Posts Tagged ‘model trains’

Ahh Lionel Trains…who hasn’t heard of them?  Lionel model trains were masters of the model train world in this country until the 1950’s.  If you grew up in the postwar period and you saw a model train setup at a store, without fail it was a Lionel model train setup. Around Christmas the local hardware store would put one up and watch as it drew us all in like metal shavings to a magnet. Challengers like Bachmann and financial woes have long since undone Lionel’s supremacy, but the brand still carries a lot of its former cachet. Here’s the story why:

It’s every thing to do with the O gauge:  Part of the explanation why Lionel fell from power in the post World War II era can be explained by the scale of its trains. Lionel trains were usually in O gauge, but with the expansion of model training in the 50’s more and more middle class model train hobbyists began to purchase trains for smaller spaces.  Real world trains are only 48 times the size of O scale model trains.  This was simply too great of a space requirement, so fans turned to HO scale which only required a 4’ x 8’ space.  Lionel’s failure to stay in tune with changing times is what cost it and what makes its odd scale a real draw for enthusiasts these days.

Lionel calls up long lost recollections:  Because Lionel has survived for so long and was so popular in yesteryear it is one of the favorites of collectors. We cannot under estimate the nostalgia that Lionel inspires. These are, after all, the hobby trains they were raised on or would like to have grown up on. Lionel’s trains seem never to break and so they’ve survived its lean years time capsulled in craft and second hand stores.

You’ll find no lack of manuals and news items on Lionel:  Lionel’s got its own little subset of devoted enthusiasts including the rocker Neil Young. There are two types of books on Lionel.  First, there are books that are specifically focused on to getting you started with model training using Lionel O gauge trains.  Second, there are several books that focus on the many repackagings of Lionel trains from the early days to the present.

Finally, Lionel is popular because they just made good trains:  Ahh, the engineering of Lionel trains!  Larger than most other trains, they are ideal for detailing and decaling and weathering. The size of Lionel trains make it a favorite among people who love to paint and detail model trains. Hobbyists also love that the trains are so big and so bold.  You simply can’t miss a Lionel train.

For the reasons that I have mentioned above, it is unlikely that Lionel O gauge trains will fall out of favor any time soon. It’s hard to contemplate the model train world without Lionel. Lionel never disappoints.

Here is more information on Toy Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: American model trains, Lionel, Lionel electric trains, Lionel O guage Trains, model trains, toy model trains, toy trains

Wow, what a lay out!  I like how you have circled the train track up over the mountain range and even put in some nice natural detail.  Cool miniature run down barn you got at the far edge.  It feels like you could still add something though?  Right here in this big space that is a tiny bit bland, you could put a model railroad metropolis.  Here are some reasons why it would really improve your track layout:

It’s almost as much designing a toy railroad metropolis as it is the circuit design: 

First of all, a miniature toy railroad metropolis is just great to have for its own merits.  Just as we are directed to sky lines in the real world so are we drawn to them in toy train track design]s.  We love to look on the tiny people going about their days in their miniature make believe world.  I personally love the miniature details like the signs and storefront lettering.  They really draw me in. 

A toy railroad town provides great contrast for the trains: 

Having a building next to the road creates yet another way of framing your model trains.  So if you place a large building right next to the circuit, when your train moves by, the contrast between the building and the train will add a sense of space and depth that might otherwise be missing. A model railroad metropolis will add exponentially to the realism of your toy locomotives.

A toy railroad city is a good way of adding historical detail to your model train lay out:  

A good way of sneaking some history into your toy locomotive fun is to create a historically coherent set up.  So if you have a locomotive that is specific to the late 19^th century you can have your metropolis be a Southwestern boomtown, having telegraph lines, cowboys, 49’ers and saloons.  It really let’s you create a great miniature fictional setting for your train.  But this is also a setting that tells the watcher about the period of time that the locomotives were operating in.  You can sneak in history as a Trojan horse past your kid’s defenses.

Got a budding Michelangelo in the family? You’ve discovered the aspect of the model train hobby that will they can really get with: 

If you have some members of the family that aren’t that into toy trains but that enjoy drawing and painting, this is the ideal opportunity to draft them.  All those miniature artistic touches that bring a model locomotive world together and that drive your logical mind crazy, your tiny Rembrandt will find a joy.  Just watch in wonder as their precise tiny brush strokes bring out details you couldn’t even envision but that now seem so obvious locomotive design you will definitely want to leave an area for a toy railroad city.  It will be sure to add yet another compelling aspect to your toy train empire!

Here is more information on Model Railroad Track Plans. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: model railroad city, model railroad track plans, model train accessories, model train city, model trains

Boys and girls in this day and age are a lot more involved in updating their face book information than in actually sticking their faces into a book.    If it doesn’t connect to the power grid and add to the monthly electrical cost, lots of boys and girls are just not that into it.  Multi-tasking seems to be the flavor of the day, so long as none of the tasks involve anything remotely significant.  Even though they consider history to be what happened last week, it’s still important to find ways to get them involved with it.  It’s not enough to know that there were some guys named Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Benjamin who now have their faces on our money.  If we’re going to remain a successful democracy we really need to instill some of our vibrant history to them.  So how can we defuse their resistance to learning about the dead bones of the past? There are lots of ways, but one particularly good way is through model trains.  Yes.  Yeah, historic model trains carry a beautiful history with them but don’t burden us with feeling that we are being educated.  Here’s how to pass on our traditions with model locomotives:

Use locomotives as a subtle vehicle for the past:

Try to make your track plan time and place specific. Imagine a track design that is set during Reconstruction in the American Southwest.  You can feign ignorance and get your boys and girls to “help” you figure out what would make for correct scenic details to your setup.  Imagine stringing up a long row of telegraph poles next to your track to depict the communications system of the time.  Or they might create a vibrant town near the tracks to represent the boom cities that were the winners in the railroad speculation game.  Maybe even have a few washed out prospectors still panning for gold in the nearby stream.

Historic toy locomotives are also a good alternative to the usual diorama or scale model:  

You might also manage to talk your youngster’s history teacher into allowing him to bring in a historic toy locomotive lay out in place of the usual boring diorama.  A static diorama really can’t compete with the dynamic movement of a historic model locomotive layout.  Just imagine, for example, adding a model train display to your youngster’s essay on Jesse James.  As your period specific locomotive rounds the curve there are Jesse and his whole gang just waiting to attack and continue his wrong headed crusade.  It’s sure to be a success!

Visit Historic locomotive Locales:  

There are also a few toy train museums and other locomotive related historic sites where you can see historic toy locomotives and some real trains as well.  If your local historic locomotive site doesn’t have toy trains consider suggesting they incorporate some to the curator or manager of the site.  Some rolling exhibits may come around as well. Just keep your ears pricked and you are sure to come across one sooner or later.

Whatever you decide to do, you will find that toy trains are a door to the past even if you don’t explicitly use them as such.  Even if you just do model training without even considering the educational possibilities you will inevitably instill a greater sense of historical knowledge simply by handling these little mechanical doorways to the past.  

Here is more information on Model Steam Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Technorati Tags: American model trains, historic model trains, model steam trains, model trains, school history projects

Is this where you plan to put your model train layout?  That looks pretty good but did you say it floods a bit in here when in Winter.  Yeah that’s the drawback, isn’t it?  People have lots of diverse locations that they place their hobby trains and each has its different benefits and problems.  Let’s think this through a bit:

 

Just throw it on the floor like your laundry in college:  

The lazy solution is to just leave it on the ground.  This preserves the time and trouble of getting or making a hobby table, but it is not very good for tinier locomotives.  Bending over and kneeling down do not make for the best hobbying experiences for adults.  The bird’s eye view of the tinier gauges foregrounds the weaknesses of theses locomotives.  It also addes to the chances of taking unexpected slips when you accidentally step on your trains.  You really need a display hobby locomotive surface for the HO and smaller variety locomotives.  Even O locomotives look better on a train table.

Pre-existing shelves, the fortunate lazy man’s option  

If you’re really fortunate there is a location in your house that is already elevated and large enough that it can play a dual role as display area.  This natural shelf answers the problem of line of sight perhaps and if you are extremely fortunate can find the perfect place for our toy trains.  This is certainly better than putting your locomotives on the carpet for the visual aspect of things.  You might try to fool yourself into believing that you have found the perfect spot but think of the problem aspects of this arrangement.  These spaces tend to be too small for a hobby train layout and they tend not to be configured in the right way.  So, such spots dictate a host of limitations to your toy training.  This is never a good way to grow your model train empire.

Another fortunate possibility is that you happen to have a spare area just lying around somewhere:  

Some hobby trainers just use an old table they had lying around unused.  This helps in that you can carry it to the spot you would like, but the majority of tables that are not specifically built for toy training have other problems.  Not only are many such tables wobbly, but you still have to adjust your train display to fit with the pre-existing measurements of your area rather than the other way around.

A table that screams “I’m cheap but I know the value of hard work crafting”:  

For the make-it-from-scratch crowd, nothing is better than creating and building a display area themselves.  It is incredibly satisfying to design a table that exactly matches the precise requirements of our track plan.  You can also really give your locomotive surface some unique personality in this manner.  This isn’t for everyone.  If you aren’t that into making furniture then you’ll want to avoid trying this.  Just as large of a drawback is the fact that such tables tend to be permanently one size and as your hobby training empire expands you have to go through the trouble of building yet another surface to increase your surface area.  Also, if you are pressed for time, this will really add a substantial amount of time that you have to spend getting ready before you even start your actual model locomotiveing.  I won’t put down homemade tables except to say that if your engineering talents don’t extend beyond model locomotives, trying to build a surface can really be a black hole of time and effort that you may not have much to show for on the other side.

Hobby tables, the option if for those who are willing to shell out the clams:

There are these special kind of hobby table that is just perfect for hobby locomotiveing.  They are called “domino” tables because that can be connected on any side to form any shape, no matter how idiosyncratic the shape.  The tables also can be adjusted to sit at more than one height so that you can customize it to the specifics of the surroundings you’ll be displaying your locomotive setup in.  They let you realize your mental plan as you saw it.  Also, because they are lightweight they can more easily be moved out of the way and since they can easily be changed and added to as you see fit, they can grow with your model training ambitions.  You can also more easily transport your table if you want to show your design around.  For this reason, these areas are really the best decision for toy locomotive displays.

 

With your area decision out of the way you are now free to really embark on your hobby locomotive adventure.  Good lucky and happy hobbying!   

Here is more information on Model Train Track. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains. 

Technorati Tags: model train accessories, model train table, model train track, model trains

Model Train Scenery is the most important of designing a train set. Any avid collector will tell you that it is not so much trains that they find interesting so much as the many different kinds of settings in which you can place it. Hobbyists and general enthusiasts agree that the real joy of model train collecting is indeed creating the immersive environment that surrounds it. This highly detailed task allows you to not only observe and recreate the world around you in painstaking detail, but pushes the limits of your imagination as well. While some find it fun to measure and scale down the familiar aspects of their personal environment, others enjoy this pastime because they can relive different eras in history or visit faraway lands that perhaps they have only read about in books.

No matter what your vision is, there are many retailers available, both in your neighborhood and online who can help bring it to life.

One thing that you should consider when you design your model landscape is the overall scope you would like to include. Human eyes cannot really take in more than one scene at any given time, so if you want to include more than one setting, you should be sure to separate them with a nice stretch of track that will allow your brain to identify what is coming.

This means that you will not only need enough pieces to establish your multiple settings, but other minor accessories to fit in between the scenes. This could be trees to follow a long stretch between two rural areas or a small patch of mountainside that connects a small country ranch with a nearby town.

These can be very simple things, like a lake with some deer, or a glen of trees near a modest hillside. If you do this properly, everything will flow together smoothly and you will not be overwhelmed by an overabundance of intrusive detail.

You should also try to include different levels of elevation in your model train scenery, both topographically and urbanely. In your cities, you need buildings of different heights, much like in real life. Along your countryside you should form hills, valleys, and mesas perhaps with hidden groves or orchards.

These different levels help your eye to appreciate the perspective of relative space and the overall scale degree to which you have constructed your model. There are even designers who put smaller buildings behind larger ones to create an illusion of distance. The more realistic it seems, the more you and your friends and family will appreciate your hard work.

Technorati Tags: g scale trains, model railroading, model train, model train scenery, model trains, n gauge trains, o gauge trains