Add detail to boxcars with open doors.  Add some crates, boxes, tarp load, or figures to your boxcars that have open doors.  There are even lumber, barrel, or bag loads you can place into an opened boxcar.  You can even add a fake wood flooring to add more detail.

A favorite animated film of mine is "The Man Who Planted Trees".  In it, a man spends a lifetime planting trees, and in different ways, affecting thousands [ ... ]

I've read lots of advice, howto, intro, and helpful things on the internet about modeling railroads.

But nowhere is there any information for the beginner, [ ... ]

Hopper Weathering Clinic III
By Bill Mock
January 2010

OK, I gave the inside of these hoppers a wash of Engine Black below the coal line. They [ ... ]