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.

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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.

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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.

Related Articles:

1. Wondering Whether To Weather Your Model Railroad Trains?
2. Developing a Paint Scheme for Your Model Railroad
3. Tips for Adding Graffiti to Your Model Railroad Scenery

Painting

Here’s a tip where Palmer Schatell describes one way he paints some components of his layout:

When airbrushing HO [cars & engines], with a little hand molding, the soft cardboard rolls that toilet paper comes on fits into the cars and locomotive bodies and provides a way of holding these objects.

I used the cap from a spray can fastened to the center of an inexpensive Lazy Susan to allow me to turn the bodies without having to touch them while the paint was wet.

Highlighting

Here’s how John Hanks adds depth and detail to his layout’s cars and other components:

It’s easy to forget to highlight a car with white paint (other colors work too).

Scratch brushed white paint has a dramatic effect when upper surfaces of trucks, roofs, grab irons, and even human figures are highlighted. It is like adding perspective to a drawing.

Take a stiff brush, put a small amount of white paint on it, and then brush most of it off on some scrap cardboard. Brush upper surfaces with the little that’s left.

Ideally the effect is subtle enough to be imperceptible to the visitor. Cheap water-based craft paint is fine.

If you try these methods 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.

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1. Airbrushing Tips to Weather Your Model Railroad
2. Extreme Weathering for Your Model Railroad Cars
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Eye Shadow

Aaron Savoian shared this tip about using eye shadow for an interesting weathering technique for your model railroad:

I have found that women’s eye shadow works well when wanting to blend colors on plaster castings. The eye shadow doesn’t need to be sprayed to adhere to the plaster and is easy to work with (no messy dust).

I usually apply a slate colored eye shadow (black) to the castings first then follow with the colors of my choice. Eye shadow comes in an assortment of colors and range in price between $1.99 up to $20.00.

[The kit pictured at right, which I found at Amazon.com for about $16.95, has 180 shades of eye shadow! Who knew there were so many? -Rick]

The cheaper eye shadow holds well, but if you have the money to spend, I recommend the more expensive eye shadow because it has a very natural look when you are done. Just experiment with the colors, and remember…HAVE FUN!!

Model railroaders giving shopping tips for eye shadow… Well, it’s about the hobby, right?

Here’s another tip for buying eye shadow; try yard sales and thrift stores. I’ve never looked there, but what the heck; you never know when you might find something else to use for your layout.

Pastel Chalks

Andy Garner shared this tip for using pastel chalk, available from virtually any craft store or Wal-Mart:

Pastel chalks are great for weathering. Using a craft knife, scrape the chalk stick into a powder. Dip a paint brush in denatured alcohol and then into the powdered chalk. Dab or brush the chalk onto the surface to be weathered. Dab orange and brown mixtures to simulate rust.

Heavy application on pipe creates the illusion of heavy rust accumulation. Black chalk around a chimney creates the illusion of soot. Experiment, start with a light application first. The alcohol devolves the chalk and makes it stick. Application of a Dullcote varnish isn’t really necessary.

Here’s another tip for using chalk:

Colored chalk makes a very good weathering agent. Grind up the chalk into powder and apply to cars, locos, buildings with a soft brush and work into the material with vertical strokes. To apply darker streaks use a Q-tip to apply the chalk.

If you don’t like your results just clean the car with a damp sponge and start over. If you are going to preserve your weathering with Dullcote, be aware that you will lose some of the effect, so over apply the chalk. You can always add more weathering after you Dullcote the model if you don’t like the effect.

If you try these methods 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.

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1. Realistic Weathering for Roofs on Your Model Railroad Layout
2. Extreme Weathering for Your Model Railroad Cars
3. Weathering Your Model Trains and Scenery

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.

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1. Realistic Weathering for Roofs on Your Model Railroad Layout
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Weathered Boxcar

Weather as you normally would your next box car, tank, hopper, etc. then, spray two coats of Dullcote on your finished car.

When that has dried thoroughly, use your pump sprayer filled with 93% rubbing alcohol and give a good, wet coat to your finished car.

The alcohol reacts with the Dullcote and makes the most faded, weathered finish you’ve ever seen.

Careful, don’t do but just a few cars as the effect goes a long way. -Pepper Kay

Note: I have not tried this tip yet but I would like to emphasize that you use care when mixing alcohol with other chemicals. Check the labels of the other chemicals to ensure they don’t react negatively to alcohol.

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.

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© Arno Jenkins - Fotolia.com

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.

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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

1. Cover Plastic Corrugated roof with Aluminum foil.
2. Use the non-bristled end of paint brush to push foil into corrugations
3. Soak in bleach and water 50/50 for one hour
4. Dry
5. Sprinkle with Paprika (will melt and streak for authentic look)
6. Spray with Dullcote
7. 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.

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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.

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