Tabla de contenidos para February 2023 en Model Railroader

Modeling rocks on a budget Learn how to accurately model rocks on a budget with senior associate editor Steven Otte. These accessible and budget-friendly techniques – from foil rock molds to carved foam to tree bark – can help any modeler learn to model rock faces in a cost-effective fashion. Find it under the Build a Model Railroad section. Soldering feeder wires made easy Follow along with veteran modeler and Trains.com director David Popp as he demonstrates his technique to solder feeder wires on the On30 Olympia Logging Co. layout. Follow along as David attaches feeders in 10 easy-to-follow steps. Experienced modelers and relative novices alike could learn from these invaluable strategies. Find this article in the Beginners section of our website. See Rapido’s E8 in action On page 56…

Last month I introduced you to the HO scale Bishop Street Branch, Model Railroader magazine’s 2023 project layout. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and cover how to build the 10 x 22-foot layout. Before we get to everybody’s favorite subjects, scenery and structures, we need to build the benchwork and work on the mechanical and electrical aspects of the layout, all in a way that’s as bulletproof as possible. On the surface it may seem like there are a lot of steps involved. But if you break them into smaller tasks, it makes the layout construction process much more enjoyable. Building benchwork There are several basic, tried-and-true benchwork styles. The type doesn’t matter as long as it’s solidly constructed. Because my projects need to…

In 1941, at its division point in Salida, Colorado, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RGW) replaced its aging wood depot with a new brick art-deco style building. This style is characterized by precise and boldly delineated geometric shapes. It was the only art-deco building constructed on the D&RGW. This was all the more incongruous in that the location was not a teeming metropolis, but a sleepy mountain town almost totally dependent on the railroad for its existence. Regrettably, when the railroad le_ town in the 1980s, the depot was torn down. It lives on, however, as a model on my Dueling Gauges Railroad and Navigation Company 1. Preparation I could never uncover any plans or elevation for the station, though I did discover some rough footprint dimensions. Using numerous…

When installing Walthers turntables, I found that keeping clear of the dead zone wasn’t a problem. If you find that you need to get close to it or even encroach on the published dead zone, here’s how to test your turntable. 1. With your DCC system disconnected from the turntable pit, put a jumper across the two terminals that you’ll eventually hook up your track bus. This jumper, shown above, will make it easy to test your turntable with your handy digital voltmeter set to ohms or continuity beep. Plug the jumper into the bottom of the pit. 2. Place your turntable bridge on the turntable and inside the dead zone. You can now do one of two things. You can either use the turntable control box to rotate the…

Atlas O has released a new run of 68-foot bulkhead flatcars in its Trainman line. The modern flatcar comes in multiple paint schemes and road numbers to suit the transportation needs of any O scale railroad. Our sample is decorated as TTPX 804019, part of the leasing company’s 804000 through 804399 series built by Gunderson between April and June 1997. The Plate C cars were designated as TTX class GSH72. Uniquely, these cars were the first TTPX cars to be equipped with 110-ton swing-motion trucks. As built, the GSH72 bulkhead flatcars had a wood bulkhead face and a nailable steel deck. There were 16 stake pockets, 31 recessed lading anchors, and 15 retractable lading anchors installed on each side. The bulkheads were to be removable and replaceable by mechanical means…

Early Saturday morning during Trainfest, Tangent Scale Models unveiled its newest piece of rolling stock, an Illinois Central Centralia Shops wide-vision caboose. Not only did the firm announce the model, but it was available for purchase at the show. Interest in this caboose by Trainfest attendees was expressed throughout the weekend. In the 1960s, the IC looked to modernize its caboose fleet and chose to design and build an all-new caboose at its Centralia, Ill., Car Shops. From 1966 to 1972, the Centralia Car Shops and Darby Corp. built 300 cabooses for the railroad in multiple variations. Tangent Scale Models focused on the group of 200 built by the railroad between 1970 and 1972. Paint schemes in the first run include Illinois Central Gulf (1988+ gray repaint in four road…

The moment I became a model railroader is still etched in my mind. I was 10, and a friend of my dad who was an avid model railroader invited us over to see his layout. Since I was young, the layout was probably smaller than I remember, but it left a lasting impression. As a parting gesture he gave me a caboose, saying, “This is where all rookies start.” Shortly after that visit, we built an HO layout on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood painted green. Marriage and a child paused the hobby until we bought a new house with an adequate basement. Since then, I’ve built and disassembled two N scale layouts. Six years ago, when deciding on what I would build for my third layout, back…

After 15 enjoyable years creating my prior layout (the Union Pacific Butte Line, featured in the May 2015 Model Railroader), a decision to retire and move meant that the layout had to be scrapped. After the move, when I began thinking about subjects for a new layout, a fundamental requirement was to replicate a prototype railroad’s operations. I particularly enjoy the historic discovery process. I also decided that the layout subject should have a personal connection (call it nostalgia) plus be very different from anything I’d done before. This led me to consider replicating the railroad car ferry operations at the Port of Palm Beach Terminal near West Palm Beach, Fla., in the late 1950s. I was a teenager at that time and frequently sailed my small boat in and…

Rapido Trains Inc. recently released an HO scale Electro-Motive Division E8A diesel locomotive decorated as Amtrak No. 4316. The unit, painted in the passenger railroad’s “day one” paint scheme, features an injection-molded plastic body, die-cast metal chassis, and numerous prototype-specific details. The passenger unit is packed in a foam-lined engraved wood presentation box that includes an enamel pin with the nose of the 4316 and a numbered certificate of authenticity signed by Jason Shron, president and CEO of Rapido Trains Inc., and Matt Donnelly, Amtrak brand communications manager. Electro-Motive Division (EMD) produced the E8A from August 1949 to December 1953. The locomotive builder also manufactured cabless B units from December 1949 to May 1953. At the end of the production run, 421 A units and 39 B units were manufactured.…

Two distinctive models and their purpose inspired Bob Hanmer to add an interesting element to operating sessions on his Great Northern Mesabi Division layout, which depicts the area around Grand Rapids, Minn., in 1958. The models are a weed sprayer and the tank car which supplies it, both offered by the GN Railway Historical Society almost 15 years ago. The way he worked them into his sessions makes a good case study in the nuances of train-order methods. Vegetation control is important to most modes of transportation. Train crews rely on clear view of signals, mileposts, and right-of-way signs; crews and drivers both need open views at grade crossings. Sprouts from grain spillage and other seeds take root between ties, as barren as a rocky ballast and subroadbed might seem.…

Or maybe this should be titled, “Short stories.” But I like the one above that appeared on a series of emails among some good model railroading friends. Credit for it goes to Tom Schmieder’s father for “one of his bad mechanical-engineer-who-works-at-Bell-Labs dad jokes.” There are lessons here for the neophyte and veteran alike. The occasion was Tom’s progress report on his basement-size HO Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. “Just when we’re gaining momentum building the railroad, laying track, and grafting it onto an already wired-up system, I’m confronted with a sporadic short circuit. I just love sporadic problems; they are so easy to track down. “We had revised some trackage. The reconfigured track has been put back in, but it is not wired yet. It now bridged two circuit-breaker sections, and…

HO scale Electro-Motive Division GP7 diesel locomotive. This Athearn Genesis four-axle road switcher is in stores now. The HO scale Electro-Motive Division diesel is decorated for the Pennsylvania RR (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel); Bangor & Aroostook RR (dark blue and yellow in two road numbers; red, white, and blue Bicentennial scheme in one number); Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf (black, red, and white in one number); Midland Valley (black, red, and white in one number); and St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco, orange and white). Three road numbers per scheme unless noted. The locomotives have railroad-specific details, a die-cast metal chassis, a full cab interior, etched-metal radiator intake grills and fan grills, wire grab irons, and Celcon handrails. Direct-current models are priced at $219.99. Models with a dual-mode SoundTraxx Tsunami 2 sound decoder…

How do I build a layout swing gate? Q On page 45 of the Nov. 2022 issue, a swing gate is shown as part of Mark Carlson’s Chicago & North Western layout. It looks like a marvelous way of avoiding duckunders, lift bridges, and other methods of entering an around-the-room layout. Are there any alignment problems or inherent sagging issues of which builders should be aware? Do you know of any articles that cover the bracing considerations, latching and alignment methods, special wiring, etc., that I should be aware of when I build a layout swing gate? What provision should be made to prevent locomotives from running off the edge? Bruce Penniston, North Gower, Ont. A We’ve published a number of stories over the years on various ways to bridge…

One afternoon while touring my husband Lou’s O scale Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes RR, I decided to create some low areas of tall grass in the fields around Kingfield and Strong. This would be a fun change from my usual tree- and brush-making activities. I needed to find material that would replicate grass, and after looking through several drawers of interesting dried stems of various shapes and sizes, I found just the right mix of materials for my project. My husband had purchased these items over several years at a number of small craft stores. I also decided to use “ground goop” as a surface into which the grasses could be planted. Lou has used ground goop as ground cover for years on both his HO scale West Hoosic…

I OWN SEVERAL 60-foot Gunderson boxcars, and cars this new do not require a heavy amount weathering. You can change the character of a car like this in a few easy steps, so if you have never tried to weather a freight car before, this might be a good starter project. A weathering job like this can be done in a day, including drying time. The techniques and materials I use are the same that I use on most of my freight cars. All you need is an airbrush; a couple of soft paintbrushes; some white, gray, and brown paint; and a few shades of powdered chalks. Before beginning the weathering process, you should first clean the car. I use a soft cloth and a few drops of blue window…

Modelers love turntables and roundhouses 1. I will not cover building the turntable, but rather, I will give you ideas on powering the bridge tracks should you scratchbuild a turntable. Then I will focus on powering the tracks leading to and from any turntable, including the Walthers turntable. As a turntable rotates, you need a way to reverse the power to the bridge for everything to work correctly. For a scratchbuilt turntable, a split rim rail will mechanically reverse your turntable’s bridge power 2. Put a wiper at each end of the turntable bridge and connect it to one of the two bridge rails. You’ll need to leave a gap in the split ring that is wider than your wiper. Neither wiper should be able to touch both ends of…

An accurate, well-detailed model of a second-generation freight diesel has been added to Broadway Limited Imports’ Paragon4 line. The sound-equipped locomotive is not only a powerful puller, but also a good-looking model, with plenty of wire and etched-metal details. The Paragon4 Digital Command Control sound decoder is loaded with a ton of sound and lighting effects and includes a built-in capacitor stay-alive module. More power. Electro-Motive Division’s SD45 was an attempt to wring more horsepower from a hood unit by increasing the company’s venerable 645E diesel engine from 16 cylinders to 20. The locomotive delivered 3,600hp, an improvement over the 3,000hp SD40 series. The new locomotive was a best-seller for its first few years, being snapped up by Burlington Northern; Union Pacific; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Southern Pacific; Southern…

Send us your photos Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact senior associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@kalmbach.com.…