Updating Your Model Railroad Layout
Bruce CarpenterDescription
Learn how you keep a huge fleet of engines and cars constantly updated in a modern era on a model railroad. Bruce Carpenter tells MRA’s Allen Keller that it pays to not be a rivet-counter. He knows that some of his engine numbers aren’t exactly correct because of constant repaints, but there’s a certain level of less-than-total accuracy Bruce accepts in his operating fleet. He has replaced about two dozen locomotives over the years in order to keep some of the latest prototypes running on his layout. While replacing engines can be expensive, he sells them at flea markets on the internet, and that basically offsets the costs of modernization.
Also, see Bruce’s theory behind kitbashing or scratchbuilding some of the massive structures on his layout, and his favorite basic building materials.
Check out this video on model train tracks next!
You're worried about nitpickers? No, no. I'm not a rivet counter, never have been. That's a challenge of modern day railroading is... Everybody's an authority. Well, and it's a ever-changing climate today. I've got engines running around down here that probably have the incorrect numbers on them, because they've been painted and repainted so many times. It's a chore just to keep up with that. You try to keep up to the, up to the moment with a totally modern layout. Absolutely. You're discarding things that the railroads are not using anymore. That's gotta be well, expensive. Well, yes and no. I've probably discarded close to two dozen engines in the last five years to make way for new locomotives. Not just new production models, but the latest, prototype. I normally sell those either at flea markets or on the internet. Most cases, it almost offsets the price of replacements. It's a neat aspect. Are most of your structures Kitbashed? Just about every structure in the basement is either Kitbashed or a hundred percent scratch build Using a variety of materials, primarily mat board. I love working with mat board. I recently found some embossed paper that closely resembles corrugated siding in various colors. Nothing is basically out of the box, cause it just doesn't fit. It's never large enough. It's never large enough. You can never have a model that's too large. There's no factories or industries on the layout that could only handle a car loader two. The Ford plant, for instance is almost 10 feet long. You have to do that with a modern layout because of the way the railroads operate nowadays. Absolutely. It's a different system than it was 50 years ago. Even the architecture and construction. Every building that's built today is, has in mind... Well someday if the business ever leaves, it could be turned into a warehouse. They're inherently tall, fairly plain, utilitarian type buildings. That's most modern buildings on the layout reflect that. That if the manufacturing facility was to leave, it could be converted into a warehouse.
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