Modeling topic
A tale of two boxcars
This journey started innocently enough with a desire to have some custom decals printed for my HOn3 PC&N Ry, so I contacted Bill at Precision Design Company and he was able to quickly print and ship my custom decal order.
Bill’s decals are of the highest quality, they are crisp and clean and applied wonderfully. I highly recommend him and his service for custom decals.
Soundtraxx Tsunami2 TSU-KN1 Kit Install in N Scale Kato E8
I had seen the install of this decoder on the Soundtraxx YouTube channel in early 2021 and it looked like something that I could do. When I got the decoder, it was a pretty straightforward install similar to most drop in decoders for Kato engines. There was also plenty of room for the speaker immediately behind the decoder and forward of the high portion of the rear chassis. Because of this, I bought two more decoder kits for installation into an N-Scale E8 A/B set. This is the story of that install in three videos.
SMA39 Model Railroad Animation Chat with Daz of Model Railroad Techniques (Austrailia)
I recently had the privilege of chatting with Daz on his Model Railroad Techniques podcast (from Austrailia). It occurred to me that we talked about a number of things that I have not mentioned before, anywhere. So if anyone is so inclined to hear a bit more about my adventures in scale model animation, have a listen. I hope you get something out of it that doesn't put you to sleep! 
What's on Your Workbench - May 2021
We move into the month of May ready for your progress reports. Let's see the latest from your workbench and layout!
Eric
Eric Hansmann
Contributing Editor, Model Railroad Hobbyist
Follow along with my railroad modeling:
http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/
Planting a corn crop
I am planning on having a small corn field on my layout. I plan to use JTT ho scale summer corn stalks. I am trying to calculate how many corn stock that I will need. What is a good spacing that I should have between plants and how much spacing should I have between rows?
Prewired LED’s
I am not having any luck locating a source for prewired, 3mm red/green (bicolor) LEDs, preferably diffused (not water clear).
I know Evan Designs has them, but they are 4x more expensive than the LEDs I was able to purchase on EBay however, I can no longer find them on EBay
Anyone have a source they use?
The Vertical Tram at Bingham.
The Vertical Tram at Bingham, what a fun thing to ride. The Bingham and Garfield Railroad line came in high above the town of Bingham. To get the passengers down the mountain they built this neat vertical tram. After passenger service was discontinued the employees used the tram.
Trees and Buildings - Building a Beginners Model Railroad from ground up
Modifying commersially available trees for a more realistic appearence. Explaning the concept of ”forced perpective”, how to use trees to divide the landscape into different scenes and creating effects.
Dummy weight
New here. I would like to know what the general rule is for the of dummy diesel locomotives. Mine continue to derail and thinking if may need more weight. Any suggestions please.
Creating Details that Make the Building Look Realistic - Gas Station Convenience Store Scratchbuild
With the shell done, its time to start managing the details that make this go from a bunch of plastic shapes to a realistic looking building.
>> Posts index
Navigation
Journals/Blogs
Recent Blog posts: