Clear Lake Timber Company Model Railroad Tour- 2022

This is an updated video tour of my HO scale Clear Lake Timber Company model railroad. The video was re-shot in support of the Fall 2022 open house model railroad tour sponsored by the San Jacinto Model Railroad Club of Houston, TX. The railroad is a small logging-themed railroad sized to fit in a spare bedroom. The track plan is point-to-point between a logging camp and a sawmill via a double-switchback main line.

[@955trainboy]

It’s always a pleasure to see how other modellers do things. Thank you for sharing your wonderful layout.

[@mustachemike802]

Sir, you truly are a master modeler! The fine detail of your layout is absolutely outstanding! A thing of awe and beauty!

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@ah244895]

Love your railroad. That is my favorite kind of scenery for a model railroad. You did an excellent job.

[@dennispaulson8734]

Carl this video is so good ❤ no words would justified my feeling on how great your rail road is 👍👍👍 Now I'm going to look at all your videos you have noted

[@CarlBrainerd]

Dennis, thanks so much for the kind words!

[@user-pu7iu3qo5g]

Mate that is incredible I love it

[@user-hu9oc6qu3f]

Good layout.

[@kasebier8688]

Incredibly detailed layout sir. Your video brings back some wonderful memories of my father, who loved geared Shay locomotives. He built a beautiful Sierra Nevada logging layout. He would be 89 this year.

[@hangarflying]

Great to see more layout videos! When I first saw your videos a year ago, they inspired me and gave me a direction for my own layout ideas. The rights for the master craftsman sawmill have been purchased by another company and they did rerelease it in O and S. Now I’m just waiting for them to release it in HO.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Yeah, I hope they do bring it back in HO. Over the years, it has appeared in several layout articles in the model railroad press, and always looked good. In case they might come in handy some day, here's a link to the photos I took during assembly of my HO sawmill. 1drv.ms/u/s!Amh3E1S2P_vCgaktabBi2ZsHreoPXw?e=iIQeyZ

[@jimmyxtc69]

I really love your layout. I've watched this video several times.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks so much for the note. It's been very gratifying to see all the positive responses to my little layout, i.e. not a basement-filling layout. They don't have to be great big!

[@stephenfoster225]

What a fantastic layout, I would imagine quite a bit of money involved, drooling over this ❤

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, when you add it up there's some real money invested, so it's better not to add it up! Besides locomotives decoders, and the DCC system, other big money-eaters are the craftsman structures and the turnouts (for each one, the turnout itself plus the Blue Point actuator plus the switch stand). But worth it......

[@davidsullivan27]

Carl, thank you for the tour. I felt like I was the only one in the train room with you. Seen a lot of model railroad tours that are no where close to this one. It's obvious that you put in many hours on your layout, and it is impressive. Your presentation was terrific. I'm now subscribed and looking for more. Thanks for this video.

[@jimstrainsandstuff9539]

You have a wonderful layout Carl. Proof that good doesn't have to be big. You should be very proud of your work. Thanks for the update.

[@PapawsDadillacOEMplus]

The detail on this layout is of another world. Absolutely amazing, and thats not even enough of a compliment.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks so much for the kind words. Made my day!

[@Squirrel4361]

A wonderful video and layout. It certainly will help inspire my logging layout build that I'll be building in the near future! Well done indeed!

[@phibber]

a very very nice,most excellant rr.thank you for sharing.Well done.Salute

[@YardLimit]

Love it!

[@billbrackney8954]

I'm a beginner and have watched your videos several times getting ideas. Great job with your layout.

[@simonalexandercritchley439]

Thanks for the tour update,great to see your layout again.

[@davidjulin1919]

Wounderfull. Great work.

[@peterainsworth8466]

Thanks for the overview Carl. I love your layout. It has inspired me to change my approach completely and try something similar (instead if a modern mainline style). It has reminded me that immersion in yesteryear and diorama detail and a slower pace is my favourite part of model railways. Thank you once again. It's beautiful work.

[@treksntracks]

Thanks for the tour....so many details that I missed during visit. Excellent!

[@MilePost106]

I'm impressed! Beautiful layout!

[@Miss-Stephanie-Night]

OMG Sooo cute, what a lovely forest you made !

[@oglemansviews675]

Certainly enjoyed the tour. Excellent looking layout.

[@bobhastings6464]

Very nice video and great layout. It’s good to see you back. Keep up the great work. Cheers from Canada Bob

[@jimyannuzzios7983]

Very nice job. Great details love the onboard ride!!

[@jerrysmith1929]

Awesome detailing!

[@johnarch1745]

Hello Carl, I love your layout. Nice work! I’m building my layout for the first time. A logging camp. Your layout gives me a lot of ideas. I really like the log loading crane and I want to build it. But I just can’t see the details of it. Like how it turns, and the cables and where they go, and what powers it up. Any suggestions to help me out? Thanks, John

[@Ruggedrails]

Definitely one to see

[@wealdhurstmodelrailway9666]

Looking from here in the UK, my favourite US layouts are logging layouts. I find them beautiful and fascinating. Brilliant job, both in terms of the aesthetics and also the operational authenticity.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Me, too! (obviously, perhaps). There are a lot of S- and O-scale narrow gauge layouts that are truly impressive, and bigger than mine. Thanks for the kind words. Carl

[@bill7493]

Very very nice, thank you.

[@seanjackson4107]

Wonderfully designed and built layout. Thank you for the tour. The video was well done as well. Judging by the many exterior lamps and such, I bet it is fun to operate in night mode, so to speak.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Well, actually true operation would be difficult at night because the uncoupler positions, turnout position, and labels on the turnout controls would all be hard to see. But it's great for "showing off" to visitors!

[@Traingamer5]

It’s a really good looking layout, speaking as a native of the Pacific Northwest it looks very genuine, I’ve even ridden behind a couple of the real engines some of your models are based off of.

[@thomasdecker7631]

Excellent layout and very nice "tour".

[@peterlivingston8155]

Very nice layout and tour, beautiful is more accurate. As far as coal mining in the PNW, probably a political thing and rightly disregarded in Model Railroading and elsewhere. Thank you for the tour.

[@dwightnewman3255]

I have a Weyerhaeuser Shay just like yours. My plan is to build a logging layout and your video is very inspiring. Well done (video and layout)!

[@davidfurino2987]

Best looking trees I have seen,aloha

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks! They were made from a material kit from Coastmans Scenic Products. They have a lot of good stuff for modeling Pacific Northwest forests.

[@NilsvN_]

This is so well done. I love the look and feel. I'm planning a model train layout using lego and I will likely use the same kind of painted backdrop. It's simple but works really well!

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks for the kind words. And best wishes on your layout build.

[@stephenfisher7589]

awesome setup hope to copy it myself

[@CarlBrainerd]

Stephen, thanks for the kind words, and best wishes on your own build.

[@jackheninger5471]

Love your layout Carl, thanks for sharing it. KZbin brought it up at lunch as a suggestion. Where did you get your logs from?

[@CarlBrainerd]

Jack, well, the logs are actually completely natural. I find "twigs" that have fallen from the pine trees around here, and I look for ones that look to be about the right size and that are reasonably straight. Then I harvest them and cut them to the right length for the log cars. I glue them together in groups of three for loading on the log cars. So "pine tree twigs" is the answer. They're not perfect, but seem good enough.

[@jackheninger5471]

@@CarlBrainerd Thanks Carl. Pine twigs are a really great idea. Down side is being here in SW MO there is a bit of a shortage unless I raid someone's front yard. Not the best idea. Or maybe I can just buy a xmas tree in a few months and cut my own? I also need to decide if I am going to do a theme swap as the big city industrial layout that I have going is uninspiring and isn't getting me to the work bench. I have had an interest in logging since 1967 when MR mag did a layout story. Might be time for diorama experiment.

[@sbsxzzxs]

Amazing layout and just some information. Where I live, there were a number of coal mines and logging railroads. Not far from each other.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks for that information. Good to know!

[@proteus550]

Absolutely beautiful layout. I'd love to see the track plan if you have it available.

[@CarlBrainerd]

Sure. Here's a link to the original concept sketch 1drv.ms/b/s!Amh3E1S2P_vCgapGLfzt55n15uf65w?e=RZeiG9 and here's a link to the final plan that was documented (there were a few differences as-built) 1drv.ms/u/s!Amh3E1S2P_vCgao_5vEfXw1ltDUNdg?e=dyUhBs. Such as it is.....

[@proteus550]

Thank you very much. I've always wanted to build a small layout based on the logging/scenic railroad in Cass West Virginia and your layout is giving me many ideas. I bought bachmann shays, climax and a rivarossi heisler many years ago but haven't built the layout yet. This may be my inspiration to finally get to it

[@louievarela2573]

Same theme 76 yrs old will i make it ?? have all the buildings and room and no lay out yet ,like the idea of tug boats which i have different types etc wish you had a book on this great lay out thank you for any reply.trees lay out track ho .tips for pine trees very costly .

[@CarlBrainerd]

Hi, Louie. Thanks for commenting. I was 69 when I started building the railroad (77 now). You can do it! I don't have a book, so my videos on the my KZbin channel will have to do. You might want to check out the one about building the railroad. I used Micro Engineering code 70 #6 turnouts. My flex track is code 70, whatever I had on hand (I think mostly Shinohara/Walthers). I used Blue Point turnout controllers connected directly to knobs on the fascia via dowel rods. For the "pine" trees I used material kits from Coastmans Scenic Products. They probably cost more than using Caspia fern branches from the craft store, but I think they went together a lot faster. Good luck on building yours.

[@eprohoda]

so gret . talk you later.

[@doughall1767]

Yes there is coal in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Diamond,_Washington

[@CarlBrainerd]

Thanks for the info! Pacific Northwest mining doesn't seem to be something that appears in the media, so I wasn't aware. Now my mind can rest easy....