Quilt Patchwork Patterns

Model Railroad City

Wow, what a design!  I like how the track breaks from the grove and goes into that tunnel.  Cool miniature run down barn you got in the corner.  It feels like you could still add something though?  Right here in this big zone that is a miniature bit bland, you could put a model railroad metropolis.  Here are some reasons why it would really improve your track design:

A toy railroad city is interesting in itself: 

First of all, a tiny toy railroad city is just great to have for its own merits.  When you look at a train circuit design and you see a miniature city in it, your gaze is naturally pulled to look up and down its streets.  We love to look on the little people going about their days in their tiny make believe world.  For some young watchers the toy railroad city will command as much attention as the trains themselves. 

A toy railroad city provides impressive contrast for the locomotives: 

Another wonderful thing about having buildings and other objects a watcher is used to seeing in the real world is that it gives you a sense of scale in relation to your locomotives.  It’s also wonderful to have the locomotive disappear between buildings and pause at a fully developed locomotive station. The made up world of the toy locomotive just seems that much more full and rich.

A toy railroad metropolis provides period specific detail:  

Another wonderful thing about a toy railroad city is that it really let’s you develop the period specific detail for your toy locomotive.  So if you have a train that is specific to the late 19^th century you can have your city be a Southwestern boomtown, having telegraph lines, cowboys, 49’ers and bars.  It really let’s you create a wonderful tiny fictional setting for your train.  But this can also be a form of stealth learning for your young ones.  This is yet another wonderful way of developing the realism of your toy locomotive world.

Got a budding Rembrandt in the family? You’ve found the part of the toy train hobby that will they can really get with: 

If you have some members of the household that aren’t that into model trains but that enjoy drawing and painting, this is the ideal opportunity to recruit them.  All those miniature artistic touches that bring a model locomotive world together and that drive your mathematical mind crazy, your tiny Rembrandt will find a joy.  Just watch in wonder as their precise little brush strokes bring out details you couldn’t even envision but that now seem so obvious train design you will definitely want to leave an area for a model railroad town.  Just think of all the possibilities!

Here is more information on Model Railroad Track Plans. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

N Scale Model Railroad Table

Here’s something we haven’t thought enough about, the surface where we’re placing our models.  I know, you like those little N scale trains so it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Everything is so miniscule in N gauge that it just doesn’t seem like you need all that good a surface for it.  But hold up.  Give me a chance to set out my point.  I believe it makes a significant difference what type of table you place your layout on.  Here are some reasons why:

A weak surface will disappoint:

Straight off, you don’t want to choose a surface that is weak and that will tilt or that can be easily pushed over.  When you display your new setup to your younger family members you don’t want the little tykes to be able to inadvertently derail your trains with just an accidental touch.  Or even worse: what if your whole table gets knocked on its side. Imagine the possible damage and the amount of time you just wasted!  No, you definitely must have a nice firmly constructed surface. You’re good with your hands, you could probably construct the table yourself.

Cool Tip: Here’s a cool tip. Remember that unused ping-pong table that lays forgotten in the garage? Sure you do, it’s the ping pong table that became your new toy train table. Ping pong tables are nice and big so they open up lots of choices for your layout.  If you have HO or smaller, you will never need any more room than this.  Even if you have a Lionel O or one of those new S scale trains, you’ll find that you can really do a lot with a table this big.

Portable tables for going places:

Be ready to unburden your wallet a bit for a strong hobby table. A quick web search will pop up a gaggle of leads geared to train tables.

Cool tip #2: Here’s a space saver: Lower your table from the ceiling.  If you’re good with your hands and in need of extra space, the best way to save floor space is not to use it.   You can use pulleys to raise and drop your train whenever you would like.

Interlocking tables:

The best bet when it comes to tables, though, is domino style tables that can be used in any setup. These tables can be united in any shape or layout.  What these wonderful domino tables let you to do most however is to grow your locomotive layout in any way that you can imagine. You set out the dimensions of these tables. The light weight design is ideal for model train lovers. So light, its no problem to take your entire setup from room to room.  If you want to take this over to your brother’s house to show his kids your track, it is easy enough to be hauled. In fact, you might find yourself altering your track design over and over.

A well designed toy train setup is only as sturdy as the foundation it is set on.

Here is more information on N Scale Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

S Scale Model Railroad

You want to know what’s really at the vanguard of toy train world? What’s coming down the pike that has every model trainer tossing and turning with anticipation?  What scale of toy train do collectors go crazy for?I could go on and on like this, but let me just let the cat out the bag: it’s s scale model trains. You got it?  You don’t even know what size that is, do you? Do you even know about different scales?  Alright so here’s what you should know for your next toy train railroader’s meeting:

Here’s a blast from the past, these s gauge trains are “American Flyers”:  

This brand of locomotives has been enshrined in the pantheon of toy trains.  But a large explanation why this scale is so popular is because after having been decommissioned during World War II, American Flyer retooled and came out with a forward looking line of state of the art locomotives in s gauge.  This was in large part an attempt to compete with Lionel who was the king of the roost through the 50’s. S scale is an “inbetween” gauge, way larger than HO but smaller than Lionel’s O.  S gauge is one 64^th the size of a real train whereas Lionel’s O gauge is one 48^th the size.   These are still pretty hefty locomotives but not so much so that you would have to have them only outside. You can still really get into detailing with these huge model trains.

S scale is not a standard gauge:  

Since American Flyer in effect created s gauge and then went out of business a little while after, you don’t run across it much.  A.C. Gilbert, who ran American Flyer at the time, created this gauge as an attempt to introduce a brand of locomotives that would challenge Lionel by introducing high quality trains that weren’t interchangeable with Lionel locomotives. That means there are not that many of them.   Because of the law of supply and demand, American Flyers short life span has increased the demand for their parts and sets.   This has made American Flyer the Holy Grail of toy trains for many hobbyists.

American Flyers are about to be introduced into the market again:  

Lionel LLC, who bought the American Flyer company when it went under in 1966 has recently started re-releasing popular American Flyer locomotives.  The huge success of these releases has driven Lionel to resolve to bring back the s scale trains that avid fans are so in love with.  So any day now you may be coming across new models in this scale and hobbyists will have yet another size to choose from.

Now’s the moment to put your chips down if you want to cash in early on this tip.  This is when the early adopters wade in and check things out.  Don’t say I didn’t give you a heads up later on.  Remember when I told you about this little coffee house called Starbuck’s.  And you said no one would ever shell out more just for some coffee. 

Here is more information on Model Train Scale. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.