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Trains-N-TownsTM, 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 TrainsTM and Big Christmas Trains web sites.
- If you did not get this Trains-N-TownsTM newsletter through your own e-mail, and you would like to get the newsletters in the future, please join our Trains-N-TownsTM 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
Our highlight this month is a whole new feature, designed at the request of many tinplate collectors - our first installment in our new "Tribute to Tinplate" series of free craft projects inspired by the metal trains and accessories of a century ago. We also have two new "blog-like" articles that many people have found interesting: one about creativity and sharing, and one about our resource graphics literally popping up in a Hollywood video production.
In the meantime, we're still planning future projects and articles, and doing what we can to keep our resources available for you.
Topics discussed in this update include:
Note: As always, we have more articles in the works, so check our site often.
Site owner and writer Paul Race has joined up with project designer and frequent contributor Howard Lamey to provide a unique new line of projects inspired by the tinplate trains and stations of a century ago. The first project in our "Tribute to Tinplate" is the Lewis Park Station. Collectors will notice that it is inspired by the American Flyer Hyde park station. For your convenience, Paul has provided commercial-grade downloadable graphics to give the station its "lithographed" look, and Howard provides a step-by-step process for incorporating them into a finished project that will add a nostalgic look to your railroad or village - it could even cause collectors to do a double-take.
Click on the link below for more information:
Okay, this blog-like-article from our sister site Family Garden Trains(tm) isn't about trains, per se, but you may find it interesting - our family spent much of the last five months in London and Oz - well, working on high school plays that took place in London and Oz. Here are some notes about the value of creativity and sharing, inspired by those experiences.
Click on the link below for more information:
In this blog-like-article, my life gets even weirder than usual, as the graphics I created for fellow hobbyists go farther in life than I do. Learn how a building image from Dayton, Ohio (and familiar to many of our readers through our graphics pages) made its way to Hollywood.
Click on the link below for more information:
An alert reader from Down Under put me onto a unique resource for indoor railroaders - a downloadable set of HO building kits and "coloring pages" that an architectural firm created for the Illinois Historic Preseveration Agency. I was excited because these people obviously show the same kind of interest in late 19th-early 20th century storefront architecture as I do (Check out my Building Front page if you doubt my interest). But, unlike me, they're actually very good at what they do. Preservationist Michael Goebel-Bain has apparently gotten involved in an effort to preserve and, in some cases, restore historic architecture in several Illinois downtowns. Part of that effort resulted in a set of downloadable HO-scale building "kit" graphics that you can print on card stock and assemble into 3-dimensional scale models of historic structures. Another feature is "coloring pages" that are line drawings only. I find both sets of features educational, and potentially useful when planning scratchbuilding projects.
One thing worth noting, an HO model of a large "main street" building built at the proper scale is often about the same overall size as a similar "O-scale" plastic kit building, since the real structures usually had 15'-16' between floors, while most plastic models assume 10' or less between floors, and a relatively small "footprint." In fact some of these buildings would probably look fine next to your "S-" or "O-scale" buildings if you just replaced the front door and transom with a taller door. Or take the downloaded pdf to someone with a large format printer and print the things off at 150%. Yes techically it should be 200%, but real full-sized O scale building models can be pretty big!
So if you'd like to learn a little bit about architecture, plan your next scratchbuilt downtown structure, or maybe fill up a "distant" city block with amazingly attractive structures, stop by this site.
Finally, I seriously recommend DSL if you want to download many of the PDF's, though - they are very high quality, which is another way of saying they're very large - 6-9 meg PDFs are typical.
To see the Illinois Historic Preservation "Build Your Own Mainstreet" resources, click the following link:
To see a chart that names the key architectural features of a typical downtown structure, click the following link:
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-TownsTM newsletter for April, 2009, click on the following link:
http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/09_04_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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New Article: Building a Vintage "Lithographed" Station
New Blog-Like Article: Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain
Build Your Own Main Street