Return to our home page.
You Are Here.
Jump to other pages.
Rolling Stock Craftcutter Projects
Learn about running trains outdoors from Family Garden Trains, helping folks get started and stay on the 'right track' since 1996
Click to see articles and resources for O, S, and On30 modelers.
Visit the largest and most complete cardboard Christmas 'Putz' house resource on the Internet. Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site.
Garden Train Store: Index to train, track, and other products for Garden Railroading
On30 and O Gauge trains to go with indoor display villages and railroads
Free Large Scale Signs and Graphics: Bring your railroad to life with street signs, business signs, and railroad signs
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes What is a Glitterhouse? - Click to see an introduction to putz houses and related collectibles.

Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains(tm) and Big Indoor TrainsTM

Please Read: How to Help Our Site at No Cost to You - Some of our articles contain recommendations for products we like and vendors we personally trust. Some of those vendors may pay us a very small commission if you click on a link and buy their products. This costs you nothing at all and helps offset the costs of what we do. So if we point you to something you decide to buy later, please make certain you come back through our site and click on the link directly. Thanks.





























































































Visit our Garden Train Store<sup><small>TM</small></sup> Buyer's Guide Pages

Rolling Stock Craftcutter Projects

When nobody makes the rolling stock you want to run on your railroad, a good craftcutter may give you some options. While researching this topic, I came across several web forum discussions that discuss methods for using craftcutters to cut things like truck frames and passenger car sides. Most of them date back several years, when craftcutters were not as powerful as they are now, but the principles still apply.

Reading those accounts inspired me to draw my own pattern for a car I like and have yet to see properly modeled in Large Scale - the SK "Corridor" coaches that Harry Potter and his friends ride in on the Hogwarts Express. I only have the sides so far, but I've included those and two of the most helpful discussion threads on similar projects.

In addition, countless Large Scalers have used craftcutters and vinyl to relabel their trains and buildings. I've included one example of my own, albeit for a totally fictitious (ghost) railroad.

More projects are being researched and will be added as they become available. Also, if you've used your craftcutter for a rolling stock project and would like to share, please contact us.

  • JCL's steps for using a Silhouette and layered styrene to create working coach trucks.Using Inkscape and the Silhouette to Create Coach Bogies - RMWeb contributor JCL builds up a set of Barnum coach trucks from layered styrene he cut with a Silhouette.

    Note: This link takes you to the RMWeb Community discussion forum, where numerous similar projects are discussed. Though JCL's posts are eight years old, the same thing can be accomplished with current Silhouettes. (Or Cricut Explores or Makers, for that matter).

  • Mike Trice's steps for using a Silhouette and layered styrene to create and NER 6-wheel 3rd-class coach.Completing the 4mm NER 6 Wheel Coach - RMWeb contributor Mike Trice builds a 6-wheel, 3rd-class coach body from built-up layers of styrene that he scored with a Silhouette, then snapped. With today's Silhouettes, Explores, and Makers, you could probably get deeper cuts from the machine, but the principles hold.

    Like JCL's thread above, Mike used Inkscape to draw his shapes, and he takes a lot of time to show how to convert a builders' drawing into printable files.

    Note: This link also takes you to the RMWeb Community discussion forum.

  • Hogwarts-Inspired Coach Projects for Craftcutters - When I investigated what it would take to create patterns for the sorts of coaches that appear in the Harry Potter films, I learned that they are all part of the MK1 series of coaches that were developed in the 1950s and used all over England, Scotland, and Wales until they were replaced by MK2 and later coaches.

    Building on research by other hobbyists, I have made .svg patterns you can use to cut the sides for three different MK1 coaches (and one MK2 coach, which I did by accident because I had a mislabeled drawing).

    At the moment all I have is the patterns for the sides. As far as I can tell from the builder's drawings, each side is 64 feet long, so you can hopefully do the math and rescale it to whatever scale you need.

  • Using purple spray paint and orange vinyl lettering to convert a Bachmann Big Hauler set into a Halloween-themed train.Making a Ghost Train - from our FamilyGardenTrains.com site, using orange vinyl lettering cut on a Cricut Explore to relable a repainted Bachmann Big Hauler set for Halloween. It's mostly included here for tips about using craftcutters to label Large Scale rolling stock.

    Note: - This link will take you to an article on the FamilyGardenTrains.com web page.

Conclusion

We have more articles about specific projects planned, but we got so many questions from the first few things we posted, we thought establishing some context would be helpful. Consequently, this article is mostly background information for people who are just getting their feet wet, but if that describes you, I hope is helps steer you in a good direction. And maybe clears up some common misconceptions.

Watch this page: more articles are in the works.

As always, we want to hear your suggestions, criticisms, additions, etc. Enjoy your hobbies, and especially any time you can spend with your family in the coming months!

Paul

Note: Family Garden TrainsTM, Garden Train StoreTM, Big Christmas TrainsTM, BIG Indoor TrainsTM, and BIG Train StoreTM are trademarks of Breakthrough Communications (www.btcomm.com). All information, data, text, and illustrations on this web site are Copyright (c) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Paul D. Race. Reuse or republication without prior written permission is specifically forbidden.
Family Garden Trains is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

For more information, please contact us

Click to see new and vintage-style Lionel trains.
Click to see new and vintage-style Lionel trains

Click to see collectible Christmas villages and trains.

Visit related pages and affiliated sites:
- Trains and Hobbies -
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
 Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well Big Indoor Trains Primer Articles: All about setting up and displaying indoor display trains and towns. Garden Train Store: Index to train, track, and other products for Garden RailroadingBig Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
On30 and O Gauge trains to go with indoor display villages and railroads
 Visit Lionel Trains. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Free Large Scale Signs and Graphics: Bring your railroad to life with street signs, business signs, and railroad signs Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Click to sign up for Maria Cudequest's craft and collectibles blog.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
 Visit the largest and most complete cardboard Christmas 'Putz' house resource on the Internet.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments
- Music -
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
 Learn important guitar chords quickly, to jump start your ability to play along on any song. With a few tools and an hour or two of work, you can make your guitar, banjo, or mandolin much more responsive. Instruments with movable bridges can have better-than-new intonation as well. Resources for learning Folk Music and instruments quickly Check out our article on finding good used guitars.
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs. X and Y-generation Christians take Contemporary Christian music, including worship, for granted, but the first generation of Contemporary Christian musicians faced strong, and often bitter resistance. Different kinds of music call for different kinds of banjos. Just trying to steer you in the right direction. New, used, or vintage - tips for whatever your needs and preferences. Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson. Download them all for a 'period' album. Explains the various kinds of acoustic guitar and what to look for in each.
Look to Riverboat Music buyers' guide for descriptions of musical instruments by people who play musical instruments. Learn 5-string banjo at your own speed, with many examples and user-friendly explanations. Explains the various kinds of banjos and what each is good for. Learn more about our newsletter for roots-based and acoustic music. Folks with Bb or Eb instruments can contribute to worship services, but the WAY they do depends on the way the worship leader approaches the music. A page devoted to some of Paul's own music endeavors.