Overhead lines repair. Pantographs were getting stuck on a big solder blob (why this was not an issue originally and suddenly became one is a mystery, but it was definitely a bit of work I wanted to do better on anyway), but things are tided up and trolley service has been resumed.
#ModelTrolley #ModelTram #NScale #NScaleTraction

Here's some of the inspiration for my #NScale ice cream parlor. A nice old brick building, which for a while was an actual ice cream parlor (now a coffee bar, and going by the stained glass window signage (very nice) once a stationery store), and a current ice cream place with a giant cone as a 3d sign.
#scalemodel #modeltrain #modeltrolley #modelrailroad

Attempting to make a giant (for #NScale, so actually tiny) ice cream cone to hang in front of the ice cream parlor on my #ModelTrolley layout.
I put a dowel in a pencil sharpener to make a cone, rounded off the other end, and coated it with wood glue. Looks decent now. Might shrivel up an loose that nice rounded scoop shape as it dries; we'll see.
#ModelTrain #nscaletraction #modelrailroad #scalemodel

This is a little #NScale project that's been sitting around almost done for years. It's intended to be an ice cream parlor. It's inspired by one we used to have here in Redwood City, which went out of business (but the location now contains a coffee bar, so kind of OK). Thought I had a picture of the building in that incarnation, but can't find it-- but I found one from a really old Yelp review!
All the model really needs is a giant (in scale terms) ice cream cone suspended over the door, interior lighting, and if I really go nuts some interior furnishings upstairs.
#ModelTrain #ModelTrolley #nscaletraction #modelrailroad #scalemodel

The "country" end of the layout is a little less bare.

#Nscale
#modeltrain
#modelrailroad
#modeltrolley
#microlayout
#nscaletraction

Mush up some Woodland Scenics "course turf" with scenic glue, glom it onto the branches. It dries into a nice blob of treeish looking stuff.

(One thing to look out for--if you want to glue on more stuff, getting it wet will re-liquify the glue so your already done foliage might fall off!)

#Nscale
#modeltrain
#modelrailroad
#modeltrolley
#microlayout
#nscaletraction

Been working on an #NScale tree. I found some brown floral wire at a craft store. Twisted some strands together, and twisted the branches around (I love trees but they do kinda look like eldritch horrors sometimes). Slathered on some brown brown powder (it may actually be dirt; it's been in my modelling supplies so long I forget where it came from) mixed with scenic glue (basically matte-drying white glue).

#modeltrain #modelrailroad #modeltrolley #microlayout #nscaletraction

The corduroy-pants-scrap field is now blended into the scenery. #modeltrain #ModelTrolley #ModelTraction #nscale #nscaletraction #MicroLayout

The next #ModelRailroad scenery project begins with old pair of corduroy pants. #modeltrain #ModelTrolley #ModelTraction #nscale #nscaletraction #MicroLayout

All blended in now #ModelTrain #ModelRailroad #modelrailway #ModelTrolley #NScale #nscaletraction

Scenic'ing things up with the usual stuff. #ModelTrain #ModelRailroad #modelrailway #ModelTrolley #NScale #nscaletraction

The next step is to contour the landscape a bit with spackle. That comes out pretty bumpy so I sand it, then paint it with some regular indoor wall paint in a light earthy color. I keep a little in a mason jar so that I don't have to open up a whole paint can (my "workshop" is also my "home office"). #ModelTrain #ModelRailroad #modelrailway #ModelTrolley #NScale #nscaletraction

This corner of the layout was pretty bare. In the "city" part of the layout I have a standardize lot size that buildings can be swapped in and out of, so I'm adding another spot here. First step is to build the area up with wood. The hole in the baseboard is for adding wiring for lighting, though I haven't done that yet. #ModelTrain #ModelRailroad #modelrailway #ModelTrolley #NScale #nscaletraction

Working on scenery.

My layout is mostly urban, so the scenery so far is an empty lot with weeds growing in it.

#ModelTrain #ModelTrolley #ModelTram #ModelRailroad #NScale

Making it B&W so it looks like an old movie :)

#NScale
#ModelTram
#ModelTrolley
#ModelTraction
#MicroLayout
#Noir #FilmNoir

Here's the atmospherically illuminated layout.

#NScale #ModelTram #ModelTrolley #ModelTraction #MicroLayout

This is a useful jig for testing if you are doing things with #LED's: 9v battery fixture, alligator clips, and resistor (so the LED doesn't explode).

I'm working on streetlights for my #NScale #ModelTrolley layout.

#modelrailroad #modelrailway #modeltram #modeltrolley #modeltraction #tram #trolley

Soldered up a little testing thingie in preparation for making and installing streetlights. (Note the resistor--if you don't put some resistance in series with LED's, they literally explode). #modelrailroad #modelrailway #modeltram #modeltrolley #nscale #nsacletraction

I've been wanting to add working streetlamps to my trolley layout for a long time, and finally found something that works.

I tried using plastic beads as lamp globes and illuminating them from LED's under the layout via fiber optics, but never could get the fibers to absorb or disperse the light very well.

I ordered some super-cheap model streetlights from AliExpress. They lit up nicely, but the lamps themselves were way too big.

But *inside* those lamps were some insanely small LED's. And putting those LED's in the beads works pretty well.

You can get tiny LED's from other sources, obviously, but these worked out to about $1 each, and they come attached to convenient lead wires.

#NScale #nscaletraction #modeltrain #ModelTrolley #modeltram #modelrailroad

@hulavikih Yeah, it'd be nice to get that going. I used keep touch with modellers via email lists; FB pretty much killed those, but I never felt like FB gave me the same kind of connections. Let's also kick off #modeltrolley #modeltrolleys #modeltram #modeltrams #modeltraction and #nscaletraction!

Btw, I have a trolley-themed blog: http://nkncat.blogspot.com/

I'll add a random picture of one of my trams.