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How to Build a Trolley Car

Old-fashioned trolleys are a form of urban rapid transportation that run on electric rails. These light rail cars hail from the turn of the 20th century and are still popular in many cities, including San Francisco. If you love trolleys and model trains, try your hand at building your own model trolley. A colorful model trolley might make an attractive addition to your collection of model steam and diesel locomotives and heavy rail cars.

Things You'll Need

Trolley car kit
Paint
Paintbrushes

Instructions

- 1
  Buy a trolley car kit from a toy store or a model shop. Model kits are often rated for difficulty. If this is your first model trolley, choose a beginner's kit.
- 2
  Lay out all of the pieces that came with your kit and make sure they are all included and you can identify them.
- 3
  Read the instructions that came with your trolley kit. Reading all of the directions before you get started will help to keep you from misinterpreting instructions and making a mistake. This is especially important when making a model because if you cut or glue something wrong you won't be able to fix it.
- 4
  Follow the instructions for assembling your trolley car kit, taking one step at a time. Depending upon how complicated the model you purchased is, you may have to measure and drill holes in the body pieces of your trolley. Very simple model trolleys just snap into place without drills or even adhesive.
- 5
  Look at pictures of the original trolley you are building a model of to confirm that you have assembled it correctly. Study the colors and any designs on the trolley.
- 6
  Paint your model trolley in imitation of the original. If you are painting with multiple colors, lay one color and allow it to dry completely before laying the next. This will prevent you from accidentally smearing the paint. If your trolley has text or designs, you can choose between trying to paint them yourself or laying on decals.

Model Railroads