John kindly contributed this article for publication:

An old structure, a paper plate with water in it, a paint brush, and some black paint are all you need for this short and easy project. I used a very inexpensive N-Scale Imex Maintenance Shed (built-up), but you can use any structure that you don’t know what to do with. The shed comes in dark red with a dark gray roof, and all you have to do is dilute the black paint so that it slightly “puddles” on the structure where dirt and grime caused by years of use (as well as passing engines) would form on the walls and roof. Start with the roof and work down with the diluted black paint, and let it all dry when you’ve “weathered” it enough.

One thing about this structure – by itself, when the black paint dries, it looks bad enough to throw in the garbage and start on something else, or else put a coat of new paint on it instead of weathering. But put in on an old sidetrack on your layout, surround it with trees and weeds, and it looks fantastic! It’s really hard to beat a weathered structure, freight car, or locomotive!

Another way to inexpensively fill out a layout is to make your own signs using your computer and a printer. This gives you a choice of fonts, colors, and sizes. The paper to be used is heavyweight white sheets, available at office supply stores. Full-size (8-1/2 x 11″) paper with backing on it that gets peeled off is also ideal for signs on store-fronts, as it’s put on carefully and then pressed in so the adhesive on the back sticks to the structure. Remember to always work in your scale and don’t make the signs too big or so small that one has to use a magnifying glass to see what it says.

As with the Raccoon Lodge sign on the shed, I’m about 3/4 of the way making a small 2×3 in N-
Scale. The layout will be based on the old TV show The Honeymooners starring Jackie Gleason, who always had a lot to say. To make signs of his sayings that are not attached to buildings, I use wooden barbecue skewers to mount the sign in whatever height is needed. Seems to work pretty good, but not as good as the show itself, which will never be outdated!

Good Railroading!