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  1. L

    When painting with an airbrush...

    That's exactly how Floquil is supposed to be-- It's a matte-finish paint. It requires a separate gloss coat in order to get a smooth finish. Scalecoat is completely the opposite.. It's more like a glossy enamel and goes on with a glossy smooth finish. I love airbrushing with Scalecoat too...
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    The BN 70 Macs, you mean? Well, they are historically significant because of several things... - BN was the first railroad to receive the 70 Mac in 1992. - The SD70MAC was the first production locomotive to use AC traction motor technology. EMD beat out GE by about a year in introducing AC...
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    Proto vs Athearn

    I have both Proto 2000 and Athearn engines on my roster... And they are all very good runners. By the way, a lot of the Proto 2000 locos like their GP9 have mechanisms that are direct clones of the Athearn power chassis. That's a testament to how well-designed the Athearn mechanism is...
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    Track

    ...Plus the local sales tax if applicable. Here in New York, sometimes it makes more sense for me to buy mail-order than to buy local because of the 8.25% sales tax. So if I'm buying $200 worth of stuff, I'd rather buy on-line from a vendor out-of-state and pay $8 shipping, rather than $16.50...
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    Weekly Photo Fun

    I've tried sanding and I've tried a wet sponge.. Honestly I can't tell the difference between the results.. But it seems to me using a wet sponge to smooth out spackle/joint compound is a lot less messier! :thumb:
  6. L

    Track

    I second Trainworld/Trainland. :thumb: I live 8 miles away from Trainland and I love taking advantage of their deals. :cool:
  7. L

    coupler height issues and wheel sizes

    Just grab some Kadee #47 couplers. They would bring a low-hanging coupler to the right height without you having to do any mods. :cool:
  8. L

    Switch question + wire solder question

    Bookmark this site: http://www.wiringfordcc.com/wirefordcc_toc.htm Everything you ever need to know about wiring a layout for DCC. Hope this helps.
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    Specific help for laying track bed

    1. Draw the track plan on the foam using a Sharpie magic marker. The line you should draw is the centerline of the track. 2. Lay down a bead of latex caulking on one side of the centerline, press a cork roadbed half onto the caulking, while aligning the cork roadbed half's edge to the...
  10. L

    GO Transit - green ?

    I would give BN Cascade Green a try.. It looks reasonably close enough, and you can fine tune the shade by mixing other shades into it.
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    Advice on old diesel loco....

    The Alco S-series switchers are shorter than the RSes, yep. I don't know about the RSes for sure, but the S locos (S1, S2, S3, S4) will all work on 15" radius no problems. The RSes should work on 15" radius I think.. I've got big 4-axle power on my pike such as Athearn GP38-2s and they go...
  12. L

    Consist, how long?---

    On level track, I have gotten a single stock Athearn F7A Super Weight loco to pull a string of 30 40-foot boxcars.
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    slowing starting

    Yeah.. Radio Shack isn't what it used to be. They are restructuring, and raising their prices by A LOT to cover the costs of keeping all those parts in stock. Over the past 5 years their prices rose by 200%+. These days if I want to buy electronics parts, I do it on-line. :(
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    Future Collegiate Career in Railroading?

    I don't know about the College of Engineering at the University of Florida, but the engineering school I went to up here in New York threw everything including the kitchen sink at me during freshman year... I had to take Calc, Physics with Calc, Chem, Comp Sci, plus core-requirement courses...
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    The P2Ks and P1Ks are indeed very nice engines. I have two P2K Alco S1s myself and they are awesome. It's LL's el-cheapo toy line that everyone detests. Unfortunately, LL does not offer a Proto-line F40PH. The only F40PH they offer is the el-cheapo pancake drive piece of trash. If they...
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    Holy crap.. $65 for the Kato F40PH (Amtrak #400) at Toy Train Heaven.. I bought that exact same loco from TTH too back in November (the one in my review) for $85. I think TTH might have too many of that particular road number or Kato is doing a clearance or something. I'd jump on it. :thumb...
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    A Kato F40PH for $30? Hmm... I'm a bit skeptical, because those Kato F40PHs retails for close to $100. You gotta be careful of those on Evil Bay... Remember there are four different brands of plastic-model F40PHs out there-- LifeLike (garbage pancake motor drive), Walthers (OK mechanism...
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    Sweet! :thumb: Which Kato locos did you find and how much? I remember you were looking for Amtrak locos, right?
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    Quesitons on Kato Loco's

    From my limited experience with Katos (I got two of their F40PHs on my roster), I can say they got very good detail, and they do run nice, but some with the copper-strip-contacts electrical system like the F40PH and SD40 might experience some running issues (which are relatively easy to fix by...
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    How Many Locos?

    I learned early on not to fall for the cheap locos... the hard way. My first loco was an HO-scale Bachmann E60CP with a pancake motor, and it was a piece of crap. My second and third locos were also piece-of-crap pancake motor Tycos and Life Likes. None of them lasted longer than a week...
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