Build a model train

Any model train layout should represent the interests of the person who runs it. In the case of my brother’s wife, the interests are sometimes a bit out of the ordinary. She tends to look to the underbelly of society for inspiration.

Sherman’s Crossing is envisioned as an economically depressed small Southern town, off the beaten track. Police raids, serial killers, prisons and accidents are only partly balanced by church scenes.

To keep with Sherman’s Crossing’s image, Barbara wanted to extend the trailer park. Rob ordered additional HO scale mobile home kits from NuConp Miniatures. These are high quality plastic models which have to be assembled and finished by the modeler.

Rob drilled holes and added LED interior lighting, white for the main room and blue for the entry. In the pictures here, he had yet to add pin-striping and a touch of paint to the roof vent, the trailer hookup, and the gas tanks.

Windows were added using clear plastic or, in some cases, parchment paper. Window blinds and curtains were carefully crafted from strapping tape. People were added for interest.

As the town of Sherman’s Crossing develops, keeping in the spirit of a small Southern town, Rob ordered another Maxwell Avenue House from Rix Products. These are unassembled model kits which come in white and need to be finished.

Rob weathered the walls of the house with a simple wash of Raw Umber. He also painted the brick footing around the house and the brick porch with a mix of Burnt Umber and Burnt Rose. (It helps to be an artist.) He then drilled a hole in the roof and added a porch light. The wiring became hidden when the house was glued together.

In order to create a more realistic looking model train layout, Rob wanted to copy what is found on a real train roadbed.  The ties of real train tracks are surrounded by small stones or cinders called ballast.  In addition to a raised roadbed, ballast allows for drainage and holds the underlying roadbed from washing away.

In a scale model, the ballast is not loose as it is with real train tracks, but glued down.  Considering that the real ballast is only an inch or two in size, model train ballast has to be pretty small to look right.  Ballast may be purchased from train and hobby stores.  In order to keep costs down, some model railroaders use masonry sand.

Ballast is added only after the track is fixed to a base, generally of cork or styrofoam.  This base is to simulate the raised bed of real trains.  A useful feature of ballast is that it covers screws, joints, and wire holes resulting from laying the track.

There are several suggested methods of adding ballast.  Rob, however, failed to remember what he had read and made some errors.

He first spread regular gravel left over from an old dump truck load.  He then saturated it with a 50%-50% white glue-water mix and it looked okay.

Then he added a layer of cheap, fine sand from home depot which had been bought for an outside project.  Unfortunately, the sand contained some magnetite particles which caused problems and led to a major clean up job.  The sand also didn’t work very well with the process previously used on the gravel.

In order to finish the ballasting on Barbara’s HO layout, Rob’s plan is to get some non-magnetic, non-conductive sand and proceed as follows…

1, Carefully spread it where it is wanted with a soft brush, keeping it below the ties and out of the moving parts of the turnouts.

2. Soak it drop by drop with alcohol from an eyedropper (note: the paint used on the track should be tested to make sure it doesn’t run when in contact with the alcohol).

3. Soak it with the 50%-50% white glue-water mixture, starting down the center between the rails and then along the edge of the side, letting it wick into the ballast thoroughly.  Note – a few drops of India ink added to the water-glue mixture will “age” the ties and the ballast.

4. Clear the tops and insides of the rails to prevent derailment of the trains and let dry.