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Author Archive: John Cubbin

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Stripping And Repainting | Rokuhan Shorty Locomotive

Stripping And Repainting | Rokuhan Shorty Locomotive

I had a little free time last weekend and a couple of Z scale Rokuhan Shorty locomotive shells kicking around, what else was I going to do but try my hand at stripping and repainting them? This is both a sad (well, not too sad really) and happy tale about my first attempt at this […]

January 11, 2020 More
Using A Purple Coin Cell Holder For A Model Train LED

Using A Purple Coin Cell Holder For A Model Train LED

In our last video project we used several of the purple, LilyPad style 3V battery holders with a built in on/off switch. I like these so much for small projects I thought I’d make a video talking about them a bit more. These really are idea for spots when you don’t want to get involved […]

January 2, 2020 More
Rokuhan Shorty Christmas | Z Scale Model Train Christmas Layout

Rokuhan Shorty Christmas | Z Scale Model Train Christmas Layout

This is one of those projects I’ve wanted to build for a while now. A tiny little battery powered layout

December 18, 2019 More
Bad Bayou Halloween 2019 Video

Bad Bayou Halloween 2019 Video

Happy Halloween 2019 everyone! Just a short follow-up piece on the Bad Bayou shadowbox (or is it a diorama?) we’ve featured over the past 2 years here on Raildig. No real changes to the piece this year but I have shot a short video with the LG G6 and a motorized dolly. I’m probably one […]

October 8, 2019 More
Smartphone Video In Model Railroading

Smartphone Video In Model Railroading

As a rule, I tend not to write articles on topics I’m unfamiliar with but today I’m breaking this trend as I talk about getting our model train work captured on video and shared online. Not only am I unfamiliar with video work, but smartphones too. So this is sort of a double “I’m not […]

September 30, 2019 More
Using Solder Paste

Using Solder Paste

I’ve been using more loose, small LEDs lately in various projects recently and soldering them can be a bit of a trick. While it is possible to use regular solder from a spool, I thought I’d give solder paste a try. Solder paste is a thick, sticky material made up of small (very small!) solder […]

May 28, 2019 More
Lance Mindheim | Model Railroading As Art

Lance Mindheim | Model Railroading As Art

Often we’ll see a thread on a model train forum that asks the question, can model railroading be considered art? This question never fails to deliver a wide range of opinions that will go in circles and often end up back at the original question… can a model railroad actually be considered to be art? […]

February 14, 2019 More
YOCTOSUN Head Mount Magnifier

YOCTOSUN Head Mount Magnifier

For years I’ve used a simple swing arm magnifying lamp when I need to do close-up model work, and while it’s not particularity fancy, it does a reasonably good job. I recently saw a few folks using a new style of lighted headband magnifier and thought I’d pick one up over at Amazon. The new […]

January 1, 2019 More
A Little Early Christmas

A Little Early Christmas

I wasn’t going to start listening to Christmas music early this year… until I did. Ah well, can you really ever have too much Christmas, too early? Yes, I know it’s sappy, over-sentimental, cutesy, cornball, mushy, saccharine, etc., etc. Hey, I play with trains all day, so I’d be right at home in this little […]

December 2, 2018 More
Bad Bayou N Scale Halloween Diorama Revisited 2018 | Part 4 / Final

Bad Bayou N Scale Halloween Diorama Revisited 2018 | Part 4 / Final

In Part 3 of the Bad Bayou 2018 series, we had all our LEDs installed and I vowed not to add any more, so naturally I had to add some more. Just one more flashing welding effect set and a few individual flickering LEDs for a campfire… and one more LED spotlight from our metal […]

October 29, 2018 More
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