Model Railroad Blog

Multi-deck Layouts

Well over half of the individuals who contact me state that they want a multi-deck layout. The idea of doubling the size of the potential railroad seems like a silver bullet. The decision as to design configuration is neither good nor bad IF you know exactly what the pros and concerns are. That’s my concern. I really don’t think most people are going into this with their eyes wide open. By not doing so they leave themselves open to spending many thousands of dollars on what amounts to an unworkable dumpster fire. I spent today writing a dig deep discussion on the subject which you can read HERE. Be forewarned that this is not light light reading. It’s not entertaining reading. But, if you’re seriously contemplating spending what would likely be a decision costing well over 10k, it’s worth going through. Multi-deck layouts have their place. They are the right fit in some circumstances IF you know what you’re getting into.

Graffiti Tips

An upgraded Walthers Cryo reefer sits in front of SALCO on the East Rail 2 layout.

If you’re a modern era modeler, graffiti is part of the landscape. Here are a few tips to make it more convincing on a model.

  • Keep the tags relatively low on the car. They should start at the bottom sill and extend upwards. Avoid having them “floating” in the middle of the side panel.
  • Have the tags overlap. For example, if you have three decals, try to avoid having open spaces between them.
  • Finally, the most important tip, tone down the color! Commercial decals are very vibrant. In the example above I used a very, very dilute flat white wash airbrushed over the entire car. In other cases I’ve taken a “paint by numbers” approach and painted lighter, less saturated colors over the decal.

Working with larger decals takes patience as far as getting them to ultimately sit tight against all of the cars details (rivets, seams, etc.). Use Micro Sol as the setting agent and apply it in multiple passes over three or four days. With each pass, use a pin and super sharp blade to pop air bubbles or areas where the decal isn’t settling tight against the car.

COD Seafood

The completed COD Seafood structure model on East Rail 2.

Sitting at the entrance to the real East Rail industrial is the COD Seafood Restaurant. How they came up with that name I have no clue. When I fly into Miami, I grab a rental car, make the short drive up 37th Avenue, and grab a bite there. When you sit down it becomes apparent that the staff doesn’t speak English or, more likely, gives visiting gringos the distinct impression that they don’t, even though they know perfectly well what you’re saying. They have menus but I don’t know why. They size you up, have a brief staff meeting and then decide what you really need. The end result is one of the best breakfasts you’ll ever eat chased with Cuban coffee.

Back in 2008 I pulled into the parking lot only to find that the local had arrived just before me. Breakfast would have to wait as I started taking shots. After about twenty minutes a dude in pressed khakis and a polo shirt came out and started giving me the hairy eyeball. Minute by minute he became more agitated and eventually pressed me about what the hell I was doing taking pictures in front of his restaurant. I told him. “Oh, I thought you we’re from the IRS! I’m so embarrassed”. He introduced himself as Reuben, apologized profusely, grabbed my arm, pulled me inside and plopped me at the counter. “Breakfast is on me. Now…eat!”

With all of that backstory I had to have a model of it on the layout. It’s now done and the core of the layout is pretty much finished.

The local switches Sentry Industries in 2008. COD is to the left.

Decision Making

In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell takes a deep dive into decision-making at both individual and organizational levels.  He examines split-second decisions that must be made in the “blink of an eye” as well as longer-term planning. 

The question becomes, is there a relationship between the amount of time spent making a decision and the quality of the final result?  In one chapter he looks at organizations that spend so much time analyzing what they want to do that, when the time comes to implement the strategy, the landscape has completely changed.  Then there is the (very accurate) military axiom that “all of the planning in the world becomes irrelevant as soon as the first shot is fired”.

The one passage that resonated with me the most came from the CEO of a mid-sized organization.  Their approach had broad applications to model railroading.  When an issue was in front of them (marketing, manufacturing, etc.)  he’d gather his team together and they’d discuss options for an hour or so.  He’d then wrap the meeting up, a decision would be made, and the strategy would be implemented.  His point was, that no matter what the decision was, adjustments would need to be made once they got into things.  In other words, push the boat out into the water and adjust the tiller as you go.

Many modelers spend years, even decades, drawing various design iterations, hoping to avoid at all costs, god forbid….a mistake.  It’s a fool’s errand.  You can’t.  You’re far better off sketching something up that makes reasonable sense, diving in, and making any necessary tweaks as you go.  As your time in front of the computer or sketch pad drags on, you quickly hit the point of diminishing returns as it relates to the quality of your design. The more layouts you have under your belt, the better each subsequent plan becomes.

There are hard limits on what a two-dimensional drawing will tell you.  Get the bench work up and rely on mock-ups. Or, tape things out on the floor of your space. Glue your track down lightly until you’ve had a chance to run the layout for a while and see what you have.  Once you have things in front of you and can see it in 3D, you’ll be in a much better position to make any needed design adjustments.  You don’t know what you don’t know until you gain experience.  You gain experience by building layouts, not by staring at a computer screen.

Mistakes are unavoidable.  The ones I see the most?  Not designing towards your true interests, biting off more layout than you have the resources (time or skills) to build, and not accounting for human comfort (aisles, reach in distances, etc).  And the biggest error?  It is by far the largest and most common…. Drum roll please…

In their quest to attain perfection before the first board is cut, modelers lose sight of the most catastrophic mistake……never building anything and gaining the necessary experience to make better decisions in the future.

Color Management

The challenge of having so much information instantly at our fingertips is, that when something particularly insightful is written, it can get lost in the background noise.

There is no element of modeling that contributes more to visual impact and plausibility than nailing the colors. To that end, Tony Koester’s editorial on color strategy in the March issue of MR is something that every modeler should print out and tape over their work bench. It’s really excellent.