Recent content by grlakeslogger

Hello all. I have been finding a fair amount of tough to get stuff at Jay's Trains. See: http://www.jaystrains.com/ . He is very good about shipping promptly. He has a huge amount of knowledge about who made what--just what I need when I know I've seen it in somebody's ad but didn't write it...

Really great idea! Thank you for posting that one! --Stu--

That makes excellent sense. I printed the CADRAIL plan out on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of printer paper, taped them together, applied the glue, and then stuck them to the plywood. If I had to adjust anything, I gently lifted up and repositioned the paper. Next, I cut along the ballast shoulder lines...

Welcome to logging. You have received some great input there. I would like to venture a word about selecting a log car. When I found myself in the same position as you, I went to a large show and met a group of guys there with a logging layout. They were from Minneapolis-St. Paul and...

I'll second that on the Keystone Locomotive Works castings. If you take your time cleaning them up, they look great. I built a batch of them to detail a planing mill. Now if I could find time for the building ... One other tip: these things will be inside, so some color is needed on them...

Thank you for your input on this thread. I used 3M Super 77 when I transferred full sized printouts of my CADRAIL plan to my plywood subroadbed. The results were pretty good, but I did have a couple of spots lift. I hope this was due to the fact that the raw plywood was unsealed. My 1/8"...

It also helps a lot to wash the plastic parts before bonding with any adhesive. Warm water and a little dishwashing detergent works, followed a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush and a rinse. Use same prep before painting too. It rids the plastic of any mold-release agents and finger oils...

Hello. One of my winter projects is some work on my backdrop. I shot some great slides of woods scenes in the fall. I had them printed full frame (8"x12"). I have an around-the-walls layout with 1/8" hardboard backdrops. The sky and clouds are painted. I used latex paint for the sky. I...

Ian, the pics look great. Thank you. Has anybody figured out exactly what the bag of black powder is? I just left the stuff alone until somebody comes up with the answer! It's really a beautiful loco. Now I have to figure a way to glean some more modeling time out of my day so that I can...

Many of Wisconsin's logging lines were standard gauge as well. Quite a number were incorporated as common carriers. I use HO standard gauge and have for years. I remain pleased with my choice. If you plan on a lot of switching, the weight will be an advantage when it comes to reliability...

On a small layout, I handpaint Rail Brown with a small brush. A drop of oil at the switch points helps. After it has set an hour or so, I go at it with a Bright Boy--DO NOT wait until the next day for this cleaning! The advantage to hand painting (I work in HO) is that it gets the rusted rail...

Hey, great article! If I remember right, that was written by Paul Dolkos. I remember the article as being very well done, and I looked it up a couple of years ago when I was planning my own new layout. I seem to recall a photo of a Mack coal truck at one spot on the layout that still ranks in...

It's Finally Here! Mine arrived on Monday January 3rd. I opened it that night. Impressive with a capital "I". I noticed something odd on the pilot. Apparently, when the unit was packed, the packer snagged the uncoupling lever on the engineer's side and also snapped the right-most pilot beam...

I'll second Summit's suggestion as to a second siding (spur) at the sawmill. If I were to add one parallel to the main, I would make it double ended so I could run around strings of log cars to switch (shunt?) the mill. Also, a sawmill is a major customer, so careful consideration should be...

Thank you! --Stu--