Terry,

That goes for me, too.  Am very impressed with your wealth of knowledge!

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Sheldon,

Many thanks for the fine instructions.

I hope everyone here appreciates this fine lad!

Best Wishes,

Jack

Dear Friends,

Please forgive my ignorance.  Has anyone heard from Gus del Castillo recently?  I would like to get one of his HO track cleaners.

Best Wishes,

Jack

Friends,

Thanks to all for your comments and links, especially!  I think I will try something like  you suggested.

Bob,

I will contact you via email when we can get together for some rr pix.

Best, Jack

Dear Sheldon,

Would you be so kind as to send me the instructions, also?  I have several projects in the works and sure could use the information.  Thank you kindly!

Best, Jack

Email:   jsmvmd@aol.com

Dear Friends,

My buddy Ted, an electro-mechanical genius told me of HO switching machines he made as a lad to mimic the hand thrown switches he used to see used growing up in Phila.  This was done with a group of levers in the control tower, and the agent would "line the switches" from the tower by muscling he levers.  In the real world there were cables that were fed through underground conduit, several hundred feet in some cases.

Ted constructed a similar setup using switch machines and thread or cord from the control panel to the indiviual switches, and said he had a lot of fun doing it.

I could imagine this done similarly with small cable, or a bell crank with push rods, like is done in some large model airplanes.

Has anyone done this?  Doesn't sound too practical, but Ted had to make all his stuff since he didn't have the $ to buy it. Therefore, he made do.

Comments anyone?

Best, Jack

Dear Sheldon,

Thank you for ALL the good advice over the years. Especially these particular mods. Will eventually get the cars and do said modifications.  Good luck to all!

Best, Jack

Dear Friends,

This is a "gem" thread.  A trove of great information which I will archive to use as needed.

In your opinion, our LHS has the Bachmann Pennsylvania heavy weight passenger cars, 4 car set, not sure if they are pre or post-WWII, for $89.00.

Should I jump on this or are there significantly better prices out there?

Don't mean to hijack a thread, just a thought...

Best Wishes, Jack

Dear Friends,

Wonderful comments from all!  Lots of good info for me to factor.  Recently, Jim Banner mentioned mounting the couplers to the body, instead of on the trucks.

Is this assumed in all your comments?

Best, Jack

Dear James,

I can attest that our dear Mr. Bach-man is dripping with integrity!

You will find him to be very helpful and of a very high caliber, at least .44!

Best, Jack

Not having done this, but thinking about it...

Why couldn't you make a small layout, say 4x8, like an open suitcase, so when it was folded, the sides would come together and protect the insides?

Of course, it would have to be a relatively flat layout.  My next project will be in sections bolted together, waiting for the day it has to be moved.

Best, Jack

Dear Friends,

My computer is hooked up to DSL @ 100Mbps and is pretty doggone fast. However, the downloading time between and in the forums is slower than a turtle on this site.

Is this an issue with other users, or is it just me?  If it is due to security tools that the Administrator has used, that is fine with me.

Thoughts, anyone?

Best, Jack

Dear Chuck,

A terrific site! Thanks a million!

Best, Jack

Rich,

I'll second what Nigel said. Hear Hear!!!

It is just the ticket as I will be acquiring some older Athern stuff later this summer.  They will eventually get decoders, too.

Best, Jack

Dear rikc9,

Another search engine is Vivisimo. You might be pleasantly surprised, as I was.

Best, Jack