I bench-solder 2 or 3 sections of flex track and then lay the assembly. On curves, I make sure the joints are staggered substantially to prevent kinks and ensure correct gauge. It is much better to have one solid rail adjacent to a soldered joint on a curve. You can do the same thing on a straight section but I've never had to.

Craig

Robert. Nicely done. I would slow the train down a bit. Also, I think 1/4" scales out to nearly two feet in 1/87 scale.

Enjoy your model railroad.

Craig

I use Caboose Industries ground throws on every readily accessible turnout because they look better than anything else I've seen and they hold the points very firmly. I mount them on slabs of epoxy and weather them to my liking. I use Atlas machines on remote areas for convenience. I have no use for under table switch machines because my layout base is very thick. I'm very pleased with the looks and operation of my turnouts and I wouldn't change a thing.

Quote...do they by chance notify you when its been shipped so your aware and can start watching for it?

They didn't notify me. In fact, they couldn't even tell me if they had received the items, even after 9 weeks. After 11 weeks I received an e-mail stating the locomotives were not in the system so I assumed they'd been lost. A few hours later I received a second e-mail stating that I should expect them in about two weeks. Two replacement units arrived via usps that very day.

My recollection is that of r0bert's. I would add that the coaches I opened had frail, delicate springs serving as contacts for the lighting and in at least one case they were impossible to realign once I opened the coach. I ended up hard-wiring the lighting system. Chinese kids have better eyes than I do.

r0bert,

The modeling in your pictures is superb.

Harold,

I was going to post that link to your website but you beat me to it.

Craig

I got each of my kids a Silver Series floodlight car and neither works. The light is poorly designed, featuring a piece of wire wrapped around the base of the lamp holder to serve as a wiper. I have no idea if these are "New" Silver Series but they don't work and were very disappointing.

Many people are under the misconception that white, expanded bead foam is Styrofoam. It isn't. Styrofoam is the blue extruded foam produced by Dow. Owens Corning produces pink extruded foam. Neither the pink extruded nor white expanded foam are Styrofoam.


That clarified, any extruded foam is adequate for model railroading purposes. I find the Owens Corning product to be much denser so I use it for sub roadbed. Styrofoam is somewhat softer, less grainy, and carves easier so I use it for topographical features. I do not use expanded foam at all. It is too soft for my purposes. Woodland Scenics does use expanded foam in their kits, risers, and inclines, so clearly it has its place in the hobby.

Yes, that's a fact. The server has been extremely slow this week. I don't see how it can be related to anyone's ISP.

Gene,

All of my turnouts were fitted with Caboose Industries ground throws using the exact same technique you described. You just set the unit to center position and put the points in center position and mount the throw. When properly centered there will be moderate overtravel in both directions, which will be taken up by the internal spring of the ground throw.

I used plumber's epoxy (the stuff you kneed by hand to a uniform color) to simulate concrete slabs for the throws and then pressed them into the epoxy before it set. I then pressed track nails through the lugs on the ground throws and into the uncured epoxy. Concrete colored paint on the slabs and a combination of oily black and rust on the throws completed the installation.

Sheldon,

When I was a toddler I stuck my mother's car key into a live duplex outlet. I can't imagine what that would have been like had the outlet been 220. I agree that it is difficult to understand the mindset behind high voltage GU electrical service.

Sheldon,

I'm very surprised that I haven't seen you mention the terms amperage or load.  Over the course of my career as an electrician I was shocked numerous times, just as you were. I've been shocked while working with 120, 208, 240, and 277. The 240 volt experience was very painful as my grounded hand was directly contacted by a live, uninsulated wire. No harm done, though. On the other hand, some idiot who had done some renovation to a house decided to break the basement lighting circuit in a 4-gang box in the kitchen. On a service call my voltage tester demonstrated that the kitchen lighting circuit was dead and I proceeded to separate wires. Imagine my surprise when I broke some neutrals and found myself against a wall, unable to breathe. Turns out the basement lights - seven 150-watt lamps â€" were on at the time. That was only 120 volts but the load was quite high. Having electricity pulled through your body can be a very unpleasant experience regardless of the voltage. Load is a notable consideration when determining the safety of a particular voltage.

Craig

Stewart,

I don't mind stopping at a red light if there is traffic. What I do mind is stopping at a light that is red for no good reason.  At 2:00 in the morning, on an otherwise desolate road, it is rather inconvenient to have to stop because "it's time". Unfailingly, the light will turn green at the moment another driver, on another leg of the intersection, shows up. He or she then sits at a red light because "it's time to stop".

Craig

Sheldon,

I believe the proper UK term for traffic circle is roundabout. How about that, you found another one.

Craig

When I need a large amount of a certain color, I take my white paint to the store I purchased from and pick out a suitable color from a swatch.  They tint or re tint the paint for free and the color is generally a very good match even if the paint was not pure white when I brought it in. Paint store workers are able to compensate for pigments present in the previously tinted paint by adjusting the formula of the sought color.

"Earth tone" is a very vague term with literally thousands of possible variations. I used eight different shades of green on the layout I just built, and five or six tans and browns. The overlap of each color creates yet another color. I don't see how you can go wrong by experimenting. I don't know how much white you have to work with but quarts of mistinted paint are always available at paint shops, home centers, and stores that sell paint. I usually spend $2-4 on a quart and can, therefore, afford to waste some if I should happen to. Good luck.

Craig