Turn Your Model Railroad from Good to GREAT (Track Tips)

[@KutWrite]

You are the Bob Ross of railroading!

[@katherinemorey6517]

Hi Dj, I love your work on the buildings &scenery. I have scratch built my very first crate for my layout. I made every single bend in the crate for the edges and corners and even made the top of the front have a slant for a new style of crate. It is even smaller than my pinky's finger tip and it looks so awesome to me. I'm also making a lot of crates from wooden blocks with a lot of colors and crate designs that are just awesome for a model railroad.I was inspired by a great youtuber that was making thousands of crate for his harbor in his layout. He even has them on his website for sale for a much better price than what they are offering for the crates anywhere else on the market.

[@RailfanNetwork]

Excellent as always!

[@doublediamondrailroad5949]

Yep I had an old Lighted one. Red light in the top. Also Atlas Lighted Water Tower. Same Red light on top. Pre LED.

[@NissyJ-SAL]

Great tips, the ballast mix idea was great. Also the painting seems less intimidating now. Thanks

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Great update .Like it very much.Hope there more to come.

[@djstrains]

More to come!

[@neilharbott8394]

I have been experimenting with addition of a drop or two of indian ink to the ballast glue, it can help a bit with aging effects. I too also use an eye dropper, I find it easier to control flow than a seringe.

[@danstrunk8828]

Many of the old atlas bumpers did have red bulbs installed. Cutting off the bulb holder, filling the hole, and sanding the area smooth before painting improves the look alot. Wasn't an original idea of mine, had seen someone else do it and was impressed with look.

[@scottericcatalano596]

This is true...I have the same in HO scale. Kato had their new versions out.

[@normanrowe2831]

Hi ya DJ. Thanks for another great episode. I agree, mixing the ballast colors really improved the results. Especially mixing in a little foliage for outside the rails. Great tip. Those old Atlas bumpers did have little lights in them. I had some in the early 60s on my first HO layout. Thanks for sharing. See ya next time.

[@djstrains]

The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/djstrains05211

[@blueringedoctopus4778]

What is this?

[@westonward735]

Awesome video!

[@djstrains]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@trafficsignalman]

Nice weathering, DJ. The concrete looks good, the color of weathered concrete depends on the aggregate that is in the concrete, and has the reinforcing (if present) been compromised by rusting. I will be trying your ballast techniques. Thanks for posting.

[@jameskeating6997]

Thanks for the “mix color into your ballast” vid. I have been holding off on balls dying because of the unrealistic single color ballast concept. Now I will start mixing to get a great look. Thanks again.

[@iglapsu88]

Seriously coo! Thanks for sharing!

[@djstrains]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheyMakeItLikeThat]

A quick tip, rather than using a bright boy to clean your rails when you paint them, try using a sharp chisel and just going over the rails in one pass. The bright boy will give you micro scratches which attract dirt and you will have to clean your track way more often. For cleaning the track I recommend Clipper oil on a piece of cork. Great video DJ! Definitely going to try that ballast mixture!

[@djstrains]

Cool, thanks

[@TheyMakeItLikeThat]

@@djstrains we’re all in this together bro!

[@hondachopper6978]

Clean you track with mineral spirits.

[@TheyMakeItLikeThat]

@@hondachopper6978 for sure! I’ve heard that works well too. I use transmission fluid 🤣 works like a charm

[@danstrunk8828]

My 1st post should have been always great videos, I've modeled n scale for decades and still get new ideas and motivation from you.

[@djstrains]

That is awesome!

[@SammyB562]

Nice! Mixing the flock with the ballast is a SUPER idea.

[@djstrains]

I think so too!

[@Maurice00PA]

Interesting video. I like your mixing ballast technique. It looks very good. I had only been mixing light grey and cinders (black) to approximate the Kato ballast I was covering up. In regards to your painting the crossing, I am pretty sure the yellow lines should not go across the tracks. At least those in Pennsylvania don't, though I am sure someone will find an exception. I will apply the rest of your painting techniques to my Kato re-railer/crossings. You are correct that the old (really old) Atlas end of track bumper had the hole for a light bulb. I "think" the actual prototype had no light but was only used in large passenger terminals. I would fill in or place a piece of card over the hole to make it look like a solid concrete block. Cheers! Have a nice weekend and stay safe.

[@ronduz1281]

Awesome Video as always Great ballast mixing technique Always learning something new in your videos keep them coming

[@djstrains]

Thanks! Will do!

[@fleotusbing]

Great stuff, DJ, very inspiring! Thanks for the how-to!

[@djstrains]

Glad you liked it!

[@paulsimkins3895]

Awesome video d j I have done the same thing you did on my h o table

[@eje005]

Heya DJ. Good looking stuff. Maybe it's the camera or something, but especially on the bumper it looked like you were using a little bit too much paint. Two thin coats will give you better coverage than one thick one. It would help not show your brush strokes too. I'm sure you know this already and you were just rushing for the sake of the video ;)

[@Horse2021]

I would suggest the black wash from Black Magic Craft's YT channel. Adds great details to models and miniatures.

[@blueringedoctopus4778]

Ballast=BOOT KILLER!

[@jasonminier6782]

I have that same DHL/FedEx van set on my Amazon list.

[@djstrains]

They did a nice job.

[@SouthEastRailfan]

Hey DJ, amateur modeler and railfan here, I am interested in investing in a drone in the future. Have you done a video about what type of drone you use, or if not could you make one in the future?? Thanks, Will

[@djstrains]

I haven't and probably won't because it took me a long time to study and learn all the laws to pass the FAA Part 107 drone pilots test. (Also $160 test fee). It is not a toy, and I am afraid of encouraging people to get one, and then they don't learn the laws and ruin it for the rest of us. I have access as a railroad employee, which others don't have and the last thing I want is to see them copying me and places I fly. Thanks for understanding. The model is this one: amzn.to/3xHaJEw

[@steelcityrailfan4808]

Awesome video as always. There was one of those weird but cool looking BC Rail C40-8M units that went through McKeesport the other night on G124. Did you get to run it?

[@djstrains]

nope. im in newell this week

[@steelcityrailfan4808]

Oh. I really want to see it so bad but I can’t this weekend because there so rare. Hope to see you soon

[@wykedinsanity]

i have three 7 oz bags of ballast coming for kato track, i prolly only need two but you never know and i hate running out and having to wait

[@acrranscaleandlifejourney4330]

Great video! Do you use distilled water when painting? Anyway thanks for the video.

[@djstrains]

I use that for decals. Should I use it also for painting? I often just go straight from bottle without diluting.

[@acrranscaleandlifejourney4330]

Give it a try you will find the paint doesn’t clump. The minerals in tap water make most paints clump, and streak. I learned that from a pro mini figure painter.

[@BrickworksDK]

@@djstrains You really should dilute your paint. It's way too thick out of the bottle, that's why you're getting visible brushstrokes. Personally, I haven't seen a noticeable difference between normal and distilled water. But using a proper medium is better (though not required, by any means). Even better... If you're serious about doing a lot of painting, get an airbrush. It makes everything so much easier and there's a lot of interesting effects that can be created with it. For decals, I would strongly recommend getting some MicroSet and MicroSol. It makes working with decals a lot easier. Don't forget to apply some gloss varnish first to reduce the chance of silvering.

[@djstrains]

@@BrickworksDK Thank you, will try.

[@colbymclellan131]

Is it possible to detail the track if it’s already ballasted in place on the layout? I wish I saw this video before I laid my track

[@djstrains]

unsure. maybe just a color wash.

[@jasonmolen11]

I put red led lights in mine

[@gabem6863]

If yiou really study wood, you'll see it turn kind of grayish as it ages and is exposed to the elements. Mix in a bit of gray into the color mix

[@wykedinsanity]

the one with the color looks almost real

[@wykedinsanity]

yes i think they had light bulbs in them lol or the option

[@trs-no8lm]

Be cool if you could take videos of the trains your working

[@djstrains]

cant film by law