Peter's Model Railroading | My Library | Magazine Authors
Magazine Articles By Jack Burgess

A Simple Roundhouse Detail

Discusses how the author built a turntable track that stores freight car wheel sets. There is a lot of detail in this little project.

A Tour of Scale Models Unlimited

The author visits the studios of this professional model building company.

An Assembly Jig for Mass-producing Wooden-underframe Flat Cars

The author describes how he built a jig for making lots of flat cars.

Board-for-board Construction

The author gives the history and describes how he built the model of Jim Law's house; he was the foreman for the Yosemite Valley RR and bought the Yosemite Lumber Company's superintendent's house for $1 when the logging company closed its doors. Includes scale drawings.

Building a Sandblasting Booth

The author shows how he built his plastic-bin sandblasting booth, and the equipment he uses to actually do the sandblasting.

Building the Bagby Hotel

The author decides to re-build one of his layout's structures that he built several decades earlier. He starts off with the research he did, used modern technology for the windows and other parts, made templates for the building's sides, and then shows how he constructed the building, with full interior. Also includes scaled drawings.

Corrugated Metal Cutting Jig

This brief article describes how to build the jig shown in the drawings.

Edendale Creek Diorama Part 1

The author built a diorama in proto:48 for a scratchbuilt Fairmont Railway Motors weed burner. The article contains lots of photos of the diorama under construction and the finished model.

Getting Real

To answer the question, "What is a "hot box"?", the author first delves into the design of freight car trucks, how the axle and the journal box interact, and what might cause a hot box. Also covers the Keeley (journal box cooler). Includes several prototype photos of the mentioned items.

Getting Real

The author describes finding prototype information about the Yosemite Valley brick oil house, his first attempt at building the structure, and his second attempt, with better prototype info. He also details how he built the third version using modern laser-cutting.

Getting Real

Why prototype modeling? Several other Yosemite Valley modelers are asked why they chose to model a prototype.

Getting Real

Build your layout such that it can be moved if you intent to preserve all or portions of it. Sidebars include, staggering rail joints across sections, adjustable feet.

Getting Real

The author covers box cars for his layout, such as the Central Vermont 40000-series Howe Truss box cars, the 41000-series 1-1/2 door box cars, and the 42000, 43000, and 44000-series.

Icon of the Thirties

Centering around migrant workers' automobiles in the 1930s.

Keep Them Running

This article covers keeping wheels and track cleaning, building a track cleaning car, and preventing dust as best as possible.

Locomotive Whistles on the Yosemite Valley RR

Describes how to build an electronic circuit to reproduce a whistle.

Make Templates For Easy Scratchbuilding

The author describes how he uses a computer program to create accurate templates, so that they can later be printed to be placed on the material for making the structure walls. It includes a step-by-step guide on how to create a template for a home.

Modeling Corrugated Metal

The author describes how he makes corrugated metal and applies it to a structure.

Modeling Ridge Shingles

The author shows and describes how to use automotive putty to model ridge shingles on the roof line.

Modeling the Yosemite Valley in HO Scale

A complete tour, with lots of photos, of the layout. Includes track plans and prototype photos.

Operational Large-scale Switch Stands

The author scratchbuilt a number of large-scale-like switch stands to actually control the turnouts on his layout. They operate like the real thing. The author cautions that these only work on hing-type turnouts, and not on continuous-rail turnouts. Includes many construction diagrams, including jigs.

Rail Supports: Modeling from the Prototype

These track-side details provide a good example of mainline repair crew activity. A scale drawing, as well as model and prototype photos are shown for these stands that hold two pieces of rail.

Refining Your Goals

This article is about Robert Hoffman and his desire to change the area he wanted to model. There isn't much information about Robert's layout in the article, but it describes some unique issues he dealt with, such as being able to have operations in the dark.

Roofwalk Support Shaping Jig

Roofwalk supports are the wedge-shaped supports straddling the centerline of the boxcar roof to provide a level platform for the roofwalk planks. This article contains diagrams of the author's method for building these angled styrene pieces consistently.

The Stiff Leg Derrick at Incline

This is a follow-up article to the author's May/June 2006 Gazette article where he modeled the foundation of this derrick.

The Tool Shed

The author covers digital calipers.

Three Layouts, Three Different Prototypes

This is a preview article of three of the layouts open for the 2011 NMRA convention, namely Andy Schnur's HO-scale C&O, Jim Dias' HO-scale Western Pacific, and Jack Burgess' Yosemite Valley Railroad. Includes photos of the layouts.

Using Photoshop Elements for Model Railroading

The article describes how the author scanned an prototype photo, and enhanced its sharpness to be able to better distinguish details about the scene. Brightening up a photo can bring out details that otherwise might be lost to the eye. How also shows how to make a realistic "Bad Order" sheet.

Wheelset Holder

The author shows how to make a wheelset holder (for painting wheel faces) out of brass parts.

Yosemite Valley

Despite some glitches, careful planning paid off in a highly satisfying HO layout.