Scale Model Railroad Trains

How To - 5 Ways to Add Holiday Cheer to Your Model Railroad

Here’s 5 ways to add holiday cheer to your scale model railroad. Create a wonderful holiday feeling in your miniature world while maintaining accuracy and a believable railroad using these five tips.

1) Decorate for the holidays. Real communities and real railroads celebrated the holidays. Hang up scale and time appropriate holiday decorations. Even Colonial Williamsburg has doors decorated with wreaths and garlands.

2) Add snow. Select a few areas and supermodel snow. Put a light coating of snow on buildings, train platforms, and trees. You don’t have to permanently paint them white. You can sprinkle on a dusting of ground chalk or baby powder mixed with a very small quantity of silver glitter. Clean, dry, and reuse a food condiment shaker (like the ones use for something coarse such as grated parmesean cheese). Put your powder and glitter mix into the shaker. Practice over a dark colored sheet of paper. Pour your test snow back into the shaker. Now shake it on your railroad scene. Avoid the tracks, so it doesn’t clog up the wheels or motor. Run some trains and take some pictures. When winter holidays are over use a soft bristle brush to sweep the “snow” off. Use a mini vacuum set on LOW to clean up the rest. If this all sounds a little messy, then add wisps of cotton that has been pulled out of cotton balls. They don’t look as realistic but they are dry, and easy to pick up after the holidays.

3) Dress for winter. Select figures that are properly dressed for winter. Think coats, boots, hats, and scarves. Move them to prominent locations in your scenes. Remove ones that are not dressed for winter. It’s time to take the rowboats off the lake. Add a few ice skaters. Add some sleds or sleigh rides to your scene.

4) Add special holiday engines and freight cars to your existing mix. Add baggage wagons with wrapped gifts to your station platform.

5) Add holiday lighting. Use scale candles in windows. If your time era had electric lighting - add holiday lights to storefront, public buildings, and a tree in the town square or near the train station.

BONUS TIPS - Add special figures such as Santa. Santa and reindeer can be off to one side visiting with local children or front and center as an engineer or conductor.

Have fun!

Trainguy

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