Ken, you seem like a seasoned man having fun like a boy again. I love it!

Just starting watching the new channel, I’m a model railroader, since 1965. I love your enthusiasm for the hobby. Watch Luke Towan videos, He’s the best in our hobby at landscaping. I like building structures from scratch. Have fun it’s your railroad

1:33 God bless you, Ken!

Hi Ken, instead of using a white coloured glue/caulking I would change to a transparent colour or something closer to the colour of what you are trying to affix to the other item. I personally use clear silicone which is malleable and also dries translucent so it doesn't stick out like a sore toe. Your layout is coming along nicely. The other thing you can do when you lay ballast is make up a piece of plastic or timber with notches in it that match the gaps of the track and run it gently along after you have layed some section of ballast then come along with a small paint brush to wipe the finer particles away, then mix up a solution of PVA glue and water 50/50 and pour it over the ballast everywhere to stick the ballast down so it doesn't keep moving and also get into the gear cogs of your locomotives. I personally use an old wagon with plastic wheels and run it around the track by pushing it gently and seeing if it rolls ok or catches on anything and that gives me the idea or not if a loco will pass easily. Ken one important thing... at 16:02 you need to learn to change the points to open the track so the train is Not pushing the points to get past that set of points as you can see at the time I mentioned infront of the train the track is set for the other way coming onto the main line, I have noticed you do this in several of your videos...

My old neighbor had a set up like this. He installed folding legs and rigged up a cable system to raise it up out of the way. Put a cover on it and he regained his work space.

Looking good Sir Ken, Making all us guys jealous.

Lookin much gooder Ken with the ballast 👍😎👍🏁

Very nice no matter if you use the green screen as a green screen or not it adds to the display already. Good for you to take up a hobby that beings somuch kid out. Keep living.

I like the green screen idea. The ballast looks real nice. Great job Ken! This is fun to watch. Thanks!

Hey Ken, really enjoying the new channel also. Im also looking forward to the landscaping, buildings etc to see what you come up with. Have a blessed day 🙏

One thing that I might add is that when I was model railroading is that it is a never ending build, you or someone else will come up with an idea to add to or change something to your layout. The good thing about it is that it is fun and it is something that you enjoy doing. I would find myself so into my build that I would stay up until 1am working on it and then realizing that I had to get up at 6 to go to work that morning, but it was fun, enjoy your build

Use a one inch paint brush to make good with the ballast refining the area in and either side of the tracks. Like that you check the running through the ballast. You doing great for a beginner Ken. Just have fun with it.

Some of the newer cars don't have enough weight so they have a tendency to jump the track. You might try adding a little bit of weight to a troublesome car by or on the bogie if it wouldn't interfere with the wheels or drag on the track. Option would be on the car bottom near but not interfering with the bogie. Open or gondola cars can have weight put in them. Again add weight a little at a time until the problem goes away. Be sure to inspect the wheels and bodies for proper operation prior to adding the weight.

Morning Ken. That train looks so good & the ballast makes such a diffeance to the track. I did here some people say that the track does have to be cleaned on a regular basis. Take care & enjoy.

Isn’t Mrs. Ken going to wonder where her green bed sheet went? 😆

Watching you with your train is like watching a little kid on Christmas morning! I love it! 🙂🙂

Looks like you really enjoy your trains 🚂

I would suggest using caulk that goes on white and the turns clear.

Thank you for sharing.👍

Looking good! ❤ Your ballast work, now I'm not so nervious

Looks great, but I agree with the other comments, the balast must be glued or you run the risk of it getting into the engine and wheels. Keep the videos coming

Hello your doing a great job. You should never use a file to scrape the top of the rails as this puts groves in the top of the rails. The ballast should be glued down. (You don't want to suck sand up in to the small gears of the locomotive) Well anyways welcome to the hobby. I have done model rail roading for about 50 plus years. You will always be learning & always have fun.Thank you for the video Debbie

loving the detail and layout of the track cheers

Really coming along. Adding the balast to the tracks makes a big difference in the look and feel of it.

I think the culvert would look better if you removed those stones and painted it with some silver or gray paint to look like steel. I've never seen a real culvert that was hidden behind big stones. You could also use thinner wall PVC, or grind down the edges a bit. If you are using paintable caulk, you could have painted it all to look a bit more like soil. I would also add a couple of tiny microswitches or optical detectors so when a train comes toward a switch from the two-track side, it switches automatically so the train doesn't derail. But maybe you prefer the hands-on approach.

Nice to see you having fun! You have a great setup there!

Ken with all that loose ballast around you probably need a shallow retainer edge on the far side of the table to stop it falling onto the floor when you move the table. Also unless you use a fixative it will seize up the line points and loco motor…(Nobody ever uses loose ballast)🤔

They have paver brick sand that after you place it you mist it with water and it sets it up. There's a glue in it. Hello from Siesta Key Florida

Ken if your traction wheels spin you’ll need more weight on top of the loco. Also it will overheat pretty quickly with lots of wagons going up an incline..

We are all kids at heart, the first thing we do after adding weight is push the engine to see how many cars the loco can pull, lol.

Everything on the table really needs to be fixed down so you can store the table vertically when the enjoyment wains, as you might want to keep it in one piece just in case you are lucky enough to have grandchildren.

Keep on rolling down the track Ken you will learn alot along your journey. I've built a few layouts over my 66 years and enjoyed learning and experiencing new methods.

Welcome to the Hobby

Ken, I’m still working my way through the series, but perhaps you can make the problem boxcar a food truck or a hobo camp.

it's fun watching you build this system. Keep it up!

You keep it interesting.

Also check the height of the couplers too.

Nice hat 🤠

Looking great,keep up the good works 😅😊👍

👏👏👏👍Thanks. (Naaman)

Get the cuplers now! It makes for less derailing.

I think it looks great.

Polymeric sand might have been a better choice and more permanent after a mist of water. Just a thought. 🙏

Hey Ken. Some kind of fun you’re having there. You could paint the culvert silver so it looks galvanized. Thanks much for sharing.

use a small paint brush as a broom to brush the ballast around

That is one huge culvert. Have you considered using something smaller that is corrugated, like flexible gas connector and paint it to look like galvanized steel?

Very cool and congrats on 3000 subs! Thank you

Great video Ken,maybe add another engine to keep from slipping .I had 3 locomotives on my n scale layout.

Thank you for sharing your new hobby. You are making progress. . . . Keep on track. 😊

take a plastic card cut groves for track drag like screed for ballast

Mix white glue and water at 50:50 and saturate the ballast to hold it in place...

Step 1.. Someone gives you trains. Step 2 you go Bananas and change your workshop into a greenscreen for a lifelike Railroad station 😂🤣😅 Just kidding. Good to see you enjoying your train hobby. If anyone deserves it you do.. God bless..

Silicon spray will hold Theo sand in place and keep it tidy

Looks like a great down time from building lol.🌴😎

You may require 2 locomotives pulling the train to get up the hill haha

More fun than a barrel full of monkeys 🙊 ❤😊😮

Tools I tend to use are dental 🦷 and eyewear tools. The track and trucks will build up carbon from the electric going between them and the axels more so on the locomotive. But the cars need to be cleaned as well 😂

Good one but what about using clear or gray calking compound because the white shows up much more in unexpected places? Thank you.

Check your traction tires

Ken......"Eight and Sand" you will need to look that " saying" up, I'm not going to tell you what it means. I thought that the ballast was glued down? Have you decided what time era and location your set will be? Could you paint the pvc culvert gray to blend it in more, or use a marker? Anyway your having fun. Just don't do like Gomez Adams would do on "The Adams Family"

suggestion for your ballast... a light coat of Elmers glue thinned with water, can be brushed onto the board and will keep the sand from spreading. It dries almost clear. You can also keep a 1' paint brush handy to clear stray sand from the tracks... and get it between the ties.

Hope the handbook helps

Aren't you a grandpa? Have your grandkids seen it yet? You need a few observation stools for the grandkids to stand on.

You know you're supposed to wear your train hat when working on your train.

I wonder if you can grey/black paint where we see cocking in your slate?

Are you going to use the DCC system eventually? In looking at the prices of all these things, this hobby might be a cash black hole.

I was wondering, if the train derails inside the tunnel, how do you get the cars out?

What did you use for ballist?

👏🏻👍👋🙋‍♂️🇩🇪🤗😊

Never use a file on the track.

I cannot follow your train layout, it jumps from episode 1 to 6 then 8....there is no continuos feed ??? Sorry I would have watched them and liked them all 😢

You need to spend some time watching others build layouts

Does it really matter if the cars all weigh the same? What made you go with this scale? Reliability or some other reason?

Looks Great Ken, can't wait to see how it turns out.🚋