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It’s been written about a lot before, but here are some more ballasting tips for tubular track. It can make your right-of-way look more realistic, but the bottom line is have fun and don’t stress about it. Don’t overdo It is pretty common to completely fill in the area between two tracks with a bed […]
Common name: Trailing ice plant, Cooper’s ice plant Latin name: Delosperma cooperi USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 to 9 Cultural needs: Well-drained soil, sun or part shade Plant size: 3-inches high by 3-feet wide Sometimes called hardy ice plant or purple ice plant, this low succulent is not to be confused with the larger purple […]
MRVP’s Ben Lake explains the essential components and process for establishing a digital means to control trains, turnouts, blocks, and even signals. His solution? JMRI interfaced with a Raspberry Pi computer. Follow along, and get up to speed on this cutting-edge DCC option for operating your model railroad! […]
The Lionel operating milk car’s chute is made so that the milk barrels can only be put in the correct way. However, once inside the chute, the barrels can become jammed if the car tips over. Here are some tips for keeping this car in service. Classic Toy Trains file A version of this article […]
It isn’t an exaggeration to observe that the CTT staff is frequently asked basic questions such as “How do I connect my power and lockon to the track?” However, we get even more questions related to adding operational capability beyond running one train in a circle – taking a step beyond the starter outfit. Aside […]
Creating the scene The examples shown here are from the backdrops on my O gauge layout, which is set against distant hills. I broke each sketch down to three levels of scenery: the foreground (tree line), the intermediate level (nearby hills), and the background (mountains). I needed to use only three colors, one for each […]
Common scales of large scale trains: Most of us have had this experience as we got started in garden railroading: You go to the hobby shop or look online, looking for equipment for your new railroad. It’s all large scale and it all looks good. But the more you look, the less comprehensible your choices […]
Our sister magazine, Classic Trains, named Boston & Maine the railroad of the month for October 2019. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include B&M steam-powered freight trains through time. […]
Although I’m really an HO scale modeler at heart, I’ve always been intrigued with N scale trains and have more than once thought how neat it would be to “have a few.” Being without any other outlet for modeling, those very thoughts soon translated into construction of the Havaphew Central, my first N scale layout. […]
In N scale, oversized, truck-mounted couplers are still a de facto standard, but body-mounted scale-sized couplers aren’t exclusive to larger scales. Micro-Trains Line sells N scale freight cars with pads and mounting holes for easy installation of body-mounted couplers. For an even more in-scale appearance, I install Z scale couplers instead of N scale couplers. […]
Contributing Editor Gerry Leone continues to share his final project on the HO scale Bona Vista Rwy. This time you’ll see how to make sure Main Street, its sidewalks, and all of the surrounding structures maintain prototypical alignment and appearance. […]
Jim Kelly wanted to see all the fabulous detail on his new ScaleTrains.com carbon black covered hoppers. A few simple steps had them looking more like their full-sized counterparts. Bill Zuback photo The universe has its black holes, and we who model in N scale have ours: black locomotives and rolling stock. The details are […]
