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Did you twist the wires on your track power buss? That will cause inductance. The track power buss wires should each be run in a straight line, keeping any crossovers to a minimum. A few cross-overs are okay but twisted wires are not. On 60' runs, soldered joints, and 12 AWG stranded wire...

For infor, visit this link to the CPR website. Holiday Train Bob M.

Methyl Hydrate (isopropyl alchohol) is available in gallon jugs at your local building supply store in the paint department. Cost is about $5.00. In one spray bottle, I mix up a 10% solution of matte medium, methyl hydrate, and a couple of drops of liquid dish soap. In another spray...

Check around at other Home Depot, Rona and Home Hardware stores. In TO, there's got to be a ton of stores selling the stuff. Flooring department maybe? I know that some but not all of them carry sheet cork. A personal visit is best because the staff on the end of the phone don't know all the...

"B Chapman", who I personally know, can tell you the location of the train in Eastern Ontario simply by looking at the telegraph poles. He and some friends are taking their Kodak Super8 movies that they took in the 60s and 70s and putting them on DVD for sale. This is fantastic footage...

18 AWG is a little heavy for track feeders. The practical max for track feeders is 20 or 22 AWG as any thicker wire (like 18 AWG) makes for complications in soldering the wire to the rails. Bob M.

Hey Jeff. Good point. This would be like shifting your car between forward and reverse while trying to reach 100 mph. I can't even do it at 1 mph when stuck in a snow bank let alone on a straight stretch of road. Which is one of the reasons why your analog loco hums like a cicada when placed...

Hi Spawn. The old Bowsers had the Pittman open frame motors. A very nice motor in the 1950s and 1960s for running full out and with some control, once it got over 50 scalle mph. But with the advent of can motors and the urge for more realistic running, got left behind. As I suggested...

Very important to keep the glue out of the points of the turnouts. Cover the area around the points of the turnouts with some masking tape. When you flood the ballast with the dilute white glue or your dilute matte medium, don't pour any in the area around the points. The glue will...

Some quick observations here. DCC is "alternating current". An analog (straight DC) motor will sing shriller than a cicada when placed on a DCC track. Solution - install a decoder in your locomotive. Otherwise you will be wasting a lot of time trying to determine if the problem is with...

Whoa guys! Let's get it right. The green switcher was built by the Canadian Locomotive Company of Kingston Ont. It "resembles" a Whitcomb. Actually it is because it was built under licence. But what does that mean? What parts were fabricated in Kingston and what parts were shipped from...

Canadian Trackside Guide, published by Bytown Railway Society, $31.95 Cdn, $29.95 US, shipping and taxes included. Or better yet, support your local hobby shop and buy it there. The 2007 edition is all sold out at Bytown. Some copies may be available at your LHS. Like your AMEX card, when...

Andrew and David make some very interesting points about the "Human Resources" side of subdivisions. In most cases, except for yard switching, engineers and trainmen on the mainline are paid by the "piece of work". The "piece of work" comprises a number of elements, including the nature of the...

Hey Joeymanko. No pro, and definitely not a genius. I picked this up from other discussion forums over a long period of time. Which is why it's sometimes a good idea to participate in a discussion forum such as The Gauge. It's surprising what one can learn. Just remember to "pass it on"...

Hey Rob, the only embarrassing question is the one you don't ask. That's why this forum is here - to increase our knowledge and enjoyment of this great hobby of railroading - whether it's Z, HO, O, G, or even 12" to the foot. Bob M.

In the days of steam, division points had roundhouses, turntables, sand towers, water towers, and even coaling towers or sheds. Brockville was a division point on the CNR/ Grand Trunk Toronto - Montreal mainline. For a look at what Brockville looked like in the days of steam around the early...

Some basics in electricity Ohm's Law: Volts = Resistance x Amps (V=I*R) Watts = Volts x Amps(W=V*I By taking some simple voltage, resistance or amperage measurements, one can calculate watts, or visa versa. Labels on electrical devices can be stated in a number of the above variables -...

I think David has explained this quite well. Simply put, in order for the railways to better manage their lines, they arbitrarily divide their lines into subdivisions or simply "subs". On CP the Winchester sub runs from Dorval to Smiths Falls. One train crew runs a train from Dorval to...

Hello Joeymanko. Sorry I can't help you on this one as I'm only into DCC. From what I have seen on some layouts with the ZW, it seems to me that it should produce enough power to power at least two trains. And it Lionel has designed it to power 4 trains, then it should do this. Usually if...

On CN's and CP's mainlines, the speed is controlled by speed limit signs. On CP, these are yellow triangular signs (about the size of a yield sign) with the speed limit listed in mph. This speed limit is also controlled by the signals on the line. Green-over-green means the train can go the...