Frank Taylor. How to Build 20 Railroad Models (1941/53)

     Frank Taylor. How to Build 20 Railroad Models (1941/53) Ah yes, the Good Old Days of building models, the ones that recent whinges about the dumbing down of Model Railroader refer to.
     Frank Taylor describes the making of everything from boxcars to cranes. He prefers brass and tin sheet (ie, tinned iron). He uses nails as well as glue to hold the parts of the models together. Most of his work is done in O scale, which at the time of writing was still number 1, and OO (1:76 in 19mm gauge) was still a contender. He doesn’t have modern glues or plastics available. Detail parts are few, and scale lumber is not even a distant dream, except for O scale, for which a “fellow with a circular saw” can cut exact scale sizes. He wrote at a time when the “local lumber yard” would cut wood to small sizes for you, when 1/16" 3-ply wood was widely available because of the strength of the model plane hobby, when “cut and shape the two pieces of the coupler pocket” was deemed sufficient help. Taylor does promote the building of culverts and other merely scenic items, which don’t after all contribute to the running of the trains. Around the same time as he wrote his construction articles, Frank Ellison was beginning his series on model railroads. His ideas and his Delta Lines changed the hobby forever.
     Taylor writes in a nice, clear, colloquial style, with occasional asides into the philosophy of building models based on the prototype, and with frequent mention of alternative materials and methods. The book is a pleasure to read, and many of Taylor’s tricks and techniques are still worth knowing. The plans and drawings are good, the photos merely adequate; the book was printed in 1953, when halftones tended to muddiness unless the original was brightly lit and contrasty. Despite the dated technology and assumption of rather more craft skills than most people posess, Taylor’s book is still worth reading, and it’s certainly inspiring. It's out of print, but if you find a copy, buy it. ***