Recent content by mhdishere

Stuart, Are you by any chance modelling Staten Island, NY? I grew up there, this looks a lot like some of the industrial areas on the Island. The railroad on SI was a subsidiary of B&O, and of course the Morans tugboat is something of a give-away too!

I'm in the same boat and have decided not to go with DCC either. An additional point for me is that I have a bunch of older steam locos (25+ years old) that I want to use, and converting them to DCC could be a pain.

There's a tool you can use to bend the "hose" if it's too low, it looks like a pair of needle-nose pliers but one jaw is rounded out and the other is rounded in. I bought mine at a flea market, I think Kadee sells a set too.

First off, your layout, you built it, you pay for it, do whatever you enjoy. Seriously, if you want to run nothing but Thomas trains have fun. You want to MU a SD70MAC with a Dewitt Clinton have at it. That said, if what you're after is a plausible model railroad, keep in mind things like...

I posted this entry on my Blog, I wanted people to know what kind of man Robin was outside of this forum. I'm reproducing it here: A good man died on the morning of October 17. I never met him in person, I only know him thru this wonderful place called the Internet. One of my hobbies is...

This is truly sad news. Like others here I've never met Robin in person, but I've marvelled at his modelling ability and above that he seems to be a truly nice, decent guy, a gentleman in every sense of the word. God Bless you Robin, you'll continue to be in my prayers.

Best of everything Robin, you're in our prayers.

I've used both Goo and plain old contact cement from the hardware store, I don't see much difference.

Freelancer, It looks good to me, and I'm sure each new one will get better. I'm planning on getting a Fastracks jig kit, given the number of turnouts I have planned the cost of the jig will be about the same as if I'd just bought Atlas but I'm hoping the appearance and operations will be...

Devon, First,welcome back! There's actually not much you really need, tools-wise, to paint these little details. An optivisor is my friend, but I'm 42 not 15 so you might not need one so badly. A couple SMALL (0, 00, 000) brushes, and paint. I personally use craft paint (generally about a...

I used a core from wrapping paper for the base for my coal silos, covered them with stained balsa-wood boards.

I've read that steam-powered cranes usually had tenders, often old loco tenders. I bought an old slope-back switcher tender at a train show to use with my Tichy crane when I finally get around to building it.

Am I the only one who thinks a modern-day building of the Ark would make a great mini (or maxi) scene? Flatcars of gopher wood being delivered daily...... Great project, and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing it compared to other "large" transportion equipment like a Big-Boy.

I know there are fine-scale wheels for HO and O scale, don't know about N. They would have much finer flanges and treads than the "Standard" wheels. If there's no major visible difference between the wheels on the car that derails and you others then that's not the problem. Here are some...

Xavier, If I remember correctly John Allen modelled in HO scale.