October 2009

Special Features
38 Perspective: Big station, little town by David Lustig
Kelso, California, was once an important railroad town with a large
depot that in addition to a waiting room boasted a lunch counter,
accommodations for employees and division offices upstairs.

40 Thom Radice’s Western & Atlantic Rail Road: Military and
railroad modeling combined by Rob Davis and Thom Radice
This finely detailed HO layout combines a love for history with model
railroading. The result is a layout set in the thick of the Civil War.

75 Adventures in Freemo: Report from Nordhorn, 2009 by Pierre Oliver
Over 200 HO modules were operated together at this German meet.

Modeling
48 Weathering an Iowa Traction boxcar by Jeremy St. Peter
Iowa Traction’s 53-foot, double plug-door boxcar No. 13146, is a
well-weathered, former Grand Trunk car that shows its age.

51 RMC/Dremel Kitbashing Award: Kitbashing a CSX slug by Karl Bond
This month’s award goes to Karl Bond for his efforts in modeling a
trio of ex-GP30 units rebuilt for use as slugs.

55 Modeling PRR concrete block buildings by Ron Hoess
These sturdy, yet inexpensive buildings were constructed by the
railroad following the Second World War when new lineside
buildings were needed and to replace older, wooden structures.

62 Scratchbuilder’s Corner: Castings and kits by Bob Walker
This month Bob covers making a master pattern and casting parts.

64 Keeping DCC boosters cool by Larry Puckett
Adding a cooling fan to a DCC booster can help prevent it from
shutting down due to a thermal overload.

67 The idler flats of the State Belt Railroad by Jim Providenza
These homebuilt cars lasted for decades on the San Francisco
waterfront. Here’s a look at the cars and modeling them.

79 Grand Trunk Western water tank by Chad Zentz
These giant 100,000 gallon steel tanks were located at major terminals.

82 Blending photographs into layout backgrounds by Joe Kreiss
Here is a simple scenery technique that can yield nice results.

Prototype
84 Front of the layout vignettes: No. 6, Small town banks by
David Lambert
Just about every town had a bank in its commercial district.