Have you always wanted to make creative effects for your model railroad, but didn't know how Many off-the-shelf items in lighting, animation, and sound are available and are easy to operate.

Learn to make an operating crane by using gear motors and a remote controller, build a working conveyor loader, or an operating turntable that moves at scale speed. Animate a waterfall, create smoke, simulate fire, and project theatrical type lighting. These are only a few of the many items covered in this book.

Learn how to make a working crossing gate with lights, a simple track signal system, or a street system with moving cars and trucks. New ideas and materials are explained to the novice modeler with easy-to-understand instructions, photographs, and diagrams.

Contents:
Electrical Primer;
Wiring Techniques;
Lighting Effects;
Track Effects;
Animation Effects;
Sound Effects;
Scenery Effects;
Theatrical Effects;
Effects Operations;
Source Guide.

J-T Publishing, soft cover, 200 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .5 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. JTP406
Price: 24.95 USD

Basic and Advanced Tips and Techniques for Styrene Modeling: How to Build, Paint and Finish Realistic Styrene Models

Tools-Adhesives-Scratch building-Kit bashing-Conversions-Detailing-Airbrushing-Decals-Weathering

Ch. 1: The Case for Styrene, 40 Years Later!, pp. 3-5;
Ch. 2: Equipping the Styrene Workshop, pp. 6-11;
Ch. 3: Working With Styrene Sheet and Strip, pp. 12-17;
Ch. 4: Scratch building Basic Boxes, pp. 18-26;
Ch. 5: Working With Styrene Kits, pp. 27-32;
Ch. 6: Kit bashing and Conversions, pp. 33-44;
Ch. 7: Detailing Techniques, pp. 45-56;
Ch. 8: Basic Painting and Finishing, pp. 57-67;
Ch. 9: Advanced Finishing Techniques, pp. 68-75;
Ch. 10: Scratch Building Projects and Techniques, pp. 76-87;
Sources and Index, pp. 88-89.

Evergreen Scale Models, soft cover, 88 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., color and b&w photographs and illustrations. ESM904
Price: 11.95 USD

Model Railroader's How-To Guide.

Using only off-the-shelf trackwork, buildings, bridges and scenery and ready-to-run trains, you can construct a layout from the ground up with effort-saving ideas like office furniture pedestals doubling as benchwork support and storage. This book brings it all together –trackwork, scenery, wiring, command control, structures, detailing and trains on a model railroad readers will actually build.

Contents:
Ch. 1: Track planning and benchwork, pp. 6-17;
Ch. 2: Track and wiring, pp. 18-27;
Ch. 3: Structures, pp. 28-39;
Ch. 4: Scenery foundations, pp. 40-61;
Ch. 5: Scenery texture and final touches, pp. 62-77;
Ch. 6: Locomotives and rolling stock, pp. 78-85;
Ch. 7: Final details, pp. 86-93;
Resources, pg. 94;
About the author, pg. 95.

Kalmbach Books, soft cover, 96 pages, 8.25 x 10.75 x .25 in., color photographs and illustrations. KB12429
Price: 13.95 USD

Done in a Day: Easy detailing and weathering projects for your model railroad.

More than a dozen easy weathering and detailing projects will show you how to add realism to rolling stock and locomotives. Well-illustrated, easy-to-follow instructions make this book suitable for beginning Model Railroader's.

Most articles are about weathering but one article shows how to apply DCC and sound to an older Kato locomotive. All articles are with HO scale models.

Kalmbach Books, soft cover, 88 pages., 8.25 x 10.75 x .25 in., color photographs. KB12458
Price: 13.95 USD

Engine houses, turntables, coal towers, scales, sand towers, water towers, floodlights, yard offices, signal towers, shanties, oil supply house and more from the pages of Railroad Model Craftsman.

Contents:
Locomotive Terminals (Boston & Albany), pp. 4-5;
Round Houses (ATSF, Cincinnati Union Terminal, NYS&W Little Ferry, MP East St. Louis and CV White River Jct., pp. 6-11;
Engine Houses, Diesel Houses (ATSF and TRRA);
Telephone Boxes (ATSF and B&O);
Pump and Boiler Houses (B&O and Gulf Coast Lines);
Turntables (SP Gallows, T&NO 90 ft., EBT);
Water Tanks (SP, McCloud River wood tanks);
Coal Towers and Ramps (Concrete and Wood);
Ash Handlers;
Floodlight Tower;
Fire Hose Houses (GN);
Fuel Oil Supply House;
Chain Hoist;
Icing Platforms (LV curved and straight);
Oil Tanks;
Car Repair Shops (NYO&W);
Sand Houses;
Scale Houses (B&O and Fairbanks-Morse);
Section Houses;
Signal Towers (IC, RF&P, DL&W);
Yard Office;
Yard Warehouse (IC);
Bunk House (DL&W);
Crossing Shanties.

Carstens Publications, soft cover, 120 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs; plans and diagrams. CP00098
Price: 16.95 USD

Model Railroad Structures From A to Z (Originally published under the title Model Railroad Scratch building).

Any way you look at it, there is a lot more to model railroading than setting up a track and switching on a train. Once you ’re in that engineer ’s seat, you won ’t be satisfied until your layout is the best one around. From tracks, locomotives, cars to scenery, electronics and sound effects, there ’s always something new and exciting to add to your layout. What ’s the best way to make your setup really special Build your own model bridges, buildings, and backgrounds...from scratch!

This is the book to show you how to create all kinds of unique original models from wood, paperboard, plastic, plaster, and other inexpensive easy to find materials. Easy step-by-step instructions, plus lots of detailed illustrations and photos help you make professional looking models right from the start Build a simple drainage bridge, the “Schulz Brothers ” ice house, a storage shed, section house, and highway bridge. Learn how to design your own outbuildings!

Contents:
Introduction/acknowledgments, pp. 2-5;
Ch. 1: Getting Started, pp. 6-14;
Ch. 2: Basic Tools & Techniques, pp. 15-26;
Ch. 3: Working With Wood, pp. 27-37;
Ch. 4: Building A Simple Drainage Bridge, pp. 38-43;
Ch. 5: Building the Schulz Bro. Icehouse, pp. 44-49;
Ch. 6: Working With Paper, pp. 50-52;
Ch. 7: Building A Lineside Storage Shed, pp. 53-60;
Ch. 8: Building A Section House, pp. 61-68;
Ch. 9: Working With Plaster, 69-74;
Ch. 10: Plaster Pattern Making, pp. 75-81;
Ch. 11: The Molding Process, pp. 82-85;
Ch. 12: Building A Simple Highway Bridge, pp. 86-91;
Ch. 13: Building Cast Brick Chimneys, pp. 92-93;
Ch. 14: Appendix, Selected Suppliers, pp. 94-96.

Carstens Publications, soft cover, 96 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w and color photographs (15 pages in color); illustrations. CP0143
Price: 13.95 USD

Take in historical information and photographs covering locomotives, passenger equipment, freight cars, and trackside details. Featured layouts in a variety of scales show you how to model Chicago ’s Dearborn Station, move coal in the Appalachians, carry produce, and recreate Los Angeles of the 1950s.

Contents:
Introduction, It's about the memories, pp. 4-5;
The 1950s, pp. 6-25;
Motive Power, pp. 26-37;
Passenger Trains, pp. 38-57;
Freight Trains, pp. 58-79;
Trackside Details, pp. 80-88.

Kalmbach Books, soft cover, 88 pages, 8.25 x 10.75 x .25 in., 116 color photographs, 23 b&w photographs, 16 illustrations. KB12456
Price: 13.95 USD

11 pages of illustrations and repair/upgrade ideas for brass steam locomotives.

Includes 16 pages of the NorthWest Short Line catalogue of replacement wheelsets, gears, gear boxes and kits.

NorthWest Short Line, pamphlet with plastic spine, 27 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .1 in., b&w illustrations. NWSL512-9
Price: 8.50 USD

The inaugural volume of this new journal has several detailed articles about prototype modeling. The articles go to a level of detail not available in other modeling publications.

Featured articles:

Wabash USRA Box Car Clones and Rebuilds by Chet French and Jerry Hamsmith, pp. 3-19.

Pressed Steel Car Company 8,000 Gallon Tank Car HO Scale Kitbash (Tichy under frame with Intermountain tank) by Richard Hendrickson, pp. 20-26.

Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad ’s X23 and X25 Box Cars (Westerfield) by Ted Culotta, pp. 27-39.

The Burlington Refrigerator Express Company ’s Signature Wood Sheathed Reefers (Tichy including one hand-colored photo of the prototype and b&w and color photos of the model) by Bill Welch, pp. 40-59.

A Tale of Two Hoppers (Atlas and Marklin models of UP open top hoppers) by Mike Brock, pp. 60-64.

Adventures in Kit bashing by Clark Propst (EJ&E boxcar, URTX reefer using a Tyco shell and M&STL boxcar using F&C and Westerfield parts), pp. 65-90.

The Old Woman in the Back Bedroom: Bill Schneider ’s New York, Ontario & Western by Bill Schneider and Ted Culotta, pp. 91-96.

Speedwitch Media, soft cover, 96 pages., 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w and color photographs, perfect bound with laminated, lay flat cover. The text is printed on heavy glossy stock with plenty of color. SM101
Price: 25.95 USD

Contents:

St. Louis Car Company Cabooses (11 pp.) Washington University Collection.

While most well known for their street cars and passenger cars, the St. Louis Car Company also built more than 350 cabooses for Class 1 railroads. This photo essay displays excellent builders photographs of these cabooses. A roster and sample diagrams are also provided.

Santa Fe 4-6-2 Pacifics (20 pp.) by Richard Hendrickson.

The Santa Fe operated a sizable fleet of 4-6-2 Pacifics of the 1309, 1337, 3500, and 3600 Classes. This outstanding article by Richard Hendrickson discusses the history of these locomotives including variations and later modifications made to them. A total of 29 excellent photographs pictorially documents this piece of Santa Fe history.

Modeling Plan 3410 12-1 Pullman Cars (11 pp.) by Pat Wider.

The most common of all the heavyweight sleeping cars was the Plan 3410 series 12 Section, 1 Drawing Room Pullman sleeping car. In the first part of this series of articles on Pullman heavyweight cars, the body of the Riverossi HO scale model is prepared for all the underbody work and final assembly that will be completed in Volume 2. The article provides information on the various air conditioning systems used on these cars as well as six pp. of valuable data that helps put these cars into perspective.

Riveted 40' PS-1 Box Cars (11 pp.) by Pat Wider and Ed Hawkins.

Pullman-Standard manufactured more than 5,500 PS-1 40' box cars with 6-foot doors and riveted side panels. The article provides a roster and ten photographs of prototype cars including numerous cars built for Chicago and North Western. Also, two models are shown that were fabricated from parts of three InterMountain Railway kits. The end result of this relatively easy kitbash is a highly authentic scale model.

Missouri Pacific Stockyard (11 pp.) by Charles Duckworth.

Stockyards were commonly found along the right of way during the 1930s through the 1950s and were an important part of railroad revenue during this period. This article gives an interesting account of shipping livestock by rail along with a fabulous model of a small Missouri Pacific stockyard in HO scale. A complete set of plans is provided along with pertinent information for modeling a stockyard.

Frisco's Howe Truss Box Cars (12 pp.) by Joe Pennington.

The mainstay of Frisco's rolling stock fleet was the 40' Howe Truss box car. In all, 6,500 cars of this design were built from 1926 through 1930. In April 1960, some 4,535 cars were still in service. The article covers the history of the cars including the steel rebuilding program that began in 1953. These distinctive prototype cars can be accurately modeled using kits made by Sunshine Models.

1935 AAR Twin Hoppers, Part 1 (15 pp.) by Ed Hawkins.

The ubiquitous workhorse of the coal hauling roads, the 33' inside length offset hopper was truly a common car. The article discusses the features and the differences of the 50-ton AAR Standard and Alternate Standard designs as well as one nonstandard design used mainly by Illinois Central. Numerous photographs are presented as well as a four page roster of approximately 127,000 cars built from 1934 to 1960.

RP CYC Publishing, soft cover, 96 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. RPCY101
Price: 16.95 USD