Building a HO DCC 5x6 Layout - Model Trains & Railroading

A friend of mine has wanted an HO train layout for a while now and recently asked if I could build him one. The only limitations being that it had to have two sets of tracks and fit on a table under 5 by 6 feet long.
The short length of this layout made it tricky to add switches so I had to be creative in terms of their location. Some items had to be moved during its construction however I'm satisfied with the results.
If you would like a copy of the design just send me an email and I'll try to get one to you as quick as possible.

[@seanparksgaming]

Love the Red Green Show line. It’s a line I use to this day. Remember, I’m pulling for you, we’re all in this together, also, Keep your stick on the ice!

[@SMTMainline]

I like the comedy and his messaging. Gotta give him props for keep it relevant with tours etc.

[@seanparksgaming]

@@SMTMainline saw him a few years ago and his show is worth it.

[@Raul_MP]

As someone with little space for a layout, I really appreciate videos like these, they really prove that model railroading can be enjoyed even without a huge layout, though I do miss a bit of elevation, but that's just my taste. Great job as always, SMT.

[@SMTMainline]

I completely agree. My friend requested it to be flat for storage but elevation could easily be added to the design.

[@MMRails]

My wife and I watched this on the tv. She watched you ballast and then said “see, look how easy it is.” 😂🤣 I said it was all movie magic. Jokes aside, I admire how you can just jump into a project and get ‘er done real quick. It’s an impressive layout for the amount of time you put into it. Well done kid!

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks. It kinda was movie magic skipping that work. It's not too hard just super repetitive lol

[@lotsabirds]

Let's not forget the Handy Man's Secret Weapon! Duck Tape! Great job! Keep your Stick on the Ice!

[@SMTMainline]

"I'm a man but I can change, if I have to, I guess"

[@lotsabirds]

@@SMTMainline I'll be home right after the meeting! Lol!

[@CharlesBarfield-de4zc]

Thats definitely a new ballast technique lol. I love it!

[@poppasteve2976]

I can't believe you got that Big Boy to run so well on those 18" curves!

[@SMTMainline]

I'm impressed too!

[@DTIMainline]

Awesome job Harrison!!!!!! great switching ops for a small area. 👍

[@purrple.shadows]

Nice job dude. Your train channel is the only one that I watch every video from start to finish.

[@TheSunrailGuy]

same

[@SMTMainline]

Hearing that means quite a bit to me. Videos like this one take a lot of time to put together so I really appreciate that 😃

[@FeelingLucky246]

@@SMTMainline Youre fantastic and I'm personally glad to see another young person doing it!

[@flagman515]

Harrison, another great video. What a unique way to lay the roadbed and keep the track lined up. Thanks for the motivation!

[@SMTMainline]

It works pretty well, I learned that trick from a Hobby store owner many years ago.

[@Rebecca_The_Dragon]

Those are peco electro-frog switches. They are designed for use with peco polarity switches and switch machines. The frog gets isolated with peco track isolation joiners and then the polarity is controlled with the polarity switch which gets mounted underneath the switch, peco switch machines have switch wires which extend both above and below the switch to allow the lower half of wire to operate the polarity switch which gets mounted beneath the motor. you solder positive and negative to the polarity switch and depending on which direction the motor is thrown the polarity switch will send power to the frog that matches the direction the train is going in.

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks for this in detailed explanation.

[@emdB67]

@@SMTMainline That particular switch was Electrofrog. The others are insulfrog (plastic sections in the rail at the frog). Electrofrog switches can't have power feeding from the frog end as you get a short circuit. They need to have insulating joiners at the two inner rails leading from the frog so that the power is only fed from the 'toe' or point blade end. And while you can use them without extra polarity switches on the switch machines, that only works while the point blades are clean, because they are the only way for power to get to the rails between the point blades and the insulating joiners at the frog. So using the polarity switches as suggested above is a good idea. But then the same applies to Insulfrog points as well. Insulfrog switches don't have this complication, but you get that unpowered section through the frog which can cause some locos to stall. Peco Electrofrog switches / turnouts have all this covered in the sheet of instructions usually included when new. There's always something to learn in this wonderful hobby, isn't there? 😊

[@gabemiller4882]

Wow 😮😮,Great job on on the railroad set and layout !! Keep up the great work, Harrison!! 👍👍👍😊😊!

[@KongVR_FR]

The "well folks in todays video" never gets old

[@SMTMainline]

Glad to hear that lol

[@KongVR_FR]

@@SMTMainline Congrats on 130k ig

[@djfish14]

@@KongVR_FR every time I play his videos I always say it along in sync

[@KongVR_FR]

@@djfish14 lol

[@djfish14]

@@KongVR_FR lol

[@timtheursaheavypacific]

It's amazing how so much can be done with so little.

[@SMTMainline]

For sure.

[@user-uk8jr6zc9l]

Once you found the anomaly with the one switch it all seems to have gone well. I know the video was about a half hour long, but the actual work was much longer. With the trouble shooting, wiring, soldering, track laying, ballasting, static grass, plus more, the time had to go over 20 hours of actual work and then came the editing. I hope this was all a labor of love. Great informative video, Jersey Bill

[@SMTMainline]

You are spot on. When I started editing this there was over 4 hours of raw footage and that doesn't include the planning, prep, supply runs and trouble shooting as mentioned.

[@callingalltrainfans9891]

Great build! This video finally made me go clean up my workbench, fix my trolley wiring, and run some trains after not touching my railroad for over a month due to being incredibly busy. Thanks!

[@SMTMainline]

That's great to hear

[@williamsquires3070]

Hi! One helpful hint if you have a DCC command station with a built-in circuit breaker (it’ll cut power to the track and beep) is to hook it to the very first piece of track you lay down. Afterwards, if you hook a piece of track up and it starts beeping, you know that - whatever you did - you have a short. This way, you don’t have to get to the end of track laying, only to find out there’s a short somewhere! Do make sure to remove any jewelry beforehand, so it doesn’t touch the track by mistake. 😊 This is usually because; 1) your turnout is not DCC friendly (as in the video), 2) you accidentally created a reversing loop or wye, or 3) there’s something wrong with the piece of track you just tried to install, or 4) you intended to create a reversing loop or wye, but you forgot the insulated rail joiners, or the insulated rail joiners are no good. HTH! 😅

[@SMTMainline]

That's a great idea to prevent issues.

[@richgreene7043]

Nice work. Looks and performs remarkable. Thanks for sharing Rich

[@oskarvalance3041]

I think Canadian Behaviour is going to be very pleased. Nice job. From Texas

[@holdenssboy]

I’m just starting to get some train carts, track and remote and plan to build a ho scale layout soon🎉 I cant wait its going to be a big journey but it’s going to be so worth it! Thank you for getting me into the hobby❤

[@ehcatsfaneric2211]

You sure make this work look easy..wish you lived near me

[@zachwisler9976]

Hey Harrison. Watching your channel for all of these years makes me want to build one to work on with my kids. I tried when i was a kid but just never got one done. Im 34 now and want to re ignite that love of model trains since the love of real trains never left! 😄

[@SMTMainline]

Never too late to restart. I did at one point and learned a lot

[@elleryparsons2433]

You Go Harrison keep That Passion very Stong.👍👍👍👍.

[@kingevan26]

Looks great! I really like these types of videos because I want to get into the hobby and eventually build my own HO-Scale layout. Keep up the great work!

[@SMTMainline]

Glad to hear that, I hope you do.

[@taybladerz8996]

May the fourth be with you! I’ve been watching for quite a while, and I finally have the motivation to start my layout that I’ve been planning for a few years. I’ve been putting it off for so long, and seeing you build just made me think about how happy I’d be to finally finish it. Thanks for being a channel that I enjoy watching every day!

[@SMTMainline]

May the forth, isn't that for a different month? lol I hope this helps your project :)

[@taybladerz8996]

@@SMTMainline YOURE RIGHT

[@StaYUTI420]

I love these videos way more than I should.

[@ScottRails]

That was a crazy amount of work in one video. Well done, looks great.

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks a ton!

[@mshipley3232]

Wanted soooo badly to see you wire it up. Bought that power unit which is a great unit. Your skills are fantastic. Appreciate you 🙏🏻

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks 👍

[@seeber563]

I would've never thought to use hairspray on the grass, excellent job.

[@RichardBough-yk2ei]

Seen it before on That Model Railway Guy

[@jacksnavely559]

It's related to model airplane dope they use on Silkspan, often in rubber band planes they save weight by useing hair spray ,I'm sure they have favorite brand of hairspray ❤❤

[@SMTMainline]

It was suggested by viewers in the previous build. I've also used Aylmers spray glue but ti sometimes changes the colour of the grass a bit.

[@andrewferguson5653]

Good work, SMT! It's very generous of you to build this layout.

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you very much!

[@LandenGregg]

You’re the reason I’m in model railroading😊

[@SMTMainline]

That's awesome, what kind of set up do you have?

[@LandenGregg]

@@SMTMainline I have an oval with a siding

[@bobigerasimovski4391]

Fr and also I love the layout I might add it. (just got into railroading so plz anyone give me some tips and tricks)

[@Fxe4014]

I'm definitely going to use this layout as inspiration when I build mine.

[@jdubs78]

Great video as always. This kind of layout just goes to show the amount of action you can get in a small area and the benefits of DCC.

[@SMTMainline]

Absolutely!

[@jacksnavely559]

There is a product that is used too rubber coat tool handles , it can be used too insulate electrical, and kiss fingernail glue is a smooth shiny drying super glue and has tons of use ❤

[@daniellesmith1059]

Lots of fun trainnin there.

[@SMTMainline]

Yeah

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

Nice video mate. That's come up very nice. It's a good sized layout that doesn't take up so much space. Looking forward to seeing the other layouts you make.

[@SMTMainline]

You and me both, the next one should be tricky but exciting.

[@PeterAnthonyHolder-StuphFile]

Amazing! Simplistic, yet elegant and with a relatively small footprint. Another great work of art!

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks Peter, I think the next one will be a little more exciting.

[@vehicles_n_stuff]

I’m actually in the process of building a similarly sized n scale layout and I’ll definitely be using this as a reference tool!

[@SMTMainline]

Right on!

[@nikospapageorgiou57]

Love watching these layout build videos! So relaxing!

[@SMTMainline]

Glad you enjoy it

[@Quince828]

A well designed layout in limited space. I too am surprised how well the larger engines run and still look good on that radius of curve. I find it interesting how you laid the cork under the rails by sliding it in. I always made a centreline, took up the track and then had to go back and relay it after the roadbed was glued down. Your way seems more efficient.

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks, I'm happy with how it turned out!.

[@ultimateinspector4901]

Impressive work. Thank you for sharing.

[@jimorlando5700]

Great layout! Makes me want to build a new one.

[@canadianbehaviour8280]

Good stuff Harrison! Thanks again ❤️👍

[@SMTMainline]

No problem!

[@RichardBough-yk2ei]

Great Job it good to see how others build layouts to help when i start mine

[@REAPER_GC]

Hey SMT my trains just got ruined by a flood. Still watching though!

[@F40M07]

I am so sorry for your (train) loss dude. That freaking sucks. Hope you get those trains repaired (if they can get)

[@REAPER_GC]

@@F40M07their working now! Just don’t have a (personal) layout, but I can run at my local model raolroad. I got good friends there

[@GageTucker-of2wd]

R.I.P❤

[@ITSHIM11Aviation]

I’m so sorry to hear that

[@Trainguy.5771]

Ohno! Best wishes

[@altonstolfus6943]

You do so much good work for other people, and for content in general. :)

[@SMTMainline]

I appreciate that!

[@pvtmadmike]

That is very cool I am retiring soon, and I had sold my H.O. trains I kept a few and they are the old Direct current ones which might need to be converted over to DCC, it is a great size for a starter kit my Granddaughter would love this. thanks for sharing, you have given me some food for thought.

[@SMTMainline]

As much as DCC can be handy I usually us DC myself.

[@sergioarroyoguerrero5434]

I love the HO scale DCC layout. Good job my friend. Funny hours with locomotives DCC with sound. You 🐱 is friend of my dog Scooby Doo. Scrappy Doo is a nice pup. Scooby Dum my dog.

[@SMTMainline]

Sounds good Scooby

[@NathanStrasser-po1bq]

Hey, SMT! I just love when you build HO layouts. I learn so much and I'm currently working on my own. Keep up the good work!

[@SMTMainline]

Right on. What size of layout are you building?

[@coltfaze599]

Nice Red Green refence, Keep your stick on the ice.

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

Excellent work! 👍🏻👍🏻 18:32 The powder on the roof looks like green algae which is common here in the South

[@st.paulsu13hockey]

This layout looks beautiful

[@st.paulsu13hockey]

I would love to have a layout like this

[@RailfanUS]

I am starting to make an HO DCC layout with atlas flex and peco switches with digitrax and thank you for showing me this track planning software I never heard of it so this will be very helpful, thank you!

[@d-rail7271]

AnyRail is another good track planning software as well

[@SMTMainline]

Glad to help

[@DowneastProductions211]

Amazing job SMT I’ve got one tip for you, when yourself painting the grass try and ruff up the styrofoam to help the paint stick better!

[@SMTMainline]

Good idea

[@1621billw]

Great video, Love the "Red Green" shout out.

[@SMTMainline]

I love that show, I couldn't count of the hours of it that I've watched.

[@1621billw]

@@SMTMainline My favorite episode was the Fishtank Skylight. Now that's ingenuity.

[@lenandtamaraevans]

I like Red Green as well.

[@americangrute]

That’s great! I plan to make a big HO layout in the future.

[@Dino_7R]

This is awesome can’t wait for the next layout build

[@BriansModelTrains]

Smart track plan. Lucky friend~

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you

[@willamettevalleyAFtrains]

Very well done. Lots of operating options.

[@DennisLora2001]

Fantastic job my friend 13:21

[@user-zv7bh9iu4x]

Really enjoy your channel, thanks for your information on your layouts and work on the engines..!!

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks for watching!

[@brennanvilcheck9469]

This is going to be good for me. Just today i got a Athern Genesis Big Boy, so now once i get space can work on a DCC layout.

[@SMTMainline]

Congrats on the purchase, hopefully it will pull nicely

[@brennanvilcheck9469]

@SMTMainline thanks! Mainly rn is needing to get the space for a layout and build it. Wanted to get the locomotive before making the layout so I could work out clearances and such for tunnels/curves. Didn't want to make layout then get locomotive only to find it wouldn't fit on it

[@MattKonsol]

Very awesome work on this dcc layout for Canadian behavior!

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks a bunch!

[@soerenwizard]

I have a technique of preballasting the switches. At the switch itself I cut some thin card to match the width of the sleepers. Then I mark the space between the sleepers. I give the marked space between the sleepers on the card a small stripe of white glue. Then I add a bit of ballast on the glue. When dry, I tap of the remaining ballast. Finally I glue the card to the switch, taking care that the glued ballast gets between the sleepers. This avoids the possiblity that the rest og the ballast fouls the switch. I find I have to do this because I use Märklin HO third rail system.

[@SMTMainline]

I'll have to try that, I'm sure it will help!

[@cheapme1850]

Awesome! Love all of the activity. I’ve been thinking really hard about getting involved with the hobby but I have limited space. Now I’m imagining this same layout in N scale which would be perfect.

[@SMTMainline]

In N scale it would be incredibly space efficient, you could probably even add wider turns etc.

[@Allnightexplor]

Great simple layout!

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you!

[@deaddevilxd8473]

wow great setup

[@michaelschultz5127]

If you noticed something, just by your 2 track yard, the train stopped then starts again, don't know if you did that but, you might want to check it out. Great! Layout! Though.

[@SMTMainline]

That issue was corrected, it was just some glue left over. If you watch the reveal short you can see its fixed.

[@JeffUr7]

nice small layout ❤ good job

[@trainguy1st]

Hey SMT i got one train and a couple of cars and i only use a circle layout bc that all i have have a good day i enjoy your content

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks.

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

Your thumbnail shows the completed lauout - it looks like an end piece where the tracks make a 180 and continue on either side, like an N-Trak module.

[@johnhood9567]

Smooth work brother!

[@sergioarroyoguerrero5434]

HO SCALE DCC LAYOUT. GOOD JOB MY FRIEND. SCOOBY DOO IS GOOD WITH YOU 🐱. SCRAPPY DOO IS MY PUP. SCOOBY DUM IS A NICE DOG.

[@SMTMainline]

Good ole Scooby dum

[@juniorfarm3003]

I love the videos when you build layouts 😀😀😀😀

[@SMTMainline]

There are more on the way!

[@juniorfarm3003]

⁠awesome

[@user-kh5xw4vn7z]

Nice job!!

[@caboosech]

Great job on your layout

[@randydobson1863]

Hi SMT Mainline & it's is Randy and i like yours video is Cool & Thanks SMT Mainline & Friends Randy & Super Cool Building Ho SCALE Model Train Layout SMT Mainline & Good Friends Randy

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks Randy!

[@mikegrappone9078]

Excellent work! great video

[@therealswarvey]

Nice work! Damn you make it look easy

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you!

[@StarQuestentertainmentUSA]

I love your videos

[@jamesfitch6431]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@drewhalvorsen4739]

Nice job as usual

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Mike-gc2ro]

Great video smt! congrats on 130k subs!

[@SMTMainline]

Thank you!!

[@yehoshuarail4527]

Very nice. Great work👍🏽👍🏽

[@thetransportgamingchan]

Hey SMT, I live in Europe and as tracks i use myself H0 ROCO Line tracks that is really good quality! You can even buy some with Trackbed that is flexible if you want to lay it on the ground, Here are 2 tipps to improve your Railroading passion: for Track cleaning i use the ROCO 10002 cleaning Block and for wheel cleaning i use the TRIX 66602 Lokrad Reinigungsbürste. btw nice vid!, keep up with the good work. :)

[@SMTMainline]

Thanks for the tip!

[@TheNovaAssassin]

Hey SMT that Peco switch is an electrofrog which means the entire frog is powered with no isolation. Because the entire frog is powered it makes running waaaaay more reliable but the polarity needs switching on it like with a point motor and the frog needs isolating rail joiners : )

[@ShipCreekRailway]

Great comment, you beat me to it. I use peco insulfrog switches as these were what i bought, and I still use insulated joiners. 👍😃

[@SMTMainline]

That's for that explanation. I was wondering if that was the case since it looked a little too neat to be an accident but I had never seen one like that from Peco.

[@TheNovaAssassin]

@@SMTMainline no worries! I only know as I switched to them after watching a video from Chadwick model railway, when wired properly they really make running 0-4-0 and other short wheel base Locos easy!

[@darklordojeda]

Gotta love the Red Green quote. Awesome!

[@SMTMainline]

Red Green is a legend, I had to

[@SneekeyStripes]

Soon I'm going to make my own layout 🤠

[@DylanDurdle]

I love this kind of video of yours. I saw the short of the reveal before this video. I’ve been planning out super small z scale layouts to build (in a 87cm x 54cm). I found a hard-to-work-with iPad layout software. Was cheap and I could use my fingers and pen to do the layout. Sure beat how I used to do layouts for n scale in the past with a pen and paper.

[@SMTMainline]

I want to try building a Z scale layout at some point, have any pointers?

[@DylanDurdle]

@@SMTMainline stick with just using marklin track. Being in Canada, the track is hard to locate and expensive , but I was able to find several eBay users from Germany selling 2nd hand track, hobby shops in Germany, so the track is tested. I used the track planning software and got the list of track (marklin is very good at cataloging every variant of track). The track is amazing quality, never had an issue with any. You have to keep in mind all the switches pass on power to all track. There are some interesting components marklin released, like contract tracks, reverse loop polarity switches and universal relay units, all designed explicitly for 10v. Unlike HO and N scale where relays and power packs all are compatible, everything for Z scale has to use either Zscale hardware or modified to output 10v. You can get quite a bit into a small layout with Z. In my layout, I’ve got 3 parallel tracks and a reverse loop and inlet for parking on the first level and a figure 8 and reverse loop bridge on the 2nd level, and a simple single track oval on the third level. I can run 5 trains concurrently via two DC power packs (DCC isn’t really worth looking into with Z scale). All this crammed into a 87cmx54cm cabinet.

[@annaparker9722]

I can see this if space is a premium. You certainly can't put much more than this into the board. If you have to take to the second floor of a house, it should make it. Good job, now if I can just do that same like the Flash, I'd be okay.

[@SMTMainline]

N scale would probably be ideal in this case but its interesting to see the limits of HO in a small space.

[@wowdad3055]

You made it look so easy to built, I would liked if you shown the soldering and wiring of the controller, probably i am asking for to much. But like always you are awesome.

[@SMTMainline]

I showed how I soldered the track in the previous video but I should have shown how I wired up the controller, it's not too difficult but it can be helpful to know.

[@portlandrailfanproductions1155]

I use Dry Wall mud instead of paper on my layouts and it works just fine.

[@squidkid2]

You should run the big boy on the 22" radius track It would look a lot better. Otherwise it was a really good video. I especially like that you did the whole project beginning to end in one video.

[@SMTMainline]

The outer track is 22R but I had to use some 18R on the inside to make it all fit together. It doesn't matter too much since it didn't derail anyway.

[@LoveShaysloco]

if there one thing i like since plan a didnt work out with the shed where you wanted the now you have another line for future expansion.

[@SMTMainline]

That's a good point. It could even be connected to a club layout at a train show if someone wanted to.

[@popcat2214]

Watching smt at 1am, yippee

[@awesomeart3556]

Same

[@austinhaley6729]

Same😅

[@Kanrinin01]

they're electrofrog, it's use with deadend track. you just need to switch to cut power.

[@SMTMainline]

I see, thanks for letting me know.

[@vincentandhimi6990]

"I'm just gonna send it and hope for the best" SMT - 2024

[@JEMRainman]

nice and cool

[@EasternMaineRailfan]

Red Green refrence 💪

[@spencercorby4571]

Nice job as always, that engine shop is pretty cool looking, you should find an identical one for your layout. I'm still surprised the big boy could take those 18" radius curves, keep up the good work!

[@SMTMainline]

Rivarossi did a good job with the designs

[@spencercorby4571]

@@SMTMainline indeed! False flanges/non-flanged wheels are great!