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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, O gauge, S scale, 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
All alert readers know by now that in the summer, I do a lot of my railroading outside. But I keep looking for articles and projects of interest to indoor railroaders. We have one dedicated "indoor" article, suggested by our O gauge toy train hobbyist friends. This is our eleventh inexpensive tinplate-inspired structure project that you can use to bring a "retro" look to any railroad or holiday village - plus three great accessory projects. And more projects are already in the "pipeline."
This month's newsletter also points to three articles written by "outdoor" railroaders that apply somewhat at least to indoor railroaders as well. Our article on operations applies JUST as much to indoor railroading as to outdoor railroading. And it will give you some great ideas to improve the entertainment (and educational) value of your little empire.
Finally, please accept our warm wishes for a great spring season (or autumn, for those of you who live "Down Under"). And please especially enjoy any time you can spend with your family in the coming days -
Topics discussed in this update include:
If you like really old-fashioned trains and accessories, here's another "Tribute to Tinplate " article commemorating the big tinplate toy train accessories of the early 1900s. This project includes free instructions and free commercial-grade graphics in three different scales so you can choose the size that best suits your trains and other accessories. Please click the following link for more information.
Longtime Southeast Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society Pete Eggink loves to study the real (big) railroads to see what lessons you can apply to a garden railroad. The article's math also applies to indoor railroading, which is why I've included it here. I've never devoted a whole article to grades, but reading Pete's article made me realize just how much useful information he has supplied. If you're wondering if it's a good idea to try to run a 60-car train up a 5% grade, this article will give you some hints. Please click the following link for more information.
Some time back, fellow Miami Valley Garden Railway Society member Wil Davis wrote an article about how to make those utility building lights you see outside warehouses and many other businesses. Again, altough the content is oriented toward garden trains, the same techniques can easily be used inside.
The lights that this project produces are handy for a number of reasons, one of which is that they stay attached to the buildings, so you can add lot of interest (especially after dark) without having to set up separate lamp posts or some such every time you move your buildings. Please click the following link for more information.
Okay, I originally wrote this for garden railroaders but its content actually applies to anyone setting up a model railroad, indoors or out. Consider planning your railroad so that you can operate it like a real railroad. We include suggestions for helping newbies and small children work their way into it, and ways to keep adults busy doing the business of a conductor as the train travels around your empire. Click on the link below for more information.
Although we have been answering questions about trains for decades, we actually started the Big Indoor Trains/Big Christmas Trains Letters to the Editor page about five years ago. The page now includes about 100 separate questions and answers, going back over five years. (If it included the redundant answers or the answers that are already published in our articles, it would probably be closer to 1000.)
In some cases, the answers have changed from year to year, as new products and approaches have become available. In other cases, the answers were expanded into an article in our Primer pages. But, as the grocery store says, many of the questions and answers are still wholesome and useful for most purposes.
Is there something you've been wondering about but haven't gotten around to asking? Or would you just like to take a look at the questions and ideas other folks have come up with over the years? Click the link below for more information.
As you can probably guess, the fact that our newsletters only go out to people who specifically requested them means that I get relatively few unsubscribe requests. However, occasionally I get a "dandy." This blog-like article is about ways folks misunderstand the whole concept of "unsubscribing," that is, letting me know they don't want to get the newsletters any more. It's inspired by a fellow who thought that unsubscribing wasn't good enough - he wanted to "shut us down" if he could. Please click the following link for more information.
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 holiday season!
Paul Race
BigIndoorTrains.com
BigChristmasTrains.com
FamilyGardenTrains.com
To view the Trains-N-TownsTM newsletter for March, 2010, click on the following link:
http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/10_03_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 Tinplate-Style Way Station
New Family Garden Trains Article: Tackle Those Grades With Ease
New Family Garden Trains Article: External Structure Lights
Planning Your [Garden] Railroad for Operations
Questions and Answers - Have You Visited our Letters to the Editor Page Lately?
New Article: The Holmes Identity, or How Not to Unsubscribe