Model railroads are more then just the trains, tracks and power supplies. They provide the enthusiast a way to study and recreate entire worlds and towns in miniature. Fulfilling this requires a variety of modeling skills and techniques or a large pocket book to purchase ready-made scale models and supplies, but many enthusiasts prefer to create their special worlds all by themselves and whenever possible to do so using easily available materials to mimic the larger scale world that their projects represents.
This can provide a challenge however, since finding readily available materials which can provide serviceable replicas for miniature items requires imagination and sometimes luck. A few common tricks that are often found to work well are listed along with descriptions below:
Aluminum Foil
When applied correctly aluminum foil can be useful in a variety of miniature projects – from simulating metal and creating rusted girders to just forming specific shapes and framework to glue or paint upon this all-purpose readily available material can be a modelers best friend!
Egg Cartons
Properly cut and textured egg cartons can make excellent stone-work, and even be used to simulate stone flooring.
Golf Tee
A Golf tee with it’s built-in flare provides an excellent starting point for free-standing posts or hangers and can be carved and painted to create a variety of items ranging from hat stands to traffic cones. When necessary gluing it to a penny or other larger base can help stabilize it.
Herbs
Herbs such as oregano and Thyme can make excellent shrubs and bushes for miniatures.
Nuts & Seeds
Simulating small stones and gravel in a miniature environment can be very difficult because finding small enough items that vary in shape and texture realistically is hard. One solution is to crush nuts such as pecans or peanuts and glue the resulting powdered nuts into place with a spray adhesive. Since they will break up into various sizes and are textured organically they often provide excellent results. In addition many seeds and nuts can be sealed and painted as necessary to emulate fruits and vegetables.
There are many other products around the house such as toothpicks, hangers etc. that can be pressed into service. The limits is really only that of your imagination so start scrounging and looking through those junk drawers and see what wonders you can create when you transform leftovers into miniature wonders.
We’ll look at some more ideas for common household items you can use in your railroad layout in another article.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Iam Dave
Ive been into model railroding for 45 yrs I love trains my wife died a few yrs ago from breast cancer now I live here alone Iam disabled and cant work thank God for my model trains I have Ho scale trains and N scale trains but my favorate is my O scale Lionel trains
I spend hours working on my layout .
I wanted to share what Ive found for Ho load of stones is Kitty litter it works gread and
You can make piles of stones by using elmers spread a little and just pile the litter .
I went to the C S X train track and picked up a few big railroad stones and I piled them on my O scale layout it looks great and looks as real with big pile of the railroad rocks .
I also make my Ho scale pipe from drinking straws just paint then silver or black and You have a great load of pipe .
I just wanted to share my ideas with others !!
I love your site its great !
Happy Railroading
Dave
Thanks for those ideas, Dave. I’m always intrigued by the way people use common items to add to their railroad’s realism.
Bill
I have learned to look at every thing with “HO scale eyes” Recently I was reparing a faucet and ready to throw the old junk away when I realized it would make a great looking flatcar load! I will probably make a crate to hold it with some scrap lumber. Toothpaste caps and other assorted junk have be recyled on my refinery project. And the list goes on . . . Just make it a habit to look at everything before you trash it.
Hi,
I have looked at all of the sites on model railways, and I have my own in a shed at the bottom of the garden, but I have one thing that bugs me, and that is, keeping it clean, as you have spiders making their web,all over the layout, flies that keep coming around, and bugs of all soughts, that interfere, and of course there is the track that keeps getting dirty, and of course if you do not go out there for a couple of days, it is horendous, what with the dead bodies that are laying about, I have the track cleaners, but they seem not to work very good, so how do you Guys cope, as I have not seen one word mentioned about this item.
Dave.
I just started my railroading, but all i have is my HO scale train and tracks. I looked on every site to see how to make scenery, this site is the best so far. i have tons of hotwheels and paper i just need you guys and it goes together
i use air in a can (you can get them at computer shops, best buy or anything like that)
just blow off the dirt, just make sure everything you want on there is glued down.
i have my train set in the basement, and that place is way too dirty to clean… ever.
I make aspen trees with common weeds that have a dead flower crown. Simply spray the weed with flat white paint, use a permanent black marker to add marks on the trunks. I then use 3M spray tack adhesive and spray the crown and roll the crown in green for summer leaves or yellow for fall. They look better than most pre-made trees on the market. I figure they cost me just pennies per tree. Theses can be placed in clumps or as a single tree.
Hi this is Jack Strong again. Here is a tip on painting rocks made from plaster molds. Instead of using different transparent dyes I use a spray paint called “Stone”. This is available at Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes. It comes in multiple colors. I start with flat black primer and then cover over with various colors to achieve the effects I want. This also looks great as a cover for plaster cloth that comes in rolls. If you don’t want to spend the money on plaster cloth just use paper towels dipped in a thin mix of plaster of paris. Form the plaster cloth or papere towels to form rock shapes then paint when dry. This really looks great!
I also make via duct bridges out of 1/8 inch ir 1/4 inch material by cutting the shape out on a band saw. I add small molding along the top edge for added detail. The track platform is 1X2 primed MDF molding. I use a heavy paper to line the inside duct of the bridge and smooth this with fine sand paper when dry. Now spray the bridge with the Stone paint. I use the black foam track bed on top of the bridge to quiet the train crossing. You can add a small fence along both sides for details, fire barrells, or ballast. These are simple to make and the cost is cheap. The largest bridge made to date is 24″ in length and about 10″ high costing about $3.00. These bridges can be straight or curved, just use your imagination.
Andrew, check out the entries I have made. I was once where you are and I know these ideas will work for you.
Do you want to have working signal targets for your rail road but can’t afford the high prices of the block detectors?
Most I have found will cost you around $35.00 per dectector to operate one signal. What I did was purchase a timer kit from Backtronic for about $7.00 and I bought a double throw relay locally for five. With the use of a magnetic operated reed switch under the track and a magnet stuck on the bottom side of a train car I can switch my signals from green to red and when the timer runs out of time it goes back to green. These work fabulous and the best part is I have around $13.00 tied up in each unit which can operate any number of signal targets. The timer kit is easy to assemble with some basic soldering skills. I purchased the 0-3 hour unit which can be altered to seconds with a jumper the directions will show the location for the jumper. The double relay is powered by the timer and the signal targets hook to the double relay. I put these in a plastic project box to keep things tidy. The switch for the timer is where you hook up the reed switch. This is a great idea give it a try.
I’m a member of the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois. We’ve built a large O scale layout in the baggage compartment of an IIlinois Central R.P.O. and we’d like to add scenery. The trouble is that the car is not insulted or environmentally controlled. Temperatures can range from -15 in winter to 100+ in summer when the car is closed up during the week. Humidity levels also fluctuate between desert-like in winter to sub-tropical in summer. Can anyone suggest scenery materials that will withstand these extremes in temperature and humidity? Thank you.
-Ron Kempke