents “for the kids can find things on the layout. A couple of years I did TV and movie themes. From Disney to super heroes. I have students who tell me about the trains to this day. I taught DARE for 5 years at that elementary school. I taught DARE for 21 years. PES had a steam locomotives 🚂 theme.
Maybe you could do something similar at a local school or church. This layout went to my SILs church for Christmas one year.
Happy railroading and researching, I cannot wait to see more of this layout my friend. If you decide to do something similar, I be willing to share my thoughts and ideas on a presentation of the layout.
There is nothing wrong with Brass track at all if you have the sense to keep your layout and track clean, and running trains a lot can keep them clean 😀
Works great for me.
Only problem is the oxidation which isn't as conductive as the pure brass.
Brass is a better conductor than the nickel. Love it! And there's a simple trick of lubricating brass with a touch of transmission fluid -- one wipe down per year -- to keep it free of oxidation!
Absolutely love it!! Brings back a lot of memories with my brother in our basement back in the early 70's! 😎
Brings back good memories, my dad and I built a layout like this, good times
I am familiar with these Atlas HO Scale track plans. As a boy, my father and I built a tabletop layout from an Atlas track plan book. I really enjoyed decorating my layout. But my father had great difficulty with the wiring and the mixture of Atlas and non-Atlas track. I wish we would have bought more Atlas track, but my dad didn't like to waste money, as money was tight in our household.
Wow! Did you hit the "wayback" button for me...had the same layout in '62, with a Varney SW 7 and 4 car freight. Ran it constantly, and upgraded as I went. Put Lindberg trucks under the cars, and my brother (who was into electronics) helped me with the wiring.
Today I am STILL playing with trains, with hand-spiked
'O' guage, 26' x 32'. I'm 75.
With a little TLC you my friend have a "GEM!" Please don't ever change it. Thank you for sharing.
For the most part I plan on keeping the layout as is. I might add DCC capabilities, but that just a little wiring. Other than that I just want to replace broken or missing structures and clean up scenery.
It's the perfect layout for a 4x8. It is amazing how much track fits on it, and what the layout can do. You are lucky to have it. Good luck and God bless.
Very cute layout. I remember the Atlas book (6 model railroads you can build) that had this layout. The engines and the kadee couplers make this a good deal at $300. My guess those Atlas engines are worth about $65 each on E-bay. Love the two MRC model 501 power packs. Terrific power and I use mine on my DCC layout still 40 years later. The whistle stop was terrific. Nice to see someone's hard work is still appreciated. Enjoy.
The locomotives are from Bachmann.
Those locomotives are good runners. Some time Bachmann can be so-so. If I can help it I'm going to keep and preserve this layout for as long as God let's me.
I still have the book somewhere in storage (6 mrr y c b). I wanted to build the granite gorge & northern , but life "intervened"...
Nice layout at a great price!
When i was a kid these engines could be had new for 20 bucks cars for 2 bucks this hobby sure has gotten expensive since then
@@jeffckeane1704 doesnt it always guys
Awesome find!!!! 🎉🎉 Looks like a layout from one of those old “4x8 Layouts You Can Build” Atlas soft cover books. Each layout would include all the information you’d need to build a layout on a 4x8 yourself- drawings, a wiring schematic and of course a list of track, turnouts, buildings, and Connector brand wiring switch blocks. Back then, they were “fully illustrated “ with black & white photos 😂.
Source: My Grandpa 🛤️🛤️
Great set up that would look great in my garage
Great layout! The inside of the control panel looks like the work of a telco lineman.
That green building next to the engine house is N scale. Also, the oil storage tank probably has a horn or whistle in it. Might be hooked up to the first red button that does nothing. Might want to check the connection from button to oil storage tank. Great looking layout. Reminds me of some of the 4x8's I built as a youth. Good luck with it and happy model railroading.
The fun is in building it. God Bless
An awesome layout that has stood the test of time...
The layout is in a pamphlet I have 'Atlas Fantastic Layouts' copyright 1993. HO-31 Waterlevel Western. Thanks for the video!
Great little railroad , who needs a mamouth one, and it fits in your home without taking living space up.
The bluish brick building is the Superior Bakery. I believe it was originally offered by Revell, but later by AHM & Con-Cor. The sand house behind the engine house & the elevated fuel tank were also Revell buildings that were later offered by AHM. I also see the gray & white Bachmann Plastic Ville Split Level House & Gas Station. And the operating Crossing Gauge Shanty by Tyco.
Yeah, agreed on the Superior Bakery, had the same building on my train layout growing up.
Curious as to what the apartment building is, because it looks cool.
The amazement that this hobbies has been around since WW1 and watching everybody's creatively with this is truly splendid.
That's a nice compact layout with allot of thought put into it!
Link to the track plan if interested: shop.atlasrr.com/p-44239-ho-31-waterlevel-western.aspx
I just like to have fun running no matter what the layout. Whatever pleases the operator.
Nice, it even has the short lived atlas custom line supreme turnouts that atlas tried in the late 70s early 80s, which were actually made by Roco. Me and my dad built a 4x8 in 76-77 , all brass track, tyco stuff and atlas. Great memories!! Don’t change a thing, it’s great!
Cool setup! Very nice seeing the old system up and running.
My Son bought a house to flip last year. In the basement I found a Lionel HO set that had never been played with! Has the GM 50th Anniversary GP 9 and all the stock are in the original foam box. I am torn between building a layout or putting it online for sale. It also has brass track! Oval layout with a switch siding! My Father and Oldest brother worked for Illinois Central RR!
Best to see what response you get from collectors (unless you are a classic collector yourself) if you don’t personally have the “model railroad bug” you probably find it a bit boring after half an hour or so, and if someone offers you good money you may as well take it and put the cash towards a hobby you genuinely do love…( just speaking from experience)..
I grew up with Lionel trains and gave a set to my son but he hasn't taken a liking to it. The big problem with them is, to make anything beyond the starting oval requires a minimum of about 6X6 feet of space, or the size of the rug my brother and I used to set up the trains on the floor in the house we grew up in. As I approach my retirement years, after watching this video, and a couple of others, I'm thinking of switching to HO trains. This one, and another one I saw, managed to build fairly elaborate sets on , what appears to be, tables about the size of a door or a pool table. Nicely done.
Thanks for watching. 🙂 If you have room for a 4x8 table, lots of HO track plans to go with. If that's still a bit to big, N scale is a great option, that is if your eyes can manage. LOL Great layout can be had in as little as 2x4 feet. Steve's Trains is an excellent channel for N scale.
Wow this is so neat. I built this exact layout in 1972 when I was 10, with my dad, from the Atlas book. Such good memories It's the 'Water Level Western' fro either the Beginners Layouts or the King Size Layouts book from Atlas.
I just picked up the Atlas book that has this layout. My book is newer, but seems like this goes back to the 60s.
@@VintageRoadRailAtlas sells the track on their website still. Layout "HO-31". They have plans for DCC wiring available.
Impressive layout. Someone had lots of fun making it.
Regarding those tracks running near the edge of this neat layout… I have a similar situation. My solution is 1/16 inch clear plexiglass mounted along those sections. Gives you protection and doesn’t block your view. I mount the glass with 2 inches of the plexi above the layout track.
WOW - we got a Christmas set in 1974, and Dad built an 8x4 layout from an Atlas Track plan... not THIS one, but similar. We spent YEARS doing buildings and scenics... back in the days of scratch-built balsa. Dad gave the layout to a family in the neighborhood in 1998. The theme of the railroad was Montana in the 50s with a little San Jose of the 70s...
Very similar layout to mine as a kid,
( I crudly built @ 14 y.o) I had a mountain tunnel ( chicken wire and paper machete) and a " MASH" military base. My set came with a Santa fe f7 engine and an f7 dummy and 6 cars ...countless hrs of fun ...when parents split I had to give it away 😥 and unfortunately have never had the space to do another.
Yup, 50 years old or more, especially since I had one of those power packs before you were born! Which is such a weird thing to hear myself say! That's a lovely little layout, may you enjoy it in good health for many years to come!
16:06 RIP 😵 ...😄 Seriously, I love seeing these old Atlas layouts "realized"-Pretty cool!
Glad the layout isn't going to be scrapped. Back in the day, a lot of time and effort was put into making it a reality. For $300, I think you got yourself a pretty good deal, especially with the 'throw-in' engines & freight cars. You could do some relatively inexpensive updating on scenery items. Trees/grass, lighting and road options have really improved over the years.
I have a Bachmann S4 (bought 2015) that survived a 40" fall off the layout onto the concrete floor below after running through end of line signage. Apparently, the engineer had been distracted watching a college football game. Fortunately, damage was minimal; only handrails and a coupler needed repair.
I plan to do minor updates to the scenery, replace broken or missing structures. For the most part I want to leave it as designed.
Your new layout is sweet. I love the old school style layouts, reminds me of when I was a kid, lol I'm still a kid. Just with a big old school layout.
OUTSTANDING. ! WELL DONE. 🇺🇸 🏆👍👍
A 1x2 screwed on the edge with 1/8x4 clear plastic screwed to the 1x2 would be a good idea. Nice little layout just needs some minor details with vehicles and people and whatnot. Important thing is to have FUN! so enjoy.
Thanks for sharing this layout, very cool track plan, my first layout I built back in the late 70’s had brass track, that was standard back then! The Government building on your layout was by Life-Like, it is supposed to be a city hall and police station. Thanks again for posting.
Very nice DC Layout. Old School.
I like this little layout very much! But then, I'm old school .. starting out with a 4x8-foot layout, on top of an unused pool table in my parents basement! I still have a soft spot for simple 4x8-foot layouts. They are fun ... and too much is being put into model railroading that sucks the fun right out of it. You have a fun little layout ... enjoy it! ;)
Damn you are young I was born 64 and I am just getting started in model railroading. I have no ho clubs near me
Since I don't have a layout at present time, this one would fit the bill even thro I am into S scale. Lots of luck with it
Interesting. Whoever built it built it all on one level. No bridges, no tunnels. I was born in 1965. My brothers had Lionel trains. When I was a kid, my parents got me a couple different HO scale trains, and I liked them because they were closer to the scale of Johnny Lightning and Hot Wheels. So I kept whatever didn't get too busted up, and when I was about 14 or 15 I got a sheet of plywood and built my first setup. That sheet of plywood eventually became the basis of my first table. But I cut parts of it out so that I could have bridges, and I built a ramp and a second level. It moved with me, several times, apartments, and eventually into a house. Girlfriends don't like it when you pay more attention to your trains than you do to them, so it got pushed to the back burner a few times. It was all DC. I heard about DCC at a train show, but I wasn't about to rewire everything, so I kept it DC. I had a lot of grandiose plans which didn't come to fruition. Then there was a fire in the house, and all my stuff went away. Most of my stuff was Tyco & Bachman, but some of my buildings and all of my scenery was scratch built. It was all done on a working man's budget. When it got destroyed, I had neither the funds nor the patience to start over. Now I'm 57, and I often think about starting another layout, but I don't have the funds, or the space, or the wherewithal, and I'm not getting any younger. I also don't know doodly squat about wiring DCC. Maybe I could purchase a table already built and wired, and then add to it. If I hit the powerball, I could buy a warehouse and just build trains throughout the whole place. If you're gonna dream, dream big.
No special DCC track needed. You buy a DCC controller that has a 2 wire power connection to the track, and then you can run multiple DCC engines in any direction and speed on the same track. Very easy. Look for DCC equipment dirt cheap at estate sales or flea markets. Cheap hobby of you keep it small and go with used equipment.
wow… that is the best model railroad journey i’ve ever heard. you can definitely do it. i’m 15 right now and i DEFINITELY don’t have the time money OR patience to do it… but yet here i am, still trucking along. HAPPY RAILROADING 🚂🚃🚃
I love this layout as the original owner had some great creativity. Just an FYI, that white apartment building behind the German cottage, is circa 1960s old East German/European style architecture, so there is no doubt this guy most likely bought these from a store that sold German model train products. I saw these apartments everywhere even what was West Germany in into Russia that are still in use. Those buildings were very well built and will last nearly forever with good maintenance.
Thanks for showing this and hope you get to clean it up and improve upon it.
An Oldie but a Goodie.
The Sunnyvale train station! I have the same one, had it for 30 years. It was my first model building.
I am late to the party, but nevertheless putting in my humble 25 cents.
The Restaurant / Bistro was made by Pola which belongs today to Faller.
I had the same Restaurant, which was actually called by Pola a Gasthaus in German or Inn in English on the box, on my original layout in the late 70’s / early 80’s and actually bought this kit again on eBay last year as NOS, since my old layout was passed on to a friend when I left Germany in 1989 and migrated to America.
I have some pictures / video here on my channel!
Great video and great layout!
Best wishes from Kansas
Peter
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Hard work always pay off, great layout
Nice layout. One of my bucket list is to make my own after retirement.
No matter your age,its about finding your inner child, whats not about having fun.... also luv the layout....
Awesome layout! I agree with being on the ball with switches,train length and everything else that comes with runnig multiple trains. I started in the “S” scale world, moved to HO and then to “N”. Right now I have a mix of S and N but unfortunately had to disassemble everything for a move. There is something relaxing and just plain fun about running a layout…. it is your own world…. can’t wait to rebuild that world of my own in a new garage! Thanks for the video and new ideas even from a old layout!
Very cool, nostalgic, layout!
I had that track plan book it was huge book from atlas it had dozens of track plans in 70s
I would really like to have this layout. I got my first train set around the time it was built. Thanks for sharing it with us!
The crossing with shack looks like a Tyco model I had (1970's). With the press of a button a small signalman would come out of the shack. Those atlas controls worked great and were easily piggybacked. Good action for a 4x8 layout.
Man, I'd give anything to have that layout. Just for that Myrtle's whistle shop. Myrtle was my grandmother's name. Once I seen that, I fell in love with the layout. It's a really nice piece. Love to see what it looks like after you fix it up. Happy railroading.
Old School Rocks!
What a great layout!
This layout may be old, but it was done REALLY WELL. It IS an old Atlas track plan (I've seen it in one of my track plan books somewhere in this house), but it obviously works great for what it is.
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
The 50 year old layout is amazing to see that it has survived so long. The train whistle when you push the button is actually coming from the red and yellow Myrtles Whistlestop restaurant. I have the same structure and it is a beautiful sound. Thank you for sharing.
Much better sound that what comes out of that Bachmann oil silo. 😂
For $300 that was a bargain. I'm sure the previous Model Railroader who built that layout is looking down from train having glad that his layout is being used.
I think this is a very nice layout for someone just starting out. And for someone who is looking for something simple yet very entertaining and many hours of enjoyment.
Nice, I have a layout with some of those exact buildings and the same brass track
Hey, I have a book with that plan in it. It's called, "Custom Line King Size Plan Book" from Atlas. Had it since the 80's. That plan is called "The Waterlevel Western". They call it Railroad G. The book is a big 17"x11" and has track plans G-L. I guess extracts from another "A-Z" book(?). (It does show the turntable.)
Yes, it's plan HO-31. Atlas still sells the track for HO-31 on their website.
Well bought! Neat to know 50 years and operating. Great table top layout👍
Love The Old School Layout.
I'd buy that in a heartbeat for three hundred bucks, good find.
What a fun find, and quite a bargain, since it's mostly all there, mostly all works, and has the full twin-throttle DC system and block layout, right off the hop. I built a similar layout in the (then) new N-scale (started around 1969-1970, and had a lot of fun with it until leaving home after high school. I recall seeing this track plan, or one very, very similar in a couple of different publications. The beauty of it was that with a little fore-thought, a first stage that would run trains could be completed fairly quickly, and then the second loops and sidings added as money and time allowed. A lot of the early structures were made using flat cardboard and rubber cement. Landscaping using the methods popular at the time was a bit of a challenge, since some materials weren't readily available. But necessity is the mother of improvisation, so brown paper + glue over contours cut from corrugated cardboard became a substitute. By today's standards, it would be lacking in detail, but it worked well enough to "be believable." This style of layout in HO was quite popular, as it fit what many people could manage for space and cost, and it was kept interesting by adding scenery or track sidings and so on. I think you've got a winner there, even without DCC. It looks like a fun project.
Very nice layout. Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed it. I'm currently working on a 6x10 foot layout & added a 3x5 foot table for a yard. My layout is DC in which I use the same cab control as on your layout, those cab selectors also from Atlas. With my layout also with Atlas in mind, I combined 2 layout plans from 2 Atlas book, book #9 layout 6 & book #11 layout 14 with minor track revisions. I absolutely love my plan & has numerous hours of fun switching out the many industries on both the inside & outside main tracks while a train can be operating at the same time on either inside or outside. I've been in the model train hobby since around 1990 & it's still a very fun hobby to be involved in considering when model train shows come to certain places one can share ideas & enjoy seeing layouts set up & get more ideas to incorporate into your layout.
I wish I had room at home for a 6x10 layout.
I think it's great. Nice find.
That looks like the twin cab control panel designed by Lynn Westcott. I built that for my layout and am currently about to convert one cab to DCC so I can run both my older and newer locomotives
Runs REALLY smooth for brass track
Yeah! It's great to have the space for just a little layout like that, old and vintage, sitting there in the model train room! It adds cheerfulness and brightens the room
Nice layout, and a grat deal at 300. Would enjoy seeing a future video demonstrating simultaneous running of 2 trains using the block system with the 2 cabs.
This is awesome! My uncle had a layout with the same track plan. Brings back a lot of memories
It a very fun layout! Thanks for watching!
Those Atlas track planning books were great. Each book had a great selection of layouts you could choose from. I remember building layout 102 called the Trunk Line in my parents' basement back in the 70's. Still have the book Blueprints for Atlas Snap-Track Layouts. Love those old school layouts. Enjoy.
Touch it Up still Still Looks Great.
Awesome video. Thank you for sharing. you got a great deal on that layout.
Excellent layout someone put a lot of work
very Nice !!
Cute. Not to my particular tastes, but I can see how you could have fun with it. A few observations; brass track's only problem is that that the oxide formed is non=conductive - so you need to keep it cleaned more. That's why anti-oxidation tricks like clipper oil, etc. were popular back in the day. Those old rheostat power packs likely won't give great control of modern locos. Frankly I'm surprised how happy those modern Bachmanns seem to be with it. Considering the cost of two modern power packs versus going DCC, I'd bin those old packs and go with something like a PowerCab, or Zephyr. It looks like you could do some satisfying operations given those two passing sidings. As you said, with care, two trains could be out on the layout at once, and DCC you certainly make it more manageable. I'd probably lose the turntable an replace it with a simple spur and another industry for more operational interest.
Looks like it's straight out of a LInn Westcott book on HO scale track plans. Well constructed and would be considered "state of the art" for its time and technology.
a nice layout already made. have fun with it.
Thanks for the link !! I plan on incorporating this as a second 4x8 on my layout.
Lol. Very neat.old train layout. This was showcased in the book " Custom-Line King Size HO track plans".. It was authored by John H. Armstrong & Thaddeus Stepek. The track plan book came out in 1966, and was reprinted with updated photos in 1986. It showcases all the Atlas products, track , switches, controllers, and all accessories to build an entry level HO train layout. Very good book , which I still have in my collection. You really scored on that neat vintage train layout. Preserve it , and enjoy it. Thanks for sharing it.
the older stuff is the best. my father had a similar looking copper colored control.
Your lucky it still works and a great price, one of those DCC locos cost almost as much as you paid for the whole set.
Great job and thanks for sharing with us and good luck with your basement.
BTW, you now have one more subscriber. Ron
Welcome aboard Ron. :)
its a very nice layout for its age
I had those same transformers when I was running a railroad in 1976 !
Cool! My layout turns 55 this year, but it looks nothing like it did in 1968. The original 4x8 sheet of plywood is still a part of my 26’x 26’ empire today. In 1968, it started out as a basic copy of Lynn Wescott’s HO railroad that grows.now it has a double track mainline with DCC, and we can run five trains without having to give tgem a lot of attention.
That's awesome! Love how you took a simple 4x8 layout and just expanded it to an empire. Also, have a couple of his old book somewhere. Used to belong to my Dad.