How to Buy Model Train Accessories

Decide what time period your train scene is set in.

Imagine a geography for the scene you've designed - rural, urban, mountains, plains.

Go to the library for books on the area, or that particular train line if you've re-created a real train scene.

Consider the purpose of your train. Is it a passenger train, a freight train, a coal carrier?

Choose some figures for people meeting the train. A freight train will be met by people in work clothes and by trucks. A passenger train will be met by passengers: people in suits and with children.

Find some model cars from the period if your scene has railroad crossings.

Find some animals or trees at the hobby store if the scene is rural. Deer or nesting birds set the scene well.

Find some buildings and arrange activity on and around them if the scene is urban. To avoid an empty feeling, concentrate on people and not just buildings.

Place gaps of regular track between track accessories such as bridges, crossings and turnouts to keep the scene realistic.