MRH basic style tips

This is the latest revision of the Model Railroad Hobbyist author's guide for word usage and spelling while preparing articles for MRH and Running Extra It is  available at https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/authors/style-guide-doc .  Other aids for authors can be found at https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/authors/submission-guidelines.

Use this guide to answer style questions when writing for Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine. 

Writing

• Make life easy for readers. Use simple, straightforward sentences.
• Use active verbs when possible.
• If you introduce technical terms or obscure references, add a line or two of explanation.
• In most cases, two or three simple sentences are easier to understand than one long one.
• Long sentences are difficult to read. If you are expressing two separate ideas in one long sentence, rewrite it into two shorter ones.
• Keep paragraphs short, with two to four short sentences being optimum. One-sentence paragraphs are sometimes okay, especially if the sentence is longer.
• Make sure all photos have captions. One sentence is okay, two or three sentences preferred.
• Read your writing aloud to hear if it sounds conversational.

Words

Dictionaries lag common word use. Merriam-Webster's free site at www.merriam-webster.com/ reflects mainstream U.S. practice, is frequently updated, and is always available. MRH editors follow grammar and punctuation rules in The Yahoo Style Guide (2010). If you don't find an answer to a question on this sheet, check the Yahoo guide.

Check your writing to be sure a term is used and spelled consistently throughout the document. A good rule is, "first be sure you're right, then be sure you're consistent."

Spellcheck is not a model railroader and does not know many of our special words. If you are not certain about the spelling of a model railroad or railroading word, check hobby publications, the word lists below, or use Google to search manufacturer and retailer websites.

General spelling and use

It's vs. its

it's, with an apostrophe, is a contraction of “it is,” “It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to.”

its, without an apostrophe, shows possession. “After the boxcar stood for years, its paint was peeling.” Not, “... it's (it is) paint was peeling.”

A compound modifier is two words used together to describe a third. Add hyphens to make the meaning of compound modifiers clear: full-height ladder, not full height ladder. Exceptions: Words commonly used together such as “arch bar” and “roller bearing” are listed below.

Use capital letters only for specific names and places and brand-named products. Example: automobile car and canopy glue are generic terms; Vert-A-Pac and Goo are trademarked products and should be capitalized.

Some companies spell their names in capital letters, such as X-ACTO. Use only initial capitals with these to avoid distraction: X-Acto.

Do not use the trademark (TM) and registered ® symbols. Trademarked names must be correctly spelled and capitalized.

Place all sentence punctuation inside quote marks. Example: “Because I said so, that's why,” or “Because it's easier to read!”

Official railroad slogans like “Serves All the West” and “Seaboard Serves the South” should be placed in quotation marks.

OK. Don't spell it out.

Commas in a series

• Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series.
• Use a conjunction (and, or) between the last two items of the series.
• While some authorities say that the comma before the conjunction is optional, leaving it out may cause confusion, so it is better to include it.

            Examples: The system included a power supply, throttles, and cab control.

                              The brake wheel can be painted red, black, silver, or rust.

Apostrophe 's'

Add an apostrophe to a noun ending in “s” to form a possessive. Do not add a second “s” to the noun. (e.g., Atlas' catalog, ABC Models' newest release)

Numbers

Spell out numbers of nine or less: “The Union Pacific had six depressed-center flat cars.”

Use numerals for quantities of 10 or more.  “The railroad had 3,657 boxcars.”

Spell out “zero” when it stands alone. Example: “There is zero chance of a letter appearing here.”

For large quantities, use words instead of a number series unless a specific number is needed. “BNSF estimated 2010 fuel expenses of $2.3 billion” and “The locomotive cost $3,265,334.”

In conversational narrative articles, use words to describe casually mentioned dimensions and values. Where giving dimensions is not the main object, “six-foot board” is acceptable. Also “forty-foot boxcar,” and “twenty-mile trip.”

In “how-to” technical articles, construction directions and lists of materials use numerals to define specific electrical or other physical values, i.e., 6 ohms, 9 milliwatts, 5 amps, 8 degrees, 10'-6” internal height, 8'-door.

In giving technical dimensions, use a double quote mark ( ” ) to denote inches and a single quote mark ( ' ) to denote feet.

For dimensions, to avoid bad line wraps, use a hyphen to link the major and minor numbers, as 40'-6”, not 40' 6”.

Use U.S.-standard units whenever possible: feet, inches, yards, miles, pounds, ounces, etc. Be consistent within a story.  Standard lumber sizes may be described as 2x4, 4x8.

For dimensions of less than a standard unit, use fractions for U.S. measure and decimals for metric. ½”, 0.5mm.

Write dimensions in numerals, with no spacing, as 1x4 or 4x8, not 1 x 4 or 4 x 8;  6-1/4”x12-1/2”

Write fractional decimal numbers with a leading 0 before the decimal point as in 0.020x0.060”, not .020 x 0.060 inch or 0.020 inch x 0.060 inch

For small stock sold in fractions of an inch sizes, use a 0, decimal point, and up to three places: 0.040”, 0.001”

Captions

In articles, refer to photographs, tables and drawings using square brackets and a number, as in [21].

Begin captions with the number and a period.  Captions use conventional punctuation.  Photo credits should be in italic type and have no ending punctuation.

2. Union Pacific GP38-2 units inherited from the Missouri Pacific did not have dynamic brakes. Horace Fithers photo

Bylines

Use gothic type, all capitals.

by ELWOOD P. DOWD

For columns, the author's name is part of the permanent column heading.

Publications

Use quotation marks and title case for the titles of articles, presentations, and other compositions, for example, “Build a Flat Car Pipe Load.”

Use italics for all publication names, including books, magazines, and videos, such as Pacific Fruit Express, Model Railroad Hobbyist, MRH, Ride the Sandy River, and RailModel Journal.

When abbreviating on second reference, MR, RMC, MRH, RE, MRH/RE

Subheads

Subheads in MRH articles are in sans-serif type and in sentence case. Capitalize the first word in the line and all proper nouns. An ending period is not necessary:

Tuning switches for operation

Stations of the Union Pacific

Modeling words

benchwork

CA (for cyanoacrylate cement. 'Superglue' is acceptable, ACC is not)

canopy glue (available from several mfr's, therefore lowercase)

cardstock

diecast

Econami (by SoundTraxx)

flex track (two words)

footprint

Homasote

kitbash, kitbashed, kitbasher, kitbashing (all one word)

L-girder

lauan

mock-up (n.), mock up (v.)

Model Railroad Hobbyist, use italic type;  MRH on second reference

overspray

painter’s tape (singular, apostrophe ‘s’ per 3M Corp. usage)

polyfil

railfan, railfanning (one word)

ready-to-run. Avoid RTR and r-t-r

right of way

roadbed

runaround, adj., as in “runaround track” 

runby

scenicked

scratchbuild, scratchbuilder, scratchbuilding, scratchbuilt (all one word)

Soundtraxx Tsunami2

spray paint (two words, noun & verb)

stay-alive, hyphenated, as in ‘stay-alive circuit.’ Keep-Alive is a trademark of Train Control Systems; use only when referring to TCS products.

stripwood

throw bar, see switch rod under 'railroad words'

track plan, track planning

train order

wheelset

X-Acto (hobby knife is acceptable in generic use)

Railroad words

Amtrak

arch bar truck (three words, no hyphens)

autorack (one word)

boxcar (one word)

branch line (n.), branchline (adj.)

caboose, cabooses

centerbeam (generic. Manufacturers use specific trademarked names)

Chicago & North Western

cubic feet, abbreviate as cu. ft.

ditch light

double-sheathed

drawbar

Dreadnaught

fish belly (two words)

flat car

gladhand (one word)

grab iron (two words)

grille (as in, a grating)

hopper car (spell out the number of hoppers: four-bay hopper or, triple-hopper, quad-hopper)

main line (noun), mainline (adj., one word)

multiple unit, or MU.  Control system used to link multiple power units to a single controller. Utilizes MU cables between units.  Capitalized, no punctuation,

Murphy

pickup (n.), pick up (v.)

piggyback (one word)

plain bearing (not, solid bearing)

Pullman Standard (no hyphen), shorten as P-S (with hyphen), freight cars PS-1, PS-2

rerailer

reefer

refrigerator car

right of way (n., adj.)

road names (two words)

road numbers (two words)

roller bearing, roller bearing truck

roof walk

running board (not roof walk, except when writing specifically about covered hoppers)

set out (v.), setout (n.)

short line (n.), short-line (adj.)

side frame

side rod

single-sheathed

smokebox (one word)

smoke jack (two words)

Stanray

stock car

switch list

switch rod

tackboard

tank car

throw bar (switch rod is preferred)

timetable

trainmaster (a railroad official)

Train Master (a Fairbanks-Morse locomotive)

TrainMasters TV (popular web-based subscription video show)

train order

uncoupling lever (not lift bar or cut lever)

underframe

wheelset (one word)

yardmaster

Locomotive words

Alco (American Locomotive Co.)

backhead

m.u. cable (for multiple-unit cable)

Steam locomotive names

In specific references: Use the railroad name, wheel arrangement, and the specific railroad nickname in the first reference, i.e. an NC&SL Dixie 4-8-4, a Union Pacific 2-8-2 MacArthur. Locomotive type names are capitalized: Consolidation, Big Boy, Fairlie etc.

Diesel locomotives

Identifiers do not contain hyphens unless specifically applied by the maker. e.g.: FA2, , RS-1, S-2,

GP9, SD40, SD40-2, U25B, Dash 8, C39-8, H12-44

Products and manufacturers

Detail Associates

Details West

Dullcote, Glosscote (Testors products)

ExactRail

Floquil

InterMountain

Kadee

Life-Like

Microbrush

Micro-Mark (corporate name has a hyphen)

Microscale

Micro-Trains (N scale, with a hyphen and a final s)

Modelflex

NorthWest Short Line

PanPastel (one word)

PollyScale

Scalecoat

Tangent Scale Models

Testors (no apostrophe)

Tru-Color paint

Vallejo

Walthers (no apostrophe in name)

Woodland Scenics (no apostrophe in name)

X-Acto

Web issues

Underlines mean HYPERTEXT LINKS, period. NEVER underline anything that is NOT a link.

Drop the http:// on all links that start with www.

Never make the punctuation in the sentence part of the link. Include an extra space in front of punctuation that comes after a link so it's clear the punctuation is NOT part of the link.

For the benefit of our printer-friendly edition audience, spell out links. Don't hide them beneath a reference:

Do this: For more information, visit www.moreinfo.com .
Don't do this: For more information, click here .

For Model Railroad Hobbyist links:

Change model-railroad-hobbyist.com  to mrhmag.com . When website is upgraded, mrhmag.com will become the base URL.

            Track gaps: model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7995 becomes: 
            Track gaps: mrhmag.com/node/7995.

Web words*

internet (lower case in all uses)

link (not hyperlink)

net (abbreviation for internet)

web, website (lower case, one word)

Wi-Fi

World Wide Web

*exceptions to 2010 Yahoo Style Guide

Electronics terms

Electronic devices for model railroading are booming in popularity. Technology has advanced to the point that modelers with little experience can assemble a sophisticated circuit using instructions in a Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine article. Use this guide to answer questions about how to write electronics terms – in particular, units of measure, such as volts and amps – when writing for MRH.

Use numerals for units of measure, even if less than 10. This is an exception to the rule that says, “Spell out numbers of nine or less.”

Numerals are easier to read in this context: “The 5-volt  power supply....” Not: “The five-volt power supply....”

Spell out numbers that denote quantities:

“You need three 5‑volt power supplies.”  Not: “You need 3 5‑volt power supplies.”

Use a hyphen when a unit of measure is a compound modifier: “Use a 12-volt capacitor.” Do not hyphenate an abbreviated compound modifier: “Use a 12V capacitor.” Do not hyphenate when the unit of measure is not a modifier: “The capacitor is rated for 12 volts.”

Place a zero before numerical values less than one: 0.5 volts, 0.1 amps, 0.01uF.

Spell a unit of measure the first time it is used, and abbreviate it thereafter:

“Buy a 12-volt transformer. A 15V transformer won't work.”

“Most DCC boosters can supply up to 5 amps, but this is a 3A booster.

Listings

Always abbreviate units of measure in tabular listings:

Parts List

• D1       Diode, 1N4001, 50V, 1A
• C1       Capacitor, electrolytic, 47uF, 16V
• C2       Capacitor, film, 0.1uF, 25V

Volt

The unit of measure for voltage is the volt, named for Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.  Use a lowercase “v” when spelling the word: “A 5-volt power supply produces 5 volts.”

Abbreviate with a capital “V” following a voltage number (no space): “This circuit uses a 5V regulator.”

1/1000 of a volt is a millivolt, abbreviated mV, but this is rarely encountered in model railroading.

Amp

The base unit of measure for current is the ampere, named for French mathematician and physicist André-Marie Ampère.  Use the lowercase short form amp, or plural amps. Do not use ampere: “A large layout needs a 5-amp booster, but this booster produces 3 amps.”

When the current value is a compound modifier, add a hyphen and use the singular amp instead of amps: “Use a 5-amp booster.”

Indicate amp or amps with a capital “A” following a current number (no space): “Buy a 5A booster.”

1/1000 of an ampere is a milliampere, usually shortened to milliamp or (plural) milliamps.

Abbreviate milliamp(s) as “mA” with a lowercase “m” and an uppercase “A.” Example: “The LED draws 20mA, so a 100mA power supply is sufficient.”

Resistors

The unit of resistance is the ohm, named for German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. The uppercase Greek “Omega” symbol (Ω) is the standard abbreviation.

For values less than 1,000 ohms in article text or captions, add a space and lowercase ohms following the value: “The resistor value is 820 ohms.”

On schematics, the numerical value alone is sufficient: “R17 820,” not “R17 820 ohms.”

When a resistor value less than 1,000 ohms is a compound modifier, add a hyphen and use the singular “ohm” instead of “ohms. “The 820-ohm resistor limits the current.”

A capital “K” denotes a factor of 1,000. For values 1,000 ohms or greater, place a K (no space) immediately following the value: “The resistor value is 22K.”

Do not add a hyphen when a K-value is a modifier: “A 22K resistor works fine.”

On schematic diagrams, always use K for resistor values 1,000 ohms or greater. Do not write the full numerical value, and do not add “ohms:” Yes, 22K; No, 22,000,  22000, and 22K ohms.

Capacitors

The unit of capacitance is the farad, named for the British physicist Michael Faraday. A farad is a huge amount of capacitance, so capacitors come in values of microfarads (a microfarad is one millionth of a Farad). The lowercase Greek “Mu” symbol (µ) followed by an uppercase F is the standard abbreviation (33 µF). For reliability and consistency, use a lowercase “u” instead (33 uF).

Add a leading 0 to capacitor values less than 1 uF: “A 0.1 uF or 0.01 uF capacitor works fine for this purpose.” This applies to article text, captions, and schematics.

For capacitor values in article text or captions, add a space following the value: “The 47 uF capacitor smooths the DC voltage.”

On schematics, the numerical value alone is sufficient: “470” not “470 uF” or “0.01” not “0.01 uF.”

Do not add a hyphen when the capacitor value is a compound modifier:  “Use a 33 uF capacitor.”

Wire size

Describe wire size with values in the American Wire Gauge (AWG) system. Gauge numbers increase numerically as wire sizes become smaller. For example, 20AWG wire is larger than 24AWG wire.

Wire sizes may be written in two ways. Please choose one and stick with it throughout your article.

1. Use the numerical gauge followed by uppercase AWG: “Use 24AWG wire.” There is no space between the number and AWG.

2. Use a pound sign (also called an “octothorpe”) followed by the numerical wire gauge: “Use #24 wire.” There is no space between the pound sign and the number.

Do not use any of the following forms: “Use number 24 wire,” “Use no. 24 wire,” “Use No. 24 wire,” “Use 24-gauge wire,” or “Use 24 gauge wire.”

Component sources

Some MRH readers may have little experience with electronics. Authors should provide all information needed to order the components to build a project.

Each electronics project article must have a parts list including a part number sufficient to order each component from Digi-Key, Mouser, or All Electronics.

List each component's technical specifications so readers can procure them from other sources as well.

Identify every component with its designation shown on the schematic diagram and/or component layout diagram.

Example:

Parts List

D1       Diode, 1N4001, 1A, 50V, Digi-Key 1N4001DICT-ND

C1       Capacitor, electrolytic, 47uF, 16V, Digi-Key P969-ND

C2       Capacitor, film, 0.1uF, 100V, Digi-Key  495-1147-ND

J1         6-pin RJ11 modular jack, PCB-mount, Mouser 571-5520250-3

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Note

For all issues not covered by this style sheet, please refer to The Yahoo Style Guide.

ver. 4.05.2 jb/md/eh 3/9/2020