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Can anyone suggest some good HO scale track cleaning cars? I am in the market for one and do not know what is good or not. I have a 45 foot long shelf layout that runs along two walls of my unfinished basement. The track is filthy within 2 weeks. All rolling stock is upgraded to metal wheels. My...

Hello. Hoping for some insight. Recently installed MRC drop-in sound decoder into my Proto 1000 GP15. It doesn't run smoothly. For example if it is going forward, it jerks or pauses. The front headlight is on solid, but the rear light pulses faintly in sync with its jerky movement. This happens...

Hey folks. Recently installed MRC dropin decoder in my Athearn RTR GP40X. MRC instructions tell you to use a 1k ohm resistor in series to one of the bulb leads. Problem is the lights dont work. When I meter the outputs on the board, I get about 10+ volts. When I measure after the resistor, I...

Hello all! I recently made the switch to DCC and I am loving it. I picked up a NCE Powercab starter set for $148 on ebay. I have a Proto 2k GP30 that came with a digitrax 121 installed. (A $25 ebay find) After a little research and playing around, I realized how basic the decoder was. I decided...

Does anyone know the MRC command 2000 dcc system? The manufacturer website has nothing on older products that I can find. I am getting started in dcc and have very limited funds. This system goes for about $50 on ebay with the transformer and add-on walk-around throttle (a must) :D I will be...

I recently built the "second simplest throttle" A transistorized throttle from Peter Thorne's book Model Railroad Electronics. I built it as a tethered walkaround which I love. Even though I like the "relatively" smooth starts and the feel of the throttle, I am bothered by 2 things. First, the...

Well, I have realized that with my previous layout I bit off more than I could chew. I had all this space and was compelled to fill it. I just do not have the financial resources for a project that large. Not only that, I rushed headlong into the benchwork just to get some track laid out with no...

Well, now that I settled on what glue to use, here are some progress photos of my GP15 project So far its a Smokey Valley frame, Athearn BB trucks with the new RTR worm gears, and the motor is from a Broadway Limited EMD E9 that someone gave me. It had no shell, and the trucks were trashed so I...

To break up the monotony of bench and trackwork I embarked on a little side project. Earlier this year I won a complete Smokey Valley GP15 kit, body, frame, and handrails for $10 on Ebay. I read through the instructions before beginning and noted they recommend Micro Weld glue only. So, being a...

Hello all! I haven't been on the forum in awhile because of some major life changes my family and I have had. We welcomed our second son into the world, I got a better job, and we moved to a larger home for less money per month! And the best part is the the 21' by 26' basement!!! :D From mid...

I have decided to move my layout from the 10 x 10 upstairs room to my 17 x 21 garage. So far I have the North wall insulated and sheetrocked and part of the West wall insulated. Have to do this one wall at a time due to financial limitations

I have been trying to do some research on LBF models and not finding a whole lot. Other than a bunch of dead-end links. The only thing I can figure is that the company is no longer. Does anyone know anything about this company and their freight car models? Do they come in HO and N? One link I...

Hello! I recently won 3 sets of Athearn undecorated Blue Box Impack/Spine cars. I wish to model them for TTX, thus the yellow paint. I noticed that the wheelsets are much smaller than all the other railcars I have. I want to replace the wheelsets with the Intermountain metal ones like I am...

Hello everyone! Havent been around in a while... working alot! Does anyone know which paint scheme the new athearn sd40-2 CSX locomotives will be? They were announced last december and should be arriving in May. The website only shows one pic for 8815 in the yn2 scheme, but does not show pix for...

This is my second attempt at custom making two freelance Norfolk Southern locos. The first attempt was to embarrasing to post :o The first picture is the one shell right after stripping the original paint. The next is after a coat of gloss and the first set of decals. The third and fourth is my...

Hello! I remember reading on the forums here that some of you have had experience with Chameleon Paint stripper. After reading someone's post about his success with it, I decided to give it a try. Five weeks ago, I ordered a 8 oz. bottle from the Diversified Products website and have yet to...

I know some of my questions here may be elementary, but I want to make sure of what I am doing before I wreck $140 worth of Walther's Cornerstone Structures!!! Yesterday I picked up the New River Mining Company, Northern Light & Power Substation, Northern Light & Power powerhouse, and several of...

I work for the county Utility Authority Sewage treatment plant. Behind us is a branchline that serves the local steel mill and used to deliver chlorine filled tank cars to us before we switched to Sodium Hypochloride for treating the plant's effluent flow. Last week, a consist of gondolas pulled...

Hello all! I have two older Athearn Blue Box GP 35 locomotives. One I have had nearly 20 years, and the other I aquired on Ebay a short time ago. The one I bought recently is about the same vintage as my original. They run like two completely different animals!!! When I put the Ebay loco on the...

I bought this locomotive 20+ years ago. It has been in storage for almost as long. I do not remember what company it is built by. There are no "brand" markings on the body inside or out, or on the motor/drive assembly. Does anyone know? Thankyou in advance.