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Looks great Tom! I have a couple of those IHC Camelbacks that I'll someday get around to re-lettering for CNJ. For what it's worth, I think Mantua used to make a 2-8-0 Camelback, you find them sometimes on e-bay.

Thanks everyone, and especially Trainclown for the link with the pics. One question thought for Trainclown: Do you have to choose the switch so that that its throw matches the turnout throw closely? Or is there enough flex in the brass wire going up to the turnout that it would be OK if the...

I'm looking for ideas on manual turnout control. Here are my requirements: 1) Must be absolutely reliable 2) Must be cheap (because I am) 3) Must be usable from the edge of the layout. I'm clumsy and would rather not reach into the layout more often than I need to. 4) Must be able...

Proof that Jesus is a Model Railroader, and has a HUGE layout, from the song "We See the Lord": "He is high and lifted up, and His train fills the temple" (This occured to me one Sunday in church while we were singing this song)

I'm going to give a synopsis of what I've read here and elsewhere about turnouts, I don't have a layout right now and when I do I'm going to try hand-laying, so I have no firsthand experience. I'm also not going to get into brands, only the potential problem areas. I'm also going to stick with...

Doc, Best wishes and prayers. A former girlfriend of mine had the laproscopic gall-bladder surgery while we were dating, three or four small scars, she was up and about in a couple days and back to normal in a couple weeks. Let's just say her pain tolerance wasn't nearly as high as most women...

SALComet: Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20. Foresight can be a problem.

As promised, I've been working on an article for the e-magazine on building the scrap load for a gondola. Scrap load in a gon I've run into a snag though, I put all the stuff in the gon, added glue, and waited a few days. I checked it, it seemed like the glue was hardening, so I pulled...

Has anyone here built Eastern Car Works heavyweight passenger cars? If so, would you tell me about them? Specifically: Do they come with interiors? Will the versions with 4-wheel trucks handle 22-24 inch curves? How's the level of detail? How much time do they require to...

Mike, Again, welcome! Note one thing, you can't just run Z scale trains. (Well, you can, it's your railroad and you can do what you like!). If you want it to look realistic you'll need N scale narrow gauge trains to run on the Z scale track. Sorry if you already knew that.

I've personally never used track with integral roadbed, but that won't stop me from giving my opinion on the matter :D Advantages: Easy to use. No need to worry about cutting it. Good if you want to set up and take down repeatedly (I'm thinking here of something like a Christmas tree...

All, Thanks for all the kind comments. The idea for this was kicking around in my head for a couple weeks, I tweaked it a little as I went along, and all told I'm happy with the results. Eightyeightfan1: Should I put it together as a Word document and attach it? Might not be until after...

I was playing around with making a removable scrap load for a gon, and here are my results. The gon is a P2K model weathered with craft paints, the load is mostly cut-up blue foam with hunks of stuff (balsa scraps, pieces of wire, gears from an asthma medicine inhaler), held together with...

I'd advise against an engine that smokes anyway, basically what they do is vaporize oil and pump it out thru the stack. Then guess what? The oil condenses onto your track and everything else. Makes quite a mess. As for engines, the Spectrum engines are really great, I have a couple 4-6-0...

Well, I lived with my Mom until she died (I was 27), I'm a computer programmer, I'm 41 and wear bifocals, I have a Masters in Comp Sci, I have three cats, and I'm a model railroader. I AM A GEEK!!!! Time to go out for a Sam Adams or three. Do what I do, divide the world up into two...

This is just an idea, I've never tried it, but would it work? Glue the rail to a tie with some sort of real tough glue, cut the gap right on that tie, the two ends are secured to the tie by the glue, then place some sort of filler in the gap and glue that in place.

Val, My planned passenger service is mostly commuter/local, but I'll give you what I've found. I'm planning a small layout with tight curves (22-24"), so short cars are the rule. I looked at one of the Branchline kits in a shop, those are BEAUTIFUL cars. They also have about a gazillion...

Wow, I had one of those when I was a kid! I'm working from memory here, so bear with me. I assume you have the control box and all that too, right? There are two controls, one controls the back-forth of the forklift, the other controls the up-down. Do either of them work? If I recall...

Anyone who knows me knows what I'm about to say. If you want a Mike that's a truly great puller look into a Mantua. You can get the old ones at train shows, they often carry the Tyco name. The detail isn't great, and they were made pre-DCC so installing a decoder might take some doing. I...

Outstanding Val! If I was wearing a hat I'd tip it to you!