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, 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 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

Some of you have been onboard since our first Trains-N-Towns^TM newsletter in July, 2006. Back then we were mostly trying to help a growing number of On30 and O gauge train owners who had just bought their first train set, usually for Christmas. They mostly needed information on setting up temporary railroads. Before long, many of those same readers were looking for ways to leverage their train investments into a year-round hobby. Fortunately we've been joined by folks with a wide range of experience and interests, so that the newsletter and the Big Indoor Trains site have both grown in directions we never could have imagined at first.

This month's newsletter is a good example of the various directions that "big indoor train" hobbies can take you. We have one project article inspired by our tinplate O gauge collector friends, and another that will help you improve the "gritty" realism of model trains in any scale. Plus an opportunity to download the entire 2010 Bachmann Trains catalog for free - no drooling on your keyboard, please.

Still, we're constantly on the lookout for folks with years (or decades) of experience who can help mentor our growing list of "newbies." If you have a tip or trick, or before-and-after photos, or an article idea, please get in touch and we'll help you bring your ideas to a wider audience. Don't feel bad if you struggle with writing or if you think your idea or project isn't very "clever." After over fifteen years of writing for the web, I can assure you that SOMEBODY out there will appreciate what you have to share. Besides, many of our best web writers started out with very basic writing and modeling skills and evolved over time into pretty good writers, modelers, and instructors.

Finally, please accept our warm wishes for a great summer (or winter, 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:

New Article: Building (Tinplate-Style) Seaside Storefronts
New Family Garden Trains Article: Basic Weathering with Powders
Announcement: Bachmann Trains 2010 Catalogs Available

New Article: Building (Tinplate-Style) Seaside Storefronts

The latest addition to a new favorite. Sticking with the West Brothers outline, we have replaced the brick and stone with clapboard painted in the colors and themes that brighten coastal towns on both coasts. Colors are compatible with Howard Lamey's Sandy Shores beach-inspired collection. Please click the following link for more information.

http://bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/lackie/seaside_storefronts/seaside_storefronts.htm

New Family Garden Trains Article: Basic Weathering with Powders

Longtime South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society member Mike Moran also runs Beacon Hill Trains, a great resource for anyone wanting aftermarket updates to their trains. This article, newly available in web format, is a great "primer" for someone who wants their equipment to look more realistically "grungy" but who is nervous about getting started. Although an LGB (Large Scale) locomotive is used as the example, most of these techniques will work on trains of any scale.

Please click the following link for more information.

http://btcomm.com/trains/primer/rolling_stock/morans_weathering/weathering_w_powders.htm

Announcement: Bachmann Trains 2010 Catalog Available

Bachmann Trains, one of the world's largest model trains manufacturers, has just made its 2010 catalog available in free, downloadable form. Not only is it nice to have this information and the great photographs handy, it's also a way to get a look at a lot of great new equipment that you might not come across otherwise. As far as I can tell, Bachmann has made significant additions to each of their product lines. I'm mostly interested in the larger scales, of course, but there really is something here for everybody.

It's worth noting that some scales are in the catalog twice, once for the "normal" line, and once for the top-quality "Spectrum" line. As an example, there's a Large Scale section that shows the train sets and much of their rolling stock. Then, further back in the catalog, there's another section that shows the Large Scale pieces in their "Spectrum" line, which includes museum-quality pieces. But don't imagine that having two "lines" in each scale means that the "normal" line represents some lower standard of quality. Rather, usually, when Bachmann introduces a "Spectrum" version of one of their existing trains, at least some of the quality and engineering from the Spectrum line works its way back into the "normal" line. The best Large Scale example is their ten-wheeler 4-6-0 locomotive, which has been re-engineered several times, so that even the least-expensive train-set version is significantly better than their "plus" version of a decade ago.

In contrast, Bachmann's On30 section is all considered "Spectrum" now. My first "non-spectrum" Bachmann On30 Christmas locomotive had such great quality, I checked over the box and instructions to see if it was really a "Spectrum" model and I had missed it. So it wasn't a very big jump for Bachmann to upgrade their entire On30 line to Spectrum quality.

One of the highlights of this year's catalog is Bachmann's On30 2-6-6-2 locomotive, DCC-equipped and available with and without built-in sound.

Unfortunately, the catalog files are very large, and will take quite a while to download if you don't have a high-speed internet connection. They'll take a while even if you do. I think it's worth the wait, though.

Although the printed copy includes both catalogs, Bachmann has separated Bachmann and Williams(r) by Bachmann for easier downloading.

Please click the following link to dowload the 2010 Bachmann catalog (54mb)

http://williamstrains.com/2010/2010_bachmann.pdf

Please click the following link to dowload the 2010 Williams(r) by Bachmann catalog (23mb)

http://williamstrains.com/2010/2010_williams.pdf

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-Towns^TM newsletter for April, 2010, click on the following link:

http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/10_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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Note: 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, 2010 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