03/05/07

The purpose of this section is to allow me pass along some of the things my son and I have learned along the way as we built the CB&O.  This page will likely evolve over time as there’s no telling what silly mistake I will make and then recount for your entertainment.  Beware! some of the tips (especially the first one) may verge on lecturing.

Remember this is a hobby not a life calling

These are just electric trains, not a life or death struggle to achieve perfection.  Some people can take their hobbies very seriously which is a good thing but others can take it to an extreme which is a bad thing.  Every now and then I run across someone who is more interested in pointing out flaws or demonstrating to my son their impressive command of historical minutia by criticizing his prized locomotive “you know kid, the B&O never had an engine with that number…”.   I think it’s more important to appreciate the effort that went into model more than the final result.  I do this for fun and relaxation—you should too. 

DO NOT build a duck under

Given space limitations and a desire for continuous running, our layout required the benchwork to go along all four walls.  I thought I built the benchwork high enough (46 inches) that a duck under wouldn’t be a problem.  I also did this despite reading warnings not to build a duck under in almost every web site that mentioned them.  What was I thinking!  It was a big mistake, and either my son or I got a reminder of that mistake via a bump on the head about every month or so.  If your like me, I doubt this little message will dissuade you from building your own duck under.  I’ve included it so that once you have built that duck under, I now have the moral obligation to say ‘I told you so”. 

After about two and half years of bumping my head, I finally decided to install a swing bridge for easier access to the layout.  Guess what! it was fairly easy to do and I have the carpentry skills of the average rock.  Please see the Swing Bridge page for details

Research model rail roads on the web

The web is a wonderful source of great “how-to” information on modeling and rail roads in general.  I think I’ve learned as much about this hobby from surfing the web than I have from actual doing.  Perhaps the best site we’ve found is the Model Rail Road Forums.  This site runs the gamut from beginner information to true craftsmen.  I especially like the strings that document how a group of members are building the same kit.  Seeing how others have pursued the hobby is always fun and can provide you some extra confidence to give something a try.

Try to build at least one craftsman’s kit

You’ll likely realize that building structures for your layout is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby.  While plastic is a great medium to start with, it’s not as much fun as wood and you should try at least one wood kit.  Our first was Bar Mill’s Water Front Willies kit and it was both fun and a bit of a challenge to build but I really liked the final result.  After that, I was hooked on wood structures.   I can also tell you that the owner of Bar Mills, Art Fahie and his partner Jim Mooney are class acts.  I had the chance to meet Art at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, MD where he was manning his booth.  My son picked out the “Majestic Hardware and Feed” kit and I mentioned to Art I was buying it for him.  Art thought I was buying it for my son to build himself (he was 8 then) and tried to persuade me not to buy it!  I doubt he would have allowed me to buy the kit if I hadn’t convinced him that I was going to be the primary builder (with my son helping).  Most people in the business would have just wanted to make the sale—Art proved to be more concerned with his customer’s ultimate satisfaction than a simple sale and that is the mark of good business judgment and a class act.

Build and detail structure wall by wall

When building a structure kit, it is a lot easier to build and detail each wall section prior to assembling the structure.  This allows for better access when installing the windows, and signs and helps you match off the weather of each wall as you can place them side by side.

Storage is as important as benchwork

When designing your layout space, please take into account where your going to store all of your supplies and rolling stock.  If you don’t, you might make the mistake I made and store items “temporarily” on the benchwork itself which really puts a crimp in your ability to run the trains.  It never ceases to amaze me how fast I can loose something when I put it down in an “open space” on the layout.  Model Railroading takes a lot of supplies to do well and those supplies need to be stored somewhere.

Cast Your Own Detail Parts

Casting your own resin detail parts opens up a wide range of creative options to your modeling and it very easy to do.  Plus you can save a bunch of money by making your own details.  I started doing this at the recommendation of Jim Mooney and have really enjoyed the entire process from creating the detail part, mold making and resin casting.  To date, most of my details have been used for my 1/72 scale military modeling (ammo crates, gun barrels, sand bags etc) but I have done a number of HO scale items as well.  If I can do it, so can you.  I purchased the resin casting started kit from Micro-Mark and it had everything I needed.  The instructions you get with the micro mark set are limited so some additional web research is warranted.  The most important tips I can give you for casting are:

(1) TAKE YOUR TIME.  Rushing the making of a mold or resin pour only results if a bad outcome and a cast with lots of air bubbles.  If the instructions say the mold take four hours to set up, don't "take a peak" after three hours to see if you have a speedy batch of rubber - you'll distort the final mold.  When pouring the resin make sure you hold the cup a foot or so above the mold and pour a thin stream into it - this will result in fewer air bubbles.

(2) When creating a mold for a part that requires details on all sides make sure to include a channel to allow air to escape ad the mold is filled with resin.

(3) Don't throw away the rubber from bad molds - you can use it as filler when making new molds.  The liquid rubber will adhere to the solid rubber as long as there is no mold release attached to it.  The mold making rubber is the most expensive material used in cast making as you use it up fairly quickly.

(4) Bad castings are still usable in the background or on the bottom of piles.  Don't throw away bad casts as you can use then to create piles of items - no one ever looks at the bottom of that pile of 55 gal oil drums - just the ones on the top

(5) Get a file cleaner.  You'll be doing a lot of flash clean-up on you castings and the filing of resin is both very messy and tough on your files -they'll need to be cleaned regularly.  You'll also needs lots of xacto blades.  I try to file the detail parts clean rather than use a blade as I don't like cutting my finger!

Workbench Tips:

(1) Granite Counter Samples as Squares

Granite counter samples make very functional right angle squares and weights when assembling the sides of buildings.  The polished surface also makes a very level place to build structures on and it’s moveable so you can move a recently glued building to a safe place to dry.  Of course, they can be very expensive to acquire—that is if you purchase the actual counter tops in order to keep the samples!

(2) Purchase acrylic paints at Wal-Mart or a Michaels

Polly scale paints are very good but also very expensive—you can get similar quality paint for a fraction of the cost if you purchase acrylic paints under the Apple Barrel or Folk Art brands.  These paints are sold in the art supply aisle of a Wal-Mart or a Michaels craft store.  Of course, these paints don’t have the interesting rail road themed names that the Polly Scale paints do such as “Pullman Green” but for an approximate 60-80% discount, I can live with that.

Comments? Please Email us at:

Bosco@clarksville-balt-and-ohio.com