The Model Train Help Ebook includes hundreds of quick tips and ideas for designing, building and maintaining a reliable and spectacular model railway layout. Here are 7 quick model railroad tips from the ebook:

1. Cleaning the wheels or electrical contacts with ‘wire wool’ is NOT recommended. The wire wool is made of steel so is attracted by the magnet and will cause damage. Strands of wire wool can also cause electrical shorts within a locomotive.

2. The same rule applies to cleaning the track. Never clean the track with wire wool as it will leave strands potentially causing a short across the track to trip the controller. The ebook explains several good options for track cleaning.

3. Ensure all loose track pins have been removed from the track before running trains. The magnets will attract the pins into the motors and cause damage.

4. Be careful when laying ‘loose’ ballast around point blades. This can cause problems if the ballast gets distributed in the wrong place.

5. When laying ‘loose’ ballast never run the trains until the glue has fully dried. Vacuum the track clean to ensure no loose ballast remains.

6. When wiring your layout to operate points, lights, power feeds, etc. always use different colour multi-stranded flexible wires. Plan first with a diagram and record the colors used for each function for future reference. This can prove invaluable when checking for faults later.

7. Avoid touching the running gear on the sides of a locomotive when using your fingers to pick a locomotive. Touching the running gear on the sides of the locomotive can damage the alignment of the running gear.

More helpful tips and ideas for designing, building and maintaining a model railroad layout are in the Model Train Help Ebook.