ABC-
No, you are confused because you are confused.  Read Full Maxx's post again.  He is explicit that his issue was a broken loco, not a frying loco, and he states he hopes he will get an older Spectrum replacement instead of the newer non-Spectrum loco with a lesser motor.  He is merely stating that he hopes his replacement loco has no problems.  I agree with him and hope he gets a loco which is equivalent to what broke.

Or do you mean the electrical switch which controls the points?

mhampton-  Good point.  I guess I was so busy being cute that I forgot to be accurate.

Wonderful photos, models and plants.  But just one question: When do you plan to fix that nearly washed out track in the third photograph?  You'll be spilling water and coal all over the place if you don't.  Seriously, though.  Thanks for the great views.

It might be easier to add flywheels and capacitors to your 40 tonners than to tear out all of your existing turnouts.  Also, depending on what turnouts you now have, you might already have live frogs or can wire live frogs from your switch machines.  Being a fundamentally lazy person, I always look for the shortest and easiest way to do something.

ebtnut-
There are no "recent years;" CV has been out of the truck business for a long time.

Use a separate power source for your turnouts, lights and accessories.  While it's true you can tap into your on-track DCC, as ABC says, you won't be happy doing that.  Throwing turnouts could cause hesitation in your locomotives, especially with EZ DCC, and you'll soon find yourself incinerating your 12 volt bulbs with the higher DCC voltage.  Those little bulbs are pricey and they won't last long when over powered.  (Hint: try slightly underpowering them and they'll last forever with little or no visual difference.)

Jhanecker2 - That sperm whale oil was traditionally used in clocks, especially tall case (read grandfather) clocks.  You can still get it but it's beaucoup pricey.  Now there's a synthetic which lubricates as well but never hardens.

Most of the visible stuff that came out of the smokestacks on old steamers was actually steam, unless the fireman threw a shovel of sand in to make for nice photos for railfans along the right-of-way, so the mineral oil smoke isn't even authentic.  It would be cool (no pun intended) if our models could put out real steam but I suppose that would take too much electricity and make the homasote swell up.

I cannot overemphasize the need to use the coupler height gauge.  It is critical to proper coupler operation.

I have a multi-outlet, surge suppressor power strip attached to the bottom of my grandson's 4x8 with wall warts plugged into that.  The orphan cell phone adapters (4.1 to 4.5 v) are great for LEDs without resistors.  Also, I have one small power pack plugged into the power strip which I use for DC lighting and AC switch machines.  This all works great and he only has to plug in one plug.  I've also set it up so there's a total power switch on every side of the layout.  This is cheap insurance against fall offs and cornfield meets on his DCC set up.

12 bulbs is an awful lot of light for a roundhouse unless it's a huge one.  They weren't lit up like a library, you know.  There was relatively dim general lighting and then specific task lighting.  This was economocally driven.  You'll also have to contend with a good deal of heat from all of those bulbs. 

If you want something unique, why not put in some minimal general lighting and use small LEDs to provide limited areas with brighter light?  You could also use one of the (yes, almost trite) arc welders in the building.

No one has yet mentioned a movie in which the train was practically part of the cast: High Noon.  We are aware of the approach of the train throughout the film and the tension reaches a very high level when we hear its whistle and it arrives at the station.  Outstanding western and an Oscar turn for Gary Cooper.

I have had several sets of CV trucks on which the sideframes sort of crystalized and crumbled.  Maybe that's why.

Quote from: J3a-614 on March 09, 2010, 07:03:15 AM
Central Valley trucks were great, and the arch-bar truck they sold was of a shorter wheelbase than normal, which was handy for certain prototypes--but I understand the wheelsets had a serious problem with the insulation decaying over time, resulting in short circuits, so if you have any of these trucks, you'll likely have to change out the wheels.

I have over 100 sets of these trucks and have never had an insulation problem.