Everything on model trains, model railroads, model railways, locomotives, model train layouts, scenery, wiring, DCC and more. Enjoy the world's best hobby... model railroading!
Attaching Track Question For Readers
Here is another question for readers to get their teeth into. This question is from Peter who models in N scale.
“I’m reading your eBook on model railroading. Already I’ve picked up some good tips. Here’s my question.”
“I’m building a new railroad in N scale. Modeled after the Santa Fe. This time I’m using Kato unitrack. I read somewhere that you can attach the track to the table by using a dollop of white glue on each of the two “posts” on the bottom side of the track. Seems reasonable until you consider you have to apply the glue to every section of track at the same time. I’m wondering if there’s a better way. Such as drilling out the holes in these two posts and then using screws or tacks. Do you know anyone who has tackled this problem? How did they do it? Thanks.”
The Inside Look Into Model Train Passenger Cars
Many model train passenger cars that are being retailed don’t have interiors. As a result when you look inside them they look like a toy train.
One simple solution is to buy some commercial window tinting film from hobby, hardware or car accessory store. A small strip of the tinting film can be attached to the inside of the clear plastic that makes up the windows of most passenger cars. The tinting film can look like polarized glass which is very difficult to look through.
Making Paved Streets On A Model Railroad Layout
Here is a simple way to age paved streets on your model railroad layout: use a fine point pen to create cracks.
Simply drive around your neighborhood or areas similar to where your modeling and see how the pavements are aging.
Word of caution though, your model railroad layout needs to look authentic, so don’t go crack crazy.
Model Railroad Clubs In Connecticut
Here is a list of groups in Connecticut:
Connecticut Society of Ferroequinologists and Model Railway Engineers, Connecticut S Gaugers, Housatonic Model Railway Club, Mohegan – Pequot Model Railroad Club, New Haven & Derby Railroad Club, New Haven Society Of Model Engineers, Silk City Model Railroad Club, The Stamford Model Railroad Club, Torrington Area Model Railroaders, Valley HO Trak Model Railroad Club, Valley Ntrak of Connecticut.
For details on individual groups visit http://www.model-railroad-resources.com/modelrailroadclubs.html
HO Scale Model Railroad Layouts Explained
HO scale (pronounced “H-Oh”) is the biggest selling model railroad scale. For that reason there is generally a wider selection of HO scale model train sets and model railroading accessories available including locomotives and rolling stock.
The HO scale market is the biggest so the model train manufacturers cater well for the HO scale market.
HO scale is popular because most model railroading enthusiasts prefer a middle of the road scale size. Although HO scale is convenient for most people, it is difficult to run 50-car trains on even medium-sized HO scale model railroad layouts.
Enjoy your HO scale model railroading!
Modeling Adhesives Used For Model Railroad Scenery
When selecting adhesives to use in the creation of scenery for your model railroad there are many to choose from in hardware stores and hobby shops / craft shops. Most adhesives will do the job that is claimed, but they are not all suitable for the same job.
When building scenery try using an acrylic matte medium or white glue as both of these modeling adhesives are water soluble. However, a contact cement may be more suitable in some applications.
Quick Tip
If you are going to use white glue, you may want to dilute it with water using 2 parts glue to 1 part water, or a 1 to 1 ratio, depending on its application. Try adding a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent as this will help break up the surface tension of the water. Another thought is to add a small dab of latex paint to tint the glue and help hide any bare spots.
Early Model Train Manufacturers Start With Clockwork Locomotives
Before Lionel entered the scene, Ives Corp. dominated the toy train manufacturing in America. Founded in 1868, this toy firm developed a mechanical clockwork locomotive giving its trains the edge of self-propelled motion. Around 1900, Ives faced competition from European toy makers. Ives then produced colorful electric locomotives with the first automatic reversing units. Heightened competition from Lionel and American Flyer led to Ives declaring bankruptcy in 1928.
American Flyer Model Trains History
The American Flyer Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1907, and made windup and electric wide gauge (the competitor to Lionel’s Standard gauge) trains. The A. C. Gilbert Co. bought the firm in 1937 and offered O and HO trains. After World War II, Gilbert switched from O to S gauge. Lionel purchased the rights to produce American Flyer trains after Gilbert went out of business in 1966.
Major Rail Accident From Leaking Gas – 1989
This model train set blog looks at a variety of topics of interest to model railroaders and train enthusiasts.
As model railroaders we can get frustrated with derailments and accidents that happen with our model train sets. Sadly, train accidents on real-sized prototype train tracks are far more serious and cause tragedy and mayhem. In this series we look at some of the more serious train accidents from history.
June 4, 1989
Leaking gas from a liquefied gas pipeline engulfed two Trans-Siberian Railroad trains. The huge explosion happened in a crowded rail station outside the Central Asian city of Ufa in the former Soviet Union. It engulfed two passenger trains and killed 575 people.
When Not To Make Your Scenery Perfect.
We’ve all walked down city streets and observed the less than perfect side to real city life. So, why make a cityscape on your model railroad layout look like a scene from Fantasy Island.
When modeling an urban scene, never forget the garbage that could be present. What about adding an old newspaper, some garbage cans, cracks in the pavement, graffiti, an old rundown shack, perhaps piles of junk, a broken-down old car and scrape outside of major industry or railyard.
Although you don’t want to overdo it, a bit of imperfection will add to the reality of most city scenes. Look around you and come up with your own ideas.
A Trap For Beginners To Model Railroading
Before getting started in the actual building of a model railroad layout, the most important detail to consider is what scale you are going to model. This is critical because the scale will determine how big your model railroad layout will be. SCALE simply means the ratio of the model compared to the real life object (prototype).
As an example, 1:87 scale means that the model is 1/87 as large as the prototype, or the real life object. Therefore 1 inch on the scale model represents 87 inches on the prototype. Your model railroad layout will look much more realistic if you keep the components on your model in the same scale. Sounds simple enough, but a trap that beginners to the hobby often fall into.
National Model Railroad Association Worth Joining
The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is the largest US organization devoted to the development, promotion, and enjoyment of the hobby of model railroading.
The NMRA was founded in 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in order to provide a service to the hobby of model railroading.
Remove Trains With Drooping Couplers For Repair.
When traveling on grades, cars near the head end of heavy trains, are subjected to an incredible degree of pull. This can force one knuckle up and out of the other. When the opposite coupler goes down it can loosen until the actuating pin snags things between the rails. Remove any cars with drooping couplers until they are repaired.
US Railway History 1929-1940
The Great Depression exacts a heavy toll on the railroad industry, forcing substantial segments of the railroading industry into bankruptcy. Besides facing competition from one another, the railroads had new competition in the form of automobiles, trucks, and buses.
As the Great Depression settled over the United States after 1930, the railroads had already lost half of their passenger business. A similar decline in railroad freight traffic from which the rail lines realized most of their revenue made a bad situation even worse.
DC Supply To Model Train Sets
Electricity Supply To Model Train Sets: “How A Locomotive Moves Around A Model Train Set Layout”
DC electricity is directional, so the electricity flows along the wires in a certain direction, and the locomotive moves in the direction set by the directional switch on your controller (or left and right if your controller has a centre off type control knob).
Model Railroading – A Hobby Of Patience
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”George Bernard Shaw
You don’t have to be a millionaire, or a technical genius, or a brilliant artist to be part of the wonderful world of model railroading. The single most important skill you will require for “the world’s greatest hobby” is patience. If you have plenty of patience, then you will thrive in this fascinating environment of model railroading.
Learn how the complex model railroading tasks can be made easy, quick, cheap and painless. Also, get a list of valuable model train resources… and all the manufacturer contact information you need. Learn model railroad tricks of the trade revealed and have the technical model railroading jargon demystified. http://www.model-train-help.com
Stephenson’s Rocket Wins Trials – Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829
The Rocket was designed and built by George Stephenson of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1829. A common misconception is that the Rocket was the first steam locomotive. Truth is; the first steam locomotive to run on tracks was built by Richard Trevithick 25 years earlier, however it was not a financial success.
In 1829 Stephenson’s Rocket won a competition for locomotive power at the Rainhill Trials on the Manchester & Liverpool Railway. All the other competitors broke down so a true result is a bit hard to tell; however in winning Rocket did fulfill the key requirement of the contest that a full simulated 56 mile (90-km) round trip under load be completed with satisfactory fuel consumption.
However, the Rocket’s major claim to fame is that it was the first ‘modern’ locomotive, because it introduced several innovations that were used on almost every steam locomotive built since. George Stephenson had built steam locomotives before 1829. The Rocket was in some ways an evolution, not a revolution.
Rocket used a multi-tubular boiler. This resulted in more efficient and effective heat transfer between the exhaust gases and the water. Previous boilers consisted of a single pipe surrounded by water. The Rocket also used a blastpipe for the first time. This used the blast of exhaust steam to induce a partial vacuum to pull air through the fire.
Stephenson’s Rocket was capable of hauling a coach filled with passengers at 24 mph (39 km/hr). It pulled a load of three times its own weight at the rate of 12.5 mph (20 km/hr). The Rocket could haul 12.75 tons at 14 mph. It set a world speed record of 35 mph.
The Rocket still exists and can be seen in the Science Museum, London. There is also a replica in the National Rail Collection at York.
US Railway History – 1917
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I, and very soon the nation’s railroads proved inadequate to the task of supplying the nation’s war effort. The federal government seizes control of the railroads for the duration of World War I.
The backdrop to this is that the railroads were experiencing one of the most difficult financial periods in their history; costs (especially wages) were rising, taxes had been raised, yet the rates the railroads could charge were defined by law and remained static.
By the time the railroads were returned to private ownership in 1920, they are in seriously run-down condition and in need of substantial maintenance and improvement.
The United States Railroad Administration was the name given to the nationalised US railroad system between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalisation, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
