Good morning gents, i am looking to buy a Model Power 040 Switcher to use on my 4x1ft inglenook style layout, opinions please if you have or have owned one of these ,
would it be suitable? ie.what could i expect it to run like?
Can Kadees be fitted?
I look forward to your hearing your views.
Don.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.thako.scale">https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... hako.scale</a><!-- m -->

This app makes conversions a breeze

This will be an on going documentaion for my new layout. I took down the old layout in jan 2014 and spent quite a bit of time designing the new layout plan. With my past layout I learned alot about what I liked and this newest layout has alot of the old layouts. The new layout has more space from a adjacent room to give added train running. It is a loop to loop with each loop having automation so when a train comes upto a closed turnout it will automaticly open. I'm also attemping to have switching opportunity's. I'm using a digitrax super chief, peco turnouts with tortoise motors controlled by ds64 stationary decoders. The benchwork is open grid type. One thing I did want was the benchwork to be higher so I raised it to be 50 inch at grid level.
You can see the plan posted here is pretty much accurate but is also only a suggestion for industry spurs as these can easy be added as I go.

I won't bore you's with the disassembly of the old layout, what a mess that was.I had taken pics of the new benchwork laid out in the old room.




The benchwork is put up and old mountains put in place, the mountains will be raised higher as I go.







Here is the benchwork in place and railbed for the mainline was routed and sat on the benchwork until I could get the elevations the way I thought would work best.
Starting from the new room and working my way into old room.

I had a member on another forum draw up a plan for me last winter for my available space and asked him to fill it with track and industry. I built the bench work and started to lay track but over the past couple weeks I have been spending a lot of time on Big Blue and have really enjoyed the ISL layouts on here where the less is more approach is used. My room is 12'.5'' x 8'.5'' and the bench work is 2' W and 12''.5'' L x 6' W across the top and 8' on the peninsula. This is what I was going to do



I would like to simplify things and go with 4-5 businesses with a couple of sidings for trans load operation/team track. It would be nice to have a small yard to store cars for the industry's as well as a loco service track for say two units and maybe a caboose. I think the 12'5" wall would be great for some building flats.

- single person operation
- four axle ALCO's for power
- single or two units for switching
- can do standard, push/pull or use a shoving platform
- 50' - 65' cars
- set in eastern Canada in the 1990- 2000 time frame
- branch line or industrial park
- thinking a fall setting

Industry's I like
- pulp loading/unloading
- sand/gravel unloading ( I have a Walthers Rail to road aggregate transfer kit <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-4036">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-4036</a><!-- m --> )
- propane dealer (have Walthers kit and two extra tanks)
- grain elevator
- scrap dealer
- pipe manufacturer
- distributor receiving box cars or reefers
- plastic pellet transfer or business using them (Have Walthers kit)

I would like to use my track and switches that I have on hand which are medium Peco switches and Atlas code 100 flextrack. Any help, plans or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am still fine tuning my era and and looking at setting my layout in the 1990-2000 range. When did the 50' hi-cube boxcars (Like this <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-101708">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-101708</a><!-- m --> ) start to hit the rails? What year was yellow reflective tape made mandatory?

On with the vehicles, I found some boats. One's a goofy looking matchbox which is widely proportioned and the other is a jon boat by Merten. They both needed trailers, well maybe not but I diverted my attention away from the military models and just had to make them

Started from scratch:










And one with the boat on:

WPMA-17 picked up 27 loaded grain cars at AGWAY, only got a few good pictures of the action.

Bruce

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Hi folks I know its been a while since posting here, been real busy in summer months and what time I did have I worked in the basement on my new layout. I was just wondering if others find the same thing I do, just not enough time to visit and post on other forums? I've been around now for quite a while, started my my modeling on trains.com , came across AMR where I spent a great deal of time in Chat, got introduced to 2guys, The Guage, frealrails, trackside modeler , rrl and the list goes on and on. I'm getting real tired of trying to keep up and somehow feel guilty when I post here and not there with my layout updates then hear flack for posting here as well as there. Just getting fed up and want to get back to the way things use to be where there were happy times in the forums and want to cut my posting to a single forum, for gods sake I'm 53 years old and don't need the grief. Do you guys and gals find that you's can't post in a single forum or is this just me? I know quite a few that post on several forums and I have no problem with that at all and I'm not judging , just don't understand how they have time.
Thanks for listening
Lynn
PS This post will not be posted anywhere else.

While surfing the interweb about static grass applicators, I started looking into a home made version such as the one Doc Wayne showed us in one of his old threads. I saw a pretty good version using the Harbor Freight elec flyswatter, both excellent inexpensive alternatives to the expensive Noch machine...
As I was cleaning up after a scuba birthday party at the dive shop, it hit me...... ....could I use the satic electricity from a party balloon??? You remember..when you were a kid and rubbed the balloon on your head and it would stick to you?

Well, guess what, I think it does ... I just put a really thin layer of glue down, sprinkled some of the Noch grass and lowered the balloon slowly down until the grass started popping up! With a little practice, this might work pretty well for small areas, little tufts maybe a little layer over existing grass....

The pic doesn't do it justice, I'll experiment a little and post a better pic

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