Hey guys, I've been working on a new project for my 1:50 construction equipment and I figured it might be relevant for you O-Scale folks. I cast up some 1:50 scale Jersey barriers. I would love any feedback you guys might have. I have cast a few extras too if anyone is interested. I also did up some 4x4x4 and 2x2x2 "Mafia Blocks" too.

- Dan

I think one of life's little pleasure is the acquisition of a puppy . We are doing it with some misgivings ......our beloved Pug , Darla , is 13 and in failing health ( although not failing love and spirit ) . I felt that if we waited until " that day " , my wife would say " no more dogs " without really meaning it . Dogs have been a big part of our married life and I think it should continue .

So Greta , the Springer Spaniel ( liver and white ) will join us in about 16 days when she leaves her 8 brothers and sisters ......




T

Does anybody make decals for a modernized 40 foot boxcar (roof walks removed)?

Hello folks,

I'm currently planning a small ISL to play around with and I would like your feedback on the layout I have drawn. As I'm a beginner when it comes to layout construction I have decided its best to test my skills on something small.

A little bit of info:
- Scenic area is approximately 5 feet long by 1 1/2 feet wide (see grid on drawing).
- Overpass to "hide" track to staging.
- Modern rolling stock. I model European railroad, but the principles of switcing layouts are basically the same.
- Requirement that it must be easily portable and can be setup in short time for a quick evening operating session.

What I would like to know if there is anything you would modify to improve operations, because thats the area where I'm really a newbie. I have been fascinated with switching layouts for quite some time, but I have very little experience myself with operations and it would be a shame to build a layout only to find that operations are too limited.

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Thank you!

Best regards,
Yngve

I never had the patience for hand laying track (especially turnouts) and found a few fast tracks turnouts on ebay. They came with a wire already soldered to the bottom of the rails but I have no idea where to connect it, to any track feed?

Yeah, that's right, a bear that talks and competes with humans. Our illustrious webmaster "packey", or as I've know him all his life as, Pat, or "PJ Day" is a cartoonist in his own right. This week he launched his own web site with his first public cartoon, "Flatt Bear". He plans on updating it with a new cartoon every Mon, Wed, and Fri, so go take a look right here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flattbear.com/">http://www.flattbear.com/</a><!-- m --> . Stop by frequently, add this URL to you favorites or bookmarks.

He's done a lot for us here, and now he wants to entertain us as well. I'm sure that he'd appreciate any comments you may leave there too. We wish him the best...

I developed over the time a standard how I modify new and used engines entering my roster.
The modifications are done to
a. reduce weight and become therefor a more silent runner (loss of pulling power is not important on a small switching layout)
b. install a Zimo MX630 DCC decoder
c. install warm white LED main head lights (loss of functioning ditch lights is acceptable)
d. easy to remove shell
e. reduce free cables that tend to touch moving parts and create noise

The weights are removed and a custom PCB is mounted with double side sticky tape on the motor. The 6 line PCB is standardized 2 line power in (track), 2 lines motor power 1 line common power (blue) and one line split for front and rear light usually protected with 1.5kOhm resistors. The light lines are terminated with 1/10" plug connectors. the PCB should be as long as possible to keep the wires from the trucks as short as possible. They are a constant source of trouble when they touch the drive.



The LED wires are bend into "frog position" and fixed with Kapton tape. That is as easy as it looks and is surprisingly solid method of mounting.


The fixed LED is covered with black tape


Finally connected to the drive and put on a test track. the correct polarity of the plugs is marked with a white felt pen.


I did this standard procedure today on an old Proto2000 GP18 but I did it also on four brand new Genesis NS GP38-2. It is amazing how much and many cables Athearn stuffs into their models hock:

A long standing part of north eastern Pennsylvanian history is being sold to a scrap dealer. It is one of two remaining breakers out of the hundreds that once stood. I'll have to search out my pics from a trip that I took with Tomustang there a few years ago to post here in it's memory. Most likely it will be gone soon.
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