Recent content by jweir43

I'm not sure how that would help me understand how to use DCC to throw a switch. Jim

Rog on the PWM. Got that far. Also semi-understand the data stream, but such fundamental questions as "does the pulse train continue sending every data stream until it is shut off, does it do it once, does it do it ten times and then hope the decoder caught it", and simple questions like that...

I'd really like to populate my new layout with DCC for switches, lighting, and all the rest of it. I've been doing enough reading that I'm thoroughly confused on how the DCC protocol is sent down the rails.\ Is there a "DCC For Dummies" anywhere that I can refer to to completely understand the...

Thanks for the answers. Jim

How do you get the glassy effect on the slough with paint? I s'pose I could give the felt marker thing a try and if it didn't work, felt marker ink is soluble in isopropyl alcohol. Thanks for the answer. Jim

Thanks for the answer. Is there some sort of "furry paint" or something I can scatter on the paint while it is drying to simulate bare dirt ground? With that as a substrate, I can build the rest of the stuff around it using the usual trees, grass, etc.

Track. I've got a few pieces of Kato track-roadbed (Unitrack) and they don't look too bad. I'm not a serious modeler, I just want something about one or two steps above the plywood under the Christmas Tree gig. Is Kato acceptable in the Unitrack thing? Seems to work pretty well for me. If...

OK, here goes, and I'm going to ask some of the stupidest questions y'all have ever seen. And I'll try and ask only one stupid question at a time. Here"s what I've got: The garage is downstairs. The upstairs is my electronics lab (that's my profession). To get from garage to the lab there...

Con-Cor made models of the Aerotrain, specifically the one that ran the California coast from San Diego to points north. My wife rode that train 55 years ago to school every day and I'm trying to cobble up a working model of it. I've got the Con-Cor "three car adder" set but it uses a...

Sorry, I got called away on business for a couple of weeks and couldn't/didn't fire up this thread. THanks, Mike, for all the info. That was exactly what I needed. Jim

Getting back into it after almost 50 years away. Decided on N gauge because of space limitations. Went through my first real lesson about gravity a week ago and busted a gondola's couplers smack off. Got a replacement truck and it came with magne-matic couplers ... 1. Seems like magnetic...

What a jerk, but then again, I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man. Go your way sir, and no thanks for stopping by. Jim

Sir, with all due respects. I didn't ask whether I should go to my local train store or Walthers, both of which I have researched and both of whom have come up dry. If you don't have any better answer than this, thanks, but please don't give generic answers that don't go to the point. I don't...

N gauge, and it shouldn't matter who makes it. Nor would I ever want to light up a gondola or tanker. I thought I mentioned caboose in the original posting.

I've looked and can't seem to find a way of taking the plastic trucks off of a car (say, a caboose) and replacing them with metal so that I can light the insides of the car. Do they make just the wheels/trucks for such a conversion and where do I find them? Thanks, Jim