While surfing the other day I came across this article in the Daily Times-Call newspaper and started thinking about it's significance. Is this where the world of model railroad manufacturing is headed?

This company, Intermountain Railway co. of Longmont Colorado has whittled and pared their business down to what they consider a manageable business model, cutting out certain scales and focusing on their core moneymakers, N and HO scale, mostly in ready-to-roll models and very few kits. Their product is assembled overseas and finished in Colorado.

Now, this could be perceived as both good and bad. The good might be that a company like this can really do a great job in their particular niche, and thus contribute a quality product. Certainly focusing on a core product line is good business practice, and will help keep them profitable and around for years to come.

Some of the drawbacks in things like this are admittedly purely emotional. It's hard to watch hobby shops and manufacturers that have been around for a long time go away, and in today's micro-niche business environment, that is sure to happen more and more. Perhaps the web can save some of these businesses and that would be their way of adapting to the wave of 'progress'; we'll see.

It is interesting to note, however, that Intermountain doesn't sell it's own wares on the web, preferring to support the hobby shops by directing traffic there. Hmmm…..let me know what you think!

Photography is an art, and never is this more obvious than when you set about lighting your model train layout for some killer pictures. It's not simply a matter of flooding the area with light and see what happens, and it's not depending solely on your flash, whatever camera you have. What happens won't be good! Recreating natural outdoor light indoors is a tricky task and not one for the faint of heart!. Here we'll look into some of the ways you can make your model railroad pictures more lifelike.

Obviously if you have the ability to get your layout into natural sunlight, then you can be virtually assured of better photos. That's just not an option for many, however, so we are left with the task of duplicating the outdoors indoors!

The first decision you need to make is what kind of day are we trying to portray here: is it bright sunlight, gray and overcast, foggy (lots of fun!) or even nighttime? Or you may try a variation of any weather you can reasonably recreate. (Avoid ice storms!)

The basic method for recreating natural sunlight indoors on a layout is to use one 'sun', or lighting source, usually a halogen spotlight set as far away from the layout as you can manage, and using photo floodlights bounced off the ceiling and walls to create diffuse fill light.

One thing to be very careful of is to not create multiple shadows. Each object should have but one shadow, and it is pretty easy to create more than that with your fill lights if you're not prudent! Try not to mix different types of lighting, as this can lead to many problems in the way your colors are rendered, and it's nearly impossible to fix, even with programs like Photoshop.

The precise position of your lighting can play a crucial role in how your pictures look. If you were to go outside and notice the natural sunlight, there is direct light from the sun which bounces off everything to create diffuse, or ambient light. Lights aimed at your layout will have similar effects, with the direct lighting source acting like your 'sun'. The positions you place your direct sources can dictate times of day, also. Directly overhead and you've got high noon. Low, to the side or behind can help render early mornings or late afternoons.

Make sure you take care to balance your light sources, as too much of any one of either direct lighting, diffuse lighting sources or background lighting can make your picture appear off. (If you're shooting outdoors this is nicely taken care of for you!) If you make sure to do this and to make sure you've got your shadows aligned properly, then you'll be miles ahead of most amateur photographers who try and shoot their own layouts.

With the strides taken in the past few years in digital photography, almost anyone can take much better pictures. For truly outstanding ones, however, make sure to take some of these steps to recreate the outdoors indoors!

I came across this video on Youtube today. It's meant as a joke but I have a feeling most of us have experienced something like this on our own railroads…

There comes a time in every good man's life when they simply must have more. No getting around it, no sugar-coating, no skirting the issue. Your model train layout simply needs to expand, and there is no time like the present!

While this is a fun thing to think about, expanding your model train layout is something that will require a lot of thought and imagination. There are more than a few things to consider. First and foremost: space.

To find the necessary space to expand your train layout sometimes you might need to look beyond the obvious. While your present layout may have taken all the space available in it's current location, you need to think out of the box for a successful and creative solution. Here some ideas that will get your gears turning and help you come up with an expansion that makes sense and at the same time adds to your overall experience.

A new house! Okay, probably not the most practical solution, but if you do happen to be moving anytime soon, you will definitely want to consider how your model train layout can fit into your new abode. But for most of us, it's a matter of using the space we are occupying now.

Obviously, if you have enough space in the room you're now in, you could simply expand there, either with an added table arrangement, or possibly on another level, or maybe both. Remember to keep any grades you build into your layout sane, so that there won't be any problem pulling a long train.

An adjoining room might also furnish a solution. I've seen layouts where the action continued through a wall and into the next room, as if entering a tunnel and coming out the other end into a different room. With this arrangement you can keep the same theme, or switch up if the trains and rolling stock make sense there as well.

A long running track, throughout the house can be done, but it's difficult to theme this in any meaningful way, (unless you want to theme the whole house!!!) and it's more to show off the trains themselves.

Another complete new layout in another room would give you the ability to change things up completely, or show a different aspect of your current theme.

Changing your location to an outside venue will open up whole new worlds of possibilities. Just be aware that much of your scenery may be living and will require more maintenance than artificial indoor models. (Of course you don't HAVE to do that…)

Of course, you need to think about how you want to enjoy your passion here. Do you want to shuttle from room to room, or even outside? What do other members of your family think? (You did ask them, didn't you?) How much will it cost? How long will this take and do I want to make this kind of investment?

As you can see, the answers are only limited by your imagination. The key is to spend some time, do some serious planning and see just how you can make this expansion of your model train layout a success!

Three model train events are coming up the weekend of June 23-24, and if they happen to be in your area you may want to get out see what's happening!

The 4th Annual North Carolina Rail Fair will be held Saturday, June 23rd at the Metrolina Expo Center (building 1) 7100 Statesville Rd in Charlotte NC from 9 AM to 4 PM. There is a $6 charge for adults and children under 12 are free.

There will be more than 250 tables featuring model train items in all scales and gauges. There will also be operating layouts and other model railroad supplies available.

Galesburg Railroad Days will be held June 23-24 in the downtown area of Galesburg IL. Hours are 9-5 both days and admission fees vary by the show venue.

There will be Railroad Memorabilia, Model Railroad, Museum, and a toy train/collectible show.

The Great Scale Model Train Show will be held June 23-24th in Timonium, MD at the Exhibit Building in the Maryland State Fairgrounds, 9-4 Saturday and 10-4 Sunday.

Events will include over 400 tables of model trains and accessories for sale, as well as workshops and clinics, an operating HO layout, train movies and more.

If any of these are in your area and you attend, be sure and let me know the juicy details!