model railroading | Model Train Tips

Model Railroading Scenery: Buildings

February 18, 2011 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

By Johan Bentley A model train display's scenery is greatly enhanced by realistic buildings. Whether the theme is New York City or a small village, the model railroad buildings you use will illustrate all that is human about any landscape. If you are modeling a prototype scene, then you most likely will want to find or to make specific buildings for your display. If you are "freelancing," or making up, your cities and towns, then you can choose whatever buildings you want. Hobby shops provide pre-made and ready-to-assemble kits for all kinds of model railroad buildings. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Scenery Tips Tagged With: buildings, model railroad buildings, model railroading, modeling, prototype scene, scenery

Model Railroading Scenery Tip: Painting Brick on Your Layout

January 14, 2011 By Model Train Tips 3 Comments

This scenery tip came in from Robert Herring. Robert shared a technique he has used for painting brick on his model railroad layout that will give your brick walls an aged appearance. I’ve added this tip to the Scenery Techniques page as well as posting it here: The easiest way to paint brick, even N scale, that I have found is to: Paint the base color of the building. Use flat latex interior paint thinned about 2 to 1 with water and a drop or two of liquid detergent. After the base coat has dried, use a paper towel dipped into the mixture and rub the brick areas. The finish … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Scenery Tips Tagged With: layout, layouts, model railroad layout, model railroad scenery, model railroading, model trains, n scale, painting, painting brick, robert herring, scenery tips

Model Train Tips To Help Keep Your Dream Railway Right On Track

October 9, 2010 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

By Timothy McCarthy If you search online you will be able to find all kinds of different hints and model train tips, from how to choose the right model train scale, to how to create realistic looking model train scenery. In this article I am going to bring some of the lesser known tips to your attention though. Now, in the introduction I mentioned model train scale and by typing those words into any search engine it's relatively simple to find tips as to how to determine model train scale and what the difference is between scale and model train gauges. However, do you know what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Track Tips Tagged With: model railroading, model railway building, model railway trains, model train gauges, model train scale, model train tips, realistic looking model train scenery, right on track, your dream railway

Summer is Over, Fall is Here; Back to Model Railroading

October 2, 2010 By Model Train Tips 1 Comment

I don’t know about you but my summer turned out to be far more hectic then I thought it would be. If you’ve been a visitor to Model Train Tips for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that my blogging here has fallen off over the summer. Summer is always a time to get outdoors and enjoy the weather, especially here in Minnesota where we get four to five months of winter. And, as I get older, I find that I appreciate good weather more than I used to. Although I didn’t get to play golf nearly as much as I would have liked to, I did get out a few times. Being busy this past … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: model railroading, model train tips, new website for the museum, Twin City Model Railroad Museum

Would You Find a User’s Forum at Model Train Tips Useful?

October 1, 2010 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

For some time now I’ve been thinking about adding a user’s forum here at Model-Train-Tips.com similar to the forum at N Scale Limited. By the way, if you haven’t been there already, N Scale Limited is a great website devoted to N scale model railroading. It’s a lot of work to set up a user’s forum, so I want to make sure it would be something the community that visits this site would find useful. You could use the forum to swap ideas, post messages to the community about problems you are having, look for deals or offer your stuff for sale to the community like Chuck Shutz did in a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, General Tagged With: chuck shutz, forum, model railroading, model train tips, n scale, n scale limited, users forum

How to Build a Model Railroad of Your Dreams Without Making Too Many Mistakes

September 23, 2010 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

By Robert R Anderson We all make mistakes when creating a model train layout, but the important thing is to learn from them, or avoid making mistakes in the first place. One of the most common mistakes is to choose the wrong scale when getting started in the hobby of model railroading. Talk with others in the hobby - we all have our preferences on scales (otherwise known as biased opinions). You will need to do plenty of research and measure how much space you have available. Many beginner railroaders start collecting one scale of model trains only to find that there are more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: model railroad layout, model railroad of your dreams, model railroading, model train help, model train layout, robert anderson

Model Train Tips Reader Feedback

September 16, 2010 By Model Train Tips 2 Comments

All Model Train Tips subscribers know that I ask them for their feedback shortly after they sign up for my free weekly newsletter, and I do read them all. I love hearing from folks. It occurred to me recently that I shouldn’t keep this feedback to myself. I should share some of this feedback with the whole audience; this is, after all, supposed to be a community of model railroad enthusiasts. Here is some of the feedback and comments I received during the fall of 2009. I’ll share more feedback in future postings. Daniel B. wrote in and shared his experience with model … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: model railroad enthusiast, model railroading, model train tips, o scale, reader feedback, tips on wiring

What Model Railroaders Get From The Hobby

November 21, 2009 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

If you ask model railway enthusiasts "what appeals about the hobby?" you'll get a variety of answers. For some model railway enthusiasts, it is a way of re-creating a fond childhood memory. Others simply enjoy building a world in miniature with all its detail and realism. Then there are those model railway enthusiasts who love solving the technical problems of building and operating an electronic control system. It doesn't seem to matter whether you’re 5 or 95 . . . or somewhere in between. The personal satisfaction of building and operating a realistic miniature railway layout … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: fun filled leisure activity, model railroaders, model railroading, model railway enthusiast, model train help ebook, robert anderson

Model Railroading 101

August 19, 2009 By Model Train Tips Leave a Comment

Here are some model railroad basics; things you should know before investing in model railroad trains. If you're planning on building a model railroad layout then this is the essential information you'll need before starting out. Pick a Railroad... Any Railroad Choosing a specific railroad to focus on can make the hobby much more more economical. Your railroad can be modern day like the Union Pacific, BNSF, or Canadian National. Or it can be a "fallen flag", a railroad that's been taken over by a larger company. Many modelers choose the railroad whose trains they watched passing by as a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, General Tagged With: bnsf, canadian national, model railroad basics, model railroad layout, model railroading, model railway, model trains, union pacific

Freight Yard Disaster

August 16, 2009 By Model Train Tips 1 Comment

I get a call Friday asking if I could come in Saturday to cover for another volunteer that can't make it in. Normally, I volunteer at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum on Tuesdays, but I didn't have any plans for Saturday so I said yes. Coming in on a Saturday would give me a chance to work with some folks I normally don't get to work with, so I figured it would be a good opportunity to learn something new. I did learn some new stuff but I also re-learned something I already knew; or so I thought. It was time to pull one of the freight trains off the main line into the Midland Yard and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Twin City Model Railroad Museum Tagged With: freight yard disaster, model railroad museum, model railroading, model railway, model trains