I had a full operation about 3 months ago and towards the end, the lights of the dash 8 went out like a candle (faded). I tried running it with no luck. Today i tried and with my bloody luck, I could get it to run on DC but I tried the DCC controller and only the back lights will go on and off. Did i fry the chip?

I read this off the bachmann board that 70% rubbing alcohol does the trick and after seeing the bottle, i noticewd that it was the same kind my grandpa used when he tested some of my trains. To see if it was worth the $2.14, I swiped the tracks with a cleaning eraser 3 times and only a little was picked up, but when i dabbed some of it on a paper towl and did a quick swipe, it was pretty dirty! So that just replaced the track eraser for now. Also, i saw a part where it says it could clean wheels, is this only wheels or could it also be parts? Lastly, what is the method? (drip it on, rub it, ETC.)

Thanks for any info!

I'm planning on doing something special for the first day of summer vacation. For the last month, I've planned to catch Amtrak 48, the 5:50 Lake shore limited. The plan is head out right before 5:00 but it might change. From studying pictures, 48 is a eastbound. Meaning, it'll pass by the spot I'll be at before it reaches the station. Anyone know what time i should estimate the time it should come by? its a 5 mile distance by road but i think its about 1-2 by rail. What time should i estimate to see it if its on time?

Thanks for any info!

I caught this Friday. I had a real crummy day and such because school was a pain and i forgot my memory stick for the camera (energy and 1 hour's railfanning time wasted). I was about to buy a Pepsi and i thought the machine was acting up. Then something blue caught my eye and i ran to the news paper boxes. My day didn't turn out too crummy after all. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwexj7stNxI

Now, as seen in the video, they were switching cars and at different times (I wish i wasn't too lazy to upload the other 20 minutes of footage to help explain) but the clips only show the caboose in action. For about 10-15 minutes, they used it to move some cars, dropped it off and went to work for 45-60 minutes without it. they picked it up again with a tanker in between the GP40-2 and the caboose and switched some cars like that, dropped the caboose off and did the rest. It seemed like they would pick up a line and run them up the one line and down the other(i think for emptying/loading reasons). But they did this one car at a time. Pick the whole line up, go to the siding, start putting a car in and back off. So a whole line from 8-7-6-5-4- ETC. till 1. and on the one, they picked up 2 cars again and messed around some more. This is my first time seeing them do a full job so I really didn't know what to expect.

Other sight facts that i think will help:
The plant is at W110 street of lakewood/Cleveland ohio, the plant seems to have 5 lines, the side track is off the N.S. Chicago line between Triskett and W117th but the switch is about 13 freight car lengths away (Google maps guess). Hopefully this helps. I practicably lost my mind because I thought they'd leave and i rushed to W114th to catch them with the caboose. I gave up after a total of 2 hours and 10 minutes of watching because it was going on 7:10 P.M.

Thanks for any info!

my friend/railfanning bud looked at a video i told him about of mine of me catching the 25th anniversary Operation Lifesaver with 2 CN units! now, he's messed with me before by saying its not rare and the next day complains about him missing it. But this time, he said, "you can go to Michigan or Toledo and catch it, its probably a common sight down their" i responded saying their is only 1, and it doesn't go to a major CN state like Michigan too often. And who said they'd hook up with a CN right their? So can anyone settle this?

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmZDNuUGR4
its the last clip.(3:11)
thx for the info!

Now i know you probably are thinking why i put this here. I have three reasons.

1. FLNX 484 Emd FL-9

2. How much of a crying shame of an embarrassment 6777 was put on.

3. never underestimate a 2 hour late train!! (part 2, last clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvSZAQ2G6ZU
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQ3F0TmKjM
part 2

Well, i went to my LHS hoping that the car i liked was $17 like a remember. nope, its was $22 

i brought $20 with me so i tried to forget it. I looked around and found 2 handsome boxcars. ATSF  NYC. Problem? If your like me where you could make 3-5 purchases a year, it could drive you insane. So i looked at the cars and i personally like NYC green but you can't beat red with black! so i bought the ATSF and it came up to $17somthing. (i wasn't in the mood to go for bachmann because every time i buy something that cheap, i realize i could get $3 more and i wonder why im missing $30! so it was anthem)

So if your in a situation like this, how do you decide?

I couldn't find the frequencies for the CSX collinwood yard. Does anyone know? Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKOsYAP9uA

...something that your not gonna pay attention to at first.

this is from the older collection of my tapes. i just found it funny i didn't notice it before!

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/board,1.0.html

first train.

This was caught about a year ago. Does anyone know the purpose of this being on a westbound?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRI1WM5o8LY

I think the Midwest Railway Preservation Society owns this. I E-mailed them to see if this is theirs. If it is and they have an answer, ill let everyone know.

me and a friend are gonna do a train series. After i did some thinking, i thought how about i make a quick set up of a repair yard with 4 tracks, with 2 9 inch pieces of my 1970's-80's straight track. it was litterly gonna be just a prop with E-Z track. their would be 4 pieces for each line but 3 would be the atlas kind. the 2 outer lines would have a raise for workers to do under work. My question is, should i cut the ties off or pull them off. i was planning leaving the last 2-3 ties on for each side so it could stay in shape. Is this a good idea? i don't use this kind of track and its pretty crummy when i got it about 3 years ago.

Today, a girl, about15 -17 years old has been seeing me do my thing at triskett, which is taping trains. The first time, she smiled, the 2nd, she acted like she was stoned saying "OMG! I saw you yesterday and last week and all of that week and on the train and everywhere!" Personally. That one amuses me still. Today, was probably the most surprising. "Hey! Your that kid that tapes trains!" I just smilded and gave a nod. "Wow your my new hero!" Let's stop there for a momment.
The best I get out here is a dirty look. Laughter is the next then cold stares. So I thought ok, this is new. So I thanked her and she gave a friendly smile and went on her way. I can't really figure out what just happened so I gave some thought. Still nothing. Can anyone explain this?!

Well, I'm using my sprint touch screen phone & looking out for trains so please excuse any errors.

I thought some people might be interested.
part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P5Ea-z4OUY
part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-pSXVCT0xg
part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw15Kv4UBCU
part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOkYVe2iYkE

Hope you like it.

Quick question, does anyone know the status of any of the Ohio Central steamers?

I walked my dog and passed by a picture at a police tribute building. it had a loco near Kaufman park and it had hit a 1950-60's ford car. the number was 763 and it rang a bell(765, NKP!) Does anyone know about this crash or the year? it narrows down because the line had 2 tracks, (around 1980-90's) NPR owned the line so that's about the 1950-60 range.

Any info is appreciated!

Well, i learned the rumor from a youtube friend (same one with the E8) and he said that a high speed line was going in. They have been trying for years. i thought yea right sense he was pretty young (3-4 years younger than me i think...) So i asked my dad. He knew about it! Next day, their is an add on youtube, rail pictures.net and a whole lot other places! here is their youtube site.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LinkingOhio

Last week, i went to rocky river and 2 pieces of mow equipment were sitting on the siding! this was odd because the about yearly M.O.W. service is usually late summer to about early November. So i figured this is quite strange. Went down webb road and a piece of brand new track was sitting their! I called up my friend (he lives next to the tracks like i used to) and he said M.O.W stuff has been passing through.

As you might know, this line was owned by NPR, then NW and now NS. From my knowledge, NS ripped the second line up a decade ago or so. Does this mean that Lakewood, Rocky river, and a few other places see passengers run on this line again?

Thanks for the info.

P.S im not sure if that link refers to this line but who knows!

I was at berea today (as usual) i talked to my dad and we decided to check out rock port. We caught a coal with back engines, a NS. & CN dash8s! i knew they would cut off the power and send them to rockport so i told him to go to the Brook park RTA station parking lot. I got my shots and showed him them. A RTA cop noticed me and started to walk over. I just figured he was curious. He asked us if we knew about the bombing in Moscow, that... was a huge surprise. My dad said yea and the cop said well, you cant tape trains here.

First off, Why would a 14 year old boy tapeing a train be a threat?! I tape at triskett a lot and i actually get a friendly wave from them. I even went when a bombing was reported, no problem. So why now? Also, why do they think im a threat? I plan on e-mailing them later but for now, I'd like to get a little more info about this situation.

Any info would be great. 

I was railfanning at berea as usual and saw some pretty unusual things. The most surprising was a N.S. intermodel on the CSX line! my dad & i started to make plans to match speeds with it because it was stopped at the signal. Then over the scanner they said they were going to the N.S. line. That, right their was a surprise! (more surprising than the 2 Canadian nationals that came by earlier.) Can anyone explain what they were doing on the CSX line and why they went back to the N.S. line? I've only seen that switch been used for W&LE so its quite confusing.

Thanks!

i think we saw this enough in model trains but this is odd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkZPZpeaQM&feature=related

poor steamer. You could detect the problem at 1:44. I'm surprised it was the last coach! well, looks like no one got hurt.

im replacing my old freight car couplers from horn hook to knuckle. I bought 5 pairs (i counted 5 cars that need a replacing) and 3 are the 1980's. The other 2 are more recent. The brand was bachmann E-Z knuckle. I think i should have went home, got an extra $1 and bought the kadee and got 6 pairs. The problem, hole is too big! the screw goes right through it! so im gonna put it back on and save it for the other stock. is their anyway i could narrow the hole? if not, is their any other brand that might work? Thanks!