My first “layout” was just an oval of track (that came with my Micro-Trains Santa Fe freight starter set) on our dining room table. I could place the various trains that I'd purchased on the track and watch them go round and round and round. Exciting, right? Wrong!

Since I'd never created a layout for a train, I decided to start small with a briefcase-sized layout.  I thought that a Circus Layout would be fun. You can look at the following pages to see how I did it and what it looks like today:

1. Planning the briefcase layout

2. Track and roadbed

3. Power connections

4. Foam sheeting in the briefcase

5. The "mountain"

6. Putting down the turf

7. Laying track and making electrical connections

8. Trees, bushes and the Circus

9. Finishing Touches

10. Costs