How-To: Pretty Panels for your Model Railroad

[@kerry_glock]

That was a great time you had with Boomer!

[@gnrrguy7951]

To do my plexiglass edges I use a very sharp small block plane and plane the edge smooth. Then I take a torch or cigar lighter and "flame" the edge. This leaves a clear glass looking edge and can be done in minutes. Your tips on stepping up the hole size is valuable.

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Wow! That's a great tip! Thanks.

[@vnthomas16]

Those are indeed pretty panels!

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Fantastic video, and is very much appreciated. Please think about enabling your KZbin "Thanks" button, so I can put some money in your tip jar, and especially for that idea about that panel switch for a programming track because it looks professionally done.

[@kerry_glock]

Thanks for the Video. I’m starting back in N Scale using KATO Unitrack after a 30 year hiatus from the Hobby. A lot has changed since I had used Atlas Snap Track and the associated controls from the 1970s. I’ve had a subscription to Model Railroader since 1984, must be 100 pounds or so of magazines. So much has changed and I want to use DCC along with having panels to assist operations which in turn will involve knowing what is on & off. Yes, I want to have the nice Panels for my layout. Thanks

[@HumancityJunction]

Ooh, I like these "pretty" branded panels, they look really nice.

[@MFRailroad]

Thanks so much!

[@ingor.522]

Thank you very much for your very informative video. For cutting acrylic glass I use a steel ruler and a sharp knife blade. For corrctly centered drill holes I am using a jig helper printing of same space like the later track plan but with the difference that over the drill hole places are marked × or + sighns, so that I can centering the guard drill holes correctly into the finally center. Finally for the facia screw holes I used a little bit larger drill to drill a cone sinking into the hole so that I can use cone screw with flat surface head, that would be looking much more better by to the facia mounted things. About of track numbering: There are different allowed methodes to do it by railroading. Every RR has their own rules how they are counting their tracks inside depots or stations alongside their RR. In my area at northern germany in central europe it is common practise for more than 100 years to count RR tracks, turnouts, signals and anything else in upward direction of the milage or kilometers counted from the RR Company Headquarteers of their Administration Building. At depots or stations the tracks are counted from the main office of the station master or the station or depot main building. The track close to the station master's office is track 1 and the mire higher the distance isthe more higher are the track numbers. If the station master office or station building is in between two diverging RR lines than track 1 is prallel in directly neighbourhood to the depot or station building and siding or other tracks from backside counted with higher tracknumbers like in the hundreds as example of track 101, 102 and so on or maybe in the 30's like 30, 31, 32 and so on. At some depots or stations the track 1 need not to be the directly mainline, it can be a siding of it. On stations without station master than the mainline track is counted as track one and all the parallel sidings have easy to identifying track numbers. All the different Railroads of the past had their own counting rules, so it gives a wide variation how to count RR tracks by your own.

[@nickgrandy3098]

Lmao... new to your channel & enjoying the vids... just wanted to say you almost made me choke on my coffee when at the beginning you said you were back & have a "beard" now...😂... oh brother, that's not a beard, this is a beard...(insert Dundee footage here)... lmao... on the real though, like your vids & will continue to watch & learn... have a great day!!!..

[@steamy1225]

Very nice

[@154Colin]

Eric Miller had some other facia element ideas on his Stockyard Industrial layout (on KZbin) that looked great and added to the "play value" of operations.

[@MFRailroad]

Cool. Which video?

[@154Colin]

@@MFRailroad Not sure. I imagine it would be one describing operations though.

[@154Colin]

@@MFRailroad www.youtube.com/@emillerz

[@gavsmart]

Hi! Thanks for a wicked video :) I was hunting around on the net for some easy but really high end looking options for DIY mini panels and this looks ideal for what I had in mind. Great work btw. Do you mind if I ask what sort of thickness of acrylic you were using for these? Where did you source it from just out of curiousity? I'm very confident in PS as my day job is with retouching and photo editing, so this is an ideal way plus I Iove the suggestion of a thicker card stock too :) Thanks a lot and best wishes, Gavin

[@MFRailroad]

I don't remember the thickness offhand. If I can figure it out when I get off work, I will. I bought mine from Menards. They sell sheets of the stuff near the windows section.

[@154Colin]

If you instead place a circle with a little X indicating where to place the pilot hole it might provide you with more precise guide..., with the added benefit of using less ink and time. Neither of the benefits will have a drastic effect, but if you have a large layout with numerous panels it might provide you somewhat of an advantage. Just something to grind your teeth upon.

[@MrDomb101]

I see you are a transformers fan like me

[@MFRailroad]

Oh yeah, I went on a kind of a buying panic over the past year. I've got too many now!

[@MrDomb101]

@MFRailroad do you have a favorite continuity/generation or toy line

[@MFRailroad]

@@MrDomb101 I really like the G1 look and feel of the Siege line of figures. I've also collected all the exclusive Shattered Glass figures that came out over the past couple of years. Those are real cool. (I think I've bought close to thirty figures since the start of the pandemic.) I've modded a few of them with aftermarket parts and stickers too.

[@MrDomb101]

I'm big on the unicron trilogy mainly because I grew up with it

[@daniesisley6015]

⭐ Ｐｒⓞм𝕠𝕤𝐌

[@derailroad]

nice work

[@MFRailroad]

Thanks