Track on the VT&P approaches the high bridge over Mickie's Run and Virginia Route 254.  If I use a full length of flex track, I'll need to cobble in a small piece - something like 2 inches or less to connect to the bridge.  I'm thinking that it would be much better to take two sectons of flex track and cut one at, say, 20" and the other at 18" than to mess with one very short piece of track.
Opinions?
Gene

If you haven't checked out this site, do so.  Awesome. 
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/

Gene

Most diagrams of real icing platforms set them somewhere inside a yard.  Was this a standard practice, or might they be elsewhere to take advantage of water/electrical supply?  Also, would the normal siding be double ended for speed of ice loading? 
Gene

Who else has Walthers heavyweight passenger cars?  What minimum radius have you found is needed?  I'm having trouble getting them around 30" radius curves.  I'm thinking of trimming some of the underbody detail to get more clearance. 
Gene

Does anybody here wet cork roadbed before fashioning it into a curve?  I never have, but the Woodland Scenics roadbed says that it doesn't have to be wet. 
Gene

Has anybody else had problems with the leading truck of the USRA heavy Mountain?  One of mine just doesn't want to stay on the track.  I've checked the wheels and they are in gauge.  I'm trying to figure out a way to add some weight to the truck, but that doesn't look real feasable. 
Any solutions? 
This, btw, is the George Washington version of the C&O J2
Gene

Who has a suggestion for a sound decoder for the medium Vandy tender?  It's tight in that cylinder!
Gene

This is a quesiton for anybody with a Specturm 2-10-2.  How does the power get to the decoder/motor - through wipers or directly from the wheels? 
Gene

There is a "search engine" called Good Search, which is powered by Yahoo.  If you tell it what charity, non-profit, or school you want it to benefit, it will send that organization a check in December based on the number of searches credited to your organization.  There are a few railroad organizations, one of which is the B&O Museum.  I just changed my organizaiton to the B&O, which has not been very active. 
Check it out->> www.goodsearch.com<<, find your favorite charity, or "shovel in a little more coal" for the B&O museum - which could really stand the help with all the expenses from the snow storm damage of a few years ago.
Gene

I just got two old style Powerhouse Mikes back from Tony's Trains.  I can take one apart and check on how they did it and perhaps add DCC to some of my brass, now.  Their method of connecting tender to loco is excellent.  They use a total of four wires in two groups.  The loco has two wires with a male end and two with a female end. The tender has the same.  One side of each has a dot on it to show which way to connect them. 
I didn't cuss once either plugging them in or unplugging them. 
It would be nice if everybody did it that way. 
Gene

You're the engineer on the mine turn.  You leave the yard with a string of empty hoppers and service several mine tipples, returning with loaded hoppers.  There is a turntable at the yard, but no way to turn the loco durning the run.  So what should you do? 
Push the empties, running tender first, and return pilot first?
Pull the empties, running tender first, do a run around, and return pilot first?
Do either of the above, but run pilot first and return tender first? 
Gene

The old Lee Hall train depot is about to be moved to a "safer" location away from the tracks.  Here's what the local paper wrote:


"The Lee Hall depot was built in 1886 to connect coal mines in West Virginia with East Coast ports."

Neat, eh?
Gene

I've read about the changes in the old Standard design and looked at the NKP and C&O 2-8-4 and I'm wondering what, exactly, is now the difference between "Standard" and "Spectrum." 
Gene

I ran into a fellow writer yesterday who is starting a book about a female hobo in 1938 heading south from New England.  She asked me about railroads that a 'bo would have taken from Conneticut to Florida.  I suggested New Haven to New York, then PRR, Jersey Central, or B&O to DC, then RF&P or Southern/C&O to Richmond/Charlottesville, then Southern, ACL to Florida or Georgia, perhaps Georgia Central through Georgia, then FEC or Seaboard in Florida. 
I'm thinking that 'bos might not know the name of the railroad, but would know the name of towns. 
Where was New Haven under wire?  I know PRR was under wire going into DC - did that start in Baltimore?  Philadelphia? 
Thoughts?  Your chance to get on the Acknowledgement page! 
Gene

I like Bachmann's releasing the C&O K4, though a K3 or F19 would have been better.  This does put a rather large hole in the theory that Bachmann won't release a model of a locomotive that is already on the market. 
Bachmann was smart.  I already have three K4s, though the Protos don't pull as much as they should.  But with an undecorated C&O version, I can tell that the VT&P power super is going to have to have one for VT&P.
Gene

I'm building a steel viaduct.  The company that makes it calls for their bridge rail set - which does have guard rails and bridge barrels along with it, but the rail is code 83.  Is it prototypical to have lighter rail on a bridge than on ballast?  Or should I use the code 83 rail on a siding?
Gene

I have a problem with one of my Atlas # 6 turnouts.  I've reversed the throw as I have done for quite a few.  However the moving rail to allow the track to diverge is now low enough below the top of the stock rail that cars and some locomotives taking the diverging route derail.  Going straight is no problem, nor is there a problem entering the mainline from the interchange track.  Atlas says they will replace it, but if there is a fix I can do without having to rip up track and replace the turnout, I'd like to do that. 
Any ideas?
Gene

I'm looking for an arch bridge that has between a 30 to 32" curve to it that will span approximately 18 inches.  I'd thought of the new Atlas bridge - but I'm sure it's straight and not curved.  Any suggestions?
Gene

I got DCC mostly installed on Thursday and it ran fine with the two locomotives previously reported.  Suddenly they wouldn't respond to the throttle.  I shut everything down, and Friday morning I turned the system back on, tried the locomotives, and they worked fine.  I added C&O H-5 1524 (USRA light Mallet) and it ran fine.  Then again, after several hours they refused to respond to the throttle.  Background sound - pumps, air leak, appliances turning on and off, etc, continued to work.  But nothing with the throttle.
I tried again this morning.  Track power on and sound was on, but no response to the throttle.  I tried another locomotive, VT&P T-4, Number 354 (USRA heavy Santa Fe) and it didn't respond either.  I'd called Tony's and got "It's something wrong with the locomotive."  I don't think so.  Not all four. 
Any idea?  I'm using Digitaxx with the DSC100 (?) command station and a DT400R throttle.
Gene
(BTW, wife went in not knowing I'd already been in and heard the locomotives simmering and got worried - or so she claimed. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Sub-Division Superintendant for the Blue Ridge Sub-division of the Allegheny Division of the Virginia Tidewater and Piedmont Railroad is pleased to announce that today at approximately 4 PM EST, VT&P Class M-3 (USRA light Mikado) 847 and C&O Class J-2 (USRA heavy Mountain) 546 ran under DCC between Gordonsville, VA and Sugar Grove, WVA several times.  Engine 847 ran the eastbound track from Gordonsville through Noah Junction and Bradyton and up the first loop of the helix.  Bystanders were impressed by the bells and whistles.
Gene