Detailing Track: Letting Go Of Assumptions

  More Than Meets The EyeHow we think about a subject is as important as what we see. The typical advice for modeling ties is to impart wood grain by scraping the wood with a razor saw. Why do this? My hunch is because somebody decided it was a good idea, which...

Detailing Track: Back To The Beginning

We tend to see track as a collection of parts that are treated individually. We prepare the roadbed, then lay the ties. Perhaps staining or painting the ties comes before the rail, while the process of ballasting comes at any time. The actual mechanics of laying track...

Modeling Fills

Modeling Fills The new track on Mill Road represents an abandoned through line. There is enough track to switch an important customer, but beyond that nature is taking over again. Like the original scene, we’re still in open country and the track is raised above the...

Retrofitting Feeder Wires

Retrofitting feeder wires to existing track isn’t my idea of a good time. However, it’s a necessary step if I want a functioning layout. When I dismantled the Indiana and Whitewater, I just wanted the job over and the mess cleaned up. At the time I didn’t know if I...