Building Your Own Model Train Display

By: Victor Epand

If you are looking for a hobby that you can pick up quick and put down any time then move away slowly. If you are looking for one that you can make last a lifetime then model trains are for you. Building a railroad can take many years if you want it to. It can get really exciting when you finally finish your exact duplicate of an existing railroad.

So how do you get into such a lifelong hobby? Visit a few railroads and museums. Also go and check out some hobby shops and any friends that you might have that are into model trains. If you feel a tugging deep inside you like an urge pushing you to put on that conductor's hat and pull that train whistle then railroading is for you.

You must figure out how much space you are willing to dedicate to your new hobby. Once you know for sure then you can decide what scale train you will be running. This will also help you to know how much you will need to spend on materials. Now that you know where you are going to place your new railroad you can clean out that space. If you are going to build a table that is eight foot by twelve foot then you should allow yourself three or more extra feet on each side so that you have plenty of room to move around while you are building it and when you are running it as well.

Now that you know the where and the size then you are ready to begin sketching out your ideas. Draw out all the features you would like your railroad to have. You do not have to have them drawn perfectly. You just need a rough idea of how you want it to look when it is finished. You can base your layout on real towns or you can make up a fictional one that suits the train you will be using for this display.

Now you are ready to build your platform. Plywood is an excellent choice for this due to its strength and yet it is still easy to cut and drill. Make sure that you properly brace your platform so that it does not sway or collapse. You can then begin to build your features. Mountains and hills are easily created out of balled up or wadded up paper stuffed around wooden supports and then covered with wire mesh. The next step is to apply paper mache or plaster to the mesh in layers until you get a good coating. Take your time and make sure that you get the look you are wanting instead of rushing through and being unhappy with the end product.

Once you have all your features laid out, covered, and have given them time to dry you can begin painting them. Make sure to keep your colors as natural as possible. Painters acrylic paints are usually your best choice for painting this type of project. After the paint has dried you can then begin to assemble your train tracks. Make sure that you secure them in place so they do not come loose over time. Pins or glue can easily achieve this. Now that your features and tracks are in place you can put on your finishing touches.

Make your houses and buildings suit your setting and then begin to place them onto your display. You can build a whole town and complete it with people, cars, and the like. Give your new town a name and a story if you wish. You have now developed a railroad that you can call your own.

Author Resource:-> Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car tricks and tips, model train building tips, and model trucks.

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Assembling Your Model Train Display

By Victor Epand


Do you know the difference between a toy train and a miniature railway? The perfect display is the answer! By assembling your model train display correctly you will get more positive comments from those who you decide to share it with. Friends and family alike will appreciate the attention to detail that you put into it and the care you exercised when building your display.
After you have decided what model train set you are going to be using and what sort of display you would like then you need to gather together all your building materials. This list of materials will be based on the size of your model train set. You would not want to gather together a bunch of materials just to find out that you have wrongly judged the train layout's relative size so it is best to make sure you know the overall measurements of the finished train set.
To determine this you should actually do a dry fit of your track beside the display that you are adding it to. What this means is that you will place all your track pieces end to end including adding the curves on your display table but do not connect them. This will give you the overall measurements for the track. If you find that you want to build it bigger and smaller then this is the time to add those in so that you do not have to try to add them later.
Once you have decided the best layout for your track you will be ready to attach it into place. For this there are two main options. You can either pin them into place or you can glue them down. Glue is a very stable way of holding the track sections into place however it is not authentic and can sometimes look bad if applied incorrectly. Pins look much better as they can simulate railroad spikes. The only downside is that they can come loose over time so you will have to do a bit of preventative maintenance.
Now that you have decided how you are attaching your track you are ready to do so. If you do decide to go with the gluing method it is advisable to use a few pins here and there to still retain the semblance of realism. If excess glue gets on your tracks you can just wipe it away with a lint free cloth. If you use simple paper towels you can end up with more of a mess than you started with.
Once all the sections of track are in place you just need to give the glue time to set up. Usually overnight will do just fine. If you just used pins then a slight tug on each section will ensure that they are all snugly in place. Next you can do a quick test run of your locomotive. Let it run around the track a few times and see if any part of it threatens to pull loose or is not lined up correctly. Once your locomotive has made the run several times successfully then you should be good to go. Just add your cars to your engine and you are ready to roll.
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for model cars, model trains, and model trucks. You will find excellent hobbying and trading resources here for model car tricks and model train.
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