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I have a question. For those of you who have shelf switching layouts, how did you go about planning for turning your train at the end of the line? I've just moved into a new townhouse, and went from a room all my own, to one I have to share with my office. I am planning on a new layout, and...

Hey all! I have an Atlas Master Silver SErise F-M Trainmaster and I'm trying to get the decoder in. Which way does it go? Here is the far away view of everything lined up in the proper direction. Here is the close-up of the connectors on the loco. I know that the triangle on the...

I've tried to do this, but I'm afraid I'm about to break something. How do you get the shell off of the Atlas Master Silver Series F-M Trainmaster? I need to drop in the decoder. Any tips before I break something? Thanks

I was a little bummed yesterday when I found out that The Gauge was down for upgrades. A day without logging on to see all my buddies is just not fun. When it did come back up, we had a new site, with a new look, and new features. I have worked in the IT industry for all of my life, and I...

I just got my latest items for my layout. If you have ever been to Roanoke, Va. then you will know just what these are. The H & C Coffee Sign The Dr. Pepper Sign They are from a company called Miller Engineering, who specializes in animated neon signs. I'm from Roanoke, so these signs...

I diagramed my trackwork using Atlas RTS. Sine it is an Atlas product, all it offered in the way of track was the Atlas brand. So I used Customline Code 83 #4 and #6 turnouts. Now, I am thinking of using the Walthers/Shinohara DCC friendly #4 and #6 Code 83 instead of the Atlas ones. So the...

I do have my own train room. It is mine, and no one else's (OK except maybe for the cat, who likes to lay on the floor and watch me work). But, since I have started building my layout, it seems that I have been taking over other rooms in the house with my train related things. So far I have...

*** EDIT EDIT EDIT *** I'VE MOVED THIS TO TO MY BLOG *** PLEASE VISIT ME THERE Hello all! :wave: It has been 15 months in the making, but all negotiations for the Right of Ways have been completed; financing has been procured from a group of investors willing to fund this endeavor. All...

Last weekend, one of my good friends was thinking about me. It seems that a friend of her late father was an artist. The man has since died as well, but did some incredible pen and ink drawings. Two of them caught my friends eye; they were scale drawings of two steam locomotives. The man's...

As I was tearing out my old layout, I noticed that everything came off of my blue extruded foam rather easily. I was using white latex caulk to put the roadbed on the foam, and the clear latex to place the track to the roadbed (that would NOT come off without a fight). My foam has about a 1...

I'm back :wave: ! It has been just over a year since I started back into model railroading. It's hard to work in 99 square feet, but, I think I may have just done that. I picked up a copy of John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation yesterday; if you do not own a copy for...

HAPPY 2007 YA'LL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! balloon6balloon6balloon6balloon6 From the East Coast, I hope '07 meets all of your training needs......

No, it wasn't that I spent more time with my trains than I do with her. We were wondering what to do today, and she said, "Why don't we go to your train shop in Spencer today. I'd love to see it". jawdrop So we drove to The Little Choo Choo Shop and spent about 45 minutes looking around...

Is it a true statement that in the prototype world the ballast is used as a bed for the ties and track? If so, I was wondering if this would work out OK. When I lay my track on top of the roadbed (HO) and then ballast, I get a really thin layer between the ties, and sometimes you can see...

My Second Layout Attempt - Any Thoughts Hello all again :wave: . For those of you who know me, it looked like progress on my layout dropped off the face of the earth. There was just something I didn't like about it, and luckily, I hadn't made so much progress that I couldn't stop. I have...

How much room do you leave from the edge of the backdrop and the centerline of the closest track? Is there a minimum "rule of thumb" as to how deep to make your relief structures? I am working on a plan now that is going to have backdrops and relief structures as industries. Thanks

You know, I can't seem to get any trackwork done here lately, but I sure can go loco while buying locos (yeah, I know, that was bad). I am recently a DCC convert, and I have 4 engines that run DCC. I have to say it is SWEEEEEET. But today. . . . I went to my LHS to see about the LLP2K High...

The company that makes rolls of backdrops? I saw them in my LHS today and I can't remember who they are. It comes in a white box, and I think they are 36" long by 24" high. I should have written it down. Thanks

I am wondering if there is any reason to keep the bus wire separated when running around the layout? I am not really versed on DCC just yet, but the "digital" part of this leads me to ask the question. Is there a true digital signal moving through the wires? If there is, then it seems to me...

Hi all: I've been doing my research on DCC, since I'm seriuosly considering going that way on my new layout which is in the process of being built. I was wondering how much additional wiring is really involved when wiring turnouts. I have a bunch of Atlas Customline #4 and #6 turnouts. The...