by mike | Nov 21, 2017 | Detailing Track, Modeling Techniques, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience
Studying full-size turnouts helped me realize they can be as individual as fingerprints. Even after off-the-shelf components became widely available each railroad company had their own style tweaks. By contrast model railroaders are accustomed to cookie cutter...
by mike | Nov 13, 2017 | Detailing Track, Modeling Techniques, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience
In this craft we accept a massive degree of compression and reduction without a second thought. According to my track charts, the siding I photographed in Part One is 1,893 feet long. Reduced to quarter-inch scale, that distance is 39.4375 feet. Take it down to HO and...
by mike | Nov 7, 2017 | Detailing Track, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience |
Modern track may be homogenized in appearance but older track can have a wide range of details. Consisting of a run-around, two sidings and using only four turnouts, this remnant of the PRR’s Fort Wayne Branch is a favorite place of mine to study vintage track...
by mike | Nov 3, 2017 | Detailing Track, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience |
Handlaid or commercial? It’s a choice that can paralyze people. Each has positive and negative aspects and I won’t rehash those in this post as they are well known and merely scratch the surface. I find that unless there is a clear advantage of one choice over...
by mike | Oct 31, 2017 | Detailing Track, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience
Will you follow the dogma of convention or another path? Convention says track is: • A means to an end. • Any track will do as long as it’s cheap. • Appearance is nice but secondary to operation. Just get it down and let the trains roll. Context Influences Our Choices...
by mike | Sep 28, 2017 | Detailing Track, The P48 Experience
The amount of variation in full-size turnouts is staggering. I admit I had no idea how extensive it was until I began work on the book and I’m still learning about turnouts. This post can’t possible cover all the variations but will look at two common scenarios....