A couple of other things to think about:
Do you have a Harbor Freight store near you?
If so, then go to http://www.harborfreight.com/
Then enter "airbrush" in the keyword search box.  You will get a bunch of different compressors and airbrushes to choose from.  I just bought a #95810 airbrush last evening, although I haven't tried painting with it yet, the action seems smooth enough. 
None of the airbrushes or compressors that have been mentioned yet are top quality stuff like Badger, Paasche, T&C, Iwata, but they should work just fine for occasional hobby use.  The compressors will most likely be noisier than you'll like, but that's part of  the price to pay with a diaphragm compressor...
Remember to use plenty of ventilation!

It'll work straight out of the bottle.  IIRC, there used to be scented oil available back in the olden days.

Quote from: BIG BEAR on February 22, 2009, 03:49:25 PM

    Hi Jeff,
    I have been looking at the woodland scenic the past month or so, I think the ability to slightly curve your incline can make it look more natural than my straight wood board.
          Barry

Just to stir the pot a bit more, Using the Woodland Scenics incline sets won't give you a true 2,3,or 4 percent grade.  Their incline pieces are 24" long, giving you a 96" run instead of a 100" run.  The result is a slightly steeper grade than advertised.  In the big scheme of things, if you are aware of the 4" difference, it really doesn't amount to a hill of beans (like most of this discussion).

Quote from: normsuds on February 22, 2009, 09:29:20 AM
Calculating 2% or 3% over a hundred inches is not correct. To be done correctly the grade has to be claculated according to the scale you are using. 100" of n scale track is not the same distance in scale as 100" of HO scale. You would have to calculate by simple multiplication and division the actual scales of 1:160 for N scale and 1:87 for HO Gauge then you can get a correct grade for your set.

Error.
Percentage doesn't scale.  You are also calculating percentage of rise over an actual distance (100"), not a scaled distance.

Keep in mind that space in most n-scale locos is very limited.  The smaller the decoder, the better.  I'd suggest nothing larger than a Digitrax DZ123.

This is an in-progress shot of a 2-8-0 with a DZ123.  The shrink wrap must be trimmed back to even fit this small decoder in the provided space:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u293/fieromike/Railstuff/100_0607a.jpg

Mike

As long as we're dreaming, I'd like to see the big Santa Fe Northern done right...

You should be able to buy rail joiners at any hobby shop that sells n-scale railroady stuff.
When you buy new cars (and  locos), you don't usually have a choice of shank length.  The normal length shank is long enough to allow cars to run properly on trainset size tight radius curves.

Quote from: pamardon on December 29, 2008, 11:27:31 PM
Hi guys
I'm still trying to finish my work bench.
I saw in a video that after putting the board (base) on top of the table. The guy used an insulation board (blue like foam)
I visited my local home depot and lowes and I can't find it anywhere.
I live in FL... maybe they don't stock that over here.
what can I use instead of that foam?
I found something that looks similar but is white and it's  cover by foil in both sides...

Assuming you mean the benchwork for your layout and not the actual workbench where build your models, you have your work cut out for you in Florida!  Your best luck will be contacting a couple of large insulation contractors or refrigeration supply houses.  When I lived in Texas, I ended up with a list of suppliers that I got from the Dow-Corning and LOF websites.

Quote from: Yampa Bob on December 22, 2008, 03:40:44 AM
Thanks for the link Rich.

Recently someone posted a link to another site that had motors and drive shaft assemblies for repowering, but I lost it.  Does anyone still have the link?

Thanks

Coud it be Alliance Locomotive?  HO and N scale goodies.
http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/

QuoteGuys,  Back in July 19, Santa FE Buff asked which decoder to use with the subject loco.  Was it ever answered.  I can't seem to find an answer and I just got mine and  opened the  tender and the plug is different from any I've seen.  Thanks for any help.
Ed

If your tender is the same as this one:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/N821X-IS001.PDF
Then you need a hard wired decoder such as a Digitrax DZ-125, or similar.  The bottom of the last page shows you which wires to solder where.

Quote from: UP_Modeler on December 05, 2008, 10:56:42 PM
What up Dudes,

Have any of you noticed the recent Atlas N-Scale announcements?  Dash 8-40C's priced at $140, yet another run of RS-3's priced at $120 and today they announce a gondola (a plain looking run-of-the-mill gondola) priced at $19.00.  Talk about sticker shock.

A few years ago Atlas said they were outsourcing everything to China so they could lower prices.  Now their stuff is more expensive than Kato who manufacturers in Japan which has more expensive labor cost than China.  So Atlas is charging higher prices than Kato and their stuff isn't as good. 

Atlas has always been a very arrogant company but this kind of pricing in the current economy is foolish.  If Bachmann can offer good prices producing models in China then Atlas should be able to do the same.  Sounds like those boys at Atlas have gotton mightly greedy in recent times.  I don't know about you guys but I rather buy Bachmann than Atlas.  Bachmann's quality has improved dramatically and their prices are still excellent.

Mike

But remember that you're looking at MSRP, not street pricing.  Bachmann's dash-8 locos  are also stickered at $140.
When you get down to it,I'm getting a well detailed,NCE decoder equipped loco with alternating ditchlights for $135.  I'm not a Bachmann hater and have several of their locos, but I'll put my money where the real quality is.

The decoder pictured is a Digitrax that appears to have had a bit of the protective sleeve trimmed off to make it shorter.  Either the DZ123 or the DZ125 would be appropriate for this application, but there are other brands available.

You need to set CV08 to a value of 8, but that seems to be past E-Z Command's capabilities.  Looks like its time to cultivate a friendship with someone that owns another brand of DCC controller...

It can be several things.  First, how smooth is your trackwork?  Does it have any abrupt changes in elevation, humps, or kinks?
Second, look at your couplers.  The Rapido type coupler has a tendency to droop over time.  EVERY coupler should be horizontal, not pointing up or down.  Does every coupler fully couple with the adjacent one on the next car?  Once you do all the fine tuning, you should have much less trouble.
If you want to get serious with the hobby, I suggest that you investigate and convert to Micro-Trains couplers.  Properly done, these are rock solid.

The easiest way would be to use insulated rail joiners on both rails in between the two turnouts on each crossover.  Using two power packs, you don't want ANY power to be common to both loops.  However, using this method, you won't be able to move locos or lighted cars between the  loops without potential for a big short.