Code 100 flex track.  Since the layout is a fictional semi-C&O it uses the heavy rail favored by C&O.  I may well use code 83 for sidings, or some sidings. 
Gene

Older Soundtraxx (pre Tsunami) required removal.  Their special built for the Spectrum Consolidation had an instruction sheet which covered all three curcuit boards and the locations of the capacitors to cut.
Gene

Are there others here who have cars lettered for their private road?  I'm beginning a "fake train" - one with nothing but private roads.  So far I have my own VT&P, two CB&W box cars, two Turtle Creek Central box cars, a Gorre and Daphetid box car and drover caboose, and a Bent Spaghetti Line 50' double door box.  If anybody would like to swap one of theirs for a VT&P box car (special paint scheme for the War Between the States Centenial - gray car with caboose red doors) let me know. 
Gene

A club member who is active Air National Guard came over and we put riser supports in seven tables.  He's off again tomorrow and will come over after I get off subbing for another couple of hours of work.  I installed a new blade (Lowe's had it half off) in the table saw and sawing is suddenly a lot easier.  Now I have to get the old blade to my daughter-in-law's dad, who has a tool sharpening business.
It sounds like I may have several guys on Saturday.  At this rate, I'll have track being laid before the end of the month. 
Gene

Almost all HO structure are selectively compressed.  Apparently WS and DPM were once independent but are now connected in some way.  And yes, WS has structures that seem more small town, rural, than DPM.
Gene

The original configuration of a passenger train or mixed train came from the smoke of a steam locomotive.  Baggage and mail is not affected by smoke, so it went first.  Next came the coaches as the passengers there paid less money.  Than the Pullmans, probably in order of the number of open sections as opposed to rooms they had and finally the observation car.  The diner, when included, was between the coaches and the Pullmans, generally with the kitchen towards the Pullmans. 
I'd assume that switching done for baggage/express, diners, and Pullmans would be dictated by the composition of the train and the yard. 
Do you have a key and ready access to the club?  Can you go there anytime to run trains, or is it open only at certain times? 
This is probably a phase.  My club has had such periods, too.   It could be this is temporary and you'll be back down on flat land with high balls all the way.
Gene

A recent MR article on DCC stated that mixing DC and DCC is not a great idea.  I know my club layout, which is mixed, has had its share of problems, some probably caused by being both DC and DCC. 
This topic got heavily debated just before the new board rose up out of the sea like Venus.
Gene

Based on Andy's examples, I'd say he's more interested in Canadian steam.

TAC, how did you have all that stollen at a train show?  Armed robbery?  I'm sorry to hear that.
Gene

Swapped trucks are a frequent cause of shorts.  I normally take some white paint and paint a line on the bottom of the car or tender and along the axles of the wheels before I remove a truck.  Then I'm sure I'm replacing the trucks correctly, yet don't have to squint to see where the insulators are.  When I have pick-up wheels, I never remove them all from the truck at the same time. 
Gene

What do all the symbols on the right (screen's right) hand side mean?  What is a "Jr. Member"?
Translation, please.   
Gene

They may look nicer than the Roundhouse.  I don't know.  OTOH, I picked up a G&D caboose off e-Bay.
I mean, why not?  Surely a western mountain railroad caboose could somehow drift east to a sub-division in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Right?
Gene

There are old style domes available through the superdetailers.  That would be a start.  Are wood cabs available?  I imagine you could fabricate one of the large smokestacks, if nothing else.
Gene

Hoople,
'Tis not the bad spelling that bothers me.  In that, thou art mistaken, aye thou missst thy mark right fair.  Nay, 'tis the varlatry IM/TM English that bothers me for two reasons.  First, yon users, who should be practicing this blessed tongue, do so not, to their peril.  Secondly, they take this skreed to their studies anon and their master striketh them with foul grades. Thy study of model railroading shouldst teach thee that mastery comes from practice and attention to detail, not in slovenly performance. 
BTW, I'm a poor speller - or used to be. 
Gene

Yes, what does the star mean?  And the other things as well.  Is this some arcane DeVinci Code?

I have the MRC sound system.  Some of the sounds are okay.  Others are terrible.  Several of the animal sounds are more like static than anything else.