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Trains-N-TownsTM, the Official Newsletter of BIGIndoorTrains.com, BIGChristmasTrains.com, and HalloweenTrains.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, Big Christmas TrainsTM, and HalloweenTrains.comTM 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
Once every ten or so years, the National Garden Railway Convention comes to Ohio. What does that have to do with Big Indoor Trains? Mostly the fact that the same people who write, edit, and publish Big Indoor Trains' newsletters and maintain the web page find themselves ridiculously busy preparing to host open railroads and present clinics on a wide range of subjects. So if you're wondering why there's been such a gap in newsletter deliveries, blame us. Hopefully it won't happen again for, say, another ten years.
There was a regional NMRA convention last May, too, but the local "indoor railroaders" didn't really need our help with anything. If you got to the "Division 3" meet in Dayton, Ohio, and I missed you, I apologize.
Before we got quite so busy with other projects, we were experimenting with using craftcutters to make building components. We're publishing a report on an early experiment trying to use a vinyl cutter to make building storefronts, not because we've worked out all the bugs, but because we think there's a lot that can be done with these tools, once we DO work out the bugs. We've also experimented with making tiny window frames for folks who make putz houses - those little cardboard Christmas houses that were so popular between 1929 and 1964. Again, the article might not answer all of your questions, but it might give you some ideas for your own building projects. I WILL warn you that Cricut machines won't work for these projects - Cricut has installed software that keeps you from using third-party designs. But over a dozen similar machines from companies like Silhouette do.
As always, we have more projects in the works, so stay tuned.
Finally, please accept our wishes for a great rest of the year. And please enjoy any time you can spend with your family in the coming months.
Topics discussed in this update include:
When the Cricut machines hit the market, I thought I might find some uses for my hobbies, especially if I could use them to cut out my own designs. Then Cricut's manufacturers deliberately reengineered their products to make them useless for most non-scrapbooking hobby purposes. However, we've learned that several similar products CAN be useful. Although we don't have any step-by-step projects for model railroaders yet, our Introduction to Craftcutters is intended to give you some ideas and help you avoid expensive mistakes.
To see the article, please click on the following link:
 Windowframe Patterns - Use Your Electronic Craftcutter to Make Your Own Windowframes
Between 1929 and about 1964, most temporary Christmas railroads featured little cardboard Christmas houses with light bulbs stuck in the back. A revival of these "putz-houses" has occurred, leading many folks who would like to repair or build their own looking for resources. When my friends in the hobby were having trouble finding replacement windows, I experimented with using my craftcutter to make my own, on several different kinds of materials. Again, you can't use a Cricut for these, but if you make small buildings of ANY kind, you can see how being able to cut tiny windowframes with precision would be a good thing.
To see the article, please click on the following link:
 Working at a WWII-Era Railroad Yard at the Harmon Railyards in
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Maria Cudequest, a blogger who combs the archives of Croton NY found some great information about how a railroad yard works. It's a first-person account of a fellow working in and around the roundhouse in New York Central's Harmon, New York yard during World War II. If you feel like your locomotive servicing area could use more detail and "personality," click on the picture to the right to see scans of the article. To see the article, please click on the following link:
Back in 2007, we bought a used Lionel Large Scale Thomas the Tank train for a display railroad, and we've been running it on display railroads ever since. More recently, Bachmann has introduced their version. It's larger and more detailed, but some users claim the Bachmann version does not hold up as well to hundreds of hours of unattended running as the Lionel.
I'll be up-front - if you're looking to buy a really big Thomas train for your own family use, either product will serve that purpose well. And both companies have pretty good service. But if you want a closer look at the differences between the two sets, click on the following link.
In 2002, we hosted an open railroad in conjunction with the National Garden Railway Convention and had maybe 20 visitors. This year we had almost that many before the sign went up. Lots of visitors, lots of snacks, lots of questions, and lots of fun. Thanks to all who attended. For an account of a fun and crazy day, click on the following link.
Domain name squatters, content pirates, and other obstacles that we hit head-on years ago are still causing us extra work today. Hopefully our warnings (and "back-story") can help you avoid the same problems if you ever start a web site or home-based business. Includes real-world examples from the history of Family Garden Trains and affiliated sites. Click the following link to read our blog-like article.
Torts happen. Okay, this isn't about trains at all, but it's nice to see that things work out once in a while. Almost four years ago, I reported on scammers extorting money from phone customers by charging you for services you never authorized, and on land-line providers who would rather let you be scammed than to treat you like a customer who is spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year on their services. Since my original article was published and I proposed it to several national publications and wire services, those organizations have paid other writers to write similar articles. That DID get the word out, which is all I really hoped for anyway. Unfortunately, the federal agencies that should have been policing this stuff (FTC, FCC, etc.) never stepped in, and the phone companies never took measures to protect their own customers. But a class action suit now has one major land-line provider promising to return ANY unauthorized "cramming" charges. Click the following link for more information, then scroll to the bottom of the page for the update.
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. All of the hobbies we report grow best when we all learn together.
In the meantime, please accept our very best wishes for a great holiday week and a prosperous and joyful 2013!
Paul Race
BigIndoorTrains.com(tm)
BigChristmasTrains.com(tm)
HalloweenTrains.com(tm)
FamilyGardenTrains.com(tm)
To view the Trains-N-TownsTM newsletter for December, 2012, click on the following link:
http://bigindoortrains.com/trains_n_towns/12_12_newsletter_indoor.htm
To read more, or to look at recommended Indoor or Garden Railroading products, you may click on the index pages below.
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Introduction to Craftcutters
(Large Scale) Thomas the Tank Shootout
June, 2013 Open Railroads
What's In a Name - Again 
Blog-Like Article Update: Check Your Phone Bill Yesterday!