$500 Starter Layout Contest Rules
Here are the rules for the $500 Starter Layout Challenge Contest we ran from
August to November of 2012.
You have a $500 total budget.
Assume basic tools: hammer, saw, drill, screwdriver, scissors, single-edged
razor blades, soldering iron.
experience. For now, a bottle of acrylic craft paint or latex house
paint and some local sifted dirt would very well cover the shaped
bare foam. If money is available, a bag of Woodland Scenics ground
turf and a bag of coarse clump foliage would be good additions to
the inventory. I would not worry about ballasting track at this point
unless one wanted to experiment with various processes, because
the track plan will no doubt be changed once the initial lessons of
this loop have been learned.
Conclusion
This concludes my Getting StartedWith $500 Railroad. I feel my
example is a real workable solution that offers a firm foundation for
future growth. With an additional $500 available, the case could be
made for advancing to a DCC setup, investing in tools to maintain
and upgrade couplers, obtaining more rolling stock, and adding a
couple structure kits to the pike. Once more switches are available,
a more interesting track plan could be considered, and as this plan
develops, soldering tools for installing buses and feeders could be
acquired as well.
In other words, these rails are far from the final destination!
Third Place Layout for $500 - 8
Assume advanced tools like a table saw, router, or lathe are NOT available.
Must design an operating layout or module (continuous running optional).
Include a shopping list not exceeding $500 - must cover benchwoork, road
bed, track, wiring, control system, rolling stock, locos, structures, and scenery.
Common items listed on the web like eBay or Yahoo train yard sale okay.
Thinking outside the box encouraged.
Way out west there's a man named
Ben, who perhaps has been under
the shadow of the Sonoran sun one
season too long. The result is akin
to throwing Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll,
J.R.R.Tolkien and Attila the Hun
together in one boxcar all at once,
Old Engine No. 9 running hard with
Dr. Emmet Brown at the helm! And
while the railroad may not have been
or isn't as it was, the focus is on the railroad that is, seeing that
it operates in a manner where no scale people should suffer
the loss of life, limb, property or dignity. Either way, the focus
here is on just keeping our cool, for today it is June 17th, and
Benny has yet to turn on his personal AC unit. To play with
trains, that alone is a fine privilege in and of itself!
MRH-Jul 2013
