Olympia 2, The Log Blog: Part 12 – Sound Advice

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page After surveying the state of scenery on the Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout, David turns his attention to adding realistic sound effects to various settings. In this episode, he’ll walk you through a quick installation of an ambient sound system, including the Dream […]

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‘Abandoned’ during switching at Jacksonville

JacksonvilleUnStanight

Splitting and combining trains was a well-practiced ritual at Jacksonville Union Station. David W. Salter From 1954 until I was 11 years old in 1965, we traveled, by Pullman, from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to North Miami, using either the Seaboard Air Line or Atlantic Coast Line south of Richmond, Va. Until the Florida […]

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Making signs for your garden railroad

Although signs are everywhere in everyday life, they’re typically absent from many backyard railroad scenes. If one wants a particular sign, then one has to make it himself or have it made commercially. Fortunately, in this day of desktop printing and digital technology, the palette we have available is constantly broadening. Even old standbys, like […]

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Video 101 Trains at twilight

trains running on a garden railroad at twilight

Many garden railways are lighted for evening viewing. Some have intricate model street lighting, while others use various yard lights or strings of overhead outdoor bulbs. Bob Guinan installed several light sources along his railway, including inside buildings and balloons, overhead, and along the viewing pathways. Our club looks forward to Trains at Twilight on […]

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Olympia 2, The Log Blog: Part 11 – Scenery Surprise

David and Jenny by the Olympia layout

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Hard to believe David has been working on the Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout revisions for an entire year now! What better time to take a look at the work he’s completed thus far. But to keep the progress moving forward, David enlists […]

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Genesis of a debt to be repaid

NHPAsSouthStation1961

Before starting their seven-stop trek to Providence, the two Alco PAs on New Haven train 531 prepare to follow the FL9s on the Merchants Limited (left in photo) out of South Station, Boston, in 1961. Chris Burger In the early 1960s, I was a student at Providence College in Rhode Island’s capital city, commuting on […]

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Olympia 2, The Log Blog: Part 10 – Q&A and DCC

Foxcote Manor no. 7822 steam engine

Vacation is over, so it’s time for host David Popp to head back to the basement and his Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout! First, he addresses questions and comments that arrived while he was away this summer. He then works to add DCC functionality to an old steam locomotive. Plus, you’ll also see a quick […]

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‘Wanna ride along with us?’

sousd353007

The engineer of Southern SD35 3007, preparing to depart East St. Louis in April 1968, invited me up for a cab ride—but logistics intervened. J. David Ingles Over the years, I’d bet most of us non-railroaders who’ve been out taking train pictures have received a spontaneous invitation from an engine crew we encountered. And how […]

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Understanding track and wheel standards

There are standards for many of aspects of life, and these are generally good things—they help to make more different things work together easier. For example, when you plug something into the USB port on your computer, standards that govern that interface ensure that what you plug in will work with your computer. One would […]

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Video 101: Where’s my stuff?

Even short videos require lots of media. Locating your libraries of video clips, photographs, sound clips, titles, transitions, and backgrounds is the first step in postproduction video assembly. When I open my movie software, the first thing I see is a desktop with three sections. Whether you are using the IMovie software that is supplied […]

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Make your own shipping containers for a station scene

makeyourownshippingcarton

These shipping cartons make an interesting addition to a model train station scene. Click on the image to download a PDF of the shipping cartons that you can print out and fold. Shipping cartons are an easy to add detail to model railroad passenger station scenes. Click on the link to download shipping cartons in […]

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