August, 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

After a pretty busy early summer, and a seriously delayed July issue, we're trying to get a little closer to schedule with this issue. Hopefully, we can get even better next month. For one thing, certain readers are now anxiously awaiting the next installments of our "Tribute to Tin" series, and we hate to disappoint them. We have some more great projects planned, as well as other resources that we hope you will enjoy using.

We have not one, but two new projects inspired by the great tinplate railroad accessories of the early 1900s. In addition, we've spent some time reviewing the trains that have been released under the Dept. 56 brand name. It is interesting to note that the company that reinvigorated the Christmas village hobby also helped to reinvigorate the On30 model railroad hobby, through a joint project with Bachmann trains.

In the meantime, many of you know that our family is going through a number of transitions, including sending a child off to college and trying to find a "day" job worth transitioning to by early next year (my company is going south, literally). We know that many of our readers are undergoing similar transitions. So we want to let you know we're thinking of you and that we appreciate all of the support, prayers and patience as we try to keep the "lights on" for the hobbies we support. We'll keep you posted, at the same time we hope to keep bringing you projects that will cost you almost nothing but will add value to your own trains and towns.

Once again, if you have an article idea or photo you want to share, please get in touch. Through our readers, we are constantly finding out new ways to enjoy our trains and towns.

Topics discussed in this update include:

New Article: Building TinPlate-Syle Store Fronts
New Article: Building a Tinplate-Inspired Goose-Neck Lamp Post
New Article: Dept. 56 Village Trains
Halloween Train Alert!
Song of the Month: Fish in the Corn

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

New Article: Building TinPlate-Syle Store Fronts

Our Big Indoor Trains^TM "Tribute To Tin" takes off again, with not one, but three new buildings. This time, Howard Lamey and I are paying tribute to the West Brothers' tinplate candy boxes that would give you a nice city scene once you'd finished off the candy. Like many tinplate toy manufacturers, the West Brothers frequently saved money by using one plan with multiple sets of graphics to get maximum use out of their pattern expense. We've followed their example with projects inspired by three of their most popular buildings. Use our free downloadable patterns and plans to add a vintage-style business district on your railroad or display village.

Click on the link below for more information:

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/lackie/storefronts/tin_storefronts.htm

New Article: Building a Tinplate-Inspired Goose-Neck Lamp Post

Another Howard Lamey project: A few cents' worth of materials will give you a traditional-looking accessory to decorate your station platforms and business districts. They don't actually light, but they are ridiculously easy to build, and they bring your railroad, putz, or holiday village a little further back in time just by sitting around. Click on the link below for more information.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/accessories/gooseneck_lamp/goose_neck_lamp_tinplate.htm

New Article: Dept. 56 Village Trains

Bachmann Trains and Dept. 56(r) made history in 1998 when the companies worked together to produce the first modern mass-produced On30 train. The "Village Express" #52710 finally gave Dept. 56 collectors a train set that looked right with their villages. At the same time the Bachmann-branded versions revitalized On30 as a hobby and reintroduced thousands to the joys of O scale model railroading.

To learn more about train #52710, click on the link below But Bachmann's revolutionary little train was not the first, or even the second electric train that was branded for Dept. 56. If you're interested in collectible villages, collectible trains, or On30 trains in general, you'll enjoy this review of toy train and Christmas village history.

Click on the link below for more information:

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/collectible_trains/dept_56_trains/dept_56_trains.htm

Halloween Train Deadlines Approaching!

If you've thought about setting up a Halloween village or railroad this year, take a look at the Click to go to Halloween Trains page

Halloween Trains page soon. Not only is this a good time to start planning and working on our unique Spook Hill(tm) buildings, but if you want to order a Halloween-themed On30 train for your town, you should order soon to get enough of the train to run by Trick-or-Treat season. You can still get trains and villages that feature classic Universal Studios horror movie monsters, as well as the "Munsters," the "Nightmare before Christmas," and many more. But don't wait too long.

Click on the following link to learn more about On30 Halloween Trains.

http://halloweentrains.com

Click on the following link to learn more about BigIndoorTrains.com's Spook Hill collection of Halloween-themed structure and accessory projects.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/spook_hill/welcome_to_spook_hill.htm

Song of the Month: Fish in the Corn

This month's "Song of the Month," "Fish in the Corn" is an acoustic, folk-style account of a couple farm kids making "lemon out of lemonade" by chasing a trout through their Pa's flooded cornfield. It's a little bit "fish story" and all fun.

To jump to the "Song of the Month" section of my music page, with links to this and other songs, please click the following link:

http://paulracemusic.com/prmusic.htm#song_of_month

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 summer!

Paul Race

BigIndoorTrains.com
BigChristmasTrains.com
FamilyGardenTrains.com

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

http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/09_07_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, Garden Train Store^TM, and Tribute to Tinplate^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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Trains-N-TownsTM, the Official Newsletter of BIGIndoorTrains.com and BIGChristmasTrains.com