A model train geek, learning as he goes.
I ballasted the peninsula recently. It took me a long time to get started because I was pretty nervous about “doing it right”. Eventually I convinced myself to “just do it”. Watching a YouTube video or two helped. I had three packs of fine gray ballast that was supposedly the same colour. Two of them looked … Read more
I spent a bit of time on my layout recently. I’ve been overwhelmed with the thought of applying scenery to the entire layout, so I decided to do it one area at a time. The first area I selected was the peninsula, home of the concrete grain elevator, so the first step was to paint the track. … Read more
I recently took down the web page for my second model railway layout, the Nova Scotia Eastern Railway (NSER), a freelanced shortline railway based on a prototypical railway. I had written the web page as if the NSER was a real railroad. Welcome to the home page of the Nova Scotia Eastern Railway. We serve the … Read more
On real railroads, a car checker / carman (or “car knocker”) would inspect cars as they passed through yards to ensure they were in good operating order, and “bad order” cars that were not. These rejects would be repaired on the “repair in place” (RIP) track or be forwarded on to another location if heavy … Read more
I am in the midst of installing backdrops for my model train layout. Backdrops provide the background for your scenery and hide all the ugly stuff that might be behind your layout. For example, the Woodland Scenics risers I use to bring the CP Rail line up to the stacked staging work well, but they are ugly. … Read more
Like most people I like to draw up track plans before beginning construction. Now that all the track is laid on my layout, I’d like to show the evolution of the track plan for this layout. Remember that I model in HO scale. My train room is 20’6″ by about 10′ but is not quite … Read more
When you are laying flex track, you often have to cut a tie or two off each end to make room for the rail joiners. Once the track is down, you have an unsightly and unrealistic gap in the ties. It’s simple to fill in this gap. Keep those cut off ties for later use. … Read more
I am modeling a layout loosely based on Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. I call it “adapting reality”. In my world I have renamed it to Georgetown (after my father) and dated it to about 1989. [AdSense-A] The real Portage la Prairie of the time featured: CN and CP main lines running parallel to each other … Read more
After many delays, the last spike was driven into CP’s track in Georgetown, Manitoba. Few were on hand to witness the auspicious occasion. Citing budget cuts, CP Rail General Manager Bill Horne Van said, “All I can say is that the work has been adequately done in every way.” He then boarded the work train’s … Read more
I’ve started to accumulate a list of Winnipeg-area model train stores. If you have any more to add, please comment here. Thanks!