Search:

The weather and work have been so frustrating lately for moving this forward.

Yesterday I got a small window and got the last module up on legs. They now all stand on their own! I also tested...

Just a reminder folks, what really matters is voltage drop. This is dependent on wire gauge, the voltage of the system which is ~12-13 for us, the length of the run, and most importantly the amps...

OP said they had a "door sized layout", so we're talking about ~6' x 2.5' and likely no more than two short trains running at a time.

18ga is plenty sufficient for this sort of layout for the bus....

The "problem" with solder is vibration. Soldering a connector on can make the end of a wire brittle and prone to crack just past the end of the connector under heavy vibration.

For a home layout...

If I had to make a recommendation that applies to all installations....

PowerPoles are your friend. They are relatively cheap, easy to install, you can get lots of color coded hoods. The only...

I put my DCC in a Box!

https://www.nscale.net/forums/showthread.php?34093-DCC-in-a-Box-Finished-or-I-m-crazy

#1 Don't follow that exact recipe. I've since decided LNRP's are garbage, but...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracite



The sponsored a radio program called "The Shadow" for many years, so a lot of radio sites talk about it, see:...

Track and electrical first. You should be able to run a train smoothly before doing any serious scenery by the track. I've gotten bad sections of flex and had the rail pop out. All sorts of bad...

I have been pondering using a setup like this to control the new yard I am building. I would be very interested in others experience with this sort of solution.

I haven't designed etch brass, but I've assembled a few things. In my experience bending is superior for two reasons. One, it builds in natural strength you don't get with a glue joint. Two, it's...

My $0.02 would be to make the trusses out of laser cut wood, perhaps out of something like lazerboard, and then paint them. In most buildings these are going to be painted white for corrosion...

I have a few modules that have had ez-line on them for ~12-14 years and I've not had any go brittle. I've had 1-2 lines loose some of their stretch and sag, which may mean I didn't get the tension...

Slow progress. Work has been crazy, and weather has been bad. Since I do part of my work outside on a patio the snow has taken away a couple of work days.

I did get the leg mounting blocks glued...

That's part of the problem, and I included "a photo of all the parts included in the kit" as part of my request.

Look at this wonderful photo of the "Farm Kit", complete with Farm House, Barn,...

I think your rant is on the right track. I'll use a non-railroad example.

Go to your favorite restaurant web site. I bet you want to know 3 things: Hours, Menu, and Phone Number.

Guess which...

Wye of course! :D

You'll note the mile posts in the track chart, the entire yard, station etc is a little over a mile long. A mile in N scale is 33 feet. I have 32 feet of module!

There is...

http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/nscale/snpp-20210124/martin-trackchart-small.png

That was impressive. You zeroed right in. Wow!

I'll have to figure out some sort of reward for you.

Much better guesses, but both are way too large.

The fact it has a single stall engine house is a pretty big clue. No turn table, no round house. This is a small facility. It does have the...

I suppose I can kinda see that, I get it looks like a long vertical, like maybe besides a dock or a lock in its current form.

But what's missing is foam. That won't be a sheer vertical cliff,...

Harumph. Do we have no C&O historians in the crowd? :D

Fine. It's in Kentucky. It's also really nice that the C&O Historical Society published full plans for the single stall engine house.
...

I am so confused. I’m modeling a yard on the C&O railroad. How did you jump to the Panama Canal?

I got a 3rd module on it's legs today. It's the closer one in the first picture.

http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/nscale/snpp-20210124/IMG_8138.JPG
...

First, go to youtube and search "model railroad river". The top 10 results are all excellent, and all show you slightly different techniques.

At a high level, the process is paint the bottom,...

Thank you! I took a lot of extra time and planning because I wanted it to be strong, fit together a particular way, and end up being stained. So I took a lot of extra planning, sourced some higher...