O Scale Trains

Occasionally I’ve mentioned that I worked as an artist before taking the Editor’s chair at OST. I thought I’d share a little bit about the work I do. (more…)

My favorite railfanning activity is to grab lunch somewhere and go down to the depot here in Richmond and watch trains. I have a preferred place to park that gives me a front row seat on the action. (more…)

Way back in issue #27 of OST I wrote a column titled “Little Things”, which focused on small details and how they add an extra sparkle of life to a scene. (more…)

I mentioned that there was a corner of the layout where the initial scenery efforts are less than satisfying now. (more…)

I was intrigued by the review of the MTH 3-car, 3-rail passenger car set in the July/Aug ‘08 OST, as well as the accompanying article about converting them to 2-rail use in less than an hour.

Looking at the photo accompanying the review, it seems to me that just about every layout could use these cars, suitably repainted, for work train or wreck train use. The cars remind me of the New Haven Railroad’s bright red wire train shown in several color books about the New Haven railroad.

Joe’s article emphasizes the limitations of our, often, knee-jerk objections to different ideas, and the need to remain open to changes and opportunities that may require a second look.

I introduced the subject of tree modeling in OST#39. Here, I’d like to expand a bit on the ideas presented in my column. (more…)

One of the biggest mistakes I often make with my modeling is that I automatically assume I know how something was done on the prototype. (more…)

The article in Issue #38 concerning custom loads for the Weaver 50-foot flatcar was intended to get modelers thinking about prototype flatcar loads that they may have seen in times past. While this was a simple and inexpensive project, it was my intention to open the door to more possibilities. Most any 1:43 to 1:50 scale construction equipment loaded on a Weaver 50-foot flatcar would make an interesting model. (more…)

Let’s all keep the folks in the Midwest in our thoughts and prayers. Southern Indiana, Iowa and many areas throughout the Midwest are dealing with record breaking floods, on top of tornado damage since the first of June. Many cities and small towns are underwater as I wirte this. You can imagine the destruction of property and disruption of peoples lives. In the face of all that, model railroading seems trivial for now.

Bob Kelly’s sent along a pair of links showing a huge traction layout—representing the Niagara, St. Catherines and Toronto Railway in Southern Ontario. These are really worth watching. (more…)