My wife and I love watching HGTV network. I am amazed by the vision of the designers featured on the shows. Without exception, they exhibit an incredible ability to see what a space can be and share it with hopeful homeowners, long before the first board is nailed in place. Vision gives life to imagination. …
Continue reading Before and After on The Maple Valley Model Railroad
I enjoy looking behind the obvious scenes, which is why details are so important. More things are happening than we can see at first glance. A lot of life takes place in hiding. Maybe the good folks of Maple Valley aren't hiding on purpose, but not everyone sees everything they're doing. That's good. No one …
What could be better for a train lover than living in a town with an annual Railroad Days Festival? Not much. I recently visited Durand, Michigan during Railroad Days to hunt for model railroad treasures at the train show. I was surprised to discover the Durand Depot has several HO scale layouts in operation, the …
I have to admit, even though I don't want to, this winter darkness has not had as much of a detrimental effect on my mental state as in other years. At least it doesn't seem so. But winter isn't over. There is another hype-filled round of snowpocalyptic prognostications beginning to fill the air, even as …
Continue reading Model Railroad Scenery, Coffee, Earl Klugh, and a Sunlight Therapy Lamp
Maple Valley is a small tourist town in Kertok County, Missouri. The claim to fame in this tiny place is The Old General, a Civil War era steam locomotive that carries visitors to Maple Valley. Maple Valley has been here a lot longer than The Old General has been bringing folks to see it. Years …
Continue reading The Cast of Characters in the Scandal at Maple Valley
I have been working diligently on the scenery of my HO scale model railroad, The Maple Valley Short Line. Since I learned how to make convincing weeds, I'm putting them everywhere, and probably overdoing it. You can see the steps I learned for placing great weeds, by clicking here. I've added one more step. After …
Continue reading More Trees for the Maple Valley HO Scale Model Railroad
Creating beautiful scenes on an HO scale model railroad is a learning process. No one is perfect from the start. Everyone can learn to do things in a better, more convincing and efficient way. YouTube videos and Facebook groups offer an incredible opportunity to look at the work of fellow model railroaders and see the …
I have to admit, I haven't been thrilled with the results of the static grass applicator I made. Even though I've gotten some powerful zaps from it myself, I wonder if the static field it creates isn't strong enough. My scenes look pretty good, I just thought the grass would stand up better. If you …
My original HO scale model railroad I received for Christmas was a circle, thirty-six inches across. I put all the cars on the track behind the Tyco blue and yellow Santa Fe F7 engine. Even though the F7 did not run well, I finally got it moving around my tiny model railroad empire. After a …
In Part One, I gave the details about cutting balsa pieces to make forms for a grade crossing using plaster. The photo shows foam two-faced tape in place on both sides of the track. I pressed the balsa form onto the tape against the roadbed and track. You can read part one by clicking this …
A Coffee State of Mind 