Model Train Tips» Featured

Columbia River Gorge Railroad Pictures

Model Train Tips — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:26:48 +0000

In a recent article, I asked which railroad you model on your layout.

One of the areas I mentioned that I would like to model was the Columbia River Gorge area that separates Washington and Oregon.

I recently had the opportunity to travel through that area and took some pictures to share with you here.

There are rail lines on both sides of the river and run parallel to the highways on the Washington and Oregon sides of the river. I was travelling on the Oregon side on U.S. Interstate 84 headed east towards The Dalles.

These two pictures show the trains on the Oregon side right next to the highway.

This picture shows the rail line on the right side of the highway. It’s hard to make out the screen between the poles that is meant to catch falling rocks to keep them off the track. Visiting the area you plan to model to get pictures like this can help you model the area accurately.

Falling rock protection

This picture looks across the Columbia River to the Washington side where a long freight train heads west.

Looking across to the Washington side

Have you visited areas that you model or plan to model on your layout in order to get detailed pictures? Share your experiences in the comments area below.

Dance Hall Added to The C & G RR Layout

Model Train Tips — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:32:19 +0000

Chuck Shutz has added a dance hall with an outdoor eating area to his layout.

Now his layout has a busy nightlife, complete with a band and lively dancers on the dance floor.

This HO scale layout by Chuck Shutz of West Palm Beach, Florida, is a very small and simple oval layout with intense and intricate scenery.

The layout is only 44″ by 66″, but it has as much detail as some larger layouts.

Chuck’s small layout models a riverside resort set in the 1950′s complete with a picnic area, a playground with kids frolicking, a foot bridge, a backyard BBQ, and kids fishing from a dock.

The oval track layout has a tunnel, two bridges over the river and two road crossings. Not only is this layout imaginative, but Chuck’s attention to detail shows through clearly in these pictures.

Airbrushing Tips to Weather Your Model Railroad

Model Train Tips — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:12:14 +0000

Weathering with an air brush is easy to do and gives excellent results. Start with darker colors and add lighter colors on top.

Line up all your cars, structures and loco’s and treat them assembly line style, then change colors and do it again and again.

Remember, weathering is a matter of degree and most rolling stock is fairly clean.

The disadvantage of weathering with paint is that it is pretty permanent when you are done.

Mac McCalla shared this tip for airbrushing:

I have been weathering with an airbrush for many years and have done many clinics for Badger Airbrush and at the GATS train shows. Here are a few helpful hints, both for the beginner and the experienced air brusher.

A double action brush is by far the easiest and most productive, both with ease and performance. I use a gravity feed, Badger model 100LG most of the time as it allows for very close up work (nuts/bolts, valves, fittings) and anything else that requires very small and close up work.

There is no jar to contend with and get in the way. For other work, a Model 150 is the all around brush to use for this hobby.

I have found that by using four colors, you can weather your project to any degree that you want simply by mixing and blending as you paint the object. The four colors I use are:

Rust

Roof brown

Engine black

Earth

You can use either water base or oil base paints and paint one over the other if desired. Both Model Flex (water base) and Floquil (oil base) are excellent paints and come already mixed and labeled from the manufacturer.

If you are going to use the colors I suggested, start with the rust, then paint over and blend in the roof brown. The engine (or grimy) black can then be lightly dusted over the two colors to blend them all together. The earth (if desired) can be painted over the results to resemble water staining and sun bleaching.

Hopefully this little bit of information will help someone who has the desire to weather their engines and rolling stock, also good for structures and scenery.

Do you have a tip or technique you’d like to share with Model Train Tips readers? Use the contact form on the Contact Model Train Tips page to send it in.

Weathering Roads, Paint and Rust on Your Model Railroad Layout

Model Train Tips — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 22:17:52 +0000

Peter Plantec shared this tip about weathering roads, paint and rust on your model railroad layout:

There are several brands of alcohol based asphalt patch material used to mend roofs and gutters.

I found that I could dilute and pour it in a form made of strip wood to make a road bed.

Before it completely hardens you can rub in some talc and cut in cracks and divisions.

You can even carve scale bricks as the underlying old road bed. The surface looks remarkably real.

Also, I almost never paint anything. I gesso it and then add layers of alcohol stain (used for shoes.) I usually mix and dilute my own colors and then put them on in several uneven layers.

I have several moss green washes that I put on finished shingles to imply a little moss growing. If you have a cabin in the deep woods, dust the moss stain with fine white grout powder. It absorbs the color unevenly and looks exactly like lichen growing on the shingles. Works great.

I hate that fresh painted look, it kills scale. A nice washed out slightly uneven color really helps keep things in perspective. I’m always interested in finding new ways to achieve this.

For old metal and rust I discovered Instant Iron by Modern Options. It’s excellent for iron smoke stacks and works great as a coating on scale corrugated roofing. I drizzle Instant Rust down the pipes and roofs to get a nice aging effect. It takes about an hour, but the surface actually rusts.

The roof effect can be enhanced by dusting with different colors of grout powder while it’s still wet. When it’s dry I do an uneven wash of very diluted dark stain to get a more realistic look.

Okay my favorite way to make rusted iron culvert pipes, ancient smoke stacks etc. is to take aluminum tubing or wrap heavy aluminum foil around an appropriate sized bolt to get the correlated look. Then dip the end in Radio Shack printed circuit etchant.

Be careful, it’s nasty stuff and it eats away slowly at first then it goes like mad. A bonus is that this thins the tubing to almost scale thickness…i.e. very, very thin. It really helps drive home the illusion.

Once I have that eaten away look I either, paint it with Instant Iron and rust it, or I paint it black then treat it with Rustall…several coats. Sometimes it comes out too shiny, which also kills scale so I dust it with rust dust or dull coat it.

I hope this helps someone out there. -Peter Plantec

If you try this method of weathering, please share your results or additional thoughts in the comment area below.

Do you have a tip or technique you’d like to share with Model Train Tips readers? Use the contact form on the Contact Model Train Tips page to send it in.

Tips for Adding Graffiti to Your Model Railroad Scenery

Model Train Tips — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:26:25 +0000

We’ve all seen graffiti on trains. What would a realistic model railroad layout be without graffiti on some of the rolling stock?

Here are some tips from other modelers for adding graffiti to your model railroad layout scenery and rolling stock:

You know, I realized a great way to make graffiti without buying those expensive decals. I use White-out (a correction pen), the finer the tip the better.

I even made up a cool scene with this- I painted an HO car, parked it in front of a university, and put an angry teacher beside it, like one of his students painted it! -asparuh frangov (viper)

Here’s another suggestion:

To put graffiti on train cars or buildings use gel pens from your local office supply store. They write on just about anything. -Tim White

Here’s a website full of pictures of graffiti on trains to give you some inspiration: Art Crimes: Trains

Do you have a tip or technique you’d like to share with Model Train Tips readers? Use the contact form on the Contact Model Train Tips page to send it in.

Realistic Weathering for Roofs on Your Model Railroad Layout

Model Train Tips — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:33:31 +0000

Bob and Nick Lloyd wrote in and shared this tip for realistic weathering of the roofs of buildings on their layout.

Okay, so my Dad and I are starting to build a platform for our HO scale trains. We are starting off with a platform upstairs, but after the holidays we are moving it down to our basement where we are going to build a permanent one.

Recently we have been going through the process of taking all of our old plastic buildings and making them look more realistic by dulling them and putting on new roofs.

Yesterday my dad decided to wrap the roof of our mill in tin foil and soak it in bleach so we could have a dull tin roof. I decided to add the Paprika for a rust-like substance and sprayed it with Dullcote.

It turned out great so we decided to put it up here for anyone who is looking for a new idea to try. Have fun with it! -Bob and Nick Lloyd

Cover Plastic Corrugated roof with Aluminum foil.

Use the non-bristled end of paint brush to push foil into corrugations

Soak in bleach and water 50/50 for one hour

Dry

Sprinkle with Paprika (will melt and streak for authentic look)

Spray with Dullcote

Take a flux brush to remove runs.

Do you have a tip or technique you’d like to share with Model Train Tips readers? Use the contact form on the Contact Model Train Tips page to send it in.

Which Railroad Do You Model on Your Layout?

Model Train Tips — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:51:48 +0000

It might be interesting to hear from some of your subscribers what railroads they favor for their layouts.

This question was posted in response to the article about choosing a railroad to model. What a great question, I thought. It got me to thinking; why don’t I ask you which railroad you model on your layout.

I’ll start this off by talking about two railroads I would like to model: Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. I don’t mean the single combined Burlington Northern and Sante Fe Railroad as it is today, but the separate railroads as they were in the 1970’s when I first became fascinated with model railroading.

Burlington Northern Railroad

Image courtesy: drbalint

Burlington Northern Railroad trains were an everyday sight growing up in Washington State.

The engines and cars with their distinctive green paint scheme stood out clearly when they would roll by.

The route my friends and I used to walk to school took us through a small freight yard in the rural town of Burlington, Washington about 70 miles north of Seattle.

It wasn’t until years later that I learned the Burlington Northern Railroad was named after a different Burlington!

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad

Image courtesy: Billy Hathorn

When I got the model railroading bug as a teenager in the 1970s, I would study every model railroading magazine I could get my hands on.

I was fascinated by the articles and pictures where the modeler had built their railroad layout using scenery modeled on the deserts of the southwest.

Something about those tracks alongside a winding river at the bottom of a gorge cut through a mountain and all that bare rock.

I know the Burlington Northern has similar lines along the Columbia and other rivers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, but I really like the desert setting.

I haven’t built my dream model railroad layout yet, but when I do I’m sure it will likely be based on one of these two historical railroads.

Which Railroad Do You Model on Your Layout?

What about you, which railroad do you model? Or, like me, are you still in the planning (dreaming) phase? Or do you model, or plan to model, a mythical railroad of your own design?

Either way, share in the comments area below which railroad you model or plan to model on your layout.

Developing a Paint Scheme for Your Model Railroad

Model Train Tips — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:00:47 +0000

By Mike Rountree

If you’re the creative type who just has to model a railroad that never existed, rather than adopt a specific prototype, then sooner or later you’re going to need to invent a color scheme for your fictional pike.

How do you come up with something that looks plausible yet unique?

While it may seem that you have a blank slate to work with, and can do anything at all, you would do well to restrain yourself based on some research and understanding. Otherwise, you can end up with a fairly outlandish scheme that doesn’t feel right, as much as you might like the colors.

As an example, consider metallic copper – sure you can buy a rattle can of spray paint and come up with a striking engine, but where in the real world has such ever been seen?

First off, let us define some terms. The Field Color is the main body color, which comprises at least 50% of the composition. The Accent Color is the secondary color which is applied to less than half.

If there is a third color, call that the Trim Color, which would be used in very minor amounts, and usually for things like pinstripes or lettering. Of course, on a locomotive there might be a lot of features painted black, such as the trucks or fuel tank.

You might thus have a black accent color that exceeds the raw surface area of field color, breaking the percentage rule, but one would not consider black to be the field color.

Using these terms, let’s look at some famous schemes and dissect them. The Southern Pacific Daylight passenger train is known for its red and orange.

Taking the train as a whole, the red is the field color, the orange is the accent, and silver is the trim.

In this case, the black portions of the engine and cars are not really considered part of the color scheme, though it is a good idea to pay attention to which parts of the rolling stock are painted black.

The Chessie System is a harder case, since it is comprised of relatively equal parts blue, orange, and yellow.

Based on color theory, I would rate yellow as the field color, blue as the accent, and orange as the trim. This is because the human eye is more responsive to yellow then the other two colors.

One way to test these classifications is to try to imagine the scheme without each color, one at a time. Without the field color, the scheme should be unrecognizable. However, one could easily change or remove a trim color and still recognize the scheme.

This leads to the first proven method to derive a paint scheme – just evolve an existing scheme by replacing one or more of the colors! Since the field color is the strongest component of identity, replacing it should yield instant uniqueness.

To use the SP example above, imagine that instead of red, you had yellow as the field color, perhaps for a line that runs in Florida (the Sunshine State). Or, for the Chessie example, trade the yellow for grey and see what happens.

This method becomes less effective when you replace only accents, and even less so when swapping only trim colors, since these are progressively less critical to identity. Of course, one can replace more than one color; take the UP’s yellow field, grey accent, and red trim, and swap them all for a maroon field, black accent, and Dulux gold trim, for instance.

As for the color palette that you can choose from, there’s obviously an entire rainbow available, but it is best to stick with certain colors that real lines used. More exotic colors were avoided primarily because they were more expensive, and darker tones were preferred since they didn’t show road grime (weathering) as much.

There are always exceptions (Soo Line’s white or Conrail’s bright blue come to mind) but it makes sense to stick with good railroad colors. These include Tuscan Red (more brown than red), Brunswick Green (or other similar dark greens), Royal Blue, true Red, Dulux Gold/Yellow, Grey, and of course Black. Certain colors, like Pink or Taupe, have no real part in railroad history, so if you feel compelled to use them you better have a good reason.

As mentioned before, it was common to paint some portions of an engine or car black, usually because that location was expected to get much dirtier than the rest. Look at real-world examples and learn which parts make sense to be “black-trimmed”, and don’t worry about black being a fourth color to your tripartite scheme.

On my own Winchester Paston & Portsmouth, the top third of the engine body is black (using black as my accent), with the field color red below. This was done because the red paint is more expensive than basic black, so it only was applied where it would be visible to the public, plus the top portion is where all the louvers and exhaust vents are located, where the engine will get dirtiest. It is similar to the Milwaukee Road’s orange and black scheme, which was developed for similar reasons.

Pick your field, accent, and trim colors based on some understanding of color theory. If you are unfamiliar with the Color Wheel, there are a number of ways you can learn about it on the internet. The Color Wheel positions opposite (complimentary) colors on opposite sides of the wheel, and similar (analogous) colors adjacent.

One side of the wheel has yellows, oranges, and reds, and these are called warm tones (they are the colors of fire). The other side has purples, blues, and greens, which are the cool tones. In the center of the wheel is neutral grey, or white or black (one might think of it as a color sphere really, with white at the north pole and black at the south pole, and rainbow hues around the equator).

The more saturated a color is, the closer it is to the rim of the wheel, and unsaturated colors are located more near the center. Notice that the common railroad colors tend to be unsaturated, so stay away from the rim. You can pick colors that balance across the wheel for a complimentary scheme, such as Chessie’s: the yellow and orange are balanced by their mutual opposite, the blue.

Or you can pick an analogous color scheme such as SP’s orange and red; in this case the strong warm tones are meant ton convey the sun’s warmth. If one were to add a complimentary blue-green to this analogous scheme, it would undermine the intention.

Similarly, the Northern Pacific’s light and dark green combo is meant to evoke the evergreen forests of the northwest, and the complimentary red trim color is used only sparingly so as not to compromise this intention.

One way to situate your fictional railroad into a certain region is to adopt the colors of a similar real railroad, perhaps even one that yours does interchange with. For instance, my WP&P makes use of a dark blue (on passenger equipment) that relates to both the B&O and C&O, nearby neighbors.The real N&W adopted its dark red for passenger trains based on its relationship to the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Give some thought, too, to creating a scheme that can be adapted to all kinds of engines and cars. Don’t design around one specific type of engine, or you may get stuck with something that doesn’t adapt well. For instance, if you base your scheme on a BL-2 with its uniquely bulging physique, your scheme might not look so great on a trim Geep-9.

Of course, your scheme can evolve, too, so you might have variations that apply in different eras. A lot of the “bow wave” styles that emerged when F-units were the prominent diesel did not translate well to hood units, and those schemes had to be adapted.

Plus, you might want to tell a bit of a story with your schemes. For instance, the N&W adopted blue instead of black when it was considering a merger with C&O, then went back to black after that effort failed. Similarly, my WP&P went from red and black with white lettering to maroon and gold with blue lettering, as N&W ramped up its ownership in the years just prior to merger – the maroon signifying N&W blood.

In truth, this has more to do with me playing around with schemes and generating more options. Don’t think that once you’ve come up with one viable scheme, that it is the only option from here on out! Use what you know to come up with another version, then see if you can invent a history to justify it.

Finally, it is a good idea to solicit critical feedback from the modeling community. If you belong to a club, do a mock up and ask for comments. Ask where they might guess this railroad operates, whether it is a Class 1 or short line, or what real line it resembles; you might be surprised at what associations your scheme calls to mind.

If you feel handy on the computer, use an image editor to do a mock up and then post images on a forum or two. If you don’t know your way around an image editor, then you can do a mock up in some other way and just use a digital camera to photograph it. Be open to all comments, and recognize that we all have our favorite colors and schemes, and some comments may owe a lot to such bias.

In the end, though, you are the ultimate judge! I wish you success in establishing your railroad empire’s corporate identity.

Michael Rountree is an N-scale model railroader who works for one of the best residential architects Cincinnati has to offer, helping to guide client’s dreams through both design and construction phases to be realized on budget.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Rountree

Model Railroad Scenery: Building Placement

Model Train Tips — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:25:10 +0000

By Mike Rountree

Model railroaders often focus on scenery in terms of rocks and trees, without considering how the built forms, especially commercial and residential architecture, will fit into the scene.

In the real world, much of the scenic context is determined by the houses, roads, stores, other man-made features. These can look out-of-place or otherwise wrong if they are just dropped onto a layout without proper planning and understanding.

Selective compression is a familiar term to most model railroaders, referring to our need to retain the distinctive character of a building while reducing its actual size, such as cutting it down from 5 structural bays to 4.

In order to do so convincingly, though, one must have a basic understanding of how the building functions, so that the “edited” building still feels right.

For instance, a common place modelers undercut is the truck loading dock – there must be enough paved area there for a truck to maneuver into place.

This can eat up a lot of the real estate on a layout, so if you cannot afford the area then it might be best not to show a truck dock, perhaps under the assumption that it is on the back side or an unmodeled portion of the industry.

However, one industry with a right-sized truck dock can look a lot more convincing that several hopelessly squeezed buildings, so it might be worthwhile to reserve the paved area.

Roads are often undersized on layouts, which can make them seem toy-like and ruin a carefully crafted illusion. Just as railroad track has requirements such as minimum radius and subroadbed, roads should be given similar consideration.

Imagine yourself in a scale auto, driving along at a comfortable 35 mph; how would you handle the lack of a shoulder, the narrow lanes, or the abrupt angular turns that seem to occur regularly on layouts? Would you lose a muffler as you bottom out where the slope abruptly changes?

There may be some instances in real life where such features occur, but they are rare, and there is always a clear reason for it, such as hard 90-degree turns on a country road that fits between cornfields. If you don’t provide a clear reason for your 15 mph curve, it will look conspicuously wrong.

Consider, too, that in most cases the actual Right-of-Way for a road is about twice the actual paved width, so there should be swaths of manicured ROW alongside the road, and privately-owned buildings should be set back.

Property lines and building setbacks are invisible features of real-world real estate which govern the locations of buildings. Consider what portions of your terrain is owned, and add features such as fence lines to reinforce the notion that humans dwell on this land.

Where roads run, imagine what the width of the ROW is and then establish your buildings with a reasonable set back from this. The front yard that results from such thinking will help things to feel right, even if you selectively compress this setback to minimal dimensions.

Buildings tend to have foundations, while model building kits tend to lack them. Consider replacing whatever foundation comes in a given building kit with your own scratchbuilt one, so that you can make it much deeper. The reason for doing so is that it will allow you to actually bury the foundation into the “soil”, rather than sitting on top of the scenery shell.

If you make the foundation separate from the building’s walls, the foundation can be placed as you work on finished scenery, while the building proper can just sit on top of the foundation. This method allows ground to slope around the building, which it should, even if it is just a little bit. Also, it avoids having gaps under the building edges.

Don’t set all buildings oriented towards the railroad or towards the edge of the layout. Instead, consider where a major road would run through the scene, even if that road is effectively on the backdrop, and orient the buildings such that they face the vehicular traffic.

Railroad tracks usually run behind buildings or between them, and our layout edges tend to follow the tracks, so we should rarely see the front facades of buildings straight on.

Finally, pay attention to the world around you! It is as true for model residences and other architecture as it is for rocks and trees. Take some photos, or find some by searching the web or in books, and work from those.

It’s not enough to just faithfully model a building in terms of its walls and roof; it is also about siting that building on your layout.

Mike Rountree works for a residential architect in Cincinnati and got into architecture and home design due to his love of layout design and construction.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Rountree

New Facebook Page for Model Train Tips

Model Train Tips — Mon, 30 May 2011 23:34:18 +0000

If you’re on Facebook, check out the new Page for Model Train Tips and be sure to “Like” it to see updates in your newsfeed.

I’ve been thinking about switching over from a Group to a Page on Facebook for several months but wasn’t that motivated to make the change.

Facebook is making changes to Groups, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I figured it was time to pull the trigger on making the switch.

While there is the possibility of more interaction between members of a Group, a Page gives me more flexibility for posting updates.

With a Facebook Page you won’t be constantly inundated with messages every time I or someone else posts an update on the Group page; something I don’t like about the new Facebook Groups.

Another nice thing about Facebook Pages over Groups is that you don’t have to have an account on Facebook to see the new Model Train Tips Page. You do have to be logged in to Facebook to post comments or messages, though.

If you previously joined the Model Train Tips Group on Facebook, please migrate over and “Like” the new Page as I will be removing the old Group page in June.

Model Train Tips» Featured

Columbia River Gorge Railroad Pictures

Related Articles:

Dance Hall Added to The C & G RR Layout

Related Articles:

Airbrushing Tips to Weather Your Model Railroad

Related Articles:

Weathering Roads, Paint and Rust on Your Model Railroad Layout

Related Articles:

Tips for Adding Graffiti to Your Model Railroad Scenery

Related Articles:

Realistic Weathering for Roofs on Your Model Railroad Layout

Related Articles:

Which Railroad Do You Model on Your Layout?

Burlington Northern Railroad

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad

Which Railroad Do You Model on Your Layout?

Related Articles:

Developing a Paint Scheme for Your Model Railroad

Related Articles:

Model Railroad Scenery: Building Placement

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New Facebook Page for Model Train Tips

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