layout

Installing Approach Signals for an Interlocking Plant: Part 2

July 27, 2017 By Allen Keller with Kevin Kizer & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

Editor’s note: This blog is part 2 of a series on installing signals for an interlocking plant. You can read part 1 of this series here. We decided to use searchlight signals manufactured by Tomar Industries. We added a 4′ scale base made out of Plastruct tubing to help raise the approach light signal mast…

Cleaning Up an Old Model Railroad Scene

June 15, 2017 By Allen Keller & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

Perhaps you have a scene or series of scenes on your layout that have not aged well. They may be covered in dust or just generally need a little touch up. You’d be surprised how easy it is to clean up an old scene on your model railroad layout. In this post, I’m going to…

Installing Approach Signals for an Interlocking Plant: Part 1

April 21, 2017 By Allen Keller with Kevin Kizer & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

On my model railroad of the Bluff City Southern there is a bottleneck, but it’s a fun bottleneck. The five railroads that I model come together at this bottleneck. It’s the wye at Bridge Junction leading from Memphis into Arkansas across the Mississippi River. When I designed the layout I knew that a busy junction…

An Overview of Glues for Model Railroading

March 24, 2017 By Doug Hodgdon & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

I’m going to diverge a bit from my ongoing series of blogs to talk about something that’s vital to the pursuit of our hobby. Glue! We all seem to find our own favorites, and using a glue that doesn’t work for a particular application can be really aggravating. My previous blog about the 1/64 scale…

Basic Detailing for Model Railroads: A Day in the Southern Pacific

March 7, 2017 By Doug Hodgdon & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

What about basic detailing? We’ve come a good distance in our blog series, so I think that we’re ready for the really rewarding part! If you’ve read my series (find the links to at the end of this blog), you should get my thought process for building a layout that you’ll enjoy for many years.…

Creative Ideas for Model Railroad Structures

January 20, 2017 By Doug Hodgdon & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

Photo by Doug Hodgdon Model railroad structures are important in many ways, and by “structures” I’m including bridges and other man-made, primarily fixed elements that we include in our layouts. Structures can be assembled from combinations of wood, stone, concrete, or steel. They can be loading docks, a wooden pony truss bridge, a stone retaining…

Ideas for Adding Personality to Model Railroad Layouts

December 16, 2016 By Doug Hodgdon & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

I’m digressing a bit for this installment. I’ve had many great experiences designing and building model railroads for over fifty years now and met rail modelers from many avocations. For me the most inspiring part of that experience has to be the emotional connection that develops while working and sharing creative ideas with fellow modelers.…

How to Make Miniature Trees from Goldenrods

November 16, 2016 By Allen Keller & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

Nature provides many great examples of miniaturized vegetation that we can use on our layouts. There are many natural materials from your own yard or fields you can use to make nice, inexpensive, and realistic looking trees. Goldenrods might be considered a strange material as they can cause some people with allergies to suffer, but…

Helpful Tips for Model Railroad Wiring

November 9, 2016 By Doug Hodgdon & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

Wiring for a model railroad layout can be easy or complicated. I like to manage my wiring so that later on, I’ll be able to trace each wire back to its source. Years ago, I developed my own personal wiring color codes along with standardized schematics for repetitious situations that I keep in a notebook…

Making Scale Trees from Hydrangea Blooms

October 19, 2016 By Allen Keller & filed under Model Railroad Academy Blog.

The best material for modeling trees that look like trees is natural vegetation… nothing beats it. For years I’ve used various kinds of natural materials from the yard, my wife’s gardens, and fields near my house. One of the easiest pieces of vegetation to use is a bloom from the Oak Leaf Hydrangea. Note that…