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Bill: is there enough room at the back there to tack a modern parish hall on a basement level?

My current layout uses foam insulation, painted then covered with scenic materials. I've previously used paper towels dipped in plaster then draped over a form. (called hardshell). This was finished off with zip texturing. The form can be crumpled newspapers or strips of cardboard fastened...

Here are 3 control panels I built. The big one has toggle switches and switch studs built in. The small ones have Atlas cab switches. The construction is masonite hardboard with a wood frame on the big one. The big one is hinged so that I can get behind it; it will also slide back onto a shelf...

Screen48: go to User CP, then to the Edit Options and then scroll waaaay down to Exclude Options. There's a section to select categories not to see. Highlight all the bits that don't interest you and then save. I think the last time I did it I had to start from scratch as it didn't keep my...

Using any sort of standard track, say, HO track for On30 or O track for O standard gauge, gives a track that looks a bit hefty for a mine. What I might do is take normal flex track and cut the web that joins the ties and remove half of them and double space the rest. (or maybe a third) Peco...

Steve: Atlas code 100 is pretty much like Peco code 100 for running purposes. You may find that Peco rail joiners are a bit finer than Atlas. If you need to add in some finer rail sections (Peco code 83, code 70) you can make a quick join by putting a joiner on the code 100 and squishing half...

I don't know if there's a DCC chip that will run a full size streetcar. Certainly none compatible with a PCC controller. Welcome aboard!

Forgot: if you have TMCC operating system, I think there are booster units. I don't have any experience with it.

John: Welcome to Zealot. Distance should not be a factor in how many watts. What does happen is that resistance builds up in the track, especially at joins between sections, and the voltage drops off. What you need to do is add extra feeders around the layout. I like to use lamp cord --...

For handrails you will also need standoffs or handrail knobs. These are sometimes available in hobby shops; a really desperate modeller might make them out of belaying pins. We used to use flat or half-round wire wrapped around the handrail, run through a hole in the boiler and splayed out...

If there's a large cylinder on top of the boiler, just in front of the stack, it's a feedwater heater. Water from the tender is routed up there and warmed by exhaust steam or hot air from the firebox (not sure how, I'll check). The cylindrical type was often by Elesco. There was another by...

The prototype was the Princess Coronation class of the London Midland & Scottish Railway in Britain, a 4-cylinder Pacific. Designed by Stanier and produced in both streamlined and regular forms. One of the class, named Coronation, toured the United States and was stuck there when WW2 broke out...

The hoppers are Great Lakes iron ore cars. I don't know how accurate the colour is as they are rare in Southern Ontario. The cars are short because iron ore is heavy and the ore docks on the Great Lakes were built a long time ago for this length car (the hopper spacing) and they never changed...

Just a quick note on option D. You need to make a reversing section of the whole loop. Start at the switch where the left end of the blue line meets the orange line -- 4 gaps just past the frog, 1 in each rail. At the switch at the other end of the blue line, in the middle of the loop, put gaps...

Hi and welcome. I haven't worked with O27 for about 50 years, so ... The pins should be removable with pliers. And maybe a vise. I used to use a screwdriver to open up the bottom of the rail and then needle nose pliers to tighten it up again. Lionel used to make a "track tool" that did the job...

Check out Hornby's Scaledale series, except that's already built. Ratio have a plastic station kit, but it's Great Western. (Are you fussy about that?) Prototype Models make (or made) an LNER station kit in cardboard. Also an LMS one. For card models, these are real craftsman type kits. Metcalfe...

I have acquired a Galloping Goose with DCC and sound. I've been running it on my DC layout with no problems. The instructions talk about this (for half a page before going on to all the DCC instructions). Last week I found the DC sound controller they sell (in the sale bin at the LHS) and added...

The vital bits are the row of 3 terminals up by the coils. I think the middle one is common and the outside ones for the individual coils. The other bits are extra switches for ... whatever. Some modellers use them to disconnect the power after the machine is thrown, to prevent burnout. The...

The Edwards brothers split the company some time back. Kadee make HO and larger while Micro Trains make N and smaller (and nobody makes TT :nope: ). Afraid some of us older modellers still call them all Kadee.

DC or DCC? For the siding, is this one track coming off the main or a track coming off, running beside it and joining in again (Passing siding)? Gaps are only required with all-rail frogs. When you do passing sidings you only need to gap the rails that go through the frog (at the end of the...