Coloma Rails - N Scale Model Railroading

Knowing that I wanted to use KATO Unitrack for my model railroad track I went and visted the website at  katousa.com  to see what kind of layouts they have.  I wanted to use as much space as possible on top of my bar, yet if need be, be able to move the layout and re-use the bar.  I brought my youngest son (now 12) down to take a look and get his opinion.  I was not into just doing a switching layout, I wanted to enjoy watching the train go around, but also play with some switches occasionally.  I came across a layout called “Manning Oaks” and thought it would be perfect.  The layout was designed to fit on a 36”x72” board and that would fit perfectly on my bar.  It provided 2 full loops where I can watch the trains go around and some turnouts to be me more involved with the layout.

Welcome to “Coloma Rails”, the plan for this blog will be to document my process of building a N Scale model railroad using KATO Unitrack. All my life I have always wanted a model railroad layout, and have tried on numerous occasions.  Majority of my issues have been space, or we ended up moving to a new location and I never finished a layout. As a child, I could not have a permanent layout in my parents house, so when I became an adult it was time to finally get a layout. I first started when I was 21 with N scale and like now, with KATO Unitrack.  I chose N scale at the time since my plan was to build the layout on a shelf system.  The shelves were built and the track was laid and then I moved. My second time at the hobby was a couple years later and I thought I may have a spare bedroom.  This time I was going to build in HO scale.  I purchased all the lumber to work on the benchwork and completed most of the assembly to find out my wife was pregnant with our second child and