| July 14, 2009 |
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| In This Issue |  |
Rick's Writings: Mega-layout in Germany.
What's New: Newsletter, blog & website updates.
Train Tips: Choosing a Railroad to Model - Economy Through Selectivity
Featured Project: Model Railroad Ebook Guide Review
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| Rick's Writings | |
The layout is located in Hamburg, Germany and visiting it is certainly on my personal "bucket list" (things to do before I kick the bucket.) The website is in english and has plenty of photos and some outstanding videos. Be sure to check it out.
Just a quick note to subscriber Graham in Brisbane, Australia. Graham was one of the many people who emailed me with comments and/or questions. Graham is moving soon and is planning a completely new layout for his HO trains at his new home and wants to know what the tightest radius is for this scale.
I didn't know so I looked it up on page 20 of my copy of Model Train Help by Robert Anderson which I'm in the process of reviewing along with similar guides. The minimum radius for HO scale track is 15".
My thanks to all of you who took the time to share your stories and comments with me.
Rick Brock
| What's New? | |
Well, it looks like my weekly newsletter may turn into a monthly newsletter instead, at least for the time being. It turns out that writing thoughtful content for a newsletter and blog takes more time than I thought, even though I'm including at least one article written by someone else in each newsletter.
With that said if you've checked the blog for new posts, you haven't seen them yet because they are all in various states of completion. In addition to getting the website completed (almost done) I have so many things I want to write about that I find myself not finishing any of the posts. I'll keep working on this.
Website
I’ve done a lot of work on the website this past month. If you’ve just joined me, you may not notice any changes, but this site has only been active for a few weeks and I only recently finished all of the underlying code that allows me to standardize things. That’s done and applied to the entire site now so I can focus more on content (articles and information).
Recently, I had the opportunity to acquire an already established model railroading website from someone who no longer wanted to devote the time necessary to maintain it. The site is chock full of content including tips and techniques submitted by many new and veteran model railroaders over the past eight years.
I haven't decided yet if I want to move the content to Model-Train-Tips.com or just provide links to the content on the other site. The other site still needs a lot of work to refresh the look, reorganize the content and make sure the links are current.
I'll let you know when I get it figured out so you can explore the content. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to acquire the rights to this content as well as the ability to share it with you.
Twin City Model Railroad MuseumOver the past few weeks I have been volunteering one day each week at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota. The first thing I had to learn was how to operate the Point-Of-Sale system (cash register) to handle admissions and sales.
I'm the new guy so I have to put my time in on this task most of the time I am at the museum. I don't mind, because it's a new experience for me and I get to talk to a lot of people coming to see the trains. It's great to see the kids (and many of the adults) get excited watching the trains move around on this huge layout.
I have had the opportunity to operate the trains a little each week. I especially enjoyed moving cars around in the freight yard which is partially visible in the photo at right. I plan to blog about this (no, really) in more detail to show you how the controls for the yard are set up. I found this quite interesting and want to share it with you.
| Train Tips | |
From: About.com
Model railroaders normally choose a specific railroad to collect or model. Many modelers choose the railroad whose trains they watched passing by as a child. Advanced modelers may invent their own fictional railroad, but this requires that the modeler paint and decal his or her own trains. So this not something I recommend for someone new to the hobby unless they already have a background in building, painting, and decaling other scale models.
The reason that it important to choose your railroad at the outset is that it will narrow your choices when shopping for your trains. There is an incredible amount of model railroad locomotives and cars on the market, particularly in the HO and N scales. Sticking to one specific railroad will ultimately save you money. I didn't choose a railroad until after I'd spent quite a bit of money collecting anything that just caught my eye. Now I have trains that I seldom use and can't bear to part with.
You still may want to pick up an exciting locomotive or unusual railroad car that doesn't belong to your railroad now and then, but focusing on one railroad will definitely save you money... and storage space... in the long run.
Your railroad can be modern day like the Union Pacific, BNSF, or Canadian National. Or it can be a "fallen flag", a railroad that's been taken over by a larger company. Regardless of your choice, unless you pick some terribly obscure short line, you'll be able find the locomotives and railroad cars you need to make up trains for your railroad. And you'll enjoy the anticipation of new releases for your specific railroad.
The more popular your choice of railroad, the wider selection you'll have. This may not always be a good thing for your budget though.
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Article Source: About.com
| Featured Project | |
I hope to have the reviews completed this week. Model Train Help is well over 200 pages, so it's a lot to digest. I'll let you know when it's done so you can check it out.
| About Model Train Tips | |
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