Search results

Now, if Bombardier was still in the locomotive business in Canada, it would be on heck of a big Ski Doo

I drove home by Bedell yesterday afternoon (Bedell is located just south of Kemptville, ON on CP's Winchester sub). Humming down the tracks were two SD40s pulling one honking big freight train of empties plus a few bulkhead flats loaded with lumber. I don't think CP has a passing siding long...

Yes, they do. But we get dinged at the border with brokerage charges, GST and PST sales taxes. If we look around for a sale, we can get the same thing at a cheaper price and save all the hassles of bringing the stuff across the border. Sometimes we can "sneak" the stuff across the border...

Hello Connor. 1"x 6", 1"x 5", 1"X 4", or strips of 3/4" plywood cut to whatever width - it all works. You use what is available to you. personally, I'd like to go with 1"x 4" (ie 3/4" x 3 1/2") lumber and 1 1/2" styrofoam, but I have to stick to the club standards (another consideration when...

Oops. I hope nobody used polystyrene glue! Yup, it's polyurethane glue. Available at Rona, Home Depot and Home Hardware stores in Canada.

For Modellers Choice, try this url. http://www.modellerschoice.com/

Nice to see styrofoam being used to do the rockwork and scenery. Tell us about your techniques. Bob M.

Extruded polystyrene foam board (the pink, or blue, or green stuff but not the white beaded stuff) comes in 1", 1½", 2" and 4" thicknesses. The best place to get the larger thicknesses is at a building supply store that caters to contractors. If you are looking for lightness (as in portable...

Two thoughts on the situation. Most railjoiners are too long and are really obvious when looking at the layout. I cut the rail joiner to about 2/3 to 1/2 the original size, (and even smaller as you develop more experience) and solder the rail joiner into place. (I then slide a piece of tie...

The short answer to your question. If the decoder in question is the Atlas DMD decoder. Yes

It's not necessary to use Digitrax UP5 panels for your LocoNet. You can invest a lot of money in UP5 panels. Right now, in my car downstairs in the parking garage, I've got 5 modules (http://www.hotrak.ca) ready for a big blowout weekend of module railroading in Ottawa. Two jacks per module...

Hello again CAS. Here's a trick to make life simple when it comes to RJ12 telco jacks that shouldn't require any crimpers. Locate some surface-mount 6-wire telco jacks. These are jacks that protrude about ½" from the surface of the wall. They are usually used to hold wall-mounted...

Hello CAS. You simply stretch the bus wires out underneath your layout. One end is connected to your Zephyr. At the other end you simply wrap any exposed wire with some electrical tape or shrink tubing so that the wires can't short out against each other. As to a source for a wire supply...

Hi Michael. A decoder-equipped loco won't work on DC. Actually, it will work. It will just go like a bat out of hell down the track. Bob M.

The short on the older Shinohara turnouts is caused in two places - at the frog, and at the points. The newer Shinohara turnouts have fixed this problem and are advertised as being DCC friendly. (The newer Walthers turnouts are also made by Shinohara and are advertised as being DCC friendly.)...

If you are using an older Shinohara turnout, you will have to insulate the frog from the two rails that diverge from the frog. Otherwise, you will have installed a short on your layout. For some basic principles on this, check this page on my website...

CP Rail is double-tracked from Montreal to Smiths Falls (Winchester sub) where it reduces to a single-track on the Belleville sub (Smiths Falls to Toronto) and another single-track on the Chalk River sub (Smiths Falls to Cartier?) Most recent locomotives used by CP Rail are the new General...

While you don't need to block your layout, given the small size that you have, you might want to consider dropping a whole bunch of track feeders down to a 2-wire buss that can run beneath your layout. Follow the instructions in the book that came with your command station. Depending on...

At Ottawa Valley HOTRAK http://www.hotrak.ca we used to have hexagonal modules that were symetrical in shape. then we went to modules which had "pointy corners" where a pair of moduels which turned 90 degrees were "chopped" in half by 45 degrees. We lost a lot of space on the chopped modules...

For each of the locos you want to place on your layout, you would have to install a "decoder". The decoder is simply a fancy-looking printed circuit board with electrical components soldered to the board. Depending on the style of decoder you buy, the decoder could be shrink-wrapped in...