A Haunted House For Your Model Trains

October 14, 2012

John has very kindly contributed this article to help others in the hobby…

Halloween is almost here, and there’s no better time to add an old/haunted house to your train layout. What’s better, you can do so at little cost, and even use materials that can be found outside, such as broken-off tree branches, weeds, moss, etc.

I used an N-Scale Model Power built-up Haunted House shown in the photo. The house itself comes a bit off-kilter, making it perfect for this purpose, though the exterior is a cream color with green shutters and a black roof. To weather the bright colors I used some black paint cut with a small amount of water, and blackened the exterior of the house to simulate dirt, grime, and overall wear, making it look like it should be torn down and rebuilt. The fall colors are in season, and Woodland Scenics trees are great for this, as well as fallen branches.

You can add a lot of detail if you work in the larger scales like HO or O. Put in broken windows, leaves, doors off their hinges, and ghosts, bats, and various beasties that go bump in the night. But the main purpose is that a modeler can use any house for this if you “beat it up” and make it look misused and run-down.

By putting a haunted house on your layout, it’s certain that a slow-moving freight train will go a lot faster as it passes the house, not sure of who (or What) lives inside!

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