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For my new layout I plan to run my shay and a Mantua 2-6-6-2T for the lumber section. Have run both on my test track and like them very much. I think the Shay is very delicate and needs handling very carefully. Mantua is the re-issue with a can motor and flywheel. Runs smooth, like a diesel. Allan

Dr. Wayne and I are trying to figure out how we will portray this in HO scale.:mrgreen:

Many thanks to all. Enough health problems here make me hope I see the next one. Model RR makes it easier for sure. Allan

Hey ezdays....Mine too! Allan

George..Try "Tacky" glue, the thick kind that comes in a jar at your local craft store. Will hold the figures in place, but not forever. Allan

My fifth layout now under construction is my chest height. This seems to be pretty much what most on this post agree on. The look and scale of everything is better when you're looking at it, not down on it. Even the "tin platers" will tell you...get it high enough you don't even notice the...

I use a small amount of acetone or paint thinner and a dab of raw umber oil paint. Mix it all up and apply to the inside. Plain thinner on the outside to dull the acetate. I think windows get dirtier on the inside in factories. I guess rain on the outside tend to wash them. Don't forget some...

I think losing the V&O is almost as important as losing John Allen.

Batteries... I had a friend years ago in Mass. He ran the "Keystone Canyon", 'O' Gauge, outside third rail, powered by huge batteries that I believe were submarine batteries. His name was Phil Bridges, and he goes way back. A good friend of Frank Ellison's, even ran Delta Line engines and...

A diode limits the current flow direction, right? I guess it could be any shape. I once had a neat unit that a friend gave me that controlled either current or voltage. That's when I noticed that when controlling voltage, engines wouldn't slow down on an up grade. So I kind of switched to that...

Does the manufacturer recommend a minimum radius? Your approach is a bit radical, but would do no harm. Allan

I remember Astrac. Was that really DCC? I had a small layout in 1955 and was using a power pack that I thought was Model Rectifier. Maybe Wayne was right and it was a Scintella...but I still think it was MR. I'll look at my old pictures. Allan

Dave and Larry got it right...put down whatever ground cover you chose while the paint is still WET. Most of it will stick (might push it down a bit with your fingers). Then when dry, whisk away what didn't stick. I use mostly beige color. Brown under trees. Allan

Why? My first question would be, what scale? Large is easier...small is hard! Years ago, on my first large layout, I hand laid the track in the 6-stub tracks of the yard, but chickened out on the turnouts. In those days we could get Tru-Scale turnout kits. They were mostly pre-formed and worked...

Thanks Don Been having some breathing medical problems (COPD) but am learning to manage it. Thank God for hobbies and all my friends. I live in an "over 55" community now, and was fortunate to find a neighbor with a wonderful wood-working shop. I drew up the plans for the basic bench-work and...

Hi all that might be interested. The layout that was -- The Central New England, is now gone. Cut up into five sections and sold to a gal who's using it in her railroad antique parlor and connecting ice cream shop. I miss it, but no way could I get up the nerve to try and put it back together...

Have been a MRR all my life...and obviously had thought about having a shop. What stopped me was the fact that I would be turning my hobby into a business, and that meant losing my hobby and all the mental hobby benefits; relaxing with my toys, being my own God with my railroad, etc. So I never...

Talk about illusions...When I moved last October, I not only had to cut the layout into five 8 to 10 foot sections, I also had to cut 15" off the legs to get the whole thing out the hatch. Now reassembled in the new basement 15 inches lower from the origianl 50 inches high, the illusion of...

Like Doc Wayne, I'm still into conventional DC operations. I think a big advance has been in the number of really quality building kits out there using laser cut shapes and the like. once you get the trains running, being able to really improve the visual quality of the buildings and industries...

After four layouts where the only thing that ever failed were the electric switch machines, I decided to run all my turnouts manually. With a 24" deep shelf layout, and walkaround control, these manual ground throws are easy to reach and never fail.