Hand layer and blogger: Daryl Dankwardt

Short Interview with Daryl Dankwardt

Daryl Dankwardt does some great HO hand laid track. It’s worth checking out. You can see Daryl’s layout on his blog, ‘Model Railroading and Railroad Photography’. Here’s an example of his work:

Coxy: How long have you been into railroading Daryl?

Daryl: I have been in the railroad hobby for most of my 27 years.

Coxy: And where are you located?

Daryl: I live in southern Ontario Canada hence my interest in Canadian Railroads especially of the steam or first generation diesel era.

Coxy: Is this your first layout?

Daryl: No, my other layouts were basically table top layouts were I learned and refined by track laying skills.  I have been working on this layout for close to 4 years now on and off based on my work schedule. This current layout has also taught me more benchwork skills and spline work for the elevated sections.

Coxy: What got you started in railroading?

Daryl: My Grandfather is a railroad master and I remember as I kid going to his basement and running the trains on his at the time 40’x60’ layout. There is a post on my blog of my Grandfathers current layout which is smaller but further along with more scenery. He has taught me everything I know in this hobby including all my fine crafted hand laid track skills.  

Coxy: You’re doing some nice looking trackwork, what’s your approach to hand laying track?

Daryl: Thanks, I really enjoy the look of good hand laid track and I can appreciate anyone who takes the time to do hand laid track. I use no templates or jigs. Everything is handlaid with gauged blocks a lot of push pins and patience. I am continuing to refine my track skills with curved turnouts and more complex track designs.

Coxy: Given your interest in detail and realism, what are you thoughts on scenery?

Daryl: I hope to start scenery soon as this is my first involved layout that has gotten to the stage where scenery can be done. I am testing out some scenery methods and still learning through my Grandfather the art of realistic scenery and model building detail.

Coxy: And what’s your take on realistic rolling stock?

Daryl: I will be starting to weather some of my equipment soon with my air gun and a variety of techniques. I have been redecalling some cars in the Canadian names as not much is available on the market these days at a reasonable price. Plus I enjoy doing it! I will be posting some examples on my blog soon.

Coxy: What’s the future hold for the current layout?

Daryl: I would hope to never ‘finish’ the layout as then my hobby interest starts to dwindle with nothing to do. I think I am a long way away from that point though.

Coxy: Your blog seems to capture your layout pretty well so far…

Daryl: Thanks, there is a lot more done on the layout than I have detailed on my blog. I’ll continue to update the blog and bring it up to speed.

Coxy: That’s a great way for us all to enjoy the progress on your layout. Cheers mate!

Daryl’s blog can be found here. Check it out!