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Character, not caricature, in N scale: A few years ago I rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR. It was, in a few words, spectacular, beautiful, gorgeous, awesome, and any other superlative you can think of. The steam locomotives and most of the equipment are the real thing and served the line when it […]
The case for body-mounted couplers: For 40 or so years N scalers have been debating – sometimes rather fiercely – the merits of body-mounted couplers versus the truck-mounted type that come on most rolling stock. My position is simple. I think that for 90 percent of N scalers, converting to body-mounts wouldn’t be worth the […]
Adding scenery to your layout can take it from a basic track setup to a realistic and immersive world. It’s an exciting and creative part of model railroading that allows you to design and construct a unique landscape for your trains to travel through. However, it can be overwhelming to know where to start which […]
Tricks with N scale track: You bought ’em, you can modify ’em Some four decades ago I was looking at a John Allen photo taken on his fabulous HO scale Gorre & Daphetid. The subject was rail activity at his city of Port, and I was especially struck by how compact his trackwork was. In […]
Keep N scale track clean: Last summer I finished an extensive scenery project on my N scale layout, cleaned up, went carefully over the track with a Bright Boy rail-cleaning block, did a few more small layout chores, and at last was ready to run a train. For me there’s nothing in this hobby as […]
Building a model railroad can be a fun and rewarding hobby. It can also be messy and time-consuming, especially when it comes to a wood-built surface for the layout. One has to ask, “Does my model railroad’s layout surface need to be wood-built, or are there other methods that don’t make such a mess?” Foam […]
The basic tools to start building your train table: If you’re interested in building a train table for your layout, you’ll need a few basic tools to get started. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced model railroader, having the right tools can make all the difference in the success of your project. Safety Gear […]
Lionel prewar locomotive parts are readily available these days, allowing you to return your vintage motive power to the job. One of the great things about old Lionel engines – even really old ones – is they generally will run, even after decades of disuse. This prewar 252 electric, made in the early 1930s, is […]
Passenger car lighting with a decoder: People have been installing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) inside passenger cars for years. It’s nothing new. There are plenty of articles written about it, but I wanted to go further. When operating my trains in the yard, I want the lights in my passenger car to be off, but when […]
Airbrushing is a facet of the hobby I really enjoy. I’m sure some of my interest in painting is because my father and grandfather were auto body repairmen. I grew up around paint and paint equipment. One of the many lessons I learned from them was to take care of your tools. That’s true whether […]
Ben, Eric, and David team up to work through the process for wiring trackwork on Model Railroader’s modular project, but the steps apply to just about any DCC layout. They’ll cover basic techniques for attaching feeder wires to the rails, fixing them to bus wires below the benchwork, and provide other helpful insights along the way! […]
Ben, Eric, and David team up to work through the process for wiring trackwork on Model Railroader’s modular project, but the steps apply to just about any DCC layout. They’ll cover basic techniques for attaching feeder wires to the rails, fixing them to bus wires below the benchwork, and provide other helpful insights along the way! […]
