March, 2009 Update: Trains-N-Towns<sup><small>TM</small></sup>


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Written by Paul D. Race for Big Indoor Trains^TM and Big Christmas Trains^TM

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Trains-N-Towns^TM, the Official Newsletter of BIGIndoorTrains.com and BIGChristmasTrains.com

This newsletter is for people who like O scale trains and Christmas trains, including people who combine On30 or O gauge trains with collectible villages. It is produced in conjunction with the Big Indoor Trains^TM and Big Christmas Trains web sites.

If you did not get this Trains-N-Towns^TM newsletter through your own e-mail, and you would like to get the newsletters in the future, please join our Trains-N-Towns^TM Mailing List
On the other hand, if you don't want to receive our e-mail updates, please e-mail me with a "Please Unsubscribe" message (worded any way you wish), and we will graciously remove you from our list.
Also, if you would like to subscribe to our free newsletter for garden railroaders (people running big trains outside), please join the Family Garden Trains Mailing List. By the way, you can subscribe to either, both, or neither, and we will just be glad to be of service, no matter what you decide.

In this Issue

We are glad to have you onboard, especially all of the members who have just joined. Hopefully the road won't be too bumpy, and we'll all reach our appropriate destinations.

Since we started the Trains-N-Towns newsletter in June, 2007, we have been steadily making new friends and learning new ways to enjoy our hobbies. One thing that is fun is seeing all of the different ways people enjoy On30 and O gauge trains. As an example, the title photograph shows part of a very small On30 railroad inspired by the real-world sugar-cane railroads that always used the dinkiest equipment they could buy, and patched it together for decades longer than similar equipment ran in the US. Like the plantation railroads, On30 and O gauge railroaders are finding new ways to have a delightful railroad for a very small bottom line.

The "less is more" attitude of many model railroaders is a pretty good fit for today's economy - and for our many low-cost project ideas, such as the palm tree project in this issue. Still, I know that for some folks, saving money on their next project is the least of their problems. For you, our articles and suggestions may seem irrelevant compared to whatever else is going on in your lives.

If that's you, please let me say that our thoughts and prayers are with everyone facing uncertainty or hardship in these times. Your family comes first, and we wish each of your families the best possible future.

We are also confident that the rest of our readers can find ways to keep the fun, friendship, and family aspects of their hobby going without adding additional stress to themselves or their finances.

For our part, our first priority for this site is to "keep the lights on" so our current library of resources remains available for those who need it. And as we have time, (and, hopefully, more readers step up to the plate), we hope to keep bringing you useful ideas and examples, especially ones that provide a lot of bang for the buck.

For your part, we appreciate very much when you send feedback, suggestions, questions, additions, even criticism, because it helps us keep our focus. So, when I say "Keep in touch" at the end of virtually every article and newsletter, I mean it.

The tropical flavor of our title photo also ties in to a new set of warm-weather projects - why wait for Spring break to enjoy some seaside imagery? Those, and other topics in this update are:

New Article: Build the Twin Peaks Beach House
New Article: Modeling Palm Trees
New Articles of Interest from our sister site Family Garden Trains^TM
- New Article: Rail Cars and Busses on the Little River Railroad
- New Article: More About Scrounging Figures

Note: As always, we have more articles in the works, so check our site often.

New Article: Building the Twin Peaks Beach House

Craft project designer Howard Lamey presents an indoor craft project based on the traditional putz (cardboard) Christmas houses. This makes a great companion to last issue's Sandy Shores Lighthouse project. You may also find it useful for your display village, indoor railroad, or, if you use the colors Howard uses, an Easter village. Click on the following link for details.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/glitterhouses/seaside/twin_peaks/twinpeaks.htm

New Article: Modeling Palm Trees

Turn up the heat! Add tropical interest to any indoor railroad or display village with a few cents worth of materials and a few minutes of hands-on craftsmanship. This project looks great with last issue's lighthouse and sea grass projects, as well as this month's Twin Peaks Beach House project. Click the following link to see the article.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/glitterhouses/seaside/palm_tree/palmtrees.htm

New Article: Rail Cars and Busses on the Little River Railroad

If you've been thinking about buying or designing a rail car, bus, or truck for your railroad, a look at some real railroad practices and examples may assure you that just about anything you can think up has already been tried somewhere. Click on the following link for details

http://btcomm.com/trains/primer/prototype/little_river/little_river_railcars.htm

New Article: More About Scrounging Figures

Although this article is mostly about finding Large Scale figures, it does include a source for some VERY inexpensive figures you can use with your indoor trains. Click on the following link for details:

http://btcomm.com/trains/primer/details/figures/more_scrounging_figures.htm

St. Patrick's Day Still Coming Up -

And here's one more chance to learn about what you're really celebrating on St. Patrick's day. Turns out he's pretty important even if you're not Irish.

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/st_patricks_day/st_patricks_day.htm

Keep in Touch

Each month, we get more interest in this newsletter, in the site, and in the trains and towns we discuss. We welcome your questions as indicators of what we should be working on next (also, we always try to answer reader questions quickly). In addition, if you have any photos, tips, or articles you'd like to share with your fellow hobbyists, please let us know. The hobby grows best when we all learn together.

In the meantime, please accept our very best wishes for a great spring and summer!

Paul Race

BigIndoorTrains.com
BigChristmasTrains.com
FamilyGardenTrains.com

To view the Trains-N-Towns^TM newsletter for January/February, 2009, click on the following link:

http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/09_01_newsletter_indoor.htm

To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Display Railroad products, you may click on the index pages below.

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Note: Spook Hill^TM is a trademark of Howard Lamey, North Jacksonville, Florida. Big Indoor Trains^TM, Trains-N-Towns^TM, Big Train Store^TM Family Garden Trains^TM, Big Christmas Trains^TM, and Garden Train Store^TM are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications^TM (www.btcomm.com). All information, data, text, and illustrations on this web site are Copyright (c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Paul D. Race. Reuse or republication without prior written permission is specifically forbidden.
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