This brings up the subject of “staging”.  All our magazine modelers are always extolling us to set vignettes around the layout.  And as you can see below, it’s easy to stage large groups like the Political Rally, the Birthday Party, or even a simple conversation among RR workers.

But don’t hesitate to add small intimate moments – probably not spotted by everyone who sees your layout – but for those who do, it will add a feeling of “Norman Rockwell realism”.  In the midst of the family greenhouse complex, we find the young daughter sitting alone playing with her kitten.

Don’t forget to think about vehicle staging also.  I see a lot of layouts with dozens and dozens of cars and trucks packed on the roadways bumper to bumper – obviously just to fill up space.  (Of course, there’s always the possibility that one is modeling Atlanta, Georgia, and thereby bumper to bumper cars is quite accurate!)   I have two scenes on my roads that always get a comment. 

Ever get stuck in a LINE of cars behind a slow moving truck on a winding road?  For extra angst, why don’t we add the frequently stopping school bus to that mix!

Ever see three dump trucks barreling down the road as a group.  How are they spaced?  Think about it.  The first one is ALWAYS way out ahead of the other two, who are both bringing up the rear in tandem.  Stage your vehicles with the same thought as you do your people figures.

NEW SUBJECT:  I’ve been converting all my railcars to Kadee couplers.  The real expense is all those old cars with the coupler box attached to the wheel set.

The “expert modelers” tell you that you must replace the wheel sets and attach separate coupler boxes to the railcar if you’re a REAL model railroader.  That’s fine, but it can get expensive if you want to keep a lot of the old cars…and I do because I like a lot of them.

A recent visitor told me to just push a Kadee coupler up into the existing bar box on those old cars.  He said, “they’ll wiggle some but it’ll work.”

Truth?  They don’t work at all well!  They WIGGLE!  And they don’t have the spring action they need to stay coupled.  However, I did find a workable solution to the problem.

MODEL POWER still has, in their parts department, all the MANTUA parts, including the coupler spacers that used to come with the “heaveyweight” cars for coupler substitution.  You can get a package of 24 for about 4 bucks.  AND I buy the new Kadee couplers with the “WHISKERS”.  These have little wire springs on the sides of the coupler shank.  I glue a spacer in the coupler (Or as I did in this picture – to the box itself) and then push the kadee onto the wheel set.  Ta-Dah!  NO wiggle and I have “spring action” in the coupler.

Thanks for stopping by again.  I’ll update if I have any other detail items that might seem to be of interest to all.  In the meantime, I’ll probably spend some energy drawing up possible plans for a new layout.  Have a wonderful fall season.

I think I’ll just jump on my speeder and take off down the line a bit . . .