A moveable O-gauge layout raises the bar - Classic Toy Trains

configuration, the largest to date.When basements and largegarages weren’t available (as was thecase in San Diego and VirginiaBeach), I’ve sometimes assembledCONUS Lines in the living room.(Obviously, I have an understandingand tolerant family!). Other timesI’ve installed a number of sections ina large O gauge modular club layoutin a local shopping mall.As far as the ordeal of moving, it’snever what I would call “fun.” However,as long as all the layout’s structuresand scenery details areremoved (a six-week process withplenty of long nights and help fromall family members), I can wrap themodules in heavy blankets for transportwith little damage.Seasons and scenesBecause CONUS Lines is meantto be visitor friendly, I kept the aislesbetween modules at least three tofour feet in width. That gives guestsroom to enjoy my particular emphasison the kinder, gentler aspects ofscale model railroading: realisticscenery and structures, and plenty ofpeople and animals. Despite my layout’sability to change settings, mostelements of scenery are relativelypermanent and offer even more varietyfor visitors who might enjoy achange in seasons.At present, all four seasons arerepresented in the 21st century versionof CONUS Lines. Springblooms on six modules comprisingthe whistle stop of Prairie View. Summershines in the four mountainmodules comprising Sierra Crossing.6. Snow has fallen on the lower level ofCumberland’s business district, which includesa Downtown Deco newsstand and barber shopand a Walthers Cornerstone building modifiedto create Yummie’s Donuts. Inside the donutshop, you might be surprised to find that thecustomers are regulars at Moe’s bar of TheSimpsons TV show fame, made possible by ascanned computer image.5 steps to hi-railWHAT IS O GAUGE hi-rail? The termis used often, but its exact meaningis sometimes open to debate.When I say “hi-rail,” I’m thinkingabout the definition I’ve read inRealistic Railroading with Toy Trainsby Joe Lesser and Pete Youngblood(Greenberg Books, 1995).Hi-railing: A term used to denote toytrain operators who combine scale andnon-scale three-rail trains with a consciouseffort to achieve greater realism.With that definition in mind, Ioffer five easy steps you can take onyour layout to cross over into theworld of O gauge hi-rail.1Slow down! Operate trains atprototypical speeds. The increasein realism is accentuated by soundsystems that reflect how fast thewheels are turning on a locomotiveand synchronous smoke systemswith prodigious smoke. Nothingimproves realism more than hearing,as well as seeing, a mammotharticulated laboring upgrade atclose to stall speed with a dozenhoppers, or a G-5 steam engineslowly accelerate a string of Madisoncars out of the station.2Weather everything. Granted,this is a lot easier to commit toon a $25 hopper than it is an $800Daylight, but you can at least apply alight application of Testor’s Dullcote(or a similar flat clear lacquer)to remove the shine. My favoritetechnique involves washes of paints.With an airbrush, I apply FloquilGrimy Black diluted 10-to-1 withDioSol (Floquil’s lacquer solvent) tomake that rolling stock look welltraveled. Grimy Black is also greatfor staining GarGraves wooden tiesand roadbed. Mixed with FloquilRoof Brown, it makes an excellentweather medium for virtually allstructures. Stay away from pureblacks, whites, and reds; a fewshades off these traditional colorswill work wonders in achieving thatrealistic effect.3Match everything. You can “hirail”in scale-oriented 3-rail Ogauge models, traditional O gaugemodels, and even O-27 models. Justdon’t mix the various pieces in atrain. A traditional Lionel no. 2055steam locomotive running down themain with a brace of 6464 boxcarslooks as “right” as a scale MTH PremierSP Cab-Forward with a longcut of Crown and Weaver woodsidedreefers. Remember: All thingsare relative!4Learn to love the color brown.Until the late 1960s, brown (invarious shades and hues) was thecolor of choice for most of thenation’s rolling stock. Hi-railing Ogaugers who favor the steam-todieseltransition period should alsofollow suit. Most color images ofthis era show long strings of freight,mostly in boxcars, in Freight CarRed, Tuscan, or Mineral Red, naturallyweather worn and stained byuse. Bright colors sell models in themarketplace, but plenty of “brownish”models are available. And anairbrush and decals or dry transferscan do wonders for making a “correct”consist to run behind thosePennsy Centipedes you just bought!5Look, listen, and learn. Booksand videotapes can help youlearn more about realism, whetherit is concerning equipment,scenery, operation, or layout design.The marketplace is full of how-tomodel railroading guides and colorphotoprototypebooks depicting aparticular railroad,era, or geographicregion. RealisticRailroading with ToyTrains (where myhi-railing definitioncomes from), is myparticular favorite.For a more detaileddiscussion of myapproach to layoutdesign and operation,read “DominoPlanning Basics,”an article by DavidHi-railing:A term used todenote toy trainoperators whocombine scale andnon-scale three-railtrains with aconscious effort toachieve greaterrealism.Barrow in Model Railroad Planning1999 (Kalmbach Publishing Co.).Videotaped reference sourcesinclude Allen Keller’s Great ModelRailroads series.I think you’ll find that theresources to add realism to toytrains are almost endless for theaspiring hi-railer. – Rick WrightN OVEMBER 2000 • CLASSIC T OY T RAINS 55