Peter's Model Railroading | My Library | Model Railroader 2010-12
Articles Listing

Beginner's Tool Kit

Collection of tools that you need to have to be able to start model railroading, kit building, and have reliable running of engines and freight cars.

Modeling the Prairie

The author describes how he builds North America's Gree Plains scenery from ground cover, to sand, to sparse grasses, high grasses, and bushes, weeds, and flowers.

How Sound Decoders Work

This article describes how sound is converted to digital bits, stored in a decoder, and how the sound is reproduced in our engines.

Add DCC Sound to an Alco S-2

This article describes how the author installed a SoundTraxx Micro-Tsunami into an HO-scale Atlas S-2 engine. Includes speaker and capacitor installation. Lights are also discussed. There is a side-bar on how to make printed-circuit-board bus bars

Locomotive Sounds Add Fin and Realism to Operation

Whistle and horn signals are described, so that the reader and program and operate his or her trains in a realistic fashion. It also describes when to use the bell, and how different sounds relate to whether the engine is a steam or diesel locomotive.

Achieve Realistic Colors under Artificial Lighting

How to apply paint to model so that they come out looking right under the actual light of the layout. Includes a side-bar on valance lighting.

Rod Stewart's Three Rivers City

When I first saw Rod' layout in this issue, I was very impressed because it looks like something George Selios would do. It turns out he is one of Rod's idols. The article includes a track plan of this huge layout, and describes how Rod finds time to model, and how he is building his layout. Includes a side-bar on using LED lamps.

Model Trackside Brush Realistically

Using Bachmann's wire tree branches, the author shows how he converts them into small trees and bushes, using the standard poly fiber and ground foam approach.

Urban Switching in HO

A track plan of a 12 by 16 feet layout is presented that can be used for inner-city modern switching operations. It is a G-shaped design with a swing gate bridge.

Update A Common Water Tower Kit

The author shows how he converted an HO-scale Atlas water tower into a more-realistic looking tower by using parts of the kit and scratchbuilding some other parts. Includes a materials list, several key construction step photos, a scale drawing, and how to model the wire the spout.

Use Putty to Save On Coal Loads

Simple coal loads that only use real coal as the top layer.

An N Scale Erie Empire on a Door

The author describes his 3x7-foot layout that encompasses all the things he had been wanting to model in a layout. Despite its small size, it has a lot of operating possibilities. Track plan is includes, as well as a side-bar on how he controls his turnouts via music wire rods mounted into a the toggle of a switch.

Trains of Thought

Seeing a photo of a layout with a siren mounted in the town's water tower reminded Tony of his childhood.

Blue Signal Protection

Describes the removable blue signal to indicate that railroad workers are present.