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Here are five tools for a garden railroad you can make or obtain cheaply. 1. Make a ballast broom If you do a lot of reballasting (or ballasting) on your railway, take an old 4-inch paint brush and attach the handle with screws to an extension pole about 3 feet long. This becomes a mini-broom […]
Toy train layout operators foiled by the lack of inexpensive details can you aluminum foil as the raw materials for unlimited “junked cars.” Best of all, the project won’t strain your how-to skills and will add detail to your layout. You’ll need heavy-duty foil, gloss black paint, your choice of flat colors, a hobby knife, […]
Turnouts are generally reliable right out of the package. But sometimes problems arise that simple fixes can’t solve. Here are 3 advanced tips to try. 1. Fill flangeways In a perfect world, the wheel treads are wide enough, the gauge is correct, and the flangeways are precise enough that a wheel never drops into the […]
Weathering is one way to add realism to any garden railroad or garden railway. Weathering helps train models and rolling stock appear as though they have been exposed to elements and harsh conditions — like full-sized railroads. Here are top tips you can use. Paintbrush weathering To create a weathered finish on a passenger car […]
(From the article “Three track plans for one sheet of plywood” from the August 2008 Model Railroader) HO scale model railroads are often small layouts based on 4 x 8-foot sheets of plywood, for obvious reasons. A flat tabletop is a lot easier to build than L-girder benchwork, and almost any home has room for […]
Freight cars are the stars of James McNab’s HO scale Hills Line layout, so he’s working to get them performance ready! Discover his helpful modeling tips, tricks, and insights that you can use to keep your rolling stock in prime operating condition! […]
The layout at a glance Name: Danefield modules Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 28″ x 8′-11″ Prototype: Union Pacific Locale: generic Midwest Era: modern Style: module Mainline run: none Minimum radius: none Minimum turnout: no. 7 Maximum grade: none Benchwork: laser-cut plywood modules Height: 56″ Roadbed: cork Track: handlaid codes 83, 70, and 55 Scenery: plywood […]
In this final episode of our Trains.com Holiday Party, Cody Grivno shows how to assemble an HO scale kit made from styrene and acrylic parts. Cody shares his helpful hints for working with acrylic components to form a sturdy, contemporary structure. […]
Around the Kalmbach HQ, workin’ on the railroad is part of the job. But at Christmastime, we all make sure to park our various projects and take a moment to have some fun simply running trains! Join Eric White, Cody Grivno, Ben Lake, and David Popp as they each share one of their favorite trains […]
Join CTT Senior Editor Roger Carp, a.k.a. Professor Carp, as he shares insights on a post-war era Lionel Trains O gauge operating car. Learn about the history of the famed Automatic Refrigerated Milk Car and Platform, plus tips for making the car work properly! For even more info on the Milk Car, read the February 2021 […]
The Trains.com Holiday Party continues with David Popp suited up to make some special layout scenes using little more than odds and ends he’s cobbled together. Even better, everything he made was assembled in a single afternoon. […]
Host James McNab shares how he combined sticks and leaves, and applies water effects to help add an authentic appearance to his HO scale Hills Line layout. These and other scenery construction considerations and insights will help lead you to incredibly realistic results! […]
