q8i9o7o9ws1 magzus.org by Thomas Swift

SPECIAL ISSUE

PROJECTS • TECHNIQUES • LAYOUTS • VIDEO

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE 2022

SPECIAL 2022

BE INSPIRED, LEARN, & HAVE MORE FUN! 17 ALL-NEW stories to improve EVERYTHING WITH FREE VIDEO!

LEVEL UP by adding a helix p.18

TOUR Hans Schlegel’s North Country masterpiece p.42

BOOST YOUR SKILLS:

Plan a small town scene p.64 Expert bridge building tips p.6 How the pros dispatch diesels p.52

NEW tech, tools, and handy techniques

How to capture great photos of your layout p.12

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE 2022

North country iron

Hans Schlegel’s ore-hauling HO scale masterpiece.

Features Make a lake!

Create a believable water feature

Shoot next level images

Keys to better photography

A turn for the better

Build a helix, step by step

Story-telling details

Make scenes that fascinate visitors

New geep for the MR&T 26 How to paint and decal in N scale

Easy weathering

Take models from good to great

&VEWW IRKMRI ǂ \ YT

Taking the mystery out of brass

Add a metal foundry

An industry you can model

Visit an iron ore hauler

An inspiring 23 x 27-foot HO layout

You’re the power desk

Operating tips from the prototype

Add a paved roadway

Convincing concrete quickly

Modeling a small town

Operating possibilities abound

Good paper cuts

Get started with paper structures

Riding Amtrak at 50

Roam the nation, station to station

Reliable running on DCC 79 Installing ESU’s PowerPack

Departments Editorial and Authors

Tool Tips: Gerry Leone

Behind the scenes

On the cover Lee Marsh captured this scene on his HO Great Northern layout. In his article on page 12, Lee shares his secrets for better layout photography.

Print, video combo!

Authors’ MR inspirations David Popp

Welcome to the fourth installment of Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide, which showcases the latest techniques to inform and improve your modeling. Even better, we’ve combined complete step-by-step instructions in print with video presentations by our team of expert modelers. That’s right – all the key articles in this publication have related online video extras that you can freely access! This special issue features 17 all-new stories, ranging from layout planning to useful projects, to inspiring model railroads. Here are a few examples you’ll find in this issue: • Steve Brown details his approach to making convincing concrete roadways quickly and easily. • Gerry Leone, who says there’s nothing like a realistic water scene to wow visitors, shows how he built the lake and railroad bridge at the heart of his latest Bona Vista HO scale layout. • Cody Grivno strips, paints, decals, and weathers an N scale locomotive. Need a custom painted engine for your fleet? This is how it’s done! • Dave Abeles takes a page from the prototype to ensure his motive power is where it’s needed when it’s needed during operating sessions. And that’s just scratching the surface. There’s plenty of essential information and modeling inspiration awaiting you on the following pages. Don’t forget to enjoy the free videos at trains.com/TUG22. Get ready to read, watch, and learn from some of the hobby’s finest builders! – Carl Swanson

January 1969 – Gorre & Daphetid “It featured a trip over John Allen’s HO layout and made me realize trains could do more than just run in circles – they could go places!”

Carl Swanson November 1978 – Clinchfield Layout “MR’s groundbreaking Clinchfield project railroad opened my eyes to the possibilities of modeling in N scale.”

Kent Johnson July 1987 – Utah Belt “Eric Brooman’s novel efforts to keep his locomotive roster on pace with modern railroading spoke to me and a generation of younger modelers. ”

T HOIP! ck T rough bmae to

r g th m ti TDi es fro ook fo l u . iss e to ion tim spirat in

Donald Knapik

The Editorial Team

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Editor Senior Editor Group Technical Editor Senior Associate Editor Production Editor Assistant Digital Editor

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A. David Popp Kent Johnson Ben Lake, Diane Martin Vince Clore Jenny Freeland Gerry Leone Steve Brown

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September 1999 – 25 years on the CM&SF “David Barrow’s article on layout construction using 2 x 4-foot dominos gave me the inspiration for my current project.”

Kalmbach Media Co. Chief Executive Officer Dan Hickey Chief Financial Officer Christine Metcalf Senior VP, Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire VP, Content/Editorial Director Stephen C. George VP, Operations Brian J. Schmidt VP, Human Resources Sarah A. Horner Circulation Director Liz Runyon Director of Digital Strategy Angela Cotey Director of Design & Production Michael Soliday Retention Manager Kathy Steele Single Copy Specialist Kim Redmond Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide (ISBN 9781627009188, EISBN 9781627009195) is produced and published by Kalmbach Media Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Single copy price: $9.99 U.S., $10.99 Canadian, payable in U.S. funds. (Canadian price includes GST.) BN 12271 3209 RT. Expedited delivery available for additional $2.50 domestic and Canadian, $6 foreign. ©2022, Kalmbach Media Co. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.

Hans Schlegel November 1988 – O’Dell County cover “Even though I never built it, the O’Dell County Traction layout inspired me to get back into the hobby.”

Gerry Leone

Rene Schweitzer

March 2013 issue – the “All Leone” issue “With my first cover photo and 13 pages of Leone articles inside, I consider this issue the pinnacle of my modeling career. ”

April 2017 – 1,000th issue “Reaching 1,000 issues was quite an accomplishment, and I fondly remember the fun we had laying all the issues on the floor and filming it. ”

☛

Cody Grivno December 1994 – Dearborn Station cover “This issue featured the HO scale Soo Line Red Wing Division – my all-time favorite MR project railroad.”

Eric White January 1984 – the 50th Anniversary issue “It’s a huge issue – and was fun to later read the predictions about what the future of the hobby would bring. ”

Jenny Freeland June 2016 – “Big on Scenery” cover “Trackside Photos in this issue included shots of all the finished T-trak modules from the staff’s project – it was fun!”

Dave Abeles August 1989 – David Barrow cover “With wide-eyed excitement, this 12-year-old kid was amazed at photos of modern diesels on the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe – I still have my copy!”

Steven Otte January 1998 – Allen McClelland’s Virginian & Ohio expands “When I saw this cover image, I realized model railroading could be art, not just a hobby.”

Archive access! Members of Trains.com can read every issue of Model Railroader. Sign up for it today!

7IXL 4Yǀ IV

Steve Sweeney

April 1986 – Franklin & South Manchester “This was the first issue that featured George Sellios’ F&SM layout, and it showed me what could be done with ‘imagination’ in model railroading.”

January 1989 – the three generations cover ”This is the first issue I can remember reading – most likely came from a stack of MR’s my uncle gave me.”

Lee Marsh

September 1954 – O scale RS-3 cover “I suddenly became aware of the infinite possibilities of scale model railroading compared to my O-27 train set models, and the large community that supported it.”

January 1994 – 60th Anniversary “Featuring 7 layouts, this issue arrived just as my wife and I were searching for a new house – the two events inspired my GN Cascade Division layout.”

Tony Koester

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Learn the steps to make a believable water feature on your layout

There’s almost no scenery you can add to a model railroad that’s as eye-catching as a lake or river. While building one involves numerous steps, it’s work that produces a great visual payback and truly enhances any layout.

By Gerry Leone

Of all the types of scenery on a model railroad, a lake or river is always a guaranteed show-stopper. Visitors may expect grass, trees, ﬁelds, even mountains. But a body of water? That’s always a surprise. So when it was time to add the ﬁrst scenery to my new Bona Vista RR, I started with what will probably be the most dramatic scene on the layout.

Building a river – or in my case, a lake – takes time and effort, and combines a multitude of material types, but in the end, the visual payback is

worth it. Follow along as I turn an empty space into a lazy place where any railfan would love to relax in the sun on a warm summer’s day.

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1 I chose a corner of the layout for the lake, bent a piece of

new flextrack to match the curve of the existing track, and cut out the plywood subroadbed based on the length of the bridge that would fill the gap. I made sure the benchwork where the lake bed would be was perfectly level.

2 I glued four Micro Engineering plate girder bridges together to match the curve of the flextrack I’d removed from the corner, then built individual plates from styrene pieces to fill the gaps, adding Micro-Mark raised rivet decals. The plates are different sizes because the track has an easement. I later replaced the flextrack with Micro Engineering bridge track.

3 As a precaution against leaks when pouring the resin

water, I lined the bottom of the future lake with Woodland Scenics Shaper Sheets. I used spray adhesive on the foil side and a wallpaper roller to ensure the sheets adhered to the plywood base.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

4 I cut three Walthers single-track concrete bridge piers and

5 To make the piers and abutments more visually interest-

two concrete abutments to the right height. Using a paper template of the lake bottom as a guide, I cut 1" extruded foam for the banks. I used my no-mess jigsaw blade from Episode 27 of my “Off the Rails” series on Trains.com to cut the foam.

ing, I scribed lines with a modeling knife. These look like the lines that would have been left by the wooden forms when the concrete was poured.

6 I used a Woodland Scenics hot wire foam cutter to create

7 I mounted the piers to the lake bed with construction

the banks on both sides of the lake, then glued the pieces together with foam-safe construction adhesive. I then sealed the lake edges with silicone caulk.

adhesive. To create a slightly uneven surface for the bottom of the lake, I poured a thin layer of Hydrocal and used a gloved hand to create contours and smooth it out. I was careful to avoid getting the plaster on the piers.

8 After the Hydrocal had set, I used Sculptamold to create a

9 After painting the Sculptamold with brown latex paint,

smooth hillside on both sides of the lake. To help ensure the Sculptamold would stick to the extruded foam, I mixed it with water and a small amount of white glue.

I airbrushed the lake bed with three shades of brown, using a lighter shade to represent shallow areas and a darker shade for deep areas. I’d wrapped the piers and abutments with Glad Press’n Seal plastic wrap to protect them from the paint.

10 I used a tea strainer to spread some fine sand along the

11 I added a bare Timberline Scenery evergreen armature,

shoreline. Gently tapping the tea strainer produces a very even layer of any fine material.

painted gray, to look like a fallen tree. I also added small pieces of assorted debris to the shallow areas. I secured the material to the lake bed with diluted white glue.

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12 I added a small fishing dock off the shore. I used a pin vise

13 One detail often overlooked in modeling water scenes is

to drill holes in the plaster for the supports, which are stained toothpicks. I glued them in place before pouring the epoxy water. I built the dock from stained scale 2 x 6 basswood planks and will add it after all the “sloppy” work is finished.

the algae that collects along piers and rocks. I used fullstrength white glue on the piers to attach Woodland Scenics fine turf in random clumps, using my thumb.

14 I added rocks, twigs, and debris to the lake bed and used

15 For water modeling, I chose Magic Water, a two-part

Woodland Scenics fine turf to add algae to the piers. I mounted supports for a fishing dock (I’ll add later) to the lake bed, and nailed a styrene dam to the fascia, using silicone caulk to seal the gap between the styrene and lake bed.

epoxy resin by Unreal Details. The instructions state to combine one part from Bottle A and two parts from Bottle B, and stress mixing it for at least five minutes to be sure the resin cures properly.

16 With everything secured in place, I poured the Magic

17 While the Magic Water cured, I fabricated some fish from

Water into the lake bed. It took about 18 ounces to cover the lake to a depth of 1 ⁄4". Because I was going to add “midwater” details, I’d be making another pour after this cured.

.050" diameter solder. I created a rear fin by flattening the solder with a pair of small needlenose pliers. I pinched the edge of the solder just ahead of the fin to create a dorsal fin, and cut off the “fish” with a modeling knife.

18 Here’s a finished, unpainted fish. While it’s pretty crude,

19 Here’s my school of lake fish. I painted them Vallejo

bear in mind, the fish is about ⁄ " long, and once it’s painted and mounted beneath the waves of the lake, it will look more realistic.

Intermediate Green, and when that dried, set them in a shallow puddle of Vallejo White. They look pretty crude now, but the waves and another layer of resin will obscure that.

1 8

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

21 I added a

20 I glued a fishing boat from J.L. Innovative Design on top

few more fish on top of the first pour of Magic Water to the dock area, where there’ll be a luckier fisherman.

of the first pour. Because the propeller extended beyond the bottom of the boat, I drilled a small hole to accommodate it. I glued a fish next to one side the boat. A sleeping fisherman, to be added later, will be fishing off the opposite side.

22 Once all the “mid-water” details were in place, I did a sec-

23 I wanted the lake to have gentle waves, so I experimented

ond pour of Magic Water. This pour covered the fish and made the boat appear to be in the water, rather than on top of it.

with Liquitex Gloss Gel on a piece of glass. The gel is thick, yet dries crystal clear. To prevent waves with peaks, I tried mixing the gel with water, spraying it with isopropyl alcohol, and other techniques. I settled on applying it straight from the jar.

24 I applied the gloss gel in two light coats, using a foam

25 To tone down the peaks in the gel and create gentler

brush. The gel has a tendency to create peaks because it’s very thick.

waves, I used a fan brush to pat down the gel after it had dried for about 30 minutes.

26 I let the Magic Water cure for several days, then removed

27 To add a backdrop to the lake, I made a paper template

the styrene dam from the fascia. It took surprisingly little effort.

that outlined all the curves of the scenery. I then created a backdrop using my photos and some from the internet. I had them printed on 11" x 17" paper at an office supply store.

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28 I used the template to cut the backdrop to size, cut off the

29 Many lakes have tall reeds along the shore. I created these

printed sky, applied spray adhesive to the back, and mounted it on my hardboard backdrop. To hide the seam between the backdrop and lake, I airbrushed the brown lake bed color on to the backdrop and the water surface next to the backdrop.

using a mixture of Woodland Scenics light green, medium green, and gold field grass, which I cut into shorter pieces. I applied them on top of the water with a thin coat of Liquitex Gloss Medium.

30 Cattails are a detail found in any wetland area. I made

31 Lily pads are another feature of most lakes. I made my

several dozen in only a few minutes and glued them in among the reeds.

own using techniques I outlined in my March 2001 Model Railroader article, “Lily pads, cattails, and pond scum.” I secured them to the lake with gloss medium.

32 To weather the piers, I used a very thin wash of Vallejo

33 To scenic the shoreline, I started with a layer of real,

Black Gray and water. Notice how the scribed lines in the concrete pick up the black wash. I followed this with rust streaks, created by the bridge and rails and simulated with PanPastel chalks, on the faces of the piers.

powder-fine dirt I got from my backyard. “Off the Rails” Episode 3 outlines my technique for making it. Once again I used the tea strainer to deposit an even layer of dirt onto the white glue, which was diluted 1:1 with water.

34 I applied static grass in two passes. First came 6mm “summer

35 I applied gold 12mm static grass over the top, which stuck

mix” grass in a thin coat of white glue. With the glue almost dry, I vacuumed the excess grass, wet the area with alcohol for electrical continuity, then dabbed more glue on the grass.

to the drops of glue. The last steps were to add ground foam in a mix of greens, and assorted trees. After installing the bridge, the lake was opened to the railroad and the public!

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Shoot images

Focus stacking and a realistic viewpoint can help improve your model railroad photography By Lee Marsh

Once your layout has reached a point where it looks like a model of a railroad instead of track nailed to a piece of wood, if you’re like me, you start thinking about taking photos of your work. This happened to me about the time I painted my hardshell terrain and added colorful ground cover. I struggled to produce quality photos. When we view settings in the real world, our eyes automatically focus on whatever subject

we are observing, be it far or near. The muscles in our eyes control the shape of the lens rendering a

subject in focus. This happens imperceptibly quickly as we shift our view from far to near or vice versa.

Consequently, we perceive the world as in-focus with “inﬁnite” depth of ﬁeld, which is the area of a

photo that is in focus. Of course, some of us need corrective lenses to achieve this, but with proper

correction we see the world in focus. How we achieve this same full depth of ﬁeld in photos of our models is the objective.

My journey I quickly learned that producing realistic-looking photos

with a digital pointand-shoot camera was impossible. The depth of ﬁeld was so narrow that the photo screamed “this is a model.” I knew that I needed a high f-stop with a small aperture (lens opening) and a

lot of additional light and/or long exposure times to produce a decent photograph. I tried adding light and even purchased a photographic light ﬁxture to help, but to no avail. In my quest to produce a quality photo, I purchased

a mid-range Nikon P500 Coolpix camera, which allowed full manual control, in 2011. That camera and my “big light” produced better photos, but not of the quality I wanted. In 2012, I discovered the answer to

An eastbound freight, led by Great Northern class R-2 no. 2047, pounds across a trestle. Lee Marsh used Helicon Focus to make the image sharp and in focus from front to back. Photos by the author

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

1 These three photos show the same scene focused near (left), intermediate (center), and far (right). A series of up to 20

images, each shot at a different focal depth but otherwise identical, is needed by focus-stacking software like Helicon Focus.

2 The result of focus-stacking the three images shown above, plus

others, is this photo that’s sharp from front to back.

producing photos with great depth of field, the focus-stacking program Helicon Focus. That software, coupled with a fully manual camera, led to amazing results. One of the first photos that I produced with that software was featured in the July 2013 Trackside Photos. I finally discovered a great tool and system to produce the quality photos that I’d been seeking. So how does this system work? Focus stacking works by merging the in-focus portions of a group of photos that are identical except for their focal depth into a single image. I use Helicon Focus

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Lite, but other programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, now offer focus stacking. There are several must-haves that compose the system. A camera must be capable of operation in fully manual mode. It also must produce digital images. A tripod or other means of holding the camera absolutely steady is required. What you don’t need is a lot of specialty lighting; typical room lighting is sufﬁcient.

How to use the process With the camera on a tripod or otherwise stabilized, compose a photograph of

your model. Set the f-stop and exposure time in a combination to produce a properly exposed photo with your room lighting. The camera doesn’t have to be set to a high f-stop, because depth of field will be handled by the software. If there are unrealistically dark areas due to your room lighting, fill lighting can be used. Be careful to use the same color temperature bulbs for fill lighting as your main lighting. Take a series of photos changing only the focal length; the aperture and exposure time should stay constant. If you have

very near-field detail If your camera you want to be in supports it, save each focus, you may need photo in a file format to shoot in the camthat the file-stacking era’s macro mode. program can read I often take 10 to 20 directly, such as Phophotos, ranging from toshop (.PSD). This the very near to the minimizes the loss farthest object in of crispness in each the photo. This series photo during subseof photos must have quent manipulation overlapping regions of the image. of sharp focus. If you Once you’ve don’t achieve this completed the photo overlap, you’ll see process, connect your bands of soft-focus camera or its memory (out-of-focus) areas in card to the computer your final photo. and copy the photos The input for the to a file folder on the photo-stacking prohard drive. Open cess is best accomthe focus-stacking plished with a camera software, select the that can be focused photos, and run the digitally (i.e. with its program. Note that buttons) rather than some photos at the physically extreme nearturning field and farthe focus field may TIP igh S ’ h ring on not have LEE need a -stackt s ’ s u the lens. any areas don foc ndle You p. The are ha eld You risk in focus, o fi f-st softw th of ing e dep you! moving and those th for the camera photos during the don’t need manual-focus to be included process. Examples in the ones used by from a series of phothe program. tos taken as input Once an assembled to focus-stacking photo is completed software are shown in and saved, it can 1 . The images have be adjusted with a graphic-editing profocal points at near-, gram, like Photoshop. intermediate-, farThere lighting levels field locations. Notice and white balance how the caboose in (color temperature) the foreground goes can be adjusted by from sharp to blurry small amounts, and in the progression embellishments such of images.

3 Getting the camera close to track level, similar to the viewpoint a scale-sized person standing on the railroad would see, is

a simple way to improve the realism of your photos.

as steam or exhaust can be added. Be sure to save work in a common format such as .TIFF and chose the highest resolution or file quality available. Most photos I’ve sent to Model Railroader are 5Mb or larger. You can use .JPG format, but this compression algorithm can result in graininess or detail loss. An example of a fully assembled photo using photo-stacking is shown in 2 , opposite. Notice the track and switch stand in the foreground are in crisp focus, as are the cupola numbers on X356 in the intermediate field and the trees on the ridge in far field of the photo. This clarity and duplication of what the human eye sees aren’t possible without the focus-stacking system. This is a real game changer for layout photography.

Modeling prototype photos When composing a photo, I like to use a view that is plausible for a person standing and taking a photo trackside. This means getting low to the track level, which is a challenge with some layouts. I’ve gotten around this by including drop-down hatches on my layout, allowing me to not only get close to a scene, but also position the camera at a low angle relative to the model. This technique is seen in 3 , in which I’ve temporarily attached a piece of plywood to the benchwork to support the camera. A tripod can be used, but can be unwieldy to work with through a hatch. The cover photo on the June 2018 Model Railroader issue is an example of this technique. I like to

4 Great Northern’s Fast Mail, featured on the cover of the Fall 2006

Classic Trains, shows the drama that a low angle can create. Getting the camera close to track level is vital to capture this kind of photo on a model railroad. Frank McKinlay photo, photo illustration work by Thomas G. Danneman

be able to look below the train and see the wheels on the other side of the model. This is a good indication that you’re low enough. It’s instructive to peruse Model Railroader’s sister magazines, Trains and Classic Trains, to see how the prototype is photographed. Many

examples of realistic photo angles and great depth of ﬁeld abound in these publications. One of my favorite shots is Frank McKinlay’s photo on the cover of the Fall 2006 Classic Trains, a head-on shot of Great Northern’s Fast Mail at speed, coming toward the photographer 4 .

The most important result of using focus-stacking software is that now taking photos of trains extending roughly in line with view of the camera, the so-called “three-quarters view” along a train, is possible, and the results can be stunning. If we critically examine

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

5 To stabilize his camera at track level, Lee attaches a base of Plexiglas to its bottom. He places the

base on circles of thin rubber cut from jar-opening grippers to keep it from sliding around.

6 This adjustable, tripod-mounted arm is made

for mounting cameras or photographic lights. Its multi-angle positionable arms let Lee cantilever the camera over the layout in places that don’t have a flat area on which to set his Plexiglas camera base.

McKinlay’s Fast Mail photo, with its prototypical mail train strung out away from the camera, we see the ties and rail in the immediate nearcamera view are in sharp focus, and as we look toward the end of the train, we

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can still count the doors on the mail cars. Off in the far distance, individual trees can be seen on the skyline. Getting photos of trains headed toward or away from the photographer, as if the photographer

is standing next to the rails, requires a different approach. For this shot, I attach a piece of Plexiglas to my camera base 5 . I also place two pieces of thin rubber cut from a jar-opening mat on the rails. The rubber under the Plexiglas makes it easy to stabilize the camera. Of course, the distance from the center of the lens to the top of the rail may scale to be a bit higher than the roughly 6-foot height of a person taking a photo of a prototype train. However, the effect is close enough, and compelling, realistic photos are possible using this technique. Access over the top of a layout is challenging, so another tool I use to get good photo angles is a photo light

stand with an adjustable arm to support the camera. This device can cantilever the camera over the layout, 6 , where the camera is positioned to look over the scenery from an access aisle. This setup deﬁnitely requires use of the camera’s timer, because it takes a few seconds for vibrations to settle out after the shutter button is pushed.

More details and tips I’ve also had success in reproducing photos that include extreme near-focus clarity, such as the locomotive servicing terminal on my layout 7 . Compare that photo to the 1959 Norfolk & Western image by Bruce R. Meyer featured as a Photo of the Day on the

Classic Trains website 8 . The prototype photo shows the Grundy, Va., engine terminal, taken from the top of a tender looking over the top of the locomotive. To re-create this photo, I removed the locomotive tender and positioned the camera on rubber mats and a block of wood to look right over the cab roof. This photograph wouldn’t have been possible without focusstacking software. One artifact of focus stacking is an oddity of optics that cannot be fully eliminated. This oddity can be seen in the assembled caboose row photo 2 . Notice the out-of-focus “halo” around the handrail along the top of the cupola of the caboose closest to the camera. This is an artifact of optics that occurs as the focal length is changed during the taking of photos; the apparent size of an object close to the camera changes. There’s no way, as far as I know, to eliminate this effect, but fortunately it’s usually not that noticeable. Regarding the camera, you don’t need a high-cost sophisticated camera, but you must have one that can be operated manually. Not all cameras on the market today comply with this requirement.

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7 Lee reproduced the viewpoint of Bruce Meyer’s Norfolk & Western engine terminal photo (below) by removing a steam

locomotive model’s tender and positioning his camera’s lens just behind the cab.

Many have automated focus and exposure features that make taking snapshots simple. These features are a challenge for this process, although I’m aware that some modelers are making automatic cameras work. To ﬁnd a camera that will work for you, contact a camera specialty store and explain what you’re trying to do. Staff should be able to assist you in assessing whether a particular camera will work. As a word of caution, the modeled world you see in focus-stacked photos can be unforgiving. I’ve noticed dust specks, spiderwebs, and even hair in

photos that I’ve taken. I highly suggest you dust off your models, look for those pesky webs, and scour the ﬁeld of view of the photo for errant items like hair. However, if you miss some of these annoying things, you can often “correct” it with a program like Photoshop by using the “cloning” tools. That skill takes a bit of trial-and-error, but its discussion is beyond the scope of this article.

Expanded aspects of the hobby With focusstacking software, you can capture superb detail in your photos. After discov-

8 Norfolk & Western’s Grundy, Va., engine terminal is seen in a view

photographed from a steam locomotive’s tender over the cab roof. This was a Photo of the Day on Classic Trains’ website. Bruce R. Meyer photo

ering this technique, I’ve spent much more time creating photos of my layout. This has opened up a whole other world for my

modeling. It’s a lot of fun and it makes me look at my layout in an entirely new way. With this technique, you can imagine

yourself actually walking around on your layout taking snapshots! Give it try; you won’t be disappointed.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

There are only so many ways to get trains from one level of a multi-deck layout to another. Gerry Leone decided on a helix for the latest iteration of his HO scale Bona Vista RR. Read on to find out how he designed and built it.

A turn for the better: Precise measurement, alignment are vital By Gerry Leone

Anyone building a multi-deck layout has a choice to make: build a helix, or build a nolix. (A nolix is a layout in which the lower deck rises until it’s high enough to become the upper deck. In other words, the layout is on a constant grade.) Sure, there are more exotic solutions like train elevators, but the helix/nolix solutions are the most popular. When I built my previous Bona Vista (BV) model railroad, I chose a nolix, but discovered that the length of the mainline and

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the distance between decks dictate the grade. In my case, that was 1.5 percent, and I found it to be next to impossible to switch cars at

industries without them – or the rest of the train – running away down the grade. So when I built my current double-decked Bona

Vista layout, I chose a helix. Having never built one before, I did a lot of research and discovered that the best tool for mathematicallychallenged people like me to use was computer-aided design (CAD) track planning software. I chose 3rd PlanIt from Eldorado Software (eldoradosoft.com). The program does all the tough math and will easily let you look at a whole range of helix choices.

Spare the rod While there are many ways to build a helix, one method that seems popular is to use threaded rods with nuts holding up each turn. I considered this method but came to the conclusion that it would be more work than it was worth. If the first turn of the helix is carefully laid on its ascending risers, then uniform spacer blocks between the subsequent turns would assure a constant grade through the helix. Although rods and nuts allow for easy adjustment of each turn, once the turns are at their proper height, you’d never need to adjust them. While threaded rods may be the ideal solution for some, it just seemed like a lot of extra work and bother for me. – Gerry Leone

Whether you’re a computer geek or just computer meek, learning the basics of CAD software is easy. See for yourself! Search the “how-to” library on Trains.com for the three-part series I did called “Track Planning Made Easy – Computer-Aided Design.”

TABLING THE DECISION There are four parameters you need to determine before building a helix: the curve radius, the

1 Precise spacing. Subtracting the thickness of

his plywood subroadbed from his helix’s desired railhead-to-railhead spacing yielded a spacer size of 211 ⁄16". Precise measurement and cutting is important for a level and uniform helix.

steepest grade you can live with, the vertical railhead-torailhead distance between the turns, and the number of turns (the more turns, the longer the train’s out of sight). I had 3rd PlanIt show me a range of options for those parameters. In under an hour I calculated several dozen helices using different parameters. (See Table 1 on page 21.) Because I wanted to tuck a lower deck return loop under the helix to save real estate in the train room, I knew my lower deck would have to rise to at least 3" above base elevation. I also knew that I wanted no greater than a 1.5 percent grade in the helix. I also decided on a 34" radius for the helix, since that seemed the best ﬁt in my train room. The table shows the choices available to me for various combinations of lower and upper deck elevations and number of

2 Proof of concept. Gerry built a mock-up

section of helix using his spacers and subroadbed material to confirm the clearance would work.

3 Marking a template. Using a yardstick as a trammel, Gerry marked

out curves for the track centerline and subroadbed edges on a sheet of tempered hardboard to make a cutting template for the plywood subroadbed.

4 Square deal. Gerry used a T-square to ensure that his subroadbed

template would be a perfect quarter-circle.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

6 Cutting plan. 3rd

5 Right down the line. A row of holes drilled every 2 inches apart down the center of the tem-

plate let Gerry mark the track centerline on his plywood pieces.

7 Line ’em up. To make sure his quarter-circles went together correctly,

Gerry employed his trammel again to check the centerlines all the way around.

turns in the helix. Each yields different results in the helix grade and the railhead-to-railhead separation between turns. Remember, these ﬁgures are for my parameters, including mainline length, so don’t take them as set in stone for all helices. My one “given” was an 18" separation between the decks. The ﬁrst column shows

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the different elevations of my lower deck main line. The second column reﬂects the grade elevation. The third column shows the corresponding elevation of my upper deck mainline, and the fourth column shows its grade. (Even though both decks rise by the same amount, the grades differ because the lengths of the main lines are different.)

Now here’s where it gets interesting. Given those parameters, what would various helices look like? The ﬁfth column shows the elevations of the helix’s lowest turn and highest turn, based on the elevation of the lower deck and my desire for an 18" separation between decks. A three-turn helix would have the grades for each iteration

PlanIt software helped Gerry figure how to get the most plywood quarter-circles from a single sheet of plywood.

8 Laser-straight. To make sure the curve that

would form the base of his helix was level, Gerry marked a piece of tape on a boxcar and checked it with a laser level as it went around the track.

shown in column 7, and a railhead-torailhead separation shown in column 8. The iterations for a four-turn helix would have the parameters shown in columns 10 and 11. And a ﬁveturn helix would have the parameters shown in columns 13 and 14. The decision was, to me, obvious. Wanting no more than a 1.5 percent grade in

the helix, 18" separation between the decks, and adequate railhead-to-railhead space, I’d build a layout where the lower deck rises 5" and a 34" radius helix with four turns. (This option is highlighted in yellow.) I decided to use spacer blocks rather than threaded rods to support the helix (see “Spare the rod” on page 19). So how tall are the spacers?

Subtracting the thickness of the 1 ⁄2" plywood I’d use for the helix (actual thickness 0.46"), this resulted in an “open space” between the turns of 2.696”, or 211 ⁄16" ( 1 on page 19) – enough to give my HO scale trains about 1 ⁄2" clearance if I didn’t use any roadbed. To ensure 3rd PlanIt (or I) hadn’t made an error, I created a cross-section mock-up out of scrap lumber 2 . It showed me the ﬁgures were correct. As a side note, when you’re designing a layout that includes a helix, be mindful of where the train enters and exits the helix. You don’t want operators having to run around the whole layout to pick up their train when it exits.

MAKING IT SO My ﬁrst step was to create a tracing template using hardboard. I made a trammel out of a yardstick and marked the 34" radius centerline, then drew the template edges at 37" and 31", giving me a 6" wide subroadbed 3 . As you’ll see, I used this extra space alongside the track for the helix turn’s risers.

To be sure I had perfect quartercircles, I used the hardboard’s edge to line up a T-square with the trammel’s pivot point, drew the line, and cut out the template with a jigsaw 4 . (A framing square would work just as well.) I drilled holes at 2" intervals down the 34" radius line ( 5 on the previous page) and used them to mark the centerline on the plywood quarter-circles I’d make from the template. This made it easy to line up the quarter-circles and was a perfect guide for tracklaying. I drew a minicutting template in 3rd PlanIt that I used to ﬁgure out the most efﬁcient arrangement of the quarter-circles on one 4 x 8-foot sheet of plywood 6 . I was able to get eight quarter-circles, or two full helix turns, on one sheet. To ensure that I assembled the quartercircles into perfect full circles, I got out my trammel again. I used a nail mounted in a weight as a pivot point for the trammel 7 and checked the 34" centerline all the way around, using the dots I’d made.

9 Adding risers. It took some complicated figuring to get the height of

the risers to support the first turn of the helix. Gerry used glue and a nail gun to attach them.

10 On the level. Gerry laid track as he went around the circle adding

new segments to the helix. He checked continually with a level and shimmed where needed to keep it straight.

Table 1 Helix turns and grade options Lower Deck Elev.

Grade

Upper Deck Elev.

Grade

Helix Turns Elev.

Helix Grade

0-9" 0-8" 0-7" 0-6" 0-5" 0-4" 0-3" 0-2" 0-1" 0-0”

1.001% 0.890% 0.779% 0.668% 0.556% 0.445% 0.334% 0.223% 0.111% 0%

18-27" 18-26" 18-25" 18-24" 18-23" 18-22" 18-21" 18-20" 18-19" 18-18”

0.918% 0.816% 0.714% 0.612% 0.510% 0.410% 0.307% 0.205% 0.102% 0%

9-18" 8-18" 7-18" 6-18" 5-18" 4-18" 3-18"

1.350% 1.501% 1.651% 1.801% 1.951%

3 3 3 3 3

R-to-R Turns Helix R-to-R Turns Distance Grade Distance 2 7⁄8" 3 7⁄32" 3 17⁄32" 3 27⁄32" 4 5⁄32 "

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

1.023% 1.136% 1.250% 1.364% 1.477% 1.591% 1.704%

2 3⁄16" 2 7⁄16" 2 21⁄32" 2 29⁄32" 3 5⁄32" 3 13⁄32" 3 21⁄32"

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Helix Grade

R-to-R Distance

0.823% 0.914% 1.006% 1.097% 1.189% 1.280% 1.372% 1.463% 1.554% 1.646

1 3⁄4" 1 31⁄32" 2 5⁄32" 2 11⁄32" 2 17⁄32" 2 3⁄4" 2 15⁄16" 3 1⁄8" 3 5⁄16" 3 17/32”

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

11 Check as you go. With each new turn of the helix, Gerry tested it with a train. It’s important to lay and test the track as

each new turn is added, as it’s nearly impossible to do so afterward. When he had added four turns, he was finished.

laser level, made a Because spacing mark on a piece of between the helix tape on the boxcar turns was so tight, I 8 . I then ran the car joined the quartersections together around the return using leftover pieces loop, being sure the of plywood positioned laser line always on either side of fell on the tape the centermark. Where line. (You it didn’t, I P can see shimmed. I T T y the O a s H l such a One u ix a e yo hel sur your turn; joint in drawback e B k in each ut trac add s all p oo 7 on of 3rd Playou ce it’ , it’s t n r o e nIt is that page 20.) I eth te! tog la it considglued and ers a helix a screwed two single object, so pieces beneath I couldn’t look at the and above the joint. elevation of the lowThis left the center est helix turn at any open for track on top given point and use and train clearance that height to cut risbeneath. ers. Fortunately, I was Because the lower able to come up with return loop of my a workaround. While layout would be the workaround isn’t directly under the helix, I would use that complicated, it’s a bit too involved to as a base for the helix describe here. If you supports. Therefore, watch Episode 5 of I had to make sure it my “Back on Track” was perfectly level. I series on Trains.com put a boxcar on the I walk you through it track and, using the

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graphically, using the program. It worked out pretty slick. I cut the lower turn’s risers and nailed and glued them at 12" intervals to both the outside and inside edges of the lower return loop 9 . I then mounted the ﬁrst helix turn on those, again gluing and nailing. It’s important to remember that you need to lay the track on each turn of the helix as you build it, since it’s virtually impossible to do that after the helix is built. Once my ﬁrst turn track was laid, I cut all the 211 ⁄16" risers that would separate each of the turns, using a stop block on my miter saw to help ensure uniformity. I laid a level along the top of each helix turn at a number of different points,

looking at its straight lower surface for dips in the plywood 10 . Thin shims worked wonders here. Any flaws in this first turn will cause flaws in all the turns that sit above it. Once I was satisfied, I laid my track and tested it with a train 11 . I then added more spacers and built the next helix turns. When I hit turn four, I was finished. It’s important to realize that there will be errors. If you’re fussy like I am, you’ll want everything to be exact. It never will be. There are variations in the plywood’s surface, thickness, and flatness; slight differ-

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ences in your riser cuts; slight errors everywhere. The point is, these minute errors probably won’t affect the overall performance of the helix. If your longest train will make it up two turns of the helix, it’ll make it up the rest. If it doesn’t, you’ll either have to reduce the number of cars on your train, or – Heaven forbid – rebuild the helix to a lower grade or larger radius. I’d consider this helix to be a complete success. My trains traverse it with ease, and the upper and lower decks are now one continuous layout. And the time the train spends in the helix – about three minutes at scale speed – gives me the opportunity to get my switch lists in order and maybe even grab a cool drink from the fridge.

The story in the This scratchbuilt shed and covered loading platform is one of the first structures Seth Puffer built for his HO scale Puffer Bridge Lines layout. With cast metal details, an etched stainless steel shopping cart, concrete blocks, and a Preiser figure carrying a roll of something, this scene invites the eye to linger.

Figures and scenic details make scenes to fascinate layout visitors By Seth Puffer

For a long time, I’ve enjoyed adding scenes within scenes all over my model railroad. This gives the layout life. Figures abound in just about every corner of the layout, and they all tell a story. Visitors often comment about all the little stories being told in those scenes. I have to give credit to George Sellios and his famous HO scale Franklin & South Manchester layout. I’ve had the pleasure

of visiting George’s layout a couple of times, and I just love the mini-scenes that complement his layout’s fantastic model-

ing. They’ve inspired me to build a bunch of mini-scenes for my layout that are fun to look at and make visitors ask, “What’s the

story here?” The best part is that none of them were difﬁcult to do. The people around the layout are mainly

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Seth’s favorite primer for figures and scenic details is Rust-Oleum Camouflage spray paint. It has just the right look for the job with its “dirty” earth tone and smooth finish.

Preiser and Woodland Scenics products. I paint the ﬁgures mostly with acrylic paints for an easy cleanup. I used to ﬁnish them with alcohol-based India ink washes to bring out all the cracks and crevices. Now I use thinned oil paint. I like the effect I get with oil paints. It’s easier to control them than the alcohol-andink washes. The detail parts are handled similarly. I

prime cast metal and resin parts with RustOleum Camouflage colors. I like this spray paint because it has a nice “dirty” earth tone and a fine finish when dry. Once dry, I just start painting details. I tend to have a dozen or so detail parts primed and ready so I can use one color at a time, moving from one item to the next. Again, once painted, everything gets highlighted with oil paint wash.

That’s it! There’s nothing really complicated about it. Take a look at some of the scenes I’ve created for more inspiration. Then get a bunch of people and parts together to spread over your layout and bring your model railroad to life.

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This scene includes a Woodland Scenics backhoe and bulldozer. Seth doesn’t remember where he picked up the pipes, but they fit perfectly. Seth cut a small hole in the plywood base and made a small styrene box to fit inside the hole. Dirt and small stones made it look like a construction scene.

This is a part of a larger scene centering on a Fine Scale Miniatures kit, Elijah Roth & Son. The shed and most of the detail parts came with the kit, but Seth mostly gets comments about the man and the dog.

Seth calls this scene, in which a boss and his worker are discussing the day’s work, “I’m the Boss – Do What I Say.” The yard office is scratchbuilt, but the people and the details around it are what make the scene.

The Newton depot is built from the shed from the Fine Scale Miniatures kit Jamestown Water Stop. Seth didn’t have to add details to it because so many came with the kit. It only took a few vehicles and figures to add life to the scene.

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Since the depot at McRae sits in a visible location near the edge of Seth’s layout, he detailed it inside and out. The maintenanceof-way crew uses it as a base, justifying the many tools of the trade scattered about.

This shed, from the Fine Scale Miniatures kit Elijah Roth & Son, sits a ways down the siding from the main structure. A couple of figures and a junkyard dog restrained by a heavy chain make a scene that gets a lot of attention from visitors.

All the workers tending to their jobs are the centerpiece of the scene at the fuel pad in Aurora Yard. The oil paint wash used on the figures really brings out the texture of their clothes and faces.

Scenes don’t have to center on a structure. This is an old Athearn boom car model that’s had details and figures added to it. It sits on a little used track near the turntable in Aurora Yard.

Seth gets a lot of comments from visitors about this simple scene of a workman trying to shoo a stray dog away from his worksite. This pair of figures shows how well the oil paint wash brings out the detail.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

for the N scale MR&T

Milwaukee, Racine & Troy Electro-Motive Division GP38 no. 738 leads a local on the N scale State Line Route. Cody Grivno shares how he stripped, painted, decaled, and weathered this four-axle road unit. Photos by the author and David Popp

How to strip, paint, decal, and weather a road locomotive By Cody Grivno

Materials list Kalmbach Hobby Store 84060 Milwaukee, Racine & Troy N scale decals 84085 Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol set 84136 Excel Blades metal pick-up tool VT-84039 Modelers Decals and Paint Conrail Blue

Microscale decals MI-12 Liquid Decal Film PS-1-1-32 1 ⁄ 32 "-wide white stripes

As work wrapped up on our N scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy State Line Route project layout (see the January through April 2022 issues of Model Railroader), we shifted our focus to locomotives and rolling stock. Our local hobby shop had two General Electric (GE) Dash 8-40Bs and a Dash 8-40BW in MR&T paint. These were prime road power in the 1980s and 1990s, the era of our layout. To balance out our diesel ﬂeet, we needed some older Electro-Motive Division General Purpose units, or Geeps, to handle locals, the quarry job, and other secondary trains. We couldn’t ﬁnd undecorated Geeps at the hobby shop. However, there were plenty of decorated, sound-equipped units, the latter saving us time installing a speaker and decoder. Next, I had to select a paint scheme. The HO scale MR&T Geeps were originally

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painted solid blue, so I thought it would be nice to have the N GP38 in that scheme. Well, that and the fact that I’d just signed off on artwork for a run of Atlas GP38s in the blue-and-white scheme. Look for those at the Kalmbach Hobby Store, KalmbachHobbyStore.com.

This project took time and patience. In the end, we were rewarded with a locomotive that added variety to our ﬂeet.

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Micro-Trains 1015 Magne-Matic couplers

Monroe Models 975 Rusty Brown Weathering Wash

Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X 249088 Flat Gray Primer

Tamiya TS-82 Rubber Black X-22 Clear Gloss XF-1 Flat Black XF-86 Flat Clear 87064 Fine Surface Primer Light Gray

Tru-Color Paint TCP-804 Flat Grimy Black

Vallejo (product line in parentheses) 306 Dark Rubber (Panzer Aces) 71.001 White (Model Air) 71.057 Black (Model Air) 71.062 Aluminum (Model Air) 71.085 Ferrari Red (Model Air) 71.312 IJN Medium Gray (Model Air) 71.361 Airbrush Thinner 76.518 Black wash (Model Wash)

Initial disassembly

Taking apart the Atlas GP38 was

Next, I removed the Accumate couplers and draft-gear boxes. The boxes are held in with Phillips-head screws. I loosened each screw with a screwdriver. Then I used a five-pronged grabber to remove the screws. Place the parts in a cup so they don’t get lost on the workbench.

I wanted to paint and weather the one-

You want to be careful when taking

After releasing the handrails attached

Then I removed the friction fit handrail

apart the shell so you don’t damage any parts. Thankfully, Atlas Model Railroad Co. included an exploded-view diagram with the model that shows how the GP38 goes together. The cab slides onto the hood, and that assembly fits on the sill unit. Tabs on the bottom of the window glazing for the sides of the cab lock into slots on the sill unit as well.

to the cab, I separated the body from the sill unit and the cab from the body. Do this carefully, as there are lots of delicate tabs that can easily be broken during this process. You can see the tabs on the glazing that lock into the sill unit in the photo above. The cab is secured to the body with tabs – two on the lower inside back corners and one under the front windows.

and stanchion castings from the sill unit. I set a no. 11 blade behind each stanchion and gently rocked it back and forth until the mounting pin released, as shown above. Use caution so you don’t gouge the plastic or break the mounting pins. If you’re not comfortable using this approach, you can use a push pin to release the mounting pins from inside the sill unit.

I placed the parts that needed to

Using a toothbrush, I gently scrubbed

Even after a second 30-minute

be stripped into a plastic container. Then I poured in 91 percent isopropyl alcohol until the parts were covered. Do this in a well-ventilated area and wear personal protective equipment. I let the parts soak in the alcohol for 30 minutes. I stripped the handrails separately with the same technique.

the parts to remove the paint. The areas with white printing were a bit more stubborn. Additional soaking and scrubbing was needed to remove the graphics. I used cotton swabs and Microbrushes to remove paint in the grills, between the doors, and in other hard-to-reach areas.

soaking, there were still a few spots that needed attention. I soaked a toothpick in the isopropyl alcohol. Then I gently scrubbed the toothpick over the white graphics. Once they were removed, I washed all of the stripped parts in warm, soapy water, rinsed them, and let them dry.

pretty straightforward, as the parts are all friction-fit. I started by separating the shell from the chassis. I pressed in on the sides of the shell and gently wiggled it until it slid off the chassis. There’s no need to remove the couplers for this step.

piece plastic truck sideframes and metal wheels with stub axles. This task is much easier if each truck is disassembled. After detaching the trucks from the frame, I removed the sideframes from the gear housing and took out the wheels.

Deconstructing the shell

Stripping the paint

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Priming and painting

Handling the cleaned locomotive

While the primer was drying,

game for painting. Tamiya was my main source for primer, paint, thinner, and clear coats. I supplemented those products with colors from Modelers Decals and Paints and Vallejo Model Air.

while wearing gloves, I set the parts on paint handles. Then I primed the parts with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer L. This is a light gray primer that comes in a spray can. I built up the primer in light layers, following the printed instructions on the can. I let the primer dry over the weekend before applying the paint.

I began work on the truck sideframes, which I’d primed earlier (see “Small things, big impacts” on page 30). I spray-painted the sideframes Tamiya Rubber Black. The color, similar to grimy black, has a nicely weathered look straight from the can. I also like it because it doesn’t hide the details, which can happen with darker colors.

The number boards are a single casting. I painted the face of the boards with a single coat of Tamiya Flat Black paint using a super fine Microbrush. I let the paint dry thoroughly – at least 24 hours or until there’s no discernible odor. Then I used a clean Microbrush to apply the same company’s X-22 Clear to provide a smooth, glossy surface for decals.

Finally, it was time to paint the shell. I used Modelers Decals and Paint Conrail Blue. This was my first time using the acrylic paint. It’s designed for airbrushing straight from the bottle. You can also thin it with water or isopropyl alcohol if necessary. Make sure to mix the paint thoroughly before use. The optimal spray pressure for the paint is 20-30 psi.

After letting the blue dry for 48 hours, I brush-painted the molded grab irons, step edges, and uncoupling lever handles with Vallejo Model Air White. I wasn’t worried about getting opaque, even coverage because these are all grip or step points. On an older locomotive, the paint would be showing signs of wear on the grab irons and step edges.

Modelers Decals and Paint colors

Since I hadn’t used this paint and

dry to a satin finish. It’s possible I could have applied decals straight to the model after the paint had dried, but with a deadline to meet I didn’t want to chance it. Since Modelers Decals and Paint doesn’t have a clear gloss in its product range, I turned to Tamiya X-22 Clear. The gloss coat can be thinned with X-20A thinner. For this project I thinned it 50:50 in a mixing cup with graduation marks.

gloss coat combination before, I tested it on an HO scale boxcar underbody that I’d painted blue during the same airbrushing session as the N scale locomotive parts. Though this was an extra step, I didn’t want to risk ruining the N scale GP38 if the paint and gloss coat weren’t compatible. I’m happy to report the Tamiya Clear is compatible with the Modelers Decals and Paint line of acrylics.

I applied two light coats of Tamiya Clear to all of the GP38’s parts, even those that wouldn’t be decaled. Rotate the parts while you’re applying the clear to ensure all surfaces get covered. This is especially important in areas that are hard to reach, such as the stepwells. Let the clear gloss coat dry for at least 24 hours before applying decals. If you notice the clear is soft when you start applying decals, stop and give it more time to dry.

Mix and match was the name of the

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Dealing with decals

The decals for our locomotive

Since I applied the Liquid Decal Film to the entire sheet, I effectively turned the set into one big decal. I cut as close as possible to the herald (which I split in two before applying to the cab side and sill), the lettering, the road number, and nose stripes. The first attempt at nose stripes didn’t work well, so I cut another pair from the sheet and positioned them individually.

I soaked each decal in distilled water,

were custom produced by Highball Graphics. The artwork is printed directly on decal film without a protective coat on top. To prevent the graphics from getting scratched while being positioned on the model, I applied Microscale Liquid Decal Film with a foam paintbrush. Let it dry for 30 minutes before using the decals.

The HO scale solid blue Myrt

Next, I worked on the number boards.

Geeps have white sill stripes, which I wanted to replicate on the N scale model. Unfortunately, the Kalmbach Hobby Store decal set doesn’t include sill stripes. I worked around that shortcoming by using Microscale 1 ⁄32"-wide white stripes. I applied the decal stripes using the same techniques as before.

The digits for N scale number boards are small, so try to find a set that has the number you need in one block or find numbers in groups. The number jumble in our set didn’t have a 738. It did have individual 7s and 38s paired together, which made the decaling process easier. The EMD-style font is a nice touch, too.

I let the decals dry for 24 hours before applying the setting solutions. I used Microscale Micro Sol for the first pass. This softened the decals and helped them conform to most surfaces on the locomotive shell. For trickier spots, like the door hinges and latches and the seams between the doors, I turned to Walthers Solvaset, a slightly more aggressive setting solution.

which is free of minerals that could dry as white spots. As the decals were soaking, I used a Microbrush to apply Microscale Micro Set to the body shell. Once the decals slid freely from the backing paper, I positioned them with a toothpick. Then I blotted off the excess water with cotton swabs and sponges.

After the setting solution was applied, I had to do some minor touch-up work. The top of the “o” in Troy chipped off where it passed over the door hinge on the brakeman’s side. I fixed that with a paintbrush and some Vallejo Model Air White. I left the gaps between the doors. After the touch-up work was done, I applied a single thin coat of Tamiya Clear to the model to give the model a uniform gloss finish.

8LMW TLSXS SJ XLI ǂ RMWLIH QSHIP shows the decal placement. Since there wasn’t room on the dynamic brake blister, I moved the road number to the side of the paper air filter box. The GP38 does not have stripes on the back of the long hood.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Quick and easy weathering

I used Vallejo Model Air paints to

Then I used Model Air Black to weather around the exhaust stacks and add some stains under the fuel fillers. I also thinned this color 50:50. I built up the effect in light layers, and made sure the weathering was applied to all sides of the exhaust stacks. Make sure the insides of the stacks are weathered, too. You may need to brush-paint those areas.

The last airbrush work I had to do

Though the wheelsets are black-

The sideframes appeared to be

I primed and painted the handrail

ened, I elected to paint them anyway. First, I cleaned the wheels with a cotton swab dipped in isopropyl alcohol. This removes any impurities that might affect paint adhesion. Then I painted the outer ring of the wheels with Tru-Color paint Flat Grimy Black.

unpainted plastic. First, I washed the castings in warm water with dish soap added to remove gear lubricant on the inside. After rinsing the castings and letting them dry, I spray-painted them with Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X Flat Gray Primer.

and stanchion castings using the same techniques as on the locomotive. I applied Vallejo Model Air White paint to the vertical portions of the handrails with a super fine Microbrush. A paintbrush could also be used.

Another area I wanted to high-

The pilots have raised (but short-

Finally, I used a paintbrush to

light were the m.u. receptacle covers and the emergency fuel cutoffs. Applying red over blue doesn’t work very well, so I first painted these areas with Model Air Aluminum. After the paint dried, I painted these same areas Vallejo Model Air Ferrari Red.

ened on the front so the snow plow seats correctly) m.u. and train line air hose detail. I used a fine brush to paint these molded details Vallejo Rubber Black from its Panzer Aces line. I painted the connection points between the hoses and locomotive Aluminum.

apply Vallejo Black Model Wash to the various fans, screens, and grills. Let the wash dry for 10 to 15 minutes before rotating the model to work on a different surface. If you don’t let the wash dry thoroughly, it may run or pool.

weather the locomotive. I weathered the trucks, snow plow, fuel tank, and lower portions of the sill unit with IJN Medium Gray. I thinned the paint 50:50 with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner. One or two light passes is all that’s necessary to simulate road grime. The bottom truck shows how just a bit of weathering makes a big difference.

was applying the Tamiya Flat Clear. I used an airbrush to apply the flat coat, mixed 50:50, to the body, cab, fuel tank, handrails, snow plow, and trucks. The Flat Clear serves two purposes. First, it gives the model a uniform flat finish. Second, protects the weathering so it doesn’t rub off when the locomotive is handled.

Small things, big impacts

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Final assembly

Now it was time to reassemble

Next, I reassembled the trucks.

Milwaukee, Racine & Troy Electro-Motive Division GP38 no. 738. I started with the easiest part first, the fuel tank. It’s a onepiece press-fit plastic casting. Make sure the red fuel fillers are toward the front of the unit when installing it. Then press the casting onto the split-frame metal chassis until it clicks.

Put the wheels in the gear housing first. Make sure the gears on the axles line up with those in the housing. Then reattach the gear towers to the chassis and seat the wheel wipers. Holding the wipers in place, attach the truck sideframes. The cutouts on the bottom of the sideframe casting should line up with the gears.

With the locomotive in operating

Before putting the shell back on the chassis, I needed to set the headlight cover back in place. It’s an easy part to forget about, but it’s important because it doubles as a view block, as you can see in the large photo below. If you forget to reinstall the headlight cover, the split frame and the printed-circuit board for the front headlights will be visible.

condition, I returned to the workbench to finish up the project. I started by reinstalling the front and rear number board and headlight castings. Seat them carefully so the light tubes don’t snap. Once the front casting was in place, I reinstalled the glazing in the cab. Use clear parts cement to secure any glazing that won’t hold.

Before putting the shell back on the chassis, I took the locomotive over to the test track in our workshop to make sure it was operating properly. I then used an NCE Power Cab Digital Command Control system to reprogram the decoder’s address from 5669, the number on the model when it was painted for Norfolk Southern, to 738.

Primer, paint, clear coats, and decals filled in the holes for the stanchions just enough that the mounting pins wouldn’t fit. To remedy this, I used a no. 76 bit in a pin vise to clean out the holes. Friction held most of the pins in place. I secured those that didn’t want to stay put with Formula 560 canopy glue, a flexible glue that dries clear.

I replaced the Accumate couplers with Micro-Trains no. 1015 Magne-Matic couplers. I sprayed the factory-assembled plastic couplers with with Testor’s Dullcote. After that dried, I used a Microbrush to apply Monroe Models Rusty Brown Weathering Wash to each coupler, keeping it off the draft-gear box and trip pin. Once installed, I used a height gauge to make sure the couplers were at the correct height, as shown above.

With that, MR&T no. 738 was ready to enter service on the N scale State Line Route. A railfan has set up shop on the station platform at Williams Bay, Wis., to get a photo of the unit as it leads a train past the Amtrak station.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Easy

With just a few craft supplies, you can add weathering details to any scale of structure.

Take your structure from good to great with these quick tips

Cody Grivno photo

By Rene Schweitzer Sometimes structure kits just beg to be weathered. This PIKO America kit (#62104, Dr. Reynolds Country Home) was one of them. While it looked ﬁne out of the box, I used a few basic craft supplies to take my structure to the next level. These techniques can be used for plastic structures in any scale. The only difference will be the size of the applicator.

Acrylic paint Small squeeze bottles of acrylic

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paints are found in both craft and big-box stores, come in a wide variety of colors, and are inexpensive. I applied a wash on the foundation and chimney pieces before assembly. I used Americana Graphite paint and added water to make a thin wash, but any dark gray or black color would work. Use a brush to apply the wash over the entire piece, making sure it seeps into the crevices. 1 If you apply too much, simply blot the piece with a

paper towel or rag to remove excess wash. If you are unhappy with the results, rinse under tap water, let dry, and try again. You’ll note that some plastics may react differently to acrylic paint. The foundation piece (top of photo 1) was covered in the Graphite wash, but turned an off-white and gray once it dried. I was pleased with this result because it reminded me of aging bricks and mortar. If you’re unhappy with

your results, either paint over it or try a different color wash.

PanPastel PanPastel are artist-quality pigments that apply almost like paint (but are dry, like chalks).

Since they are concentrated, you get better coverage with one application. For this project, I used the Greys, Grimes, and Soot Weathering Colors Set (no. 84209, Kalmbachhobbystore. com).

APPLY WASH WITH PAINTBRUSH UNPAINTED CHIMNEY PIECES

I found a cotton swab was the perfect applicator for the large-scale roof shingles. 2 You could also use the Sofft applicator included in the PanPastel package or a Microbrush, depending on the scale of your model. If the plastic on your structure is slippery, you may want to ﬁrst apply a thin coat of Testor’s Dullcote and let dry before applying the PanPastel. Do this in a well ventilated area with proper personal protective equipment. Use at least three shades of PanPastel, each with a different cotton swab, to randomly apply color to roof shingles. 3 You likely will get the effect you’re looking for with one application, but if not, it’s easy to add more color. Or conversely, if you don’t like the color, remove it with a damp cotton swab. After you’re ﬁnished and the roof is to your liking, seal the PanPastel with Dullcote. Makeup sponges work well to bring out highlights on the wood siding. 4 Using a light gray PanPastel, lightly run the sponge against the surface to add a bit of color. Less color is better here; you just want to bring out the wood grain a bit. Again, if you’re unhappy with the results, wipe with a

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damp rag and let dry, then try again. After adding highlights to the wood grain, use a cotton swab colored with dark gray to add shading to the knots. 5

Watercolor paints When coworker Steve Sweeney suggested I use children’s watercolor paints to age the porch and cabin trim, I admit I was skeptical. You could also use artist’s grade watercolors if you have them, but for less than

$2, these inexpensive paints worked fine. If you’d like to see how the watercolors look before you apply to your structure, test them on a scrap first and let dry. Wet the black color with a bit of water and let sit for a few minutes. Use a brush to swirl the paint, and use broad strokes to apply it to the porch floor. 6 The paint will bead up on the surface initially, but will smooth out as it dries to replicate worn wood.

Apply the watercolor to the porch trim and spindles in the same manner. 7 I opted to use watercolor paint on the roof trim too. 8 If your structure

will remain indoors, you won’t need to seal the watercolors after they dry. Since mine will be outdoors, I applied a layer of Dullcote for protection from the elements.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

basics

We take some of the mystery out of brass locomotives By Eric White

When I was a kid, I’d go to the local hobby shop and drool over the brass steam locomotives in the glass display case near the cash register. I’d seen most of them in the Paciﬁc Fast Mail advertisements that used to grace the back cover of Model Railroader, and here they were in the ﬂesh, so to speak. They were pricey for a teenager, but clearly better detailed than any of the readyto-run models in the various boxes on the shelves farther back in the shop. Now, most readyto-run plastic models

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have detail levels that would’ve impressed the most devoted brass connoisseur. But there are some models that are difficult to find in any other form. Usually, they’re of less popular railroads, or less popular types. Mine falls into the latter category. Steam switchers can be had, but if you want something specific, then check out the brass dealers at hobby shops, model

train meets, or on the internet. A friend of Model Railroader, Forrest Nace, is acquainted with many brass dealers, so I emailed him with my needs. I was looking for a Pennsylvania RR class A5s 0-4-0 switcher, or shifter in PRR parlance. These locomotives were denizens of the tight spaces in cities, and I needed one for my PRR Washington

Avenue Branch shelf layout. Forrest put me in touch with a dealer in New York state, who had three options at three price points. I chose the mediumpriced model, which was just over $200. When the model arrived, still in its original box, I couldn’t wait to test it out. I took it into the ofﬁce where I could measure current draw, speed at various

voltages, and pulling power. The locomotive was all set up on the test track. I turned the power pack’s throttle knob. I heard the motor humming, but the model wasn’t moving. Hmmm. Now what? Read on and ﬁnd out.

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*MVWX XLMRKW ǂ VWX Ř XEOI XLI QSHIP ETEVX

There’s usually a large screw under the smokestack that holds the frame, cylinders, and boiler together. I found this one and removed it, but the boiler was still attached. Ben Lake photos

Two small screws on the back of the cab were holding the assembly to the frame. With those screws out, the boiler and cab assembly came free from the frame.

(MKKMRK JSV XLI TVSFPIQ

With the boiler off, I could see the can motor and gearbox, and a piece of neoprene tubing that connected the two. Given the age of the model, I suspected the tubing might have dried out and wasn’t getting a strong grip on the shaft coming out of the gearbox.

Removing the motor would let me test the theory by being able to grab the gearbox shaft to see if I could turn it manually. I disconnected the wires from the motor before removing the motor mounting screws.I pulled the motor free, but even with a small pair of needlenose pliers I was unable to turn the gearbox. It would move a bit, then bind.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Digging for the problem (cont’d)

Since I couldn’t turn the gearbox, it had to come off. I started removing screws on the bottom of the model, working from the outside in.

With the bottom plate off, I removed the bottom cover of the gearbox. It’s helpful to have very small screwdrivers. Some that I used were included in large scale plastic model kits.

With the gearbox removed, I could easily turn the gears, so that wasn’t the problem. Maybe something with the running gear?

Aha! Now we’re narrowing it down. The drivers would turn a little bit, but then started to skew in the frame. I had narrowed down the problem, but more disassembly was ahead of me.

The valve gear would have to come apart to get the drivers out of the frame so I could isolate the part that was binding. Make sure to support the parts you’re trying to disassemble, as they’re easily bent. The screw heads are thin to clear the other moving parts.

With the drivers out of the frame, I was finally able to locate the problem. The eccentric rod – the small rod standing straight up from the connection with the main rod and side rod – was stuck, either with solder (bad), or corrosion/dried oil (not great, but not as bad).

Repair and tune-up

With the problem diagnosed, it was time to find a solution. If worse came to worst, I’d have to get out a soldering iron and try to free the connection. Hoping for the best, I applied some Labelle oil to the joint and went to lunch. With any luck, an hour or so of soaking would free up the connection.

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Success! The oil freed up the connection, meaning I wouldn’t have to try to desolder, then reassemble the parts with solder without binding everything up again. That was a cycle of events I was happy to avoid.

Repair and tune-up (cont’d) After oiling all of the connections, I put the running gear back together and rolled the chassis on our test track. Everything was now moving freely.

Although the gearbox moved freely, I knew the grease inside was about 30 years old. I separated the halves of the gearbox to get inside and discovered it was pretty gunky in there.

I used a flat screwdriver to scrape out the majority of the old grease from the gearbox shell, then wiped out the rest with a paper towel. I also wiped the gears off, making sure to get between the teeth of the main gear and the worm gear.

I replaced the worm and main gear into the gearbox shell, then lubricated everything with plastic-compatible oil. I don’t want that main gear turning to mush. With everything lubricated, I reassembled the gearbox.

Reassembly and testing I already had the bottom plate holding the drivers to the frame, so I placed the gearbox on top of the front driver axle, then slipped the gear cover over the bottom of the axle gear and tightened the screws.

With the tender attached to complete the electrical circuit (the tender picks up power from one rail, the drivers from the opposite rail), I gave the model power ... and it moved! I learned a couple of things with this model: It’s not that difficult to take a brass steam locomotive apart, and if I had started by oiling everything I could reach, I might have solved my problem without all of the disassembly. For me, the next steps involve adding a Digital Command Control decoder with sound, and painting the model to look like a hard-working city dweller.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Moving iron and sand in a small space

An iron or steel foundry is a busy industry that offers a lot of operating potential for a model railroad. As a foundry is improved or expanded over the years, the variety of building styles used make for a visually interesting modeling subject.

An industry you can model By Donald Knapik

The foundry industry is all about moving three things: metal, sand, and ﬁnished product, whether it’s inbound, outbound, or in-plant. This offers many opportunities to the modeler looking to add an industry to an empty portion of the layout or model an industry in a limited space. The foundry that inspired this plan is medium sized in comparison to other heavy manufacturers but gives a good overview of the industry.

How they work The process of casting parts starts

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with a pattern generated by the customer or pattern shop. The pattern is a positive of the outside dimensions of the part to be cast and is correct in all dimensions. The pattern is then used to generate a negative mold of the part to

be cast in sand and a bonding resin. There are two parts to the mold, the cope (the top portion) and the drag (the bottom). The void between these two halves is where the metal will be poured to create the part.

This aerial photo shows the layout of the prototype plant. The main structure at center-right is a combined melt shop and main foundry. The sand house is below it. The vertical building at far left is a second foundry and core shop.

In many castings, there are voids where other parts, gas, or ﬂuid must pass in order for the part to fulﬁll its purpose. These voids are created by inserting cores in the mold prior to it being closed up and prepared for the metal to

be poured. The cores are later removed to make the voids. A metal containerlike housing called a ﬂask, looking like an oversized milk crate, is used to hold the sand in place during pouring and cooling. Typically for larger

Sand house

Shipping

Bag house

Sand silos

Melt shop

Bag house

Unloading crane

This compact track plan models the west side of the foundry, facing the tracks, in shallow relief. At the north (left) end is shipping, where flatcars, gondolas, or boxcars can be spotted. The sand house, at center, can handle one hopper at a time. At right is the melt shop; two cars can be spotted under its unloading crane. Illustrations by Kellie Jaeger

Rolling stock maintenance

Cleaning

Shipping

Shakeout

Sand house

Pour house

Ladle maintenance

Melt shop

This larger plan includes an in-plant railroad (in blue) that could be built as standard or narrow gauge. Its role is to move ladles from the melt shop to the pour house, molded products to shake-out and cleaning, and finished products to shipping.

parts, weights of some sort are placed on the top of the cope and drag to keep the mold in place until the metal has cooled. While the molds are being prepared, the melt shop processes the metal based on the speciﬁc properties the customer requires for the part. Varying the elements or additives to the metal gives it different hardness, ductility, or wear properties, all important for the life of the part. When the molds are assembled and the metal has proper properties, the ladle is

moved to the foundry and the parts cast. After the metal cools to the point it will retain its shape, the mold and freshly cast part need to be separated from each other. When Michelangelo was asked how he sculpted such exquisite art, he replied he takes away anything that does not belong to the piece and it emerges from the marble. This is an oversimpliﬁcation of the sculpting process, but this is precisely what happens in shakeout and cleaning, where any remnants of sand,

runners, and flash are removed from the final part before it can be shipped to the customer or onto another process. This sand and excess metal are reclaimed by the foundry and reused a number of times. Sand eventually wears out and will no longer hold its shape in the mold, which is when it needs to be replaced with fresh sand. The old sand is sold off to other companies, and the flash, runners, and overpour removed from the final parts are recycled to the melt shop where they

can become a useful piece of equipment. Castings can weigh from a few pounds to 200,000 pounds or more. It all depends on the foundry’s capabilities and the customer’s needs.

Material requirements Depending on the size of the foundry, how often they replace their sand and where they source it from will determine how many truck or railcar loads they receive. If the plant holds 300 tons of sand and replaces two tons a day, that’s 60 tons

a month. That can mean a carload or more of new sand a month. The same holds true for the melt shop and how many tons of metal it will require to meet customer orders. If it’s running smaller parts, then the needs are different than if it’s running larger parts. Another limiting factor is the time needed to process the molten metal. The more furnaces the foundry runs or the faster the turnaround time, the more raw materials needed. The metal needed

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

In the foreground of this shot of the north end of the foundry are a collection of empty flasks, used to hold the sand in place during the molding process. Behind are the second foundry (at left) and, in front of the sand house, a dust handler.

scrap iron can fill the orders for a moderately hungry foundry. The rail needs of the outbound end, or your finished product, can be either constant or occasional. You should have a good idea of who your foundry’s customers are and their inbound material when planning your outbound traffic. This gives you an opportunity to spot boxcars of various lengths as well as gondolas and flatcars for larger or heavier loads. The other opportunity is for in-plant movements of molten metal from your melt shop to the foundry floor, flatcars or gondolas of parts between shakeout and cleaning, and finished parts to a packaging and shipping department. For this traffic, you can use a small industrial switcher or self-powered transfer cars.

The track plan

Seen behind the CSX main line in the foreground are the melt shop and another dust control unit. In the background is the melt shop and dust control units. Note the use of corrugated siding, as opposed to the brick of older structures.

depends on what’s cast by the foundry. Larger parts generally return a much smaller percent of scrap for reprocessing than smaller parts, and every effort is made to keep customer returns to a minimum. If your foundry is using 150 tons of metal every day, then one to two carloads of scrap

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or fresh material will be needed to fill the orders going out the door. To simulate the inbound traffic, a small fleet of covered hoppers for the sand and gondolas for the metal are needed. A hopper a week for inbound and outbound sand and a gondola every other day of

The plans shown on the previous page are simpliﬁcations of the prototypical foundry operation. The aerial view of the site shows buildings of varied age and design and a number of interesting roof lines from the different stages of expansion. The CSX main line at the bottom of the image used to serve the foundry, but those tracks have been pulled up or paved over. Also visible are ties from a former yard adjacent to the complex. The central complex contains all the departments illus-

trated in the plan, just simplified for better flow. Cleaning has been enlarged to the west and a shipping department added to handle access to the rails. The plans are designed to supply the sand department and melt shop with their inbound needs and give the option to ship out larger pieces from the shipping department by rail. The basic operation could be modeled in a 1 x 6-foot area along a shelf, behind a yard, or bent around a corner to fill in an open space on an end.

Modeling Modeling the operation can be a very interesting proposition. The age of the buildings and growth pattern of the business, as well as the time frame when these changes occurred, will dictate the complexity of buildings as well as the materials used in construction. A variety of roof lines is also called for, as the purpose of each building varies. There are also plenty of options for sand lines, air handling ducts, and dust control units between the different operations. The intraplant rail line could be a shadowbox-style layout. The shadowbox could feature the area between cleaning and the foundry and the action between the structures. A bigger plan could have the trackage as illustrated and the buildings constructed sans

rooﬁng to offer an overhead view of the inside action. In the extreme, the layout could feature both the intraplant line and inbound/ outbound rail trafﬁc. Instead of standard gauge trackage on the in-plant line, it might be more interesting to run narrow gauge track (HOn3, for example) and custombuild cars according to the needs of your operation, just as the prototype would. Remember that since this is a captive, or private, line, customization of rolling stock or power would not be discouraged. It would also be appropriate to feature an industrial switcher, like those manufactured by Plymouth Locomotive Works.

Operations Servicing the rail side of the foundry is a fairly simple process. Assuming cars are brought in from the south (right on the plan), the sand and melt shop tracks are cleared to the mainline and spotted between the turnouts. The locomotive runs around the outbound cars, couples to the properly blocked inbound covered hoppers and gondolas spotted to the south

Castings can weigh from a few pounds to 200,000 pounds or more.

of the south turnout, then pulls into the siding, spotting the gondolas at the door where they will be unloaded by a crane and the hoppers by the hookups for the sand house. If the foundry is shipping an outbound load, the sand cars would need to be moved to open the siding for switching maneuvers. This process would be repeated as needed to service the needs of the customer. Running the in-plant line represented in this plan can be changed daily depending on the production schedule of the facility. Because foundries generally work around the clock, the busiest times are second shift when parts are being poured and third shift when shakeout is removing parts from the sand. There is no evidence the prototype for this plan ever had captive rail service. A typical day might consist of the switcher ferrying the ladles from the melt shop to the pour ﬂoor and then parts by ﬂats or buggies from shakeout to the east cleaning track. At some point, the runners and scrap parts from the cleaning department would return by buggies from the central track to the melt shop and the buggies returned empty to cleaning. Ladles require occasional maintenance and relining. The plan offers an

This view of the west end of the melt shop shows the large bay doors through which the shop receives scrap metal and other material for processing. Note the effect the intense heat of the operation has had on the walls above the doors.

At the south end of the plant stand silos that hold sand for use in the mold-making process. Note the piles of small ladles and other material in the foreground, awaiting repair or disposal.

option to run ladles from the melt shop to a maintenance shop on the south end of the foundry. A day shift could be added to assist special production runs or ferry larger items from one department to another. An option is available for a runaround maneuver, if needed, as well as a railroad

maintenance shed on the far east end of cleaning. Whether you choose to ﬁll in a small space on your existing layout or ﬁll a corner with a standalone industry, a foundry offers many options to the model railroader and another source of revenue for your railroad of choice.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

in the north country

This 23 x 27-foot HO scale layout re-creates the Gogebic Iron Range in the steam-todiesel transition era By Hans Schlegel Photos by Cody Grivno

Though I started work on my 23 x 27-foot HO scale Gogebic Iron Range Lines in the early 2000s, my fascination with trains dates back to the 1950s and ’60s. I was raised in the near north side of Chicago, where tracks crisscrossed the neighborhoods. My favorite places to explore were the Milwaukee Road’s Bloomingdale Avenue high line and the Kingsbury Street branch, the latter featuring street running. The Chicago & North Western (C&NW) Northwest commuter lines from the downtown terminal split at Clybourn Avenue and provided plenty of action as viewed from the classroom windows at my grade school.

1. Chicago & North Western 0-6-0 no. 2118 brings a string of empty cars past the ore stockpile at Newport Mine. The scene takes place on Hans Schlegel’s HO scale Gogebic Iron Range Lines layout.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

2. This overall view shows Hans’ well-lit and neatly finished layout room. The joint Soo LineChicago & North Western yard in Ironwood, Mich., is at left. The Eureka Mine in Ramsay, Mich., is visible at right. The Aurora-Penokee and Newport mines are left of the post.

Like most, my interest in trains waned during my high school years. It was revived after I took the Milwaukee Road’s Copper Country Limited to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to attend college. The rugged, natural beauty of the region and the logging and mining operations immediately captured my attention. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has a rich mining history. Though I had several iron ranges to pick from, I focused my modeling efforts on the Gogebic. The 25-mile long by twomile wide district straddles the border of Wisconsin and Michigan. The

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adjacent communities of Hurley, Wis., and Ironwood, Mich., are at the center of the range. The compact Gogebic Range featured the joint operations of the C&NW and Soo Line. In 1934, the railroads entered into an ore pooling agreement to reduce costs. The ore trafﬁc was split 69 percent to the C&NW and 31 percent to the Soo. The agreement allowed for sharing of the ore docks in Ashland, Wis.; the C&NW engine terminal in Ironwood, Mich.; trackage rights; and even train crews and locomotives. The diversity in operations provided lots of modeling

3. As two maintenance-of-way laborers talk about the day’s work, Soo Line caboose no. 206 marks the end of a train rumbling through Ironwood, Mich. The late Dave Lockwood modeled the caboose.

options in terms of locomotives, rolling stock, and facilities.

Prepping and planning The Gogebic Iron Range Lines is my ﬁrst model railroad. I started work on the layout in 2004. My

vision for the model railroad evolved slowly. Although sometimes necessary, I wanted to avoid construction redos. Before starting on the benchwork, I prepped the room to make it as dust free as possible. I framed

out a separate room in the basement and paneled the walls. I sealed the windows and sills and painted all surfaces. The ceiling over the aisles is drywall. I installed 1 ⁄8" white hardboard in aluminum grids over the

Wisconsin-Michigan Soo Line Montreal River depot Scale U.S. 2 state line

Kennedy Co. Distributor

Morgan Coal

Chicago & North Western depot

To Monico, Wis.

Hurley, 2 Wis.

48"

Houses

52"

To Cary Mine

Aurora-Penokee Mine

Ore stockpiles

Cable towers

52" Newport Oil shed Mine Ore 30" tram stockpile

To hoist

Keystone Bridge

Overpass

Michela Coal

Steiger Lumber

52"

Water tank

Hoist

Cable towers

Team track

Soo Line Chicago & North Western Mine tramway

Bessemer, Mich. Shed

Hurley/Hoyt/Ashland, Wis. Watersmeet, Mich.

Chief Oil

Maintenance shop Depot platform

Siemens Creek

Ore stockpile 51" Swamp 55"

Hanson Fuel

52"

11 Hoist cable pulley stands

52"

Train order/ operator shack

52"

Tipple Shafthouse

Sawmill

30" tram

Return loop staging

Gogebic Iron Range Lines HO scale (1:87.1) Layout size: 23 x 27 feet Scale of plan: 1⁄4" = 1'-0", 24" grid Numbered arrows indicate photo locations Illustration by Kellie Jaeger Find more plans online in the Trains.com Track Plan Database.

layout. This may seem a bit unusual. However, I’m not a fan of pressed mineral acoustic ceiling tiles commonly used in basements. The vibration from foot trafﬁc on the ﬂoor above the basement abrades the tiles in the grid channels and generates a lot of dust. With the room prepped, I drafted a track plan to scale. The point-to-point plan, with two return loop staging areas, is laid out

Miners houses Shovel

52"

Roundhouse

Maintenance shop Shafthouse Black River Supply boxcar

52"

Door

House

Supply Shed

Eureka Mine Shaft Ramsay, Mich. Cable towers 30" tram

Ash

shop

Ore stockpile

Montreal, Wis.

Wisconsin Highway 77

8 Coal

Oil storage

U.S. 51

Welding shop Gas station

Pulpwood loading

52"

Water tank 3 Welding IRONWOOD, Mich.

10 Team track Cohodas Paoli Produce

Sand

52"

48"

Mansfield Street viaduct

Tool sheds

geographically to the prototype based on United States Geological Survey maps. I set the layout between 1950 and 1960 so I could highlight the five underground iron mines active during this time. I then drew the track plan full size on roll paper laid on the basement floor. Once I confirmed everything fit, I transferred the dimensions up from the full-size drawing using a plumb bob.

Pulpwood Peterson Mine loading

Siemens Yard

53"

7 52" 55"

1.35 percent grade

The layout at a glance Name: Gogebic Iron Range Lines Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 23 x 27 feet Locale: northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Era: 1950 to 1960 Style: walk-in Minimum radius: 24" (one 18") Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 1.35 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: 52" to 55" Roadbed: cork over cookie cutter plywood (main), Homasote (yards)

Track: Micro Engineering code 70 ﬂextrack and no. 6 turnouts, Shinohara no. 4 and curved turnouts Scenery: plaster-soaked paper towels over cardboard strips; carved foam board Backdrop: photos on 1⁄8" hardboard Control: NCE Digital Command Control

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

4Yǀ FEPP GSRMJIVW -J ]SYśZI FIIR EVSYRH XLI LSFF] for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard of puffball trees. These are pieces of black, brown, or green poly fiber that are teased into the shape of a ball, dipped in a mixture of water and glue, and coated with ground foam. Puffballs are an easy and cheap way to model a dense forest canopy. However, I didn’t need a forest canopy. Instead, I needed conifers. To make puffball conifers, I first shaped the poly fiber into a ball. Then

I coated it with hairspray. With the hairspray still wet, I sprinkled on ground foam. After the hairspray had dried, I cut each puffball in half and glued the flat side to the layout. After the glue dried completely, I pulled the poly fiber up, teasing it into the shape of a conifer. I interspersed Scenic Express SuperTrees with my puffball conifers. I was amazed how quickly forested hillsides took shape using this method. – Hans Schlegel

4. Hans modeled this wooded scene between Bessemer and Ramsay, Mich., using a combination of puffball conifers and Scenic Express SuperTrees.

The benchwork is mostly open grid. The roadbed is cookie cutter 5 ⁄8" plywood and cork on risers. Flat areas and yards are Homasote on plywood. The backdrop is 24" high 1 ⁄8"-thick tempered hardboard painted light blue. The fascia and valances are also 1 ⁄8"-thick tempered hardboard. I painted the hardboard, as well as the drywall ceiling above the aisles, a color similar to Pullman Green to create a shadowbox effect.

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The room is lit with 42" single tube 4,000K light-emitting didoes (LEDs) that I purchased at The Home Depot. The tubes are hidden behind valances. I used 4,000K LED track lights over the peninsulas.

Learning from the pros Industrial archeology became a side hobby while learning more about the Gogebic Range. I was able to ﬁnd photos and information on

the mines and other rail-served customers through local historical societies and online sources. Two of the most valuable people I encountered while doing prototype research were Don Evanstad and Bob “Red” Anderson. They were the last two railroaders who worked the range. Don and Bob provided a wealth of knowledge about train movements. Though both men have since passed, the information they

shared helped shape operations on my model railroad. Another professional railroader, C.J. Sukanen, has been inﬂuential in the evolution of the layout. C.J. is an engineer for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming, an iron ore hauling railroad in Marquette, Mich. His talent is in visualizing improvements and enhancements to the track plan and operations. He also provides input to improve the look of the layout. Recently, he

suggested I weather the roads with ore dust. I always know that I’ll have my work cut out for me when he calls. C.J. and I carefully documented the experiences and stories recounted by Don and Bob. Although both men were in their 90s, their memory of events was amazing. As an example, while taking Don on a ride along the old C&NW grade near Siemens Yard, he found the foundation of the old train order

5. A large portion of the Montreal River is the border between Wisconsin and Michigan. As the station wagon and tow-behind camper enter the Badger State, Chicago & North Western GP7 no. 1558 leads its train toward Ironwood in the Wolverine State.

6. Hans modeled the fascia-hugging Ironwood, Mich., roundhouse with a cutaway section, revealing a detailed scene with shop tools and figures. Here, mechanics tend to Chicago & North Western Alco RS-1 no. 1081.

7. The Gogebic Range was home to the Chicago & North Western and Soo Line railroads. Trains from both roads are visible in this over-under shot. As Soo Line RS-1 no. 105 leads a freight train above, C&NW GP7 no. 1558 makes its way to Bessemer, Mich.

8. Steam and diesel locomotives work side-by-side on Hans’ layout. At Ironwood, Mich., C&NW 0-6-0 no. 2118 takes on coal at a tower Hans scratchbuilt from wood based on photos and drawings in a book published by the Chicago & North Western Historical Society.

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Signs of the time When you enter the layout room, the first town you see is Hurley, Wis. I used the Walthers Cornerstone Series Merchant’s Row I kit to model a cluster of businesses at the corner of U.S. 51 and Wisconsin Highway 77. Instead of attaching the signs included with the kit, I tried a different approach to personalize the businesses. I have postcards in my collection with photos of Silver Street in Hurley. All of the views show signs for the bars, restaurants, and other businesses that lined the street. To re-create these signs, I called the graphic design department at

Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis. I asked the instructor to give my e-mail address to a student who would be interested in making HO scale signs. Shortly after I contacted the college, I received a reply from a student. The images on the cards were a bit blurry, so scanning and resizing wasn’t an option. Instead, the student drew the signs from scratch. I think he did an excellent job. Having signs like Club Francis, Jackpot’s Flame Bar, and Ritz Bar help reinforce the setting and era of my model railroad. – Hans Schlegel

9. A student at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., created signs for Hans’ layout. The signs are based on those from businesses along Silver Street in Hurley, Wis.

signal that was covered in vegetation. He hadn’t been there in 45 years!

Running trains An operating session starts with road trains bringing empty ore cars from the docks in Escanaba, Mich., by way of Watersmeet, Mich., and Ashland, Wis. The empties are dropped off in Hoyt, Wis.; Ironwood, Mich.; or Siemens Yard. Local mine runs take the empties and switch out the mines,

returning the loads to the aforementioned rail yards. After dropping off the empties, the road trains route the loads back to the docks. A C&NW manifest train drops off general freight in Hurley, Wis. A North Western way freight picks up these cars and sets them out on sidings en route to Watersmeet and returns. Local switch crews spot cars from this train at businesses and industries. The Soo Line has a similar trafﬁc pattern

between Ashland, Wis., and Bessemer, Mich. In addition to these trains, the C&NW handles all-rail ore shipments directly to South Chicago, Ill., and Granite City Steel in East St. Louis, Ill., in partially ﬁlled coal hoppers. Passenger trains were operated by both railroads. The Soo ran a mixed train. The North Western operated the Flambeau 400 between Chicago and Ashland, Wis., via Green Bay, Wis., with

stops in Hurley and Ironwood by way of a backup move. Since Hurley and Ironwood are so close on my layout, I decided not to include the C&NW Flambeau 400 in my operating scheme. Our round-robin group operating group consists of Joe DeGroot, Dale Krueger, Scott Payne, Mark and Marvin Preussler, and Ivan Vergowe. We run about 12 trains over a 31 ⁄2 hour session using the RailOP car routing program and radio

NCE ProCabs. There are no signals on the layout, and I don’t use a fast clock.

Scenery from the source Scenery and structures are my two favorite aspects of model railroading. I made the basic landforms by covering webs of cardboard strips with plastersoaked paper towels. I scenicked the layout with ground foam, static grass, and real dirt from old rail grades in the

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measurements I took of the prototypes.

Rolling stock and engines

10. Soo Line Electro-Motive Division SW9 no. 2112 builds up a train in the joint yard at Ironwood, Mich. The scratchbuilt Mansfield Street viaduct is visible in the background.

Gogebic Range. I used a saw, ﬁllet knife, and 60-grit sandpaper to shape the bases for the ore stockpiles from foam board. Crushed and sifted iron ore from the actual modeled mines is then glued on with diluted matte Mod Podge. I used a multi-step process to model the water features. To start, I applied 1 ⁄8" layers of slow-drying lightweight drywall compound that I diluted to a soupy consistency. I allowed the compound to dry thoroughly between layers. Once the ﬁnal layer dried, I painted the drywall compound a color similar to root beer. Most lakes and streams in the Upper Peninsula are this color because of dissolved minerals and tannins. I used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water for the surface coat. The backdrops are all photos taken in the Upper Peninsula and printed on sheets of 81 ⁄2" x 11" copy paper. Some printouts were done with an inkjet printer. Others

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were made on a laser printer at an office supply store. After I trimmed the printouts, I test fit them and marked their location. I attached the paper to the painted tempered hardboard with matte Mod Podge diluted at a 1:4 ratio. I coved the seam between the backdrop and horizontal layout surface to make the transition less obvious. I used Micro Engineering (ME) code 70 flextrack throughout the layout. The turnouts are a mix of ME no. 6 and Shinohara no. 4 and curved. The majority of the turnouts are manually operated. Those in the return loop are infrared controlled and equipped with Tortoise by Circuitron switch motors.

Mines and more I scratchbuilt all the mine shafthouses by scaling prototype photographs. This was actually easier than it might sound. If you assume a standard door measures 3 x 7 feet, a corrugated panel is 4 x 10 feet, or a handrail is 42" high,

the other dimensions can be determined using a drafting divider and scale. I later came across the actual dimensions in a mining journal. It turns out my models were very close to scale. When it came time to build the mines, I used a paper cutter to cut the .040" styrene sheet and a corner punch to make the window openings. These tools saved a considerable amount of time. I scratchbuilt most of the Ironwood engine terminal structures from wood, referencing photos and drawings in A. Joseph Follmar’s Locomotive Facilities: C&NW and CStPM&O Engine Terminals (Chicago & North Western Historical Society, 1996). The coaling tower, built in 1907, was C&NW’s ﬁrst mechanical one. I scratchbuilt it [see page 48. – Ed.] using Interstate Commerce Commission valuation drawings from the National Archives. The bridges are scratchbuilt or kitbashed following

Not surprisingly, ore cars are the backbone of my freight car ﬂeet. There are 100 uniquely numbered cars on the layout. I weathered them with iron ore dust. The loads are crushed natural iron ore glued to shaped pieces of foam board. Many of the eastern road cars, as well as the Soo Line cabooses, are the work of the late Dave Lockwood, a friend and talented modeler. I use some of the many coal hoppers he built for all-rail unit ore trains. Most of the steam and diesel locomotives are numbered to match prototypes that operated in the Gogebic Range. About half of my locomotives are ﬁtted with sound decoders. My goal is to eventually equip all of the locomotives with LokSound decoders.

Closing thoughts Building the HO scale Gogebic Iron Range Lines layout has been an enjoyable process. To avoid getting overwhelmed, I built the model railroad to a manageable size. By completing one section at a time, I was able to experience a sense of accomplishment. Constructing the 23 x 27-foot model railroad has given me a great deal of satisfaction. Through it I’ve been able to tell the story and preserve

12. The Newport Mine complex consists of the shafthouse, maintenance shop, oil shed, cable towers, and narrow gauge tram. The stockpile features crushed and sifted ore from the full-size mine. The prototype photos Hans referenced when scratchbuilding the structures are above the backdrop.

the history of the Gogebic Range and those who lived and worked there. It’s been a great way to share experiences with modelers and visitors.

11. There’s plenty of room for trains to stretch their legs between towns. Chicago & North Western GP7 no. 1558 rumbles over Siemens Creek with a short train. Homemade photo backdrops, printed on 81 ⁄2" x 11" paper, make the narrow scene look much deeper.

You’re the

Conrail ELSE, a manifest freight from Elkhart, Ind., to Selkirk, N.Y., winds downgrade on the Onondaga Cutoff. Power assignments for manifest freights vary but rely on six-axle power often, represented here by lead SD60 no. 6852. Photos by the author

Fleet management on the Onondaga Cutoff By Dave Abeles

Locomotives: A railroad can’t run without them. Modelers are universally interested in locomotive power, and many of us accumulate them in numbers beyond what we need or can even ﬁt on our layouts. For many, our fascination with model trains is focused on motive power, whether for you that means steam engines, diesels, or electrics. When we then think about locomotive power in terms of railroading, we take a bit of a step back and see a larger picture. Each steam, diesel or electric locomotive – even self-propelled cars such as RDCs – in every era was part of an operating plan for

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the railroad it served. Motive power – not just locomotives or RDCs, but the entire motive power infrastructure including shops, maintenance departments and servicing facilities – is a huge investment. The more of its time each locomotive spends

moving cars and generating revenue, the better the return on that investment. On small railroads, sometimes with just one or two locomotives, this plan is simple: maintain the locomotive when the train isn’t running so it’s ready to be used

when the crew needs it. Moving trafﬁc is why railroads exist, and from where they draw income so that all the support activity is built around getting locomotives out moving trains. For larger operations, though, managing motive power

quickly takes on a new level of complexity. Mid-sized and major railroads have ﬂeets of locomotives to keep in good repair. Federal requirements demand a minimum level of regular inspection and maintenance. All railroads manage their me-

Intermodal trains often drew four-axle, high-horsepower consists on Conrail in 1994. Here four-axle GEs, including B40-8 no. 5088 and a pair of B36-7s, lead train TV10X, an extra section of the Chicago-to-NorthBergen, N.J., piggyback train, one of the hottest trains on the system.

chanical operations in a similar fashion: a group that inspects, maintains, and schedules the locomotives and cars to provide revenue service and safe repair on a regular basis. On your railroad, you’re the boss. My HO scale layout, the Onondaga Cutoff (OC), is modeled as part of Conrail’s Chicago Line, which is the former New York Central Water Level Route – one of the original American ‘trunk lines’ between New York City on the East Coast and Chicago in the Midwest. In my era, this double-track main line hosted about 50

trains every 24 hours through central New York. The vast majority would need several locomotives operating together, commonly referred to as a locomotive consist. Such consists are “M.U.’ed” (an acronym for “multiple units”) by connecting a series of electrical cables and air hoses between each locomotive so all can be controlled by one engineer in the lead unit’s cab. Given the number of MU consists needed for each train, modeling this sort of trafﬁc density requires a ﬂeet of locomotives to be ready to go. What about that inspection, maintenance, and

Power Desks sometimes need to make do with available power to keep scheduled trains moving. Here, intermodal train TV14 storms east with three six-axle locomotives from Conrail’s fleet while a smaller four-axle GP15-1 handles yard duty on train YAON-14.

YAON-14, the day shift yard job at Onondaga Yard, is nearly always assigned four-axle power, as seen here with GE B23-7 no. 1967. B23-7s were everywhere on the Conrail Albany Division in the 1990s.

scheduling of locomotives within a larger ﬂeet? How much of that really affects what we see? Is this something worth con-

sidering when modeling trains and moving trains on your layout? What if you were the Power Desk for an operating session on

the Onondaga Cutoff? Let’s see how the ﬂeet of locomotives for a typical operating session on my HO scale railroad is inspected,

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Conrail GP38 no. 7714 is taking fuel on the S&I (Service & Inspection) tracks at Onondaga Engine Terminal.

With many local freights running in daylight, much of the locomotive servicing and inspection happens at night. B23-7 no. 1931 and GP38 no. 7714 go through the process after midnight at Onondaga Engine Terminal.

maintained, and assigned.

Service and inspection Like the prototype, which follows a series of federally-mandated inspections as a basis

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to keep power safe, we regularly inspect and service locomotives on the Onondaga Cutoff. These inspections include regularly checking maintenance items such as proper gauge

of wheelsets, coupler height, and knuckle spring function; ﬁxing any loose or broken handrails or details; and ensuring the headlight is working. One of the most critical items is

cleaning the wheels regularly. On the OC, we use the timetested and simple method of running locomotives over a paper towel set on the rails and wet with a few drops of odorless

mineral spirits. Each locomotive, before each operating session, is held in place with one truck on the paper towel while the other truck picks up power, spinning the wheels and removing dirt and carbon buildup. On a longer cycle, items like gear lubrication are also checked and adjusted as needed. Finally, electrical adjustments are made. The Onondaga Cutoff uses NCE Digital Command Control. Each locomotive in the ﬂeet is decoderequipped and programmed to respond to the locomotive’s

cab number. Once that is programmed into the decoder, each locomotive is run in a consist along with a control unit in order to speed-match the new engine to the existing ﬂeet, preparing it to be part of the pool of power available for operation. As locomotives age and wear, sometimes those speeds need to be rechecked and adjusted to ensure smooth operation in a consist.

Power assignments Once power has passed inspections and is ready for work, a different group assigns it to an outbound train. Conrail purchased locomotives based on factors including reliability, purchase cost, and the age and condition of existing locomotives, in addition to the intended use of the new locomotive. Since the early days of the railroads, mechanical engineers and managers alike realized the relationship between power and speed. Smaller, lighter locomotives were better suited for passenger trains or high-speed, timesensitive freight such as mail, milk, magazines, meat, fruit, vegetables, and less-than-carload-lot parcel trafﬁc. These locomotives accelerated faster and could sustain higher speeds. Smaller locomotives geared for lower speeds were useful on local and switching jobs where they might encounter

Engines in need of minor repairs after inspection are moved to service bays, where mechanical personnel have access to the tools needed to handle the job.

tighter curves. Larger, heavier, slower locomotives put their higher horsepower and tractive effort to work on heavy trains, keeping them moving steadily even on uphill climbs. To this end, up until the early 1990s Conrail tended to use four-axle diesels on its intermodal and automotive trains and six-axle power on coal and mineral trains, with a mix of locomotives on manifest freights. The adoption of computer-controlled wheel slip and power management in the GE Dash-8 series and on EMD’s 50- and 60-series locomotives allowed locomotives to perform better in any type of service and has since blurred the lines drawn by previous locomotive

Foreign power is serviced alongside home road locomotives to keep the trains moving. Canadian National GP40-2L(W) no. 9549 has a burnt-out ditch light and a minor crack in the snowplow, both of which will be repaired by Conrail crews to get the power back on the road quickly. Railroads share costs for such operations.

managers. Today, modern GE and Progress Rail/EMD six-axle locomotives with computerized tractive controls are the norm on all class-1

mainline trains in North America. To manage these requirements and to make sure that inspections were carried out on time, each

division point would staff a “power desk” in charge of locomotive assignments. The power desk manager was responsible for turning locomotives

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Each operating session gets a unique power plan on the OC. Here, the plan for one of Dave’s remote sessions is shown, including locomotives in the consist and instructions for power disposition after the run.

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over to Service & Inspection staff and then assigning motive power to trains once the locomotive was returned to operations. The power desk was also responsible for making sure that each train met its horsepower requirements over each stretch of the railroad. For example, heavier trains required more horsepower, while ﬂatter segments of road didn’t require as much horsepower. On the Onondaga Cutoff, power is assigned to trains based on Conrail’s practices. A key to captur-

ing the ﬂavor of the prototype is to match speciﬁc locomotive types with the type of trains they led on the prototype. Piggyback trains are usually powered systemwide by four-axle power. Grain and coal trains get six-axle power. The newest power in 1994, SD60M’s and C40-8W’s, are also common on all mainline trains. Manifest trains get a wide variety of locomotives from all these groups. Local power can vary based on division. With many of Conrail’s B23-7’s based out of Selkirk, OC locals

set of four-axle units, or a pair of six-axles ended up on an intermodal train to meet horsepower requirements. That same pattern is followed on the Onondaga Cutoff.

Prototypical variety

Morning light finds power ready for assignment after overnight servicing at Onondaga Engine Terminal.

are normally handled by these smaller GEs, with occasional GP38’s, GP38-2’s or GP15-1’s in the mix as well. Exceptions did happen. The power desk did its best to assign engines to trains to maximize the beneﬁts discussed above, but sometimes a train needed to move with whatever power was available. So sometimes, manifest freights would get a

Despite the preferences of a power desk, variety has a way of creeping in on the prototype. Especially for the modern era that I model, one of the most common sources of consist variety is “foreign” power – locomotives from other railroads that are running on the host railroad. These “run-through units” can add color and variety to a ﬂeet, especially on busy main lines. Another source of foreign power from the 1990s through today is leasing companies that rent locomotives to railroads. As locomotives need weekly, monthly, or semiannual service, they will be cycled to a shop building as part of a consist. Often these maintenance cycles can result in switchers or extra road power being coupled behind the head end power of a train, leading to unusual lashups with extra variety. These can be easily modeled by consisting switchers into road consists, suggesting a world beyond the

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Speed-matching your locomotives When the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) developed the standards for Digital Command Control (DCC), it created a standard for decoders. Any NMRA-compliant decoder in any manufacturer’s locomotive can work with others. However, many of the configuration variables (CVs) that allow customization of decoders are not standardized. Speed control is one of the items that’s not standardized. In the early days of DCC, that meant that locomotives from different manufacturers or with different brands of decoders ran at different speeds, and therefore could not be used in a consist together. Adjusting speeds was cumbersome and prone to trial and error. Today, thanks to the developers of Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI), speed matching is a simpler procedure. Visit jmri.org and click on the links for DecoderPro, JMRI’s software for decoder programming. Follow instructions to create roster entries for each locomotive. Once you open a roster file and look at the Speed tab, each of the CV’s controlling speed levels is displayed for each locomotive as a sliding graph. Each of the keys adjusts the voltage to the motor at that speed step. The dropdown menu allows you to choose a curve, either pre-set or user-defined, the latter of which is the most accurate approach for a large fleet. Build a consist of the new locomotive with your control sample and run it at full throttle first. Adjust the high ends of each, write the values to the decoders, and check to see if the speeds match, followed by the middle speeds and low speeds. Further adjustments can be made on the Basic tab to start voltages as needed. Working methodically through your fleet can ensure that all your locomotives will run smoothly in various consists. – Dave Abeles

Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI)’s DecoderPro software offers a graphical interface that makes setting up a custom speed curve for a DCC locomotive easy.

layout where a larger shop will perform the scheduled inspection and maintenance.

Keep ’em moving! Railroads exist to move trains. You can adapt the approach we have taken on the Onondaga Cutoff to your layout, as well. A steady vision of attention to the

maintenance and speed matching of your locomotives will lead to more consistent runs, which in turn adds to the fun of the hobby. If you are hosting operation sessions, all the more reason to ensure your locomotives are well maintained and ready to go. Guest operators will have more fun when you make sure

that your mechanical department is doing its best to keep trains moving! When a consist passes, you can relax and smile as the locomotives work together. Just like the prototype, your railroad is moving trains, and everyone is looking forward to a safe trip that’s made better by well-tuned locomotives.

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Tool tips and workshop tricks No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder.” And that’s exactly what these smart Off the Rails tips let you do. If you want to see them in action, take a look at the Off the Rails episodes mentioned in each tip. You’ll ﬁnd them – and all the episodes – on Trains.com. By Gerry Leone

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8EOI XLI LIEX Sǀ

A perfect pickup

When soldering, the idea is to do it quickly so you don’t dam-

Spikes, nails, and other pieces of metal lost between the

age the parts. But sometimes stuff just doesn’t want to be soldered quickly. What you need is a “heat sink.” And the quickest, cheapest one you can possibly use is a piece of wet facial tissue. Plunk a piece on both sides of where the solder will be applied, or on the wires, and it’ll keep that heat from doing any damage. (Episode 53)

rails can wreak havoc with locomotives if they happen to get picked up by the motor. You can solve this issue by making a simple modification to a piece of rolling stock. Glue a magnet or two to the bottom of a flatcar and let the car pick the stuff up. Clean off the magnet every now and then! (Episode 53)

A corner on the market

No penalty for clipping

It’s not always easy to get a perfect 90-degree corner when

Have a hill on your layout where cars won’t stand still? A

you’re building a structure. But your kids’ or grandkids’ Lego blocks can help. They snap together in perfect 90-degree corners. Just build a form to rest your building walls against and glue the walls together. Be careful not to glue them to the Legos! (Episode 51)

mini-dollhouse clothespin makes a great, inexpensive hill brake. Find them at most craft stores. Sand the “nose” so the “teeth” grab the web of the rail then keep ‘em handy by storing them on uncoupling skewers! (Episode 51)

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(S XLI X[MWX

=SY HIWIVZI E LERH

=SYśPP ǂ RH XLI TIVJIGX FSXXPI for dripping diluted white

=SY YWYEPP] RIIH XLVII hands when soldering at your work-

glue or rubbing alcohol on to your ground foam or ballast at Sally Beauty Supply. The Harmon Face Values 4-ounce bottle has a twistopen cap, letting you get the perfect amount of flow for your project. If you don’t have a Sally Beauty Supply near you, visit the store’s website, sallybeauty.com. (Episode 46)

bench. But not if you buy special self-closing soldering tweezers. This tool will keep your wires steady, letting you hold the soldering iron and solder. The tweezers are also referred to as cross locking, and are available with or without a stand from most electronics suppliers. (Episode 45)

8MR] ERH XIHMSYW KIXW XEQIH

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-J VIKYPEV WSPHIVMRK MW HMǅ GYPX soldering wire to surface-

-XśW LEVH XS LERK SR to grab irons (or figures) when you’re

mount light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is really tedious. Make it easier on yourself by investing in an LED/wire holding tool (no. NT301) from ngineering.com. It holds even nano LEDs and wire in place so you can simply touch the soldering iron to the LED and wire to secure it. (Episode 45)

painting them. But try sticking them into a soft eraser or a piece of cork and it’ll be much easier to give ‘em a paint job. In this photo you can see a grab iron at the left edge of the eraser. I used a drill bit in a pin vise to make a hole in the bottom of the figure. I attached the brass wire with cyanoacrylate adhesive. (Episode 43)

3R XLI VEMPW

4SPMWL ]SYV WLSVXW

1EOI WXVYGXYVI ERH SXLIV PMKLXW easy to remove from the

%VI PSGSQSXMZIW SV GEVW WLSVXMRK on the sides of the

layout by using spare small pieces of rail and rail joiners. Mount the rail inside the structure and connect the joiners to the power. Slide the joiners on the rails to connect the lights; slide ‘em off to remove the structure. (Episode 35)

points or frog of turnouts? Put some clear (or brown) nail polish on the offending rail. Nail polish is built to be tough. It’ll stand up to train wheels bumping it for a long, long time. If the polish wears off, just apply some more. (Episode 13)

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Model

Make convincing concrete thoroughfares with just a few supplies By Steve Brown Roads give a scene purpose, direction, life, and detail that looks great on my model railroad. You only need basic materials, tools, and “regular guy” skills to produce some awesome paved roads on your layout.

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Elevate your structures First, I needed to raise my structures to the proper grade. The loading docks were too low and didn’t line up with the cars well. I removed them from the layout. I applied dots of CA adhesive along the undersides of the foundations, then applied scrap pieces of cork roadbed 1 . This brought the structures to the proper grade as well as the grade of the new roadways.

To secure the cork roadbed to the layout, Steve first applied a bead of Gorilla Construction Adhesive to the area.

Raise those roads

Great looking concrete roads aren’t difficult to make. You’ll need a few basic supplies and the process Steve Brown describes here.

I wanted the roads elevated relative to the track. Why do you need to elevate the road surface ﬁrst? I discovered that if you apply too thick of a layer of drywall joint compound, the compound tends to crack as it dries. These large cracks are not what we want to see in N scale. It is my experience these cracks are hard to repair or work into the scene. A thinner layer of joint compound on top of a thicker substrate is the better way to go. Frankly, the easiest way to do this is to use sheet cork and place a single piece to grade the road. My problem is, I have tons of cork roadbed but a tiny budget, so instead I used multiple strips of cork roadbed pieced together to form a single layer.

Mask away Since I already had my backdrop installed and painted and my

Use a putty knife to smooth the adhesive into a thin layer.

ALIGN BEVELED EDGES FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM THE ROADBED.

Add pieces of cork roadbed to fill the area. The author used scraps, but you could also cut larger pieces of sheet cork.

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Add cork pieces until you fill the roadway area, then let the adhesive dry completely before the next step.

track was already laid, I needed to do some masking. I can get sloppy when applying the joint compound. While it’s not a big deal to clean off, a little advance preparation can save you work down the road. I used painter’s tape to cover the track at the grade crossings to avoid getting joint compound on it. I also placed tape against the backdrop to protect it from any mess. I could’ve just sanded and repainted the backdrop if I had to, but why bother?

Subroadbed application 6

With a putty knife, apply joint compound on top of the cork. Try to make the surface as smooth as possible. It will save time later.

After letting the joint compound dry for at least 24 hours, use a semicoarse sanding sponge to smooth any rough areas.

Paint the roadway with inexpensive acrylic paints. The author prefers to mix colors to model a weathered surface.

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To secure the cork roadbed, I applied a bead of Gorilla Construction Adhesive 2 . This glue has a sticky, yet slippery consistency when it comes out of the tube, and it doesn’t take long to set up. In most cases, I could continue working after just a few minutes. If I needed to make a change in the future, a little pressure with a putty knife easily pops off whatever I’ve glued down. This has come in handy more than once. I laid down the construction adhesive in the basic shape where I wanted my road to go. Then I used a putty knife to spread the adhesive around until I had good coverage over the roadway area 3 . It doesn’t take a lot of adhesive to make this work. You just need enough to be sure the cork will stick securely. You don’t want thick spots, but

you also don’t want spots that are too thin. If you’ve had success laying your roadbed and track, this process is similar. As you’ll see moving forward, ballast for the track is going to spill out onto the roadway. Having that gap so close to the track would have been problematic. I used the ﬁrst piece of cork as a jumping off point. To make sure the transition was smooth, I ﬂipped the cork over so the bevel of the roadbed for the track and the bevel of the cork for the roadway lined up 4 . I continued to add more cork strips until I got to the edge of the roadway 5 . After letting the adhesive completely dry, it’s time to apply the joint compound.

Apply joint compound This part of the process, frankly, was not rocket science. To start, I put on gloves and scooped some of the joint compound out of the container. Then, I slathered it on until I had decent coverage. Next, I used a putty knife to smooth out the joint compound as best as I could 6 . This is an important step. The smoother you get it, the less sanding you will need to do later. You’ll want to get the joint compound as close to perfect as possible. It doesn’t have to be exact, but close. Once the joint compound has set up a little, you can moisten it and rub your

gloved ﬁngers over it. This will help make it smoother, similar to using Sculptamold or Hydrocal. Let it dry for at least 24 hours.

Sand and smooth Once the joint compound dried, it was time to sand it smoothish. I wasn’t trying to make this perfectly smooth and ﬂat. The idea was to have an old and semiweathered roadway by the time I was done. One of the things I love about joint compound is it takes paint very well, and it’s also agreeable to sanding. I took a semicoarse sanding sponge and gently ran it along the roadway to get rid of the “hills” left by the application 7 . It only took a few passes to get to what I was looking for. I also used the sponge to shape the edges of the roadway to something that looked like a shoulder or would otherwise blend in with the scenery. Make sure you don’t sand down to the cork subsurface too much. Once the joint compound was sanded down to something I was happy with, I vacuumed up the dust and took another look at the application. It is at this time you may ﬁnd potholes or ridges. This may or may not work for your application. In my case, I didn’t mind the potholes because they seemed to add a cool detail to the roadway. When you get to painting, some of those potholes will

be “softened” by the application of paint.

Tips

Time to paint Now, it’s time to apply the paint. I like to use acrylic paints for this. These are water soluble and can be used for convincing washes. They also make for easy cleanup. The paints I used are Craft Smart gray and black. Both have a flat finish. These paints are readily available at both local craft stores and big-box stores. If I was looking for a newer roadway, I could just use the black. However, I wanted something a little more weathered. You can mix these colors to your liking and apply them with a paintbrush 8 . These paints on the sanded joint compound offer a convincing look no matter the colors you have chosen. I would recommend adding the black first because that’s the way roads are laid. After that, before it is completely dried, begin introducing the gray. A lighter gray will produce a more weathered look than a darker gray. The good news is, you can just keep working with the black and gray until you find that exact look you’re going for. If you don’t like how it turns out, let dry and paint over it. These acrylic paints really look good, and are very forgiving.

Final details To complete the scene, I painted and

• Before painting the drywall compound, first test-fit the structures on your layout. Use a sharp hobby knife to remove excess material so the structures sit correctly.

• Try this concrete technique in other areas of your layout. I’ve used it to produce awesome concrete roadways and decks at my port.

• I strongly recommend against using any powered means of sanding for this project. The motor in the sander and the fan that cools it will distribute the dust like you’d not believe. It won’t matter how well you mask off and protect your layout, the dust will plague you for the rest of your life. Trust me. I’ve been there. ballasted the track, added real dirt, and placed a bit of landscaping to disguise some edges. You can learn more about these ﬁnal details by checking out the

“Scale it Down with Steve Brown” video series on Trains.com. This is an inexpensive and simple way to produce convincing roadways. I used this technique exclusively

on the N scale Brown Smith RR and was not disappointed. I’m hoping you will get the same results with this “regular guy” technique on your model railroad.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Modeling a typical

1 A farmer finishing picking a field of “fired” (mature) corn waves to the fireman of No. 45 as the local slows to drop off the

head brakeman just east of the entrance to the Oakland, Ill., passing track. Tony Koester offers tips and techniques for modeling a “typical” small town. Photos by the author

Oakland, Ill., offers interesting opportunities By Tony Koester

I have a “basement-sized” HO scale model railroad. But it’s really nothing more than a series of single-town model railroads strung end-to-end. They depict, in correct geographical order, a series of small towns located along the former Nickel Plate Road’s St. Louis Division between Frankfort, Ind., and Charleston, Ill. Each of these prototypically based towns is called a Layout Design Element (LDE). An LDE is deﬁned as a visually and operationally recognizable model of an actual location, be it a town, yard, engine terminal, major bridge, “signature” scene, harbor, large industry, or whatever. It’s a concept as useful to freelancers as prototype modelers, since they don’t have to re-invent the

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wheel. Instead, they choose LDEs representative of the region and type of railroad they are depicing, thus helping to ensure a prototypical look and feel to their railroads. If it worked for the prototype, they know from Day One that it will work for them.

Oakland, Illinois When Frank Hodina and I started to design the Third

Subdivision of the NKP’s St. Louis Division, I doubt that I’d ever heard of Oakland, Ill. By the time I’d glued down Micro Engineering (ME) ﬂextrack and ME no. 6 and upgraded Shinohara no. 8 turnouts, I’d amassed a tremendous amount of information about this east-central Illinois community. Its attributes included several industries, a Pennsylvania RR crossing and inter-

change, and a long deck-truss bridge west of town. See Great Model Railroads 2022 for an updated look at my HO layout. I model the fall of 1954 just prior to steam’s demise on this division the following summer. Bill Darnaby, Perry Squier, and I made what became known as Third Sub Safaris to visit towns along the line to see what remained of the steam-era NKP.

Whether you model a speciﬁc prototype as I do now or have your own freelanced railroad as I did with the Allegheny Midland, I suspect you’ll ﬁnd that gathering information is as interesting and rewarding as applying it to your railroad.

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I checked official NKP track charts, which are available from the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society (nkphts.org); you’ll find similar information from other railroad-specific organizations. I discovered that the NKP served a lumberyard, two oil dealers, and two grain elevators, as well as interchanging with a branch of the Pennsylvania RR. I regarded the interchange as a major bonus, as it’s what we call a “universal industry” in that almost any type and quantity of freight car can be exchanged there. Compare that to, say, a retail oil dealer, grain elevator, or lumberyard for variety. Plan 1 above shows my HO track plan for Oakland. It’s 16" wide and stretches about 30 linear feet, a bit long for a typical shelf layout. Moreover, the layout would need some elbow room on both ends for staging

8 2 PRR PRR depot

NKP depot

McQueen Lumber

Decker & Graham Elevator

Johnson Oil Standard Oil

Post

Oakland, Ill.

HO scale (1:87.1) Scale of plan: 5⁄32" = 1'-0", 24" grid Illustration by Rick Johnson

Find more plans online in the Trains.com Track Plan Database.

Name: Nickel Plate Road, St. Louis Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 16” x 30’-0” Maximum grade: none Benchwork: open grid, plywood shelf Height: 663⁄4” Roadbed: Homasote and Homabed Scenery: 3⁄8” extruded-foam insulation board; plastercloth on screen Backdrop: 1⁄8” tempered hardboard with digital images

NKP-PRR interchange

Track plan at a glance

so that at least a local – that’s second-class train No. 45 on the Third Sub – can come into town, do its work, and then continue west, perhaps meeting a train here or being passed by one. But since there’s no aisle width to contend with, you can expand the plan to a larger scale or reduce it to a smaller scale by multiplying it by the proper factor (1.8 for O, .54 for N).

Switching Oakland If you have any experience switching towns, by now you’ve noticed that a westbound train will have to run around its setouts (shoves) and pickups (pulls). And since the NKP ran only a westbound local on this subdivision, that’s exactly what the crew had to do. For us modelers, that’s a bonus, as it means more work to do in a small area! But let’s think this through: Since all siding turnouts have facing-point switches, switching Oakland is easy. Just think of the local as an eastbound train and make the pulls accordingly even though the steam engine is facing “backward.” The engineer has a great view, as all in-

2 The local’s first stop is at the depot so the conductor can chat with the

agent about the work that needs to be done today and so less-than-carload lot and Railway Express packages can be dropped off. Its consist includes a rider car for packages, a Southern Ry. double-door boxcar going on west, and empty 40-foot boxcars for local grain elevators.

3 The local leaves the setouts on the passing track and runs around using

the main. They’ll then pull all of the pickups and set them aside, spot the empties, leave any extras on the lead, and head on west.

dustrial sidings are on the north (engineer’s) side of the main. Then run around the setouts and shove them into their cor-

rect spots. That done, once the pulls have been run around, the local is ready to continue west. And avoid switching while

hanging onto the caboose; the conductor would be none too pleased with that. Switching Oakland would be simple for

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Sky backdrop

No. 42

No. 48

Frankland-Charlestown staging

Main

No. 41

Passing track

2" 2" 2"

Extra equipment storage

Wood overpass

Oakdale, Illiana HO scale (1:87.1) Scale of plan: 3⁄4" = 1'-0", 12" grid Illustration by Kellie Jaeger

20½" radius

Passenger No. 9 Find more plans online in the Trains.com Track Plan Database.

Miller Elevator Decker & Graham elevator

Passenger No. 10 Backdrop

McQueen Lumber

Grain elevator Main Standard Oil

West to Charlestown

Pennsylvania RR

East to Frankland Interchange

Nickel Plate Road depot

Passing track/runaround

This excerpt from employee timetable no. 67 shows trains due at Oakland and towns to the east and west. The local must clear superior freight trains five minutes before their scheduled arrival and passenger trains at the time shown for the stations both east and west of Oakland. If the local was on time at Oakland – highly unlikely – its main concerns would be a late-running No. 48 and, more likely, hot No. 98.

an eastbound local – all trailing-point moves. But we’re not looking for the easy way out. The need to make runaround moves is a plus. How many such moves will depend on the length

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of your runaround track(s) and number of cars to be set out or picked up. Eastbound Second 98, better known as pokey “Old Maude,” did a lot of setout and pickup work. It

didn’t work industries or interchanges as a rule, nor did No. 45 work interchanges; that was reserved for faster Through Freights such as Nos. 48 and 41. This adds more variety to

work at Oakland. Note that a helpful eastbound crew working the PRR interchange, or even No. 45 or 2-98, could move a westbound interchange car to a double-ended track to make it easier to pick up by the next westbound through freight. If you need to block the main line to keep the runaround track(s) clear, remember that No. 45 is a second-class westbound train, which makes it inferior by class to nocturnal ﬁrst-class Trains 9 and 10 (which it’s unlikely to deal with; see excerpt from Timetable No. 67 dated April 25, 1954, at left) and by direction to eastbound secondclass trains. You would post a ﬂagman against any unexpected westbounds such as extras. You have a copy of the employee timetable schedule, so you know when to clear up for other scheduled trains, assuming you use a (fast) clock. Mine is

Track plan at a glance Name: 0akdale, Illiana Prototypes: Nickel Plate Road and Pennsylvania RR Era: Steam-to-diesel transition Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 4 x 8 feet Minimum radius: 201⁄2” Minimum turnout: no. 5 Maximum grade: none

set at 3:1 (three modeled hours equals one actual hour). Spotting cars at each industry ideally employs some sort of system. There are almost as many carforwarding systems as there are model railroads. The simplest is to replace cars with cars of the same type – a boxcar with a boxcar, for example. Many modelers use the 2" x 4" fourcycle waybills sold by Micro-Mark. I use more realistic waybills (homemade in Microsoft Word) that work essentially the

same way, except that the bills are stacked one atop another (like a deck of cards) in a 2" x 4" clear-plastic sleeve. I’ve found the latter are easier to understand. [See “More realistic waybills” at right. – Ed.]

Oakland options For even more action, Oakdale, as I’ve renamed Oakland, in the grand old state of “Illiana,” could comprise the front part of a continuous-run oval layout with some staging in the back. This is the good old 4 x 8-foot model railroad (see plan at left), which is easy to set up but has a huge footprint in that access to the two long sides is mandatory. Putting the layout on casters allows it to be stored when not in use. You could also opt to add a siding or two to accommodate switching by westbound trains without requiring a runaround movement, as I’ve done here. To simplify track construction, I’d build the PRR diamond as a dummy using gray Plastruct strips and truncate the PRR’s siding that serves the elevator short of the NKP main. But don’t eliminate this elevator or siding entirely. Even as a stub, it can provide a destination for an empty boxcar to be loaded with soybeans, and then a car loaded with beans headed for the massive Swift bean plant at the east end of the division at, let’s say, “Frankland.”

In fact, it would take four operating sessions to handle this one car: Session 1 would move an empty boxcar (“MTY XM”) from Frankland (staging) to the PRR interchange. Session 2 would require you to move the car by hand over to the truncated elevator track. (Don’t like to handle your cars? Leave it on the interchange track but cycle the waybill.) Session 3 would be to move the loaded car back to the PRR/NKP interchange track (or cycle the waybill). Session 4 would have the car picked up by a through freight and taken east to Frankland (that is, into east-end staging). Or No. 45 could backhaul it into “Charlestown” (west-end staging) for switching into the next eastbound. I kitbashed a Woodland Scenics depot to resemble the NKP depot. The operating lumberyard survives largely intact; it’s merely a photo on my backdrop. The former Decker & Graham concrete grain elevator has been modernized and expanded, but I downsized it using Walthers kit parts. The oil dealers are gone, as are the other elevators. The PRR line was abandoned long ago, but the former NKP line survives as the end of a short line that operates out of Charleston. If you model a modern era, there’s no need to worry about the diamond. A freelanced short line would be a

More realistic waybills A more realisticformat waybill jointly developed by Tony Thompson, Ted Pamperin, John King, Bill Neale, and I works essentially the same way as the old fourcycle bills. The main difference is that the bills are stacked one atop another in a clear plastic sleeve that fits in Micro-Mark’s wood bill boxes. The sleeve will hold up to eight such waybills printed on regular paper, but I typically use only two or four. Industries that ship cars, such as grain elevators, have NKP-style Empty Car Orders and truncated waybills stored in These are the waybills that the conductor had their bill boxes. when he arrived at Oakland. The Southern Ry. (SR) The Empty Car car is going on west; empty boxcars are headed to Orders are used the Miller (4) and Decker & Graham (3) elevators; to create a and one empty boxcar will continue on to the eledemand for vator at Fair Grange. The numbers in parentheses “MTY” boxcars denote the division (2000) and milepost (303 according to a for Oakland). chart showing how many cars each elevator loads on a typical day. Between operating sessions, these slips are inserted into MTY boxcars’ sleeves to cover their normal routing information (but not the car number and reporting marks) and send them to the desired elevators. Once delivered, the slips are removed and placed back in the proper elevator’s bill box. A truncated waybill is then removed from that bill box and inserted in each boxcar’s sleeve. It covers the boxcar’s routing information and sends it to a soybean plant (staging) for unloading. Between sessions, the truncated waybill is removed and returned to the elevator’s bill box for reuse, and that boxcar resumes its normal routing. – Tony Koester

perfect ﬁt on the former NKP main line. The staging yard could accommodate Nos. 9 and 10, which

were short trains (a PA-1 and four cars) and a couple of short through freights. Put a second crew mem-

ber back there and treat it like an active ﬁddle yard to extend operating sessions, or do that yourself.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Good The finished Grange House sits on the N scale State Line Route layout. Paper structure kits like this are economical and easy.

Paper kits offer options for low-cost experimentation By Steve Sweeney

4ETIV OMXW Sǀ IV QSHIPIVW an option, and

emphasize the points you might gloss over during your very ﬁrst paper kit building session.

an outlet, to try something new and to try it quickly. For the recently completed MR&T State Line Route layout in N scale, I offered to build up a Metcalfe Setting the farmhouse kit that might stand in well for a pioneer- stage Metcalfe recomera stone farm house on the plains. mends making a You have to do a double-take to know that the sides and roof are ﬂat and that the stones lack any texture other than what was printed on them. In other words, the

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paper kit takes well to being in a supporting role. For less than $10 and just under 4 hours of video AND build time, I could afford to make a few mistakes and still get

decent results. Before starting one of these kits, the best advice is to follow the instructions included with the kit, and you can’t go wrong. Let the rest of this article

“builder’s yard” for the pieces and parts of the kit that you will eventually assemble, and set them aside. I used a sheet metal box made in 8th grade shop class. This is also where I kept

my tools [see list] so I didn’t misplace them. Instead of scoring, popping out, and readying each part,

Kit details Name: Metcalfe PN157 N Scale Grange House Medium: Cardstock, printed cardstock, and styrene Price: About $9, not including shipping or taxes Website: metcalfe models.com

Tools for the job No. 11 X-acto blades, x2 Small glue applicator with micro tip Paste glue for tissue-paper wooden airplanes No. 2 pencil Household scissors A disassembled ballpoint pen Cutting mat Clean ﬁngers and thumbs for clamping Optional: Tweezers or tongs

I recommend leaving your builder’s yard open for two kinds of parts: 1) window and door assemblies and 2) pieces for the stage you are on. Working on all the window assemblies at once helps you focus on the task and get into a groove. Popping out only a few pieces at a time will also prevent confusion. Because we’re cutting and folding paper parts, it’s not always obvious which part goes where without the instructions and test ﬁtting.

Dressing windows For the windows, wash your hands to keep oils and ﬁngerprints off the glazing, then use scissors to cut along the window borders. Cutting into the printed window styrene is the only time I preferred the scissors over a no. 11 hobby knife blade. When the windows are cut and gathered, clear your work space and make room for the paper sheets from which you cut the window and door assemblies. I used the no. 11 blade for this job and for most of the cutting work. You’ve read the instructions already (right?), so you’re familiar with the

steps. Now begin mating windows and the assemblies based on their letter-number combinations (C1, D2, or “Hall window”). This is also the time to decide if you want curtains in your windows. The latest Metcalfe kits come with printed curtains you can cut out and glue in.

The Builder’s Yard – an example showing a cutting mat, a few windows, and a sheet of pieces to be cut out. Although the author cut out window frames early in construction, he advises only cutting out pieces as you need them to reduce clutter and confusion.

Gluing paper kits With the airplane paste I use, glue sets in about 30 to 90 seconds — mainly because the cardstock soaks it in so well. The window assemblies are a good time to practice gluing. I use “dots” and “stripes” in a pattern with the micro applicator to add just enough glue over most of the surface being joined so when I assemble the pieces and clamp between my index ﬁnger and thumb, glue dots squeeze out to ﬁll most gaps. Especially with the windows, I try to dot or stripe glue away from any window’s painted borders. If glue squeezes out onto glazing, I take scrap cardstock from the kit and use it like a squeegee to wipe away excess material. It should dry clear, so sometimes you can

Cutting windows from the clear styrene sheet.

see the glue, sometimes not. Like any project, less is more. You can always add more glue if you need to get parts to stick. Too much glue not only creates a mess, but it can make your paper parts soggy – not typically a problem with styrene, resin, or wood!

Fingers for tools These paper kits use inside frames or plates made from cardboard to support walls and the overall

structure. Standard corner clamping tools or jigs won’t work well here. Clean fingers are your main tool. Keep your fingers clean enough with paper towel or facial tissues to wipe off excess glue. Now try your hand at assembling walls around a frame. You may need both hands. It helps to position the pieces you are assembling on a clean, flat surface like a clean cutting mat. Use your index or middle finger for downward pressure on the

cardboard frame and a thumb and index finger to clamp two of four sides. If needed, use your index finger and thumb from your other hand to clamp the remaining two sides. Pulse your fingers occasionally to see if the pieces spring away from the frame. If they do, leave your fingers clamping the section tightly. If the pieces stick, try letting go for a second, then re-clamping. You should see that the joints have been well made and the glue is setting. If

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Matching a window to the back side of a window frame. Note the white glue “dots” on the back — no more glue is needed.

Another example of glue dots. These dots will expand and soak into both the cardboard reinforcing piece (shown) and the house walls.

Lines of glue along joint edges are another way to fix parts together. This works especially well for pieces that dry-fit together well and only need to be permanantly fixed.

The usual clamps used on wood or styrene structure kits won’t work on flexible paper and cardstock. Fingers are your best clamping tools.

Check your joints as you apply each new part to make sure your corners and joints remain square and true. You have a limited time to straighten any problem joints before the glue hardens.

you’re still on a ﬂat surface, feel free to let it rest there. Turn the piece you are working on to see if the walls and corners are true, or at least close. It’s possible, within a couple of minutes of gluing, to

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correct some warping and bad piece positioning by sheer force using your ﬁngers to reposition the pieces and clamp them until the glue dries and hardens a bit. For me, this was no more than 10 minutes.

With prior Metcalfe kits, it helped that I was building them as a stress reliever after work or in the evening. I had only so many minutes to spare at a time, and so as I ﬁnished one stage of construction, I’d often leave it sit overnight or for a couple of days. This ensured that my glue work was completely dry and that I’d have no issues with soft joints shifting as I added to the kit. But this is not necessary.

Papering over mistakes While working on the farmhouse for State Line, I made a few mistakes. In one

case, I left out a door after assembling the area around its spot. In another case, I applied a roof tile strip that I cut badly. The solution in both cases meant taking my hobby knife and, as gently as possible, prying the affected parts loose to make amends. There’s good news and bad news: Good news: Paper is pliable, ﬂexible, and cuttable while still strong. Bad news: Paper rips and it can rip in layers. And that ripping is what happened to my printed roof when I tried to lift the roofing tiles. Little printed wisps of paper came off with the offending

It’s possible...

to correct some warping and bad piece positioning by sheer force using \RXU Ʈ QJHUV WR UH position the pieces and clamp them until the glue dries and hardens a bit. —Steve Sweeney ill-cut piece. This is where a good, sharp, hobby blade helped me cut off and remove what part of the roof I could and ﬁnish cutting out the bad tiles as cleanly as possible. I used a spot of glue to paste back the roof printing, then

Using the straight lines and perfect angles on a cutting mat, double-check that your paper building is, indeed square and level.

To check that a building is level, the author gets to eye level with the building and workspace to check for gaps that indicate warping or improperly aligned walls.

The knife blade points to those printed roof sections that ripped while removing a badly done roof tile.

The author uses a ballpoint pen ink refill to roll a chimney flue tube.

lay down new tiles. I ﬁnished the repair by weathering white faces with pencil (see next block). The door, on the other hand, was a pain. I used the hobby knife to slice between paper layers near enough to the joints so that I could insert the assembled door piece. Because it was now an interior detail, I had to rely on turning and shaking the nearly ﬁnished house to position the door correctly

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and gravity (not my ﬁngers) to hold it in place. Luckily, as I said, it worked.

Details and weathering This kit has several printed details and nice folding work as part of its design. The detail most people will likely notice are the chimneys with cylindrical “pots” on top. These represent the tops of the ﬂues, and you make them by cutting and gently rolling paper into cylinders around a small drill bit, nail, or an ink reﬁll from a ballpoint pen. It’s worth spending time on the pots and the chimney

cap stones they rest on even if it seems trivial. They will be the highest point on the kit (hint: closest to the observer) and I think it’s fun to see them done well. They’re what makes the ﬁnished kit more convincing. Finally, Metcalfe recommends using paint or ink to color unprinted, cut edges of the cardstock. I like a No. 2 pencil better. Someday I may even try other colored pencils, chalks, or pastels. My fondness for the humble pencil, however, is its application ease. We’re working with paper, so you can take a sharp pencil and gently shade the

A No. 2 pencil’s lead is the only medium used for weathering this paper kit.

unprinted edges and corners, roof overhangs, sides of steps, and chimney tops. If it’s not dark enough, you can shade it in more. Shade too much? You can erase it. It’s really that easy. I also scrape off a bit of pencil lead onto

my cutting mat that I will apply as a kind of rubbing powder with my ﬁnger onto roofs and walls to give them a dirtier, weathered look. That’s also the method I used to cover up remaining blemishes left over from my roof rip earlier in the kit build.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

RD A O B

S ’ T N E K

Celebrating TH

AMTRAK’S 50 Roaming the nation from station-to-station The very thought of having to manage ambiguous trip logistics and health/ safety protocols kept some of the most intrepid domestic adventurers from taking ﬂight over the past few years. But the moment coronavirus restrictions began to lift last summer,

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I was already deep into preparations for a nationwide odyssey via my favorite means of long-distance trekking – not along roadways, but over railways. To be precise, I made big plans for a grand return to travel aboard Amtrak trains, all in time to celebrate the 50th

anniversary of the National Railroad Passenger Corp. Plenty of others have circumnavigated the States by rail, and most have done so in a more comprehensive manner than I devised. But my goal of embarking on a transcontinental journey seemed

by Kent Johnson equally daunting when set amidst a global pandemic. So why not raise the stakes and invite a few more family members? More family, more fun, and more motivation to make it all work, despite the obstacles! Setting out from my northern “border

town” (Lake Michigan separates Milwaukee from Canada, right?), we schemed to roll as close to the southern U.S. border as Amtrak routes allowed. Continuing across the Southwest, The Golden State and The Golden Gate to the Paciﬁc Ocean was our ultimate destination.

No force of nature or pandemic fears could keep the author from mapping out and pressing ahead with his Amtrak victory lap across America.

Naturally, we returned home through the Rockies, not around them. Although complications forced us to reset our intended tour to the Atlantic shores, my circuit would still be completed aboard a Boston-toChicago train. As any frequent rail traveler quickly

learns, there will always be impediments to completing a multicity, long-distance trip in our imperfect U.S. passenger rail system. Floods, ﬁres, and even federal regulations would impact our journey. But we expected the unexpected, prepared to deviate from plan(s),

and embraced the extraordinary escape this mode of transit has provided the public for more than a half century. And if you’re like me and my family, you’ll discover the travel highjinks often become the most memorable parts of a passenger rail pursuit like this!

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Amtrak Hiawatha No. 334 Miles: 86 Duration: 1¼ hours Stops: Milwaukee airport–Chicago Beginning a journey from Milwaukee is simple. But based on the timing of trains arriving into Chicago, Amtrak’s hub for most long-distance routes, you can find yourself without an immediate option for rail transit back to the MKE depot. Consequently, I prefer to originate rail travel from the MKA airport station, where long-term station parking is practical and various modes of ground transport are plentiful. And if a trip truly derails, return flights to General Mitchell International Airport also abound.

Amtrak Texas Eagle No. 21 Miles: 1,306 Duration: 32 hours Stops: ChicagoSt. Louis-San Antonio Only aboard the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited trains could we route through the Gateway to the West, then along the U.S./Mexico border. Despite some notably absent amenities (sans Superliner Sightseer Lounge) and the sketchy on-time performance of these trains, we still opted for a maiden voyage along this indirect path across the Southwest. Although in doing so, I’d regret defying my top, long-distance travel tenet: never book a same-day transit connection! My wife, son, and I, along with my parents, had barely settled into our respective Superliner

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Salt Lake City

Reno

San Francisco

California Zephyr

Denver

Coast Starlight Los Angeles

Sunset Limited sleeper accommodations when wicked weather sidetracked our train in suburban Chicago. Thankfully, a few more hands of UNO and a first-seating dinner reservation diverted focus from the growing delay. Even with limited meal options on this segment, my boxed bowl of beef, bottle of red, and superb table service left me more satisfied than I expected. However, no amount of

fortune and timely progress toward the Pacific Coast!

dessert offerings could improve the odds of locking couplers with our connecting train at San Antonio, Texas. Luckily, comparable freight train delays for the westbound Sunset restored our good

Amtrak Sunset Limited No. 1 Miles: 1,995 Duration: 48 hours Stops: New OrleansSan Antonio-Los Angeles While my parents deboarded at their intended destination, the rest of us slept soundly through the San Antonio stop. We woke early for

Dallas

San Antonio fresh fruit, Texas toast, and even bigger vistas observed from one of Amtrak’s most underrated rides. On this southernmost passenger route of the network, we brushed against the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas. But soon after that, we’d find typically arid desert scenes completely saturated by torrential downpours. Prickly pear floating in

casino winners, most deserving of a panroasted chicken dinner!

6 Amtrak Lake Shore Limited No. 449 Miles: 1018 Duration: 22 hours Stops: Boston-BuffaloChicago

Boston

Hiawatha Milwaukee Chicago

Albany

Buffalo

Cleveland

Lake Shore Limited

St. Louis

Texas Eagle

4 Amtrak Coast Starlight No. 14 ANNULLED Miles: 1,377 Duration: 35 hours Stops: Los Angeles– Emeryville–Seattle ponds of water, oh my! Nevertheless, the remarkable sights, onboard service, and train schedule all kept pace, at least until we reached the Golden State.

Less than a week before departure, our first-class travel aboard the Starlight would be dashed by a fire-damaged bridge. Still, plenty of time to book a

new itinerary. But introduce freight-train-supplychain pains, and even revised plans can fall to pieces. Fortunately, flights from LAX airport are frequent, change fees were free, and everything in Plan C aligned to land us at SFO ahead of any alternative train or bus.

Amtrak California Zephyr No. 6 Miles: 2,438 Duration: 51 hours Stops: EmeryvilleDenver-Chicago

Onboard adventure was always the primary purpose for our Amtrak trek. Still, that didn’t stop us from making the most of one full day in the Bay. Our rental ride would help us head north to Napa Valley Wine Train rails, and then west to Muir Woods trails. After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, cresting the hills of San Francisco via cable car, and saluting the sea lions at Pier 39, we ended the day at our trackside hotel in Emeryville. Given the agency’s proximity to the EMY station platform, returning the rental couldn’t have been easier. Then, from the comfort of a Superliner sleeper, we prepared for the slow ascent up and over the smoke-filled Sierra range. Progress would be waylaid at Winnemucca, Nevada, for our idled operating crew. But we’d complete the trip home as local

When a previously postponed surgery could no longer be deferred, I feared my cross-country tour would come to an end. But a rapid recovery and the availability of a handicap accessible bedroom put the concluding trek back on track. After a weekend in the burbs, my wife and I boarded an MBTA bi-level to Boston’s South Station, where Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge and Viewliner amenities awaited. From a berth designated for passengers with documented disabilities, I’d come to appreciate the attached, walker-width bathroom; wide, lower-level bunk; and the double-window vista putting New England’s fall foliage on full display. And at Albany, New York, the maneuvers of Amtrak’s connecting Empire Service trains would continue to entertain. But as we retired from the luxurious, new Viewliner Diner, I eagerly anticipated the moment when our route to Buffalo, New York, would draw us close to the U.S./ Canada border. Only then, could I finally deem my coast-to-coast, border-toborder Amtrak 50th anniversary quest a complete success!

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Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Q&A with Gerry Leone Get to know the modeler behind the ‘Back on Track’ and ‘Off the Rails’ video series By Rene Schweitzer • Photos by Gerry Leone

Hobbyist Gerry Leone knows a thing or two about constructing a model railroad—he’s building his ﬁfth HO scale Bona Vista. He’s documented plenty of projects on video in his two series on MRVP and Trains.com. In this exclusive interview, Gerry shares how he got started in the hobby, his favorite parts of the hobby, a brief foray into Z scale, and much more! Rene: How did

Gerry: Although

you get started in the hobby?

my dad had a Lionel layout in our basement, I was not

Trains.com

involved with it. I just played with the loop around the Christmas tree. At one point, he traded his Lionel stuff

for a Tyco HO starter set and bought an older gentleman’s layout. With the layout stuff was a book, Scale

A young Gerry, wearing a cowboy costume, poses next to the Christmas tree. He would play with the Lionel train during the holidays.

Model Railroading by Leslie T. White. After grad school, while visiting my parents, I discovered that book, looked through it, and was hooked. I really didn’t get started in the hobby until I was in my mid-20s. I dropped out several years later and spent 19 years playing guitar in a bar band. When my wife, Renay, and I built a house in 2000, I dropped the guitar and picked up the trains again.

R: Do you still have your ﬁrst engine/ train set?

G: I still have some of the Tyco freight cars my dad got with that starter set so many years ago. They are still running to this day (with new wheels and couplers) on my new layout.

R: What’s your favorite part of the hobby?

G: I really enjoy doing scenery, although scratchbuilding structures is a close second. There’s something magical about starting with an empty space and transforming it into a real looking place. Unlike most model railroaders, I also enjoy wiring.

G: We moved. We went from the suburbs of Minneapolis to a rural community an hour away. My wife inherited half of the 160-acre farm she grew up on, and it’s gorgeous, rolling pastureland, so we decided to build our retirement house

Unlike most model railroaders, I also enjoy wiring.

R: How about your

there. I’ve never built a layout that was designed to be moved because you end up compromising the trackplan of your new layout to ﬁt in the pieces of the old. Plus, the old layout pieces are dirty, faded, and dusty. The Bona Vista 4 came down, and I’m now building the Bona Vista 5 in a dedicated train room on the main level. It has actual windows!

R: How many layouts have you built?

G: Five. The Bona Vista 1, my ﬁrst layout,

lasted about 6 months. After I subscribed to Model Railroader and learned how many mistakes I’d made, the Bona Vista 2 replaced it. The BV 3 came after we built a house with a basement in 2000. That one was on the cover of the March 2013 issue of MR and in Great Model Railroads twice. Trains. com has several videos of it. The BV 4, built when we moved in 2013, was featured in several of my MRVP video series and in Great Model Railroads 2021. The BV 5 is being entirely chronicled in “Back on Track.”

R: Have you tried modeling in any other scale besides HO?

G: Just once. I gave myself a challenge: could I scratchbuild something in Z scale that, when photographed, didn’t give away its miniscule size? I used Campbell’s grain elevator as a “prototype,” and constructed the same structure in 1:220, then photographed it. It turned out great and was fun, but I never took the OptiVisors off the entire time.

R: Do you have a hobby failure you’d like to share?

G: For the BV 4 I wanted a multi-deck layout but didn’t want a helix. Instead, I built a “nolix,” meaning

least favorite?

G: It’s a toss-up between painting ﬁgures and building trees. I ﬁnd both of those activities monotonous and tedious. You can spend hours doing a dozen of either project, and they just sort of “vanish” when you put them on the layout.

R: In your Back on Track video series, why did you decide to build a new Bona Vista Railroad?

Bonus questions R: What was your favorite modeling project?

G: There are two “projects” and neither is what you’d expect. I consider “Off the Rails” one of my favorite model railroading projects. I had a ton of fun doing those shows. Unfortunately, the novelty eventually wears off and the idea well runs dry, so it was time to retire that show after 53 episodes. The second was my participation in the National Model

Railroad Association’s Achievement Program. I have never learned as much or had as much fun in this hobby as I did for the three years I worked to become a Master Model Railroader. The process is not about being judged – it’s a personal challenge to get better at the hobby, to step out of the box, and to raise the bar for yourself. You meet some great people along the way and in the end have a real sense of accomplishment. “I never

thought I could do it” turns into “Hey, I did it!”

R: Where does the name ‘Bona Vista’ come from?

G: In college I had a gardenlevel apartment that looked out on the bumpers of parked cars. I figured if “Buena Vista” means “good view,” then “Bona Vista” must mean bad view. I’ve named a number of things “Bona Vista,” including a recording studio.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

R: What other hobbies do you enjoy?

G: I enjoy photography, travel, and love to make and edit videos. In fact we can’t go on trips now without it resulting in a video travelogue. So both “Off the Rails” and “Back on Track” actually combine two of my hobbies.

R: Today, modeling a prototype railroad is the trend. You’ve always freelanced. Why?

G: When you work in

model railroad philosophy in six words.

the creative department of an ad agency, your goal is original thinking. That spills over into my hobby. I prefer to make my own decisions and create my own railroad in my own space. I envy people who model prototypes to the nth degree; I just wouldn’t be happy doing that.

G: “Be objective about

R: What advice do

your own work.” We wear what I call our “loving creator glasses” when we look at something we’ve made. As an ad agency creative director, I had to look at ideas for ads and commercials as objectively as possible. “It’s clever, but does it really convey the message?” If not, start over. That carried over to model railroading. If I look at what I’ve created and hear a voice inside saying “something’s not quite right” or “that should really be changed,” I ﬁx it, change it, remove it, or add to it. Listen to that voice and make it right.

you have for newcomers to the hobby?

This Z-scale grain elevator was Gerry’s only foray into another scale.

the whole layout was on a 1.5 percent grade in order to get an 18" separation between the decks. It was great until I found that loose cars – and even whole trains – would roll away because of the grade. I needed hill brakes all over the layout. It was frustrating. When the BV 5 was being planned, I vowed never to have more than a .5 percent grade on the main line. I succeed-

There’s something magical about starting with an empty space and transforming it into a real looking place. 78

Trains.com

ed, with the help of a four-turn helix.

R: Describe your

G: Jump in and get

R: How did you get started with MRVP and Trains.com?

G: Cody and David had been doing the “how-to” segments for the Dream-PlanBuild DVD series, but stopped when they launched MRVP. Then MR editor Neil Besougloff saw the videos I did for MR’s website

and asked me if I wanted to take their place. David Popp invited me to do segments for the Winston-Salem Southbound series, and I mentioned to him that a “tips and tricks” series would be a good addition to MRVP. I did two demo videos for him and “Off the Rails” was born. It debuted in May of 2016.

started. I know modelers who are afraid to begin because they think they’ll do it wrong. After a 19-year hiatus, it took me three months to begin scenery on the BV 3. Then I realized, it’s $3 worth of plaster and foam. If it’s bad, rip it out and try again. And I did. Several times.

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on DCC with an ESU PowerPack Adding a capacitor pack to a Rapido RS-11 makes a great locomotive even better Removing a bit of weight and some light soldering is all that is needed to add the reliability of an ESU PowerPack Mini to this LokSound v5-equipped HO scale Alco RS-11 from Rapido Trains. Bill Zuback photo

By David Popp

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, capacitor packs have greatly enhanced my enjoyment of running sound-equipped locomotives. Dirty rails, uneven track, and turnouts can often cause an engine to stall or stutter. While this isn’t an issue for a non-sound model, it makes a big difference when a sound-equipped model loses power, even momentarily. The locomotive either stops completely or manages to continue down the track in silence for a bit as the sound system resets. Adding a capacitor provides just enough stored electricity to smooth out the sound and the ride through these situations. When a locomotive loses electrical contact with the rails for a moment, the capacitor keeps the

motor turning and the sound functioning like it should. Most Digital Command Control (DCC) manufacturers offer one or more capacitor options for their decoders. I have a Rapido Trains Alco RS-11 with a LokSound v5

decoder that I was using for another project. While I was at it, I added an ESU 54671 PowerPack Mini capacitor unit to it. ESU recommends using only their capacitor pack with LokSound decoders, so it was an easy choice.

This is a straightforward project that will take you about an hour to complete. You can use some of the techniques shown on my Rapido Trains Alco RS-11 project for other ESU sound-equipped models. They are wired similarly.

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Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Finding space With motors, weights, and electronics taking up most of the space inside the model, the first step was to figure out how to get the ESU PowerPack Mini into the shell. The ESU DCC capacitor is the smallest on the market presently, which is a good thing given the space limitations. After an attempt to use the space between the rear headlight assembly and the speaker housing (just too small to work), I settled for modifying the weight under the short hood.

Weight reduction %X ǂ VWX KPERGI ]SY QMKLX XLMRO it would have been easier to simply remove the nose weight from the model. However, the weight also serves to hold the short hood headlight assembly, as well as keeps the wiring out of the drive train, so some of the piece needed to remain. I used a hacksaw to cut enough material from the weight to comfortably fit the PowerPack unit, while allowing it to still act as a support shelf for the capacitor, headlights, and wiring.

Wiring run The ESU PowerPack has three wires that need to go to the decoder. Fortunately, Rapido designed its RS-11 with two wiring channels that run under the cab floor for the headlight wires. I added the three new wires to the channels as well. I taped the capacitor assembly to the top of the weight, but at the time, I didn’t also secure the wires. Later, during a video shoot, one of those wires found its way into the drive train, causing the motor to bind. I’ve since secured all wiring in the area with more tape so that can’t happen again.

Making connections

The three wires attach to a set of solder pads along one edge of the decoder. As shown in the photo, they attach from left to right as red, white, and black. The soldering pads are very small, so a fine-tip iron is a must for this job. After tinning each wire and each pad, I used a self-closing tweezer to hold the wire in position and carefully finished the connection with a quick touch of the iron. Starting with the innermost wire (the black one) and working outward helped the process.

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A bit of programming Before seeing the results of your work, you need to do a bit of programming on the decoder. Configuration Variable (CV) 113 controls the amount of time the capacitor will power the model during an interruption. Setting it to a value of 100 is a good starting point, as it gives a couple of seconds worth of help. Next, you need to adjust the LokSound v5 decoder’s Index CVs 31 and 32 to activate CV339 for PowerPack control. Set CV31 to a value of 16 and CV 32 to 0 to enable this feature. Finally, you need to turn on the PowerPack control by programming CV339 to a value of 31. Be sure to adjust the two index CVs before setting CV339, as it can also be used to control sound slot 11. With that, set the engine on the track and try a test. You should be able to run the engine and pick it up off the rails with the sound still playing and the motor still running for a couple of seconds. If that’s the case, then put everything back together and enjoy running your model stutter free!

It’s easy if you know how With all the details that come factory-applied to models these days, I am often hesitant to pull them apart unless I need to. Fortunately, for the Rapido RS-11 shown here, it’s not that difficult if you know how to do it. Rapido has a great demonstration video at rapidotrains.com to walk you through the process. I watched it twice before working on my model. Following are the basic steps, but if you can, watch the video too. Above all else, work slowly and carefully to avoid damaging the parts. – David Popp

2. Cab clips

4. Long hood clips

6. Final clips

The cab locks in place with two tabs, found under the model. Use a small flat-head screwdriver to release the tabs, then carefully slide the cab off the body. The back of the long hood is held in place with two clips, located under the rear truck. Use a flathead screwdriver to depress the clips until you hear a click. The back of the long hood should now be popped up a bit.

The final two clips are located where the shell slips under the short hood. I used a chisel blade to pry the sides of the shell away from the clips while gently pulling upward on the part with smooth-jaw pliers.

1. Handrails

Using tweezers, carefully unplug the handrails from the cab and pull up the stanchions from the raised walkways along both hoods.

3. Short hood

The short hood is attached with clips and a bit of glue. You can use hobby knife to gently pry the sides of the short hood loose from the body and remove it.

5. Long hood leverage

With the clips released, I used a chisel blade in a hobby knife to carefully pry the long hood away from the walkway. Avoid gouging the parts by keeping the blade flat on the walkway. Don’t attempt to remove the shell at this point; there are other clips to disengage.

7. Removal

With all the clips disengaged, you can finally remove the shell. It may require a bit of wiggling yet to come free. You now have complete access to the decoder, motor, and all the wiring. To reassemble the model, just follow these steps in reverse and lock all those tabs and clips in place.

Model Railroading: The Ultimate Guide

Your Go-to Scenery Guide

192-Page Complete Overview Want to take your layout scenery to the next level? Just getting started in model railroading? This is the book for you! Written by Model Railroader Video Plus host Kathy Millatt, this complete overview of modeling railroad scenery will guide you on everything from how to use the latest techniques and materials to the time-tested “classic” methods for modeling mountains, rivers, towns, and more. Described as a “scenery maker’s bible”, this 192-page book includes: • Step-by-step photo sections to show different methods used to build scenery. • Details about techniques and materials to advance your modeling. • Unique insights, tips, and tricks into layout detailing. • And more!

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Articles inside

Norman Carrera ’ s '55 Chevy Task Force

Still Hammerin ’

Rob Carmichael’ s '78 Chevy C10

Olds Park Lamps for Task Force Trucks

Kenny Kimbrough’ s '49 GMC 3100

Jeff Hughes ’ '69 Ford F-250

Parts Department