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I have seen quite a few shells on Ebay. I was not looking for GP38's, but I saw a bunch os SW7,9,1000,1500's. If you are just wanting to "practice painting" then just get what ever you can find, cheap. If you expect to end up using that shell, then I guess you need the correct shell. The...

If your engines match the rest of your cars, then I would just fix the cars in question. To be cheap, you could get away with fixing only one end of the lead car. Not exactly "correct" but as long as one end will match up to your loco, then there is not problem. (unless you try to couple to...

Thanks for the advice. I am planning on painting some undecorated stuff I have. So, I will be putting the first layers of paint on them. The primer being thinner at Wal-Mart sounds like good advice. That, and it's cheap. :D

Before painting a plastic engine or car, is the standard to use regular old primer in the spray can from an auto store? I know I have seen Krylon specifically made for plastics, but it wasn't primer. They may have had primer specifially for plastics, I just haven't lnoticed it. I was...

I have often thought that if I redid my layout, I would do the "dog bone" idea with the 4 foot "blobs" at the ends, but make them helix's instead. It would either be a 2 shelf layout, or maybe the return trip would be "in the mountain" where the other trip was "down in the valleys". The second...

Here is a pic of a terminal board. If you have one of these for your (+) wire and one for the (-) wire, then it will be easier to hook up various sections of your layout easier. You will need to hook up a "U" shaped jumper wire from one scew to the next across the terminal board. Run one wire...

If it does not specify what the track is made from, 99% chance it will be nickle-silver. So, "normal" is nickle-silver. The following is just to explain more about the track. I am guessing your next question... The Code relates to the height of the rail. Code 83 is pretty close to being...

The #'d turnouts are not the same as the "Atlas Snap Track Turnouts". Those will equal a section of an 18" curved section of track. They do this, so it is easy to stick the turnout into a layout done with sectional track. The turnout will just take the place of a normal 18" section of track...

Did you measure out the curves and the turnouts? I ask because the turnout leading into the yard looks to make a really tight curve and the angle on the ladder for the yard seems very steep also. It might just be something from the camera angle or something. The easy way to "measure" is...

My son (3 years old) LOVEs the whole Thomas series. I have a Thomas w/ Annie and Claribel and also James with the 2 "troublesome trucks". These two get the most track time on the layout I am building right now. James was a gift from his Aunt this past Christmas. When we couldn't easily run...

Yep... I did waste my time. I thought maybe I had a good idea, though. :(

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I got started in the hobby about a year ago. That start was buying a couple trains and a circle layout under the X-Mas tree. Actually building a layout and running trains other than under the tree didn't start until the beginning of this fall. So, I am another "new guy". I thought the P2K...

I thought the P2K line was all DCC ready? I have 2 P2K engines, a GP38-2 and a SD50. Both of them were DCC ready. Installing the decoder was just a matter of pulling a plug from a small circuit card inside the loco, tossing that circuit card, then putting the DCC decoder in it's place...

Alan, thanks for the info.

That is one of the sites that I referenced when I did the tune up right after getting this engine. I didn't have the stuff for polishing the commutator, but I did the rest. I don't know if it improved the engine at all, since I took it apart, re-wired it, cleaned out all the old lube etc...

Do you have a part # and website for those wheelsets? I have looked up a few other brands I have seen recommended, but I don't know what part # is the correct one. The advice I read about adding as much weight as possible stated you would get less crud buildup with heavier locos. Plus, I...

I hard-wired the engine before I ever ran it, based on info I got from this site. I don't know the difference in emery and crocus cloth. The tune-up page I read said he used 1500 grit wet-dry. I don't know the "grit" on crocus or emery cloth. I will check the local hardware store for the...

Where do you guys find all the historical data on engines. From the picture I can tell you the road # and the current road name. Anything beyond that... well, there is nothing beyond that. Coming up with the build date, I have seen where people have listed each company that owned it, when it...

They are brass. I took it apart and cleaned everything with alcohol as soon as I got it. I checked the gears for any flash or any other signs of problems. I think I should have had some sort of magnifying glass to help with the inspection, though. I did not see anything. I did expect to...