Recent content by timlange3

Same here, see them in staging where stock is placed on the rails and then run by hand over the re-railer.

Without kinking I can get it down to about 3.5" diameter, if you can set the trucks on a 40' car to be perpendicular it goes around and around .... :-)

Depends on how you cut the plywood, if you make a 5" wide, 36" radius (cut in sections) a 4' x 8' will be more than enough.

Some things I thought about the H.O.G. and your railroad: I would still put triangular pieces in the corners, it should not affect your reach; even with two sides against walls this railroad would be fine to work on and operate; consider raising it to chest high to make it easy to duck under...

Yeah, back in the seventies, block control, rotary switches, throttles tethered at best, had to stop your train every time you moved your throttle to another outlet. When DCC came out we were all ready to go, we did a group buy on Digitrax, about 20 systems, and have not looked back. We...

You can build one deck above or below another. Vertical spacing based on depth of shelf and how much space you want. Do you want to connect both decks and run a train from one to the other? If so, you need a long enough run to make a gentle grade to take the train from one level to the other...

Yes, but you will need to stick the tip of your tongue out while you are doing this.

Reversing loops do not affect the locos. What it does affect is the track polarity, so you have to insulate both rails at both ends of the reversing section. And in your case you would do this for both reversing loops. You can use a manual switch to change polarity while the train is in the...

HO is 1:87, so multiply your measurement by 87.

I'll bet it was a leap day glitch. All gas stations in NZ were down for 10 hours due to a leap day glitch. Not like this is the first leap day, sigh ...

Unlike many, you have a plan! :-)

The worm cover is horse shoe shaped with the ends clipping over the gearset. I used a small flat blade screwdriver to pry one side out and up slightly and then the other side. Be careful, they are slippery Delrin and can travel a great distance and hide well! :-)

Consider an along the wall shelf railroad so you can put it at the height that meets your needs. Make the depth so you can reach without issues. A point to point railroad would put more emphasis on scenery and operations, not buying a lot of equipment.

At the age your kids are they definitely want to be hands on and not just watch trains go around. With DCC all of you can be running a loco at the same time. Not knowing your physical space I would still suggest a narrow or shelf type railroad that goes around the room or point to point with...

I'll assume HO scale and nickel silver track. I would suggest drops from the track to the power bus every six feet of track. That will help alleviate issues with power loss due to track resistance and poorly connected track.