model railroad tips
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7:02Simple Details That Make Your Locomotives Unique
Model Railroad Academy Editor Ron Marsh shows how adding just a couple of details enhances the realism and prototypical look of a locomotive or piece of rolling stock. These details can also take a nice but ordinary locomotive and make it completely special to your layout. THE LOCOMOTIVE Ron recently bought a brand-new Atlas model…
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13:48Upgrading Rolling Stock from Swap Meet to Layout
What can we do with older cars to make them great additions to our fleets on our model railroad layouts? Model Railroad Academy Editor Ron Marsh recently attended a model railroad swap meet and picked up a few older cars. In this video, he shows ways to upgrade new old stock cars with mechanical upgrades…
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5:26Modeling Gravel Roads with Martin Tarnrot
In this video Martin Tarnrot demonstrates his method of making HO scale roads, and in particular, gravel roads. There are many methods to achieve a nice looking result, but the method he has used throughout my entire layout. For this video instruction, Martin made a small diagram, made from two inch thick Styrofoam. He prefers…
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7:11Working with Curved Easements with Martin Tarnrot
In this video with modeler Martin Tarnrot, he will discuss how to add curved easements. This adds to the appearance of the railroad and the functional reliability. The subroadbed is a 12 mm thick plywood sheet. This first step in laying the track is to mark the centerline of the track. He uses a homemade…
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4:41How to Ballast Fast and Easy with Martin Tarnrot
In this free video lesson, modeler Martin Tarnrot shows you how to lay model railroad ballast fast and easy. He learned this method from a friend after he expressed how difficult and time consuming he found the process. The base material he will use is styrofoam and the track bed is Woodland Scenics ballast in…
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11:34The Ford Plant Has Two Sides
Modeler Rich Mahaney presents model railroad clinics all across America. In this video, Rich will discuss a layout in Missouri that features a huge industry that was built on the Mexico Texas and Western model railroad, also known as the Mexico Train Works in Mexico, Missouri. When Rich lived in Mexico, he was a member…
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4:20How to Make a Cobblestone Path
In this video, modeler Martin Tarnrot will demonstrate how to make a cobblestone path, perfect for a model railroad city park. The foundation of the pathway is made up of styrofoam. He glues the styrofoam foundation in place with PVA glue. On top of this, he glues the pathway and secures it down to dry…
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8:35How to Lay HO Scale Track
In this video modeler Josh Clark will demonstrate how to install model railroad trackwork. As discussed in another of Josh’s Model Railroad Academy videos, sturdy benchwork will be a good foundation for the track and roadbed. To install the roadbed Josh uses cork. For the HO scale track he will use code 83 and code…
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6:02B&M New Hampshire Division: The Towns of Haverhill Junction and Barrett
Haverhill Junction on the B&M New Hampshire Division model railroad features a diamond crossing and a vintage ball signal. This model is based on the prototypes former crossing of the main central railroad at Whitefield, New Hampshire. The ball signal, possibly the last one standing in the US, protected the crossing for many decades. The…
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