Building the B&P

Latest News from the B&P South-Western December 30, 2017

B&P South-Western Railroad Facts

B&P South-

Western Part 1

Follow the building of the B&P South-Western O Gauge Model Railroad, work on which began in September 2010.

Home Page Last Update - April 23, 2022

B&P South-Western Railroad

B&P

Scenes

The various Scenes highlighted on our layout reflect our attempts to depict fond memories of Southern California and Southern Nevada.

Work on our toy train layout, the B&P South-Western Railroad began in September 2010

B&P O Guage Turntable

See step-by-step how we scratch-built our highly detailed O Scale

30 inch turntable for less than $350.

B&P
South-Western Railroad

B&P O Gauge Turntable

Layout Room Size: 21.5" X 16.5"
Layout Size: 21.5' X 15.5' Folded Dog-Bone
Layout Surface Area: 270 Square Feet
Track Type: Atlas O Nickel Silver
Track Running Length: 389 Feet
Upper Mainline Length: 51 Feet
Perimeter Mainline Length: 64 Feet
Folded Dog-Bone Mainline Length: 100 Feet
Track Curves: Three Mainlines 072 - 099
Track Curves: Sidings/Yards 054 - 072

B&P Scenes is a Page dedicated to photos and insights about various layout details and and what we are currently up to, last updated January 3, 2017. To preview the B&P South-Western Railroad click on the above photo.

About Us

BPSouthwestern.com is a noncommercial model railroading project dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of toy trains by sharing lessons-learned as we build and operate the B&P South-Western O Gauge Model Railroad.

The B&P South-Western’s model railroading philosophy is that we are builders and operators, not collectors. We try to stay reasonably close to O Gauge’s 1:48 scale, without being obsessive with every minute detail.

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail: info@bpsouthwestern.com

B&P South-
Western Part 2

Follow the building of the B&P South-Western O Gauge Model Railroad, work on which began in September 2010.

Building and Operating an O Gauge Model Train Layout depicting Southern Nevada

and Southern California

post WW II to Present.

To see Videos of the B&P South-Western Model Train Layout in action and information about recent activities, go to our YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqghy6SdT50EDH5E3eRb1DA .

Recent Activity on the B&P South-Western see Latest News below or the above YouTube page.

Turnouts: 23, Ross-Custom (16), Atlas (7)
Turnout Control: Blue Point Switch Machines - Manually Operated
Turntable: Scratch-Built 120' Scale (30")
Track Power: Lionel TMCC, MTH DCS, 720 watts
Motive Power: Lionel, K-Line, MTH
Rolling Stock: Lionel, K-Line, MTH, Weaver, Menards
Structures: Ameri-Towne, Plasticville, Scratch-Built
Vehicles: Lionel, Historic Rail, MTH, Match Box
Figures: Woodland Scenics, Model Power, WeHonest

Our layout design philosophy is to maximize the amount of track devoted to railroad mainlines, sidings and rail yards within the given space we have available. While we use Lionel TMCC and MTH DCS to control all of our locomotives, our 23 turnouts (switches) are manually controlled. This requires train operators to move about the layout as they operate their locomotives.

Additionally, we cut off or rounded layout corners to facilitate movement around the layout. These priorities limit the space available for buildings, street scenes, etc.

Finally, where we can, we try to scratch-build and/or kitbash layout features.

You can select various website pages below, or on the upper-right side of each page.

Building the B&P South-Western

February 14, 2017, As every model railroader knows, your layout is never complete. In this video we try to give you some different perspectives of the B&P South-Western O Gauge Model Railroad. Additionally, we have been adding new details to our layout, including: more trees, plants and shrubs; power poles and wiring; additional track-side signs; railroad work crews, etc. We hope you enjoy. Nhttps://youtu.be/8NMQdkWriMY

December 30, 2017, Our non-commercial B&P South-Western Railroad YouTube page was established in July 2012. It took us until February 2016 to achieve 100,000 views. In January 2017 we exceeded 200,600 views. We now have more than 250,000 YouTube views. Thank you for your interest in Model Railroading.YouTube

December 30, 2017, the February 2018 issue of Classic Toy Trains magazine features the B&P South-Western Model Railroad as its cover story. We knew a couple of years ago that CTT was going to do an article about our B&P South-Western Model Railroad, but we did not know that they were going to make it their cover story. We started building our layout in 2010. We continue to add detail to this day. The article’s photos reflect how things looked in early 2016. B&P South-Western Model Railroad in Classic Toy Trains Magazine.

HAPPY MODEL RAILROADING

A chronology of building our layout can be followed by clicking on B&P 1,last updated June 16, 2016, or B&P 2, last updated June 16, 2016.

To see how we scratch-built the B&P's 30" O Scale Turntable for less than $350.00 click on B&P O Gauge Turntable, last updated June 16, 2016. Click You Tube to see a video of our turntable in action.

We are proud members of the Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA), and the Lionel Operating Train Society (LOTS).

Note: For three years, we built and operated the B&P Garden Railroad (photos upper right) using O Gauge track, locomotives, rolling stock and Lionel’s TMCC as noted in Garden Railroading Primer Articles at Family Garden Trains. If you are interested in alternative approaches to O Gauge Model Railroading, the seven articles about the B&P Garden Railroad and the many articles of others using O gauge outside may be of interest. Link to B&P Garden Railroad Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Good luck, and Happy Model Railroading

Background photo taken while riding the Durango & Silverton Railroad, Colorado, 2009.

The slide show "upper-right" contains Home Page Photos and a few photos taken of the B&P Garden Railroad prior to landscaping and its subsequent demolition.