Spookshow is an N scaler's autobiography of his hobby experience.
I agree with him that he isn't a master modeler, but if he's mediocre, he's upper-tier mediocre. The biggest difference I see between his layouts and the layouts in magazines is the photography--their photographers take clearer, "poppier" shots, and they don't take photos of the layout's weak points. (What you don't show is as important as what you show.)
For the first time since about 1997, I've created a hobby web page. Since my ISP provides web space and I pay for it whether I use it or not, I thought this would be a good use for it. I have some photographs there, and some general information on toy trains, particularly tinplate trains.
I've been spending entirely too much time on train forums lately. So have a lot of other people. Places that used to be good for learning things have turned into cliques, or worse yet, hateful arguments over stupid things like whether Lionel O gauge is more popular than HO scale (something that hasn't been true since about 1957, and I'm shocked anyone has believed otherwise since about 1960).
A few months ago, someone actually posted something helpful: a suggestion that you spend 15 minutes a day working on your hobby instead of talking about it.
Modern Lionel train sets come with a new, more realistic track called Fastrack with integrated plastic roadbed and lots of ties with simulated wood grain that to many eyes looks better than the traditional three-rail track with just three metal ties per section, and it's a lot easier to assemble and disassemble.
Unfortunately it's also a lot more prone to manufacturing defects. If your new Lionel train slows down at some point on the track, or it has trouble tripping your accessories, you'll have to either return your track, or do a fast and easy DIY repair.
My wife and I decorated for Christmas today, which used to be something I didn't look forward to, but today I do, because it means I get to have a train upstairs for about six weeks.
I've noticed a disturbing trend lately on the Classic Toy Trains forums. It seems like every time a new issue hits the street, someone has to find an article that has something wrong with it and point it out.
I think I've been taken for another Internet scam.
Of course the Internet is ripe for this kind of thing. The story of Kaycee Nicole Swenson is one infamous example. Unfortunately I fell for that one too, although not as hard as some people did. All I really wasted in that case was some bandwidth and a little disk space. That's more than I can say for the people who sent her gifts and other things.
Most traditional toy train layouts feature painted scenery: After plopping the 4x8 sheets down on some 2x4s to make a table, the hobbyist grabs a brush and some dark gray and green paint and paints roads and grass on the board.
If you want something that looks a little better than that but doesn't take a lot of time, here's my method, which takes 2-3 hours to complete.
