The Model Railroader's Handbook

The publisher presents this as the ultimate reference guide for modelers of any skill level working in any scale. The chapter list on the publisher's page includes a Prototypes chapter, between Measurements and Track.

The publisher lists samples of what the book contains: how to decipher resistor codes, overviews of track planning software, types of benchwork, programming DCC decoders, building a helix and cleaning track. The chapters are General information, Measurements, Prototypes, Track, Electricity and DCC, Scenery, Paint and weathering and a Glossary of terms, with an index. The publisher's pitch is to get all the facts and formulas you need to know, but cannot always remember, in one easy-to-use book. A preview of the book is offered on the publisher's page. Google Books' listing for this edition, from Kalmbach Media at 208 pages, calls it a single source of important information meant to be a workbench companion, with easy-to-follow facts accompanied by charts, photographs and illustrations. It adds that the book includes general model railroading information and terms, model train details and essential measurements, and that a highly detailed cross-index makes specific information quick to find. The publisher's page opens by asking how much time you have wasted searching through piles of reference books and magazines for the one piece of information vital to a modeling project, and says the handbook puts that information in one place. It describes the book as created as a workbench companion that is easy to use, well organized and to the point. The contents run from an introduction through eight chapters, with the glossary as chapter eight, and end with an index.

A hobbyist who wants one volume to consult on the layout, from a newcomer to an experienced modeler. Gerry Leone, NMRA Master Model Railroader No. 346, hosts video series for Model Railroader and Trains.com, per the publisher. The publisher's author biography adds that Leone hosts the monthly "Spaces to Places" video series for Trains.com, created the "Off the Rails" tips and tricks series, and documents the construction of an HO scale layout, the Bona Vista RR, in the monthly "Back On Track" series. According to the publisher's author biography, Leone was recruited to host segments of Model Railroader's "Dream/Plan/Build" DVD series, joined Model Railroader Video Plus, and spent years as a creative director and writer at advertising agencies in Minneapolis.

Basic Trackwork for Model Railroaders by Jeff Wilson is a separate Kalmbach book that, according to its own publisher page, focuses solely on proper track installation.

Image: National Geographic (Penguin Random House) · source

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