I’ve finished ballasting and scenicing the right of way along the Federal Cold Storage Spur. As a few others have mentioned, I find hand laying track to be very relaxing, particularly (or especially!) when you don’t have that much of it to do. Because they’re painted a darker color, the Proto:87 etched tie plates aren’t […]
Author: Lmind1
Capturing the Essence of a “Place”
Topic: Model Railroad Design The ultimate model railroad design goal? Capturing the essential elements of a scene successfully enough that you have the sense of “being there”. It’s an elusive target because hitting it is hard to break down into a step by step, “how to” sequence. At the root of the problem is the harsh reality that […]
Layout Sound
Topic: Model Railroad Sound Hierarchy, Vantage Point, and Why We Are Approaching the Whole Shebang the Wrong Way There are two reasons we build model railroads, the satisfaction of assembly and the desire to be transported, transported to a time, place, or operational system that evokes strong emotions. The better our modeling, the more […]
Fighting Gravity
Fighting gravity. In modeling terms it’s the subconscious, omnipresent, urge for order and uniformity. We can get away with it when modeling man made features such as structures, roads, and rolling stock. We can’t get away with it when comes to scenery. If we can’t overcome this innate urge, our results will indeed look like something […]
LAJ Update
It’s been a productive month on the LAJ layout. Progress being: made a visit to the actual site in Vernon, solved the lighting problem, finalized and tightened up the track plan, laid all the track (half of which is permanent), wired in the track and activated the control system. The LAJ is proto freelance. It […]