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I recently converted an F3-B from DC to DCC. The decoder used is the same one for A units as well as B units. Since B units don't have headlights, they assume you will either cut or unsolder the LED from the board. I did not. I left it on initially for testing sake but then I had an idea... why...

Hey all, I'll be visiting the coastal corridor in Oregon, between Astoria/Portland and Roseburg soon and I was looking for any local knowledge of anything having to do with trains. Static displays, backyard RR's, good hobby shops, trolley rides, dinner cruises, scenic RR features, etc. Any and...

We had another swap meet here in Phoenix today and I almost didn't go. In the past, it almost takes as long to wait in line as it does to walk through all the aisles. Today was an exception. I arrived at 9a.m. sharp, waited in line for 3-4 minutes and spent the next hour and a half poking my way...

So I was looking through my train chest and came across an old Con Cor Alco PB. I pulled it out and looked at it and thought it'd go great with my EMD F7B. I looked up the years and the PB's were manufactured starting 1946 while the F7's were manufactured starting 1949. (That seems backwards to...

One of our neighboring sites has a monthly photo contest as well and this months theme is disasters. The deadline is the end of August and I've been procrastinatin' something fierce. I had an image in my head of a grand derailment but could find no place adequate on my layout to pose a scene...

This last weekend, my family and I drove the flat, boring stretch between Phoenix and Tucson. I've done this trip many times in the past and we usually pass 4-5 freights either way. Thing is, the usual sight is to see the freight being pulled by 4 engines. This trip, almost all the trains we...

I've caught wind that Bachman has just announced GE-44 tonner switcher engines equipped with DCC at the NMRA convention!!! They will be using dual mode decoders so they will run OK on analog (DC). Besides undecorated versions there will be 5 road names issued. So I thought to myself, how cool...

I'm jumpin' the gun just a bit here but I thought I'd nab the chance to start this weeks photo fun with an F unit from my layout thread...

Some of you have already seen this in the caboose thread. For the rest of us, May 23, 11:17, Then, yesterday, June 1st, According to his profile, Krawler was a mere 31 years young. We thank you so very much Kim for the update as saddening as it is. I pray you find peace and comfort in...

As I have eluded to here and there in previous threads, I have been slowly designing a new layout. My wife works from home but real soon, she will be moving her home office out into real office space. Yep, you guessed it – I get her old office space for my new layout. The new layout will have...

Are crossovers a no no when using DCC? I'd like to utilize some but I don't want to risk shorting the system out when the wheels go through the crossover.

Lately, I've grown tired of photographing my layout the same way and wanted to experiment with something different. It seems that whenever I take a picture through a window, I go to great panes (pun intended) to leave any foreground interference out. As some of you may have seen in this weeks...

In the interest of simplifying my signature, I have decided to place all significant links to my work here, not only so I can go someplace to find them all, but you as well if you feel so inclined. N scale layouts Home layout The Podunk and Urbanopolis in HO/HOn3 & N Father/son project...

1:2,160... or translated means an N scale layout on a 1:12 model. Since I have not acquired the space to build this layout YET, I decided to build a model of it instead. It's not the greatest but it gave me a better 3D idea of what I was getting myself into. The layout is designed to fit into a...

San Diego Steam Special Author: J-1Hudson San Diego Steam Special! A high speed round trip along the scenic California Coast on Sunday, June 1, 2008. Power will be ex-Santa Fe 3751, the engine that pulled the last steam powered train to San Diego in 1953. Work on the trestles is being...

EASY TREES I want trees and lots of them. I don’t however, have the patience to sit down and meticulously construct one tree at a time. I also don’t have the budget to buy box after box of Woodland Scenic’s ready mades. They needed to be cheap, quick and easy to make. I experimented with three...

Does anybody have an update on the bridge collapse in St. Paul August first, 2007? I've been looking around but can only seem to find articles the week of the collapse. What's happened since then? What was the cause of failure and was anybody held responsible? Is a new bridge under...

In setting up a reverse loop, I seem to remember something about how the length of the reverse loop should be longer than your longest train. What happens to the circuit if it's not? The electrical portion of my reverse loop will be five feet but I will have two trains for sure that are a bit...

So my wife's been talking about moving her office out of the house and into a real office. If she does, I get her old office space here in the house for my trains. I've been dinkin' around with a design and would like some feedback. The layout will be an out and back with another town outback...

Why is it that every n scale work train I've ever seen has a lift kit under the caboose/flat car? It looks as if it is almost 5' above the rails. Is that how the real ones are?