Hot Times on the High Iron - Today we revisit the Hours of Service
Several years ago I explained how the hours of service (HOS) works on the railroad. After years of screaming and complaining by many railroaders (the help, not the management), and after a few huge wrecks, particularly one that killed a bunch of civilians, congress acted to make some changes. One of the most noteworthy is the hours of service act. And as it would happen, on more instances than I can begin to recall, I have stated in matter of fact that it would take civilians getting killed as opposed to more railroaders getting killed. Everybody knows we are just a dime a dozen.

An Easy Kitbash of Canadian “Sweep” in HO
A while back I was browsing through some railroad photos on the Internet when I found a great view of a Canadian National “Sweep.”  What’s a “Sweep?” It’s a real-life kitbash consisting of an SW1200RS cab and frame mated with a GP9 body, including the main generator, cooling fans, and traction motor blowers, all riding on Flexicoil trucks.

Realistic Grade Crossings
As the Amoskeag Northern continues to gain scenery we'll be focusing more on specific areas of scenery and detailing. Whether you're modeling a backwoods branch line, or the action of the urban areas, the motoring public is going to need to cross your right of way. Since we are modeling trains, we may not think that modeling grade crossings requires a lot of our modeling skills or attention, however recreating these crossings properly can bring a realistic detail to the fore front of your layout.

Buffalo Central Terminal
Thick fog still blankets much of the city, but families with children, rail enthusiasts and men and boys with cameras gladly add their bodies to a line snaking 200 feet four abreast from the base of Buffalo’s New York Central Terminal. By the end of this event – a two-day model train show – only 3,000 paying visitors walk into the cathedral-like art deco station. Some blamed the weather, the economy or both. But the scene is still baffling compared to the one from just 10 years ago, long after the last passenger trains departed and local government officials had written off the building as too expensive to redevelop or demolish. It was left to rot. Until now.

High Green: Methods for Realistic Scenery
In the last installment we left off with laying track and turnouts, a large step in making this mass of plywood look more like a transportation system. In the next installments we'll be taking a look at creating realistic scenery, from rural to city. Scenery makes running trains all that much more like the real thing and can help you get that motivation to work on the layout, so let’s get to planting!

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