Recent content by lemscate

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    Sound in Spectrum 3-Truck Shay

    I don't have one personally, but a friend of mine has the Bachmann shay with a Soundtraxx decoder. I'm not sure if you're familiar with sound decoders or Soundtraxx in particular, so I don't know exactly what feedback you're looking for. It definitely sounds great, good sound quality and...
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    Ore car recommendations

    The only ore car in N scale that I know of is the one by Atlas: http://www.atlasrr.com/NFreight/n70orecarnew1.htm . It's a 70 ton model, more appropriate for the 1950's onward. It's not the same style as the Westerfield model, but with new trucks and a few carefully placed pieces of styrene...
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    Ore car recommendations

    That's the logo for Lake Superior & Ishpeming, an ore carrying road that I happen to model (hence, my knowledge of ore cars). The LS&I is small and not well known. The only website devoted to it is at http://www.i2k.com/~dpierce/LSI/ , which has a picture of one of their locomotives that had...
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    Ore car recommendations

    I know my ore cars, but more of the Lake Superior type than the Pennsy types. So I can give recommendations on manufacturers. AHM/IHC - These are equivalent to Tycos. Don't have good detail, don't run very well. These cars have truck mounted horn-hook couplers, and crude running gear. Can...
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    transition from mainline to branch

    When I have to ramp flextrack down, I just lay one end on the high part, then attach the other end to the low part. I let the track form a natural vertical curve, then fill the void with ballast (sand or dirt would work to conserve ballast) and soak it when gluing the ballast. Looks good, and...
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    Do You........

    DCC all the way. I've only three locomotives that run on a small layout, and yet to have more than just me operating. Multiple train control is just to get attention of potential buyers.. My locos have full lighting effects (auto-dimming Rule 17 head/backup lights, flashing beacon, operating...
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    A Cold Winter's Night

    Thanks for the positive feedback all! The locomotive has flashing beacon and ditch lights, as well as sound, but photos can't show that stuff. Though, those thankfully aren't needed for drama.
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    A Cold Winter's Night

    The hostler has readied the power for the 11-Empire (11 PM run to Empire Mine) on a cold winter's night. The former BN U30C and C30-7 still wear their white heralds and numbers. But what matters tonight is not the logo, but the cab heater and the horses; 4000 tons of iron ore doesn't move...
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    What's a good color.....

    Any dark earth tone color will do, but the trick is to get one that will complement the scenery. If there's mostly industrial or city scenes, then a black or dark grey works; if it's forested mountains, green is good. You can always try painting a small section to see what it looks like. And...
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    Thoughts on modeling from the prototype

    I take well to the prototype modelers' philosophy. Just creating things that catch one's eye in a fashion that fits the benchwork has never appealed to me. I much prefer to take some scene that only a railfan could love, and recreate it in small form. When I add a locomotive to my fleet (not...
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    Ttgx?

    TTX is jointly owned by most of the large North American railroads, and its cars are operated in a pool. TTGX means bilevel autoracks, if you're so curious. They have quite a few reporting marks, each assigned to a specific type of car. http://www.railfan.net/railpix/text/ttxmarks.txt
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    Chicago

    Blue Island has as many trains as Dalton, is relatively near, and is much better for watching trains as it's more of a funnel. If you want to spend a day railfanning, I'd suggest getting a Chicago area map that shows tracks and check out some places that have a good density. Find somewhere...
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    What to use for glue

    For gluing foam to plywood, you'll want to use the foamboard version of Liquid Nails. Liquid Nails comes in caulking tubes at your local hardware store. But just to warn you, you won't be removing it anytime soon once it dries, so make sure you know what you're doing ;]
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    Sometimes I wonder about me!

    I know what you're saying about those C30-7s. I model them too, albeit in LS&I (err.. BN) green & black. And about twice the size of yours. But still good units.. Anyway, according to this NS roster http://www.ole.net/~rcraig/NS.HTML , NS no longer has any C30-7s. Actually, there aren't...
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    removing roadname decals ?

    You can take the lettering off with some Pine-Sol. It was in the July issue of MR. I have tried it on an Atlas unit, and it works quite well, though it takes quite a bit of work.
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