Mar 255 minPerspective The above image was taken on my N scale switching layout using an iPhone and the room’s overhead Halogen track lighting. The depth of field was made possible...
Oct 18, 20192 minLarge Space, Small Skills Modeler’s typically enter the hobby at two points in their lives, either during the teen years or at retirement. Those coming into model railroading later i...
Jun 13, 20193 minThe “Thirty Minute/Three Hour” RuleWhen it comes to model railroad operations, I’ve noticed what I call the “thirty minute/three hour rule” or, as Captain Jack Sparrow would say, “guideline”. ...
Mar 24, 20192 minACCEPTANCEAcceptance. Acceptance of the reality of our situation. Acceptance of constraints. Acceptance of the fact that the subject we are trying to represent typi...
Jan 22, 20192 minDIAGONALSThe man made world we model tends to be built on engineering order. In other words, ninety degree angles, perpendicular orientations, and parallel lines are ...
Jul 21, 20181 minTURNOUT OPTIMISMModel railroaders are an optimistic bunch, particularly when it comes to layout design! To be more specific, overly optimistic when it comes to sketching in...
Apr 12, 20184 min“TIME”The timeless 80/20 rule, model railroad planning is not immune. All too often we have our 80/20 priorities backwards. We spend eighty per cent of our time w...
Feb 24, 20184 minPICKING A THEME, SETTING YOUR SCOPEBefore we draw the first line of a layout design, before we lay the first stick of bench work, the most important decisions present themselves and must be ad...
Jan 14, 20184 minFEAR OF MISTAKES On a relatively frequent basis I encounter modelers that confide in me their fear of making mistakes. It’s perfectly understandable. The hobby and our work...
Nov 16, 20172 min RAIL GAPS AND RAIL JOINERSI get lots of questions from my model railroad design clients, many new to layout construction, as to how to handle rail gaps and rail joiners. Here are a f...
Oct 10, 20173 minSIX LANDMINES TO AVOIDPlanning a layout for several….or many years down the road? Design, preparing, and anticipation can be a big part of the fun. In my experience with clients,...
Sep 13, 20172 min WHAT’S YOUR OPERATIONAL STYLE?Trains in motion, that’s what we ultimately want. Without it we essentially have a static diorama. But what is your operational style? Rail fan? Branch lin...
Aug 11, 20171 minWEST VIRGINIA LOGGING TRACK PLANRickety logging lines are a popular theme. The design shown above is a free lanced West Virginia logging branch set in the 1930’s or 1940’s. It’s an ideal ...
Jul 13, 20173 minHOW MANY TOWNS SHOULD I PUT ON MY LAYOUT?Early in the planning process, it’s common for clients to tell me that they have a specific number of towns they’d like to have on their future layout but ar...
Jun 14, 20172 minSTRUCTURE BUILDING PRACTICEModel Railroad Structure Building Practice The clients that I see generally have many things in common. Typically they’ve been waiting decades to have a lay...
