The rec.models.railroad FAQ
Urban Fredriksson
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.scale FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
Introduction
Starting out, HO scale
Starting out, N scale
Starting out, G scale
Live steam
Gauges and scales
Early model railroading history
British models
CCD cameras
Distribution
Manufacturing
Thomas the Tank Engine
Gauge 1 Live Steam
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 02/13: Starting out, HO scale
STARTING OUT, HO SCALE
What should I buy as a gift for somebody who is new to the hobby?
[This answer is tailored to HO]
The cheap packaged sets make by Bachman and Life-Like are not a good
way to get started in the hobby. The equipment is cheaply made and as
a consequence will tend to stall and derail frequently, and is also
likely to break early. While you'll spend slightly more by buying
individual items, you can assemble a starter set from better equipment
and still spend under $100. The following list is a suggestion of
specific items which will make a nice set for somebody new to the
hobby, either adult or 8+ year old child.
- Athearn diesel locomotive with "superpower" drive. They make
a wide range of locomotives, so pick whatever looks good.
The "superpower" drive means it has flywheels and a heavy
weight, both of which make it run better, and it only runs
about $5 more than the base models. $26-33
- Several Athearn car kits [very easy to assemble]. They make
both freight and passenger, so pick whatever interests you
(or the recipient). Freight cars are $4-5, passenger $7.
- MRC Tech II Railpower 1400 power pack. You'll need a few
feet of wire and an Atlas terminal track section to attach
it to the track. $41 (+ $2 for the terminal)
- Enough Atlas Nickel-silver track to make an oval. 4 packs
of 18" curves and 2 packs of straight will do. $2.80/pack
- A copy of Model Railroader magazine. The December issue
always has articles aimed at newcomers, but most issues will
have introductory-level articles. $2.95
The stuff above will make the minimum starter set, for just
over $100, depending on the engine and cars purchased. If you
want to go for something slightly more advanced consider
adding some of the following items:
- 2 or so Atlas Snap turnouts (track switches), $6 each
unpowered. Get both left and right handed.
- An Atlas pier set combined with one of their bridge kits.
To make an over-under figure-8 layout you'll also need
another package of curved track. $10 for the pier set,
bridges are $4-10.
- Some building kits. The Atlas passenger station kit is a
classic kit which is well manufactured and can be built into
a nice looking kit with a little time. Probably not too
good for a young child since it has lots of parts. Kits run
$5-15 for simpler ones, much more in some cases. Include
some Testor's liquid glue [in a cubical glass bottle. The
thicker version in a orange/white tube is junk] (also not
great around young children; for that matter, it give me a
headache sometimes) and an X-Acto knife.
I have picked these items from personal experience - there are
undoubtedly equally good choices from other manufacturers. Everything
listed here should be available at most hobby stores which carry train
equipment. Your best bet is to find a hobby store which specializes in
model railroads and tell them you want to assemble something like
this. They should be able to show you the items listed here as well
as alternatives which you might prefer.
STARTING OUT, HO SCALE
What should I buy if I'm willing to spend more money?
Higher quality locomotives can be purchased from Atlas, Stewart, and
KATO (who make the mechanisms for some other brands as well). These
models run very well, have more accurate and refined details, and will
cost about $100 for a single locomotive. Life-Like has a premium line
called "Proto 2000" and Bachman has one called "Spectrum" which offer
medium level products in the $50-75 range.
In addition to Athearn, MDC (Model Die Casting, also known as
Roundhouse) makes good quality kits in the $5-10 range, and they are
about as easy to find as Athearn. They make more of the modern
equipment than does Athearn.
Peco makes better quality track switches, for about $15 unpowered.
They have a spring which keeps the switch rails firmly in the selected
position and an under-table power unit which is easy to install
(although you have to cut a hole in the table). They come in
"Electrofrog" and "Insulfrog" versions - the Insulfrog ones are "power
routing," which means that the track power only flows in the direction
the switch is set. This can make it much easier to wire stub sidings
in a block scheme, since you don't need a separate block for the
siding. Electrofrog switches have a live metal frog (hence the name)
and are not electrically interchangable with the Insulfrog version.
STARTING OUT, HO SCALE
What if I just won the lottery?
Brass models are regularly imported by a small collection of companies
based in Japan and South Korea. These are limited run (~100 units)
models of specific prototypes, hand-made from brass. They are usually
delivered unpainted but some runs offer factory painted units at an
extra cost. The majority of these models are of locomotives, with
steam more abundant than diesel or electric. Passenger cars and
cabooses are also fairly common, with occasional freight and
maintenance-of-way cars offered. The main appeal of these models is
that well-made ones will be exact models of particular prototypes with
a high level of detail. They also come with high quality drives,
something quite difficult to find in cheaper steam locomotives.
The cheapest brass locomotives in HO are offered by Sunset Ltd., with
most models in the $200-300 range. They are reportedly good runners
with a fairly low level of detail. Highly detailed models are offered
by the other importers, with steam prices in the $450-1000+ range,
diesels in the $200-400+ range. O scale models can run twice as much
as these prices. The best bet is to find either a local dealer or a
reputable mail-order importer who can advise you on what looks good
for the money.
Most of these items are sold by advance reservation, so by the time
the model actually arrives there may not be any left for sale. The
models are advertised in advance of production so that you can place
an order in time. Relying on the advertisements can be risky, though.
Often the lead time is fairly slim, and not everything made gets
well-advertised. For example, if you are interested in future brass
items, you would be advised to consult your local hobby shop to keep
abreast of upcoming releases. Some hobby shops will take note of your
interests and keep you advised when model can be reserved.
Used models can be purchased and can be a good value if purchased from
a reputable dealer who is honest about the quality.
STARTING OUT, ENGINES
How come the affordable suggestions only include diesel engines?!?
In general, steam engines are more expensive than their diesel
counterparts. For example, the cheapest HO "ready-to-run" steam
engines cost about $100. If you are the type who likes to build kits,
the cheapest steam engine kit costs about $70 dollars. Below is a
short description of several popular steam engine brands. The prices
in square brackets are mail order prices provided by a second
contributor, so may not be for the exact same models.
Bachman: Sold as "ready-to-run" units, these engines usually cost
about $100 [$25 - $55 (RTR)]. The bodies are plastic. The running
characteristics of these engines vary a lot. If possible, see it run
before buying. Bowser (Cary Logo. Works) sells a conversion kit for
these engines providing a new drive train, however this upgrade will
cost nearly as much as the original engine.
MDC/Roundhouse: Sold as kits, these engines usually cost anywhere from
$70 to $100 [$60 - $80 (kit)]. The boilers are metal, the cabs and
tender are plastic. MDC makes smaller (and earlier-era) steam engines
(4-4-2, 2-8-0, Shay, etc.).
Bowser: Sold as kits, these engines usually cost anywhere from $80 to
$150 [$70 - $155 (kit), $120 - $170 (RTR)]. The kits are all metal
very heavy. The casts usually require a fair amount of filing to
remove any flash. Running characteristics are good and the pulling
power is very good. Bowser provides a number of PRR steam era engines
as well as a Challenger and a Big Boy.
Rivarossi: Formerly imported by AHM, these engines are sold
"ready-to-run". They cost anywhere from $150 to $500 [$120 - $250
(RTR)]. The engines are all plastic. One or more of the drivers has
a "traction tire" (rubber band) to keep the lighter weight engine from
slipping. Running characteristics are good. Rivarrossi makes a wide
variety of steam engines.
Mantua: [This is based somewhat on hearsay] They seem to offer two
grades of equipment - the older designs such as the 0-4-0 switch
engine which are quite inexpensive ($20) but which run poorly, and
newer models such as the 4-4-0 Atlantic which seems like a very nice
model for about $120. Some of the models come in kit form for less
money.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 03/13: Starting out, N scale
STARTING OUT, N SCALE
What if I choose N scale instead?
Diesel locos: anything made by Kato. This includes the Kato brand
engines as well as the items recently offered by Atlas. The Con-Cor
PA-1 was the first Kato diesel imported but most of their more recent
offerings have not been. These don't come cheap, most being in the
$80 to $100 range.
Bachmann has just introduced their first Spectrum engine in N scale (a
Dash 8-40C.) About the half the price of the Kato and runs well but
the body shell is not quite up to the standard of the Kato engines,
although the paint work is nice. The regular line Bachmann is less
expensive than these but require some work to get them running realy
smothly in most cases.
Life-Like have improved the quality of their engines over the past
couple of years to the point where they make a good, inexpensive
alternative to Kato. Although the paint work tends to be less
detailed, it is acceptable. These engines run well at low speeds.
Rivarossi have a reasonable reputation in HO, but not a very good one
in N scale. The problem tends to be mechanical with motors being too
rough and burning out quickly.
For freight cars, the best quality is MicroTrains. These range from
$8 to $10 for cars with basic paint schemes up to $30 for the TOFC
flats with semi trailers. Their couplers are also a great improvement
over the Rapido couplers. The easyest conversion is the trucks with
couplers mounted, but I prefer to body-mount couplers. MicroTrains
also hase conversion kits for a large number of steam and diesel
engines.
Track: In general, PECO is recognized as the best, especially for
their turnouts. Atlas have been making improvements to their track
over the last while, but they still have a lot to learn about
turnouts.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 04/13: Starting out, G scale
STARTING OUT, G SCALE
What companies make good equipment in G scale?
[The description of G-scale equipment was written by John Haskey]
In my opinion, Bachman track should be avoided like the plague. If
you don't want to spend big bucks on LGB track, check out the REA
track. REA makes very decent track and is usually cheaper than LGB.
The Bachman track will do nothing but disappoint you.
On the other hand, the Bachman Locos and rolling stock are a very
economical way to get into G-scale railroading. Their locos are
noisier than their LGB counterparts but consider this: a Bachman 4-6-0
can be had for as little as $80 mail-order and it comes with lights,
smoke, & sound. A similiar LGB loco will cost over $500. Granted,
the LGB loco will probably last a lifetime but for someone getting
started the Bachman loco represents a good value. Make sure you avoid
the Bachman battery powered remote controlled locos though. I have
friends who have been less than thrilled with them. Bachman's rolling
stock is serviceable out of the box and, as others have mentioned, can
be vastly improved by replacing the trucks and couplers. Their kits
have great potential for kitbashing, etc.
I personally own both Bachman and LGB and don't regret purchasing
either brand. If you're rich and have disposable income, by all means
go out and get that LGB starter set, a few hundred feet of LGB track,
and lots of cars and locos. On the other hand you could start with a
loop of REA track, a MRC throttle, and a Bachman train and be well on
your way as well.
------------------------------
Date: 22 Jul 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 05/13: Live steam
The newsgroup rec.crafts.metalworking also has discussions relevant to
this topic.
...
Live steam railroading is the term most frequently applied to the
branch of the hobby involving larger models, in most cases suitable
for hauling (full size) passengers, and in most cases using steam
as the propulsion mechanism (hence the name). There are a series of
de-facto standard track gauges, and corresponding scales when used to
model standard gauge (4' 8 1/2") prototype locomotives:
3 1/2" gauge (worldwide), 3/4"/ft. or 1/16 scale
4 3/4"(USA), 5"(rest of world), 1"/ft. or 1/12 scale
7 1/4"(east coast USA, rest of world), 7 1/2" (rest of USA), 1 1/2"/ft.
or 1/8 scale
Gauge 1 (1 3/4" gauge) is also sometimes included in discussions of live
steam, even though they are too small to carry passengers. There is
still a bit of 2 1/2" gauge (1/24 scale) live steam equipment and track
around, which is about the smallest able to pull real passengers.
There are also larger sizes, with 12" and 15" gauge being relatively
common. There are also a significant number of "odd" sizes in use on
private tracks.
The above scales apply when standard gauge prototypes are modeled. It is
also possible to model narrow gauge prototype locomotives using a larger
scale to operate on the above relatively standard track gauges. The
appropriate scales can be easily calculated from the track gauges
of the model and the prototype.
Live Steam models typically model all of the appropriate aspects of
a real steam locomotive, including the fire (coal or oil fired,
occasionally propane is substituted), a boiler (copper on small models,
usually steel on large models), cylinders, valve gear with reversing
means (Stephenson, Walshearts, etc.), injectors for boiler feed
(sometimes augmented or replaced by axle or reciprocating steam pumps),
etc. Few if any modelers try to model automatic coal feeders.
Track for the larger gauges (7 1/4" -7 1/2", usually 4 3/4" - 5") is
laid directly on the ground. Ballast is used, similar to prototype
practice. Smaller gauges (3 1/2", some 4 3/4" - 5") usually use
elevated track, about 3' above ground. The larger gauges are frequently
ridden sitting directly on the tender, while the smaller gauges use a
riding car, which is typically a flat car coupled directly behind the
tender where the operator can reach the controls and tend the fire, etc.
Live steam railroading is frequently done in conjunction with live steam
clubs, which typically own or otherwise have access to a plot of land
on which layouts of one or more of the standard gauge track sizes are
laid. Clubs also sometimes provide storage facilities for the engines,
which can get quite heavy, particularly in the larger scales. Lists of
clubs (worldwide), as well as a significant amount of other information
about the hobby, are available in various live steam magazines:
Live Steam (USA)
Modeltec (USA)
Model Engineer (UK)
With the exception of Gauge 1, most live steam locomotives are hand
built. Many sets of suitable drawings exist, and in many cases rough
castings of some parts can be purchased. However, the construction of a
live steam locomotive is still as much a hobby of amateur machining
(or in some cases a commercial machining business) as a railroad
hobby. Costs can range from a few hundred dollars (US), if you scrounge
materials and improvise a great deal (and if your time is free) to
tens or even hundreds of thousands if you buy a complete locomotive
or commission to have one built. The shop required to build one yourself
can range from a small lathe (swings of 6-9" D.) with a milling
attachment to a fully equipped machine shop, depending on the size and
complexity of the model, and to some extent the time you are willing
to expend to "make do".
Although the name implies operation by steam, there are also models of
diesels and electrics commonly built in the same scales and gauges.
These typically use automobile batteries or small gasoline engines,
either with hydraulic transmissions or alternator/motor arrangements.
Another branch of the hobby involves other live steam models, such as
steamboats, steam tractors, steam cars or stationary steam engines.
Frank Kerfoot
f...@hogpa.att.com
------------------------------
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 06/13: Gauges and scales
The Development of Model Railway Scales and Gauges
--------------------------------------------------
Scale and gauge are two very common terms in Model Railroading. However, their
true meanings and their development are often misunderstood. This is a short
introduction to the topic which should give you a reasonable overview. Let's
start with a couple of definitions:
Scale: The proportion that the model bears to the full size prototype -
can be expressed either as size relationship (1":1ft) or a ratio
(1:12, 1/12).
Gauge: The distance between the rails - generally inside rail to inside
rail.
The major difficulty that people seem to have is that; when a model is scaled
the prototype gauge may not be scaled to the same proportion, but simply sized
to an appropriate "standard" gauge. By convention, the scale name conveys both
the scale and the gauge.
During the last century model railways were produced to scales and gauges at
the whim of the manufacturer. Even when different makers used the same gauge,
the variations in rail sizes, track standards, wheel standards and couplers
precluded any inter-mixing of their models. Other than individuals building
their own systems completely, "Model Railways" as we know them today were
impossible.
The first break-through came at the Leipzig Toyfair in 1891, when Maerklin
introduced a complete range of track parts with geometric curves, straights,
points and crossings in 5 different scales.
These were: No 5 gauge 4 5/8"
No 4 gauge 75mm or 3"
No 3 gauge 67mm or 2 5/8"
No 2 gauge 54mm or 2 1/8"
No 1 gauge 48mm or 1 7/8"
At that time, Maerklin used Roman numerals. They changed to
Arabic (1 instead of I) in recent times.
Note: No 0 gauge 35mm or 1 3/8" was introduced several years later.
To all those people with their hands in the air, note that these gauges were
measured from rail-center to rail-center, with a common rail-head width of 3mm
(1/8"). I believe these dimensions were originally inch measurements, later
rounded to metric units. No 4 gauge is variously quoted at 3" and 2 15/16".
Amusingly, when "American Flyer" in the USA decided to manufacture a new size,
they looked at the Maerklin catalogue and selected the No 3 gauge.
Unfortunately, they were not aware of the European method of gauge measurement
and assumed that 2 5/8" was the distance between the rails rather than the
center to center distance. They were not the only ones to make this mistake!
When they took up the standards some manufacturer's such as Bing, called 75mm
gauge - No 3 and 67mm - No 2a.
Scales were not considered important by the toy makers. Appearance was all
important and most makers produced models which did for several gauges with
different wheel spacings. Usually the model in any gauge became the basis of
a cheap range for the next gauge up. Scale models were still a long way off!
In 1912, Lionel in the United States began production of a range of trains
using Maerklin's philosophy of offering a complete range of trains, track and
accessories and adopted the No 2 gauge. However, they too assumed that the
2 1/8" gauge stated in Maerklin's literature was measured between the rails,
which was the norm in the USA. When the mistake was realised, Lionel coined
the term "Standard Gauge" which is still in use today in the USA.
Around 1900 No 0 (zero) gauge was introduced by Maerklin to allow train sets
to be accommodated in the smaller houses which were then being built. Perhaps
too, it was also because toy trains were becoming cheap enough to be within the
range of people on lower incomes. The larger gauges had already fallen out of
favour; little had been produced in No 5 gauge, No 4 attracted a few one-off
orders and No 3 gauge was purchased only by the rich. No 1 gauge was the most
popular and confirmed the market for smaller gauges.
No 0 gauge was immediately popular as the price made railways accessible to the
middle classes. Before WWI this movement to smaller gauges encouraged makers
to introduce smaller non-standard trains. However none were persevered with,
probably because they were non-standard sizes.
In the 10 years before WWI, the English market began to have an influence on
the German manufacturers with Henry Greenly and others pushing for more
accurate models to be produced. After WWI Maerklin introduced a No 00 gauge of
about 7/8" (22mm?) - this was produced from 1921 but it was dropped after 3
years in production. Bing of Nurnberg introduced their "Table-top" range in
1921 which was to 5/8" gauge - chosen because it was half No 0 gauge. This was
taken up by Henry Greenly for the English market in 1923. Distler, another
German firm, produced 5/8" gauge from 1920, but this too seems to have faded
away without success.
With few exceptions, gauges larger than No 1 did not reappear after WWI. Even
No 1 gauge had faded away somewhat by the 1930's. S gauge made its appearance
in the USA during the interwar period, notably from American Flyer. The track
gauge of 7/8" is the same as the 22mm gauge produced with little success by
some European manufacturers. Bing's Table-top railway was the big success in
Germany, England and even the USA. Copies were produced by various firms
throughout Europe eg Bub, Paya, JEP etc.
Trains were becoming more true to prototype in the larger scales and
individual makers used the toy gauges as a basis for producing models to scale.
The actual scales used with each gauge varied, most makers rounding scales up
or down which resulted in some very odd combinations, some of which continue
today.
The late 1930's saw new ranges being introduced in OO/HO scale by Hornby,
Maerklin, Trix, Lionel and others. I have deliberately used the OO/HO scale
term here as OO and HO had not settled at their present meanings except in the
USA, where OO meant 19mm gauge, 4mm/1ft scale and HO meant 5/8" gauge with
1/8":1ft or 3.5mm:1ft. In England and Europe, competitors used opposing terms,
probably to keep their customers faithful to one brand.
Today the currently popular (and commercially supported) Model Railroading
Scales have been generally reduced to the following range:
Scale name Gauge Proportion
IIm (or G) 45mm 1:22.5
I 45mm 1:32
OO 16.5mm 1:76
HO 16.5mm 1:87
N 9mm 1:160
Z 6.5mm 1:200
As with all hobbies, there is always room for controversy and the wide range of
scales and gauges available, coupled with a rich history, gives us ample room
for lighthearted disagreement. Two prime examples are G and HO. The term G
more correctly denotes a gauge (45mm) and not a scale - common usage sees
either IIm or G being used as alternatives. HO was derived from half No 0
gauge and strictly speaking the name should be H-zero and not H-oh - again
common usage would indicate HO is universally acceptable. Perhaps it's these
historical oddities that helps to make Model Railroading the complete hobby
that it is!
Lately the various national bodies have been working to tighten the standards
somewhat. For instance, the European NEM 010 standard has been designed such
that track built for the representation of a normal gauge prototype at a given
scale, could also be used for the representation of a metric gauge prototype in
the next higher scale, or for the repesentation of a narrow gauge prototype in
the second higher scale. Thus G gauge (45mm) track can be used as I scale
(1:32), IIm scale (1:22.5) or IIIe scale (1:16). Furthermore, NEM 010
partitions all existing prototype gauges into groups as follows:
Normal 1250mm - 1700mm
Metric 850mm - 1250mm
Narrow 650mm - 850mm
Industrial 400mm - 650mm
The metric, narrow and industrial gauges are indicated by an m,e or i appended
to the scale symbol. No letter denotes a normal gauge prototype
The following pages list some of the combinations of gauge and scale in use
since WWII. They are blocked in "family" groups.
Scale name Origin Gauge Proportion Comments
---------- ------ ----- ---------- --------
Model Engineering scales:
-------------------------
24" 5":1ft Live steam - parks & commercial
19" 4":1ft Live steam - parks & commercial
18" 4":1ft Live steam - parks & commercial
15" 3":1ft Live steam
10 1/4" Triang Minex - proprietary
1960's
9 1/2" 2":1ft
USA 7 1/2" 2 1/2":1ft Live steam - narrow gauge
7 1/2" 1 6/10":1ft Live steam
7 1/2" 1 1/2":1ft Live steam
USA 7 1/4" 1 1/2":1ft Live steam
5 1/4" 1":1ft Live steam
3 1/2" 1":1ft Live steam - 3'6" gauge
3 1/2" Live steam
Model Railway scales:
---------------------
VI Europe 181.8mm 1:5.5 NEM standard gauge
1" Britain 4 13/16" 1":1ft Defunct tinplate scale
No 5 gauge 4 5/8" Maerklin standard - 1891
V Europe 125mm 1:8 NEM standard gauge
11/16" Britain 3 1/4" 11/16":1ft Defunct tinplate scale
No 4 gauge 75mm or 3"
IV Europe 90.9mm 1:11 NEM standard gauge
No 3 gauge 67mm or 2 5/8"
III Europe 62.5mm 1:11 NEM
USA 2 1/2" American Flyer
IIIe Europe 45mm 1:16 NEM narrow gauge
II Europe 64mm 1:22.5 NEM normal gauge - Magris
Standard Gauge
USA 2 1/8" Lionel, Boucher
7/8"n2 USA 45mm 1:13.7 2ft narrow gauge
IIm (or G) Europe 45mm 1:22.5 LGB Metre gauge models -
"Garten"
G USA 45mm 1:24-28 Narrow gauge - 3ft
SM45 Britain 45mm 16mm:1ft = 1:19 Narrow gauge - 3ft
SM32 Britain 32mm 16mm:1ft = 1:19 Narrow gauge - 2ft
No 1 Gauge Britain 45mm 10mm:1ft = 1:30 Standard
British modellers also use the more correct 3/8":1ft, 1:32 scale
and most current trade offerrings are 1:32
I Europe 45mm 1:32 NEM normal gauge
There is a proposed, and partly adopted (1999), standard for "Large Scale"
equipment, where the common factor is it runs on 45mm track, as follows:
LS13 45mm 1:13.3/1:13.7 600mm/2 ft (610 mm) narrow
gauge, equivalent to 7/8"n2
LS16 45mm 1:16 720(-760)mm narrow gauge
LS20 45mm 1:20.3 3 ft (914mm) narrow gauge
LS22 45mm 1:22.5 1000mm narrow gauge, equivalent to IIm
LS24 45mm 1:24 Usually representing 3ft narrow
gauge equipment, model track gauge to wide
LS29 45mm 1:29 Representing standard gauge equipment,
model track gauge too narrow
LS32 45mm 1:32 Standard gauge, equivalent to I
9mm NZ 32mm 9mm:1ft NZR models - 3'6" gauge
O Britain 32mm 7mm:1ft, 1:43.5
OF Britain 32mm 7mm:1ft Fine scale - more accurate wheel std
ScaleSeven Britain 33mm 7mm:1ft, 1:43.5 Exact scale option
No 0 Gauge Europe 32mm 1:43.5
O Europe 32mm 1:45
O France 32mm 23mm:1m
Om Europe Narrow gauge - 1 metre
O 27 USA 1 1/4" No scale Lionel Toys, 27" diameter curves
O 72 USA 1 1/4" No scale Lionel Toys, 72" diameter curves
O 17 USA 1 1/4" 17/64":1ft, 1:45
O USA 1 1/4" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 NMRA standard
Proto 48 USA 1 11/64" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Exact scale option
formerly (1950's-) known as 1/4" AAR, replaces Q
Q USA 1 3/16" 1/4":1ft, 1:48
On3 1/2 USA 7/8" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Narrow gauge - 3'6"
On3 USA 3/4" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Narrow gauge - 3ft
On2 1/2 Britain 16.5mm 7mm:1ft Narrow gauge
O Minex Germany 16.5mm 1:43.5 Maerklin HO stud contact
- 750mm gauge
Oe Germany 16.5mm 1:43.5 Fleischmann Magic Train
- 750mm gauge
On2 1/2 (30) USA 39/64" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Narrow gauge - 2'6"
On2 USA 1/2" 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Narrow gauge - 2ft
On1 1/2 (18) USA 9mm 1/4":1ft, 1:48 Narrow gauge - 1'6"
Britain 12mm 5.5mm:1ft 1.55.5 2'- 2'3" narrow gauge
Tal-y-Llyn and Festiniog Railways
Fn3 (?) Britain 16.5mm 5.5mm:1ft, 1:55.5 3ft narrow gauge, IOM
H1 USA 7/8" 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Forerunner of S scale
S USA 7/8" 3/16":1ft, 1:64
S 5'6" NZ 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Canterbury broad gauge
Sn3 1/2 NZ 16.5mm 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Represents 3'6" gauge
Sn3 USA 9/16" 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Narrow gauge - 3ft
Sn2 1/2 USA 15/32" 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Narrow gauge - 2'6"
Sn2 USA 3/8" 3/16":1ft, 1:64 Narrow gauge - 2ft
Table Top Europe 5/8" Bing 1921-1934
OO Britain 16.5mm 4mm:1ft H Greenly - 1923 on
HO Britain 5/8" 3.5mm:1ft Developed from Bing standards
HO Britain 16.5mm 3.5mm:1ft Unusual, mostly foreign
models, but a a UK group now exists modelling British
trains to HO and or P87 standards
OO Britain 16.5mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2
The standards formerly set by the BRMSB are now obsolete
and largely ignored by the trade, a new OO scale association
has recently been formed to define standards.
EM Britain 18mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 (Eighteen Millimetre)
EM Britain 18.2mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 Revised standard
EEM Britain 18.83mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 A temporary step in
the evolution of P4, has long been obsolete
P4 Britain 18.82mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 P4 or Protofour was a
radical rethink created by scaling down from the prototype and
increasing tolerances by the minimum neccessary for practical
production of components. It created quite a stir in 1966/67 but
is now very well established. P4 standards are also used for
modelling Irish Railways broad and Narrow gauges, using 21mm and
12mm gauges. And for modelling the GWR Broad gauge using 28mm gauge
S4 Britain 18.82mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 Exact scale flangeways too,
made possible by additional effort to reduce the production tolerances
built into P4 standards
OO Broad G Britain 28mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 GWR Broad Gauge - 7'0 1/4"
Oon3 Britain 12mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 3ft narrow gauge, IOM
Current kits production in this scale
OO9 Britain 9mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2 Narrow gauge on N gauge track
OO USA 19mm 4mm/1ft Prewar commercial
(3/4") (5/32")
OOb5 1/4 Ireland 21mm 4mm:1ft, 1:76.2
HOb5 1/4 Australia 18.5mm 1:87 Victoria - 5'3" broad gauge
OOE Europe 16.5mm 1.1mm:1m, 1:91
HOE Europe 16mm 1:87 Followed from Bing, Bub 5/8"
gauge
H0 Europe 16.5mm 1:90 Trix Express
H0 Europe 16.5mm 1:87 NEM standard
H0 USA 16.5mm 3.5mm:1ft, 1:87.1 NMRA standard
P87 USA/Europe 16.5mm 1:87.1 Exact scale option analogous to P4.
H0j Japan 16.5mm 1:80 1067 mm gauge Japanese model railroad magazines usually
H012 / H0n Japan 12mm 1:87 1067 mm gauge quote scale and gauge for clarity
H0j13 Japan 13mm 1:80 1067 mm gauge, uncommon
H0n3 1/2 NZ 12mm 1:87 NZR - 3'6"
H0m Europe 12mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 1 meter
H0n3 USA 10.5mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 3ft
H0n900 10.33mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 900mm
H0n800 9.18mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 800mm
H0e Europe 9mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 750-785mm
H0n2 1/2 USA 9mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 2'6"
H0n2 USA 9/32" 1:87 Narrow gauge - 2ft
H0n600 6.88mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 600mm
H0f Europe 6.5mm 1:87 Narrow gauge - 600mm, also known as H0i or rarely H0z
E USA 19/32" 1/8":1ft, 1:96
QO USA 6/10" 1/8":1ft, 1:96
OOC Europe 14.3mm 1:100 "Cent" attempt to establish a
logical scale
TT USA 12mm 1/10":1ft H P Products - "TableTop"
TT Europe 12mm 1:120
TT "120th" NZ 9mm 1/10":1ft, 1:120 NZR - 3'6" gauge
TT3 Britain 12mm 3mm:1ft, 1:101.6 Tri-ang 1950's-60's
TTX Britain 12mm 1/9":1ft, 1:108 } attempts to improve, not supported
TM Britain 13.5mm 3mm:1ft, 1:101.6 } scale/gauge ratio
Scale 3 Britain 14.2mm 3mm:1ft,1:101.6 3mm Society supports TT3
and Scale 3, components also used by residual TM users
QOO USA 0.3" 1/16":1ft, 1:192
HH(O) USA 5/16" 1.75mm:1ft, 1:174 NMRA standard - c1948
OOO Britain 9.5mm 2mm:1ft, 1:152.4 Superceded by 2mm scale
2mm scale Britain 9.42mm 2mm:1ft, 1:152.4 Current 2mm Association
OOO Britain 9mm 2mm:1ft Lone Star Treble O - 1950's, superceded by N
MiniTrix Europe 9mm 1:150 1950's push along trains
Europe 9mm 1:200 Arnold 1960
K Europe 8mm 1:180 Forerunner of N
N Europe 9mm 1:160 NEM standard - mid 1960's
N USA 9mm 1:160 NMRA standard
N Britain 9mm 2 1/16mm:1ft, 1:148 British N Gauge Society standard
N-NZR NZ 6.5mm 1:160 NZR - 3'6" gauge
Nm Europe 6.5mm 1:160 Swiss metre gauge
Nn3 USA 6.5mm 1:160 USA - 3ft gauge
TTT USA 0.236" 1/20":1ft, 1:240 NMRA proposed standard
Z Europe 6.5mm 1:220 Maerklin
HZ Germany 3.25mm 1:440 Railex - 1992
(X) British 3/16" 1mm:1ft R Walkley - 1935
Un-named British 1/8" 1:480 1970's
This list was mainly compiled by Greg Proctor and Peter Platt
(oaplattÉsouthpower.co.nz) (1994).
Their own comments about it:
Although we try to keep it relatively up-to-date and you will notice that it
includes some comments from recent net postings, we do not claim it to be
complete or ABSOLUTELY accurate. In fact it would be safer to say that it is
guaranteed to contain some mistakes. Certainly, we know it's not complete
as it is known to be missing many localised scales from around the world.
Additional material and corrections by Keith Norgrove (Jan 1997)
and others.
------------------------------
Date: 01 Dec 97, 98 Nov 17
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 07/13: Early model railroading history
1825 Josef Ritter von Baader builds a model in the park of the
Nymphenberg castle to interest the king of Bayern in a
real railroad project. (But he liked the Main-Donau canal
better.)
Promotional models are not uncommon in the following
decades.
1835 The railway between Nurnberg and Furth is opened, and toy
makers in the area make solid castings of the steam
wagons.
These are followed by tin plate, wood and cardboard
models in the decades to come.
1838 A live steam engine of the Adler type, to a scale of 1:10
running on 144 mm track, probably built by or for a
teacher at Dresden's technical school, Rudolf S Blochmann,
was in 1998 found under the foundation of Maximilium in
Munchen. It's made from steel and brass, with cast iron
wheels and has a spirit burner. (It's now on display at
the German Museum in Munchen.)
1862 Josehp, Myers & Co of London becomes the first company to
have a steam powered model locomotive in their catalog.
Carogatti in Konigsberg becomes the first German company
to do so in 1869.
The models of this time always ran on the floor, most
were fueled by ethanol. Smallest gauge was 63 mm, but up
to 115 mm wasn't uncommon.
1881 Bing starts making flywheel and steam powered models.
1882 Planck shows an electical train model, but this was a
little before the technology was mature.
1885 First clockwork toys made by S Guntermann of Nurnberg.
All other makers soon follow.
1891 On the Leipzig exhibition, Marklin are the first to have
a track system for their clockwork trains.
They ran with fixed speed, but could be stopped with
devices between the rails that acted on levers on the
locomotive.
The track system had straight and curved sections as well
as switches. The sections had two rail joiners at one
end, none at the other, adapters with joiners at both
ends, or no joiners also existed.
Gauges were standardized: 0 1 2 3
35 mm 48 mm 54 mm 75 mm
but as at that time the gauge was measured from the
center of the rails, and they were 3 mm wide, subtract 3
mm to get the modern equivalents.
Level of detailing was abysmal. In gauge 0 and 1 the cars
didn't even have doors hinted at.
Caretti invents a system with one rail joiner at each
end.
All Nurnberg companies adapt the gauges 0, 1 and 2. In
USA Ives uses 0 and 1. However lots of companies had
gauges between 2 and 3: Bing's gauge 3 was 67 mm and 4
was 75 mm; Shonner's 67 mm was called IIa; Planck had a
65 mm gauge they called 8.
1898 Shonner becomes the first European company to have an
electric streetcar model, companies in USA had been doing
so for some time before European compaies caught up.
Three different systems are already in existance: 2-rail,
center rail or catenary.
Marklin started just before 1900 with electric
streetcars, which soon appear in steam engine form.
1902 Shonner announces a gauge 000 with a 25 mm gauge. This
makes us believe that there had been something called 00
by then, perhaps Bing's 28 mm track. All of the early
small gauges became failures, as they were considered too
toylike.
1904 The first electric trains in the small gauges 1 and 0
appear, but the motors are still oversize.
Most equipment run on 50-60 V DC. As controllers were
mostly used simple resistors directly connected to the
house current of 110 or 220 V. Not very safe.
There was already since a number of year an English
magazine _Model Engineer_ for hobbyists who built their
own scale models, and when the Englishman Basset-Lowke
starts collaborating with the German company Bing, which
gets to make models of English prototypes, the
transformation of the toy trans into a hobby for adults
is started.
1:16 with 89 mm gauge was common among the English
hobbyists, but that was a little too large to become
practical. The Basset-Lowke models were made to standard
gauges, but not to any scale. The English thought
measuring from the center of the rails was stupid, they
wanted to measure like the prototype, and the trains kept
to a scale corresponding to that.
As the English were influencial,
gauges were standardized: 0 1 2 3
32 mm 45 mm 51 mm 64 mm
1:43,5 1:30 1:27 1:23
1914-18 The war meant the destruction of most of the German
industry. For the surving companies it took about a
decade to regain what they had lost.
In England, gauge 0 to 1:43,5 became common, through the
makers Basset-Lowke, LMC (Leeds Model Company) and Hornby
(Meccano), with input from the model railroad clubs.
In USA, makers Lionel, Ives and American Flyer mainly
made Standard Gauge models, which was close to, but not
identical to #1 gauge. They also made 0 gauge models.
Gauge 1 and 2 were kept to the German standard.
1923 Basset-Lowke, together with his designer Greenly,
introduces what he considers the first table top layout
trains. The gauge is 00, 16.5 mm track to the scale 1:76.
This small scale is made possible by the perfection of
the method to make thin copper wire, allowing for smaller
electric motors in all kinds of machinery.
As it now had become practical to build stamped metal
track with roadbed, ties and rails combined, with the
centre rail isolated, Bing gets large orders for it from
England. But both in Germany and USA the new gauge was
largely ignored by the manufacturers.
In USA, the gauge 00 gets a track gauge of 19 mm to fit
the scale 1:76.
1935 NMRA is founded in USA, and sets the standards for 0
scale track and wheels, but not the scale. Both 1/4"=1'
and 17/64"=1' were widely used to build models to run on
1 1/4" (0) gauge track. American manufacturers agree that
H0 is 16.5 mm track and the ratio 1 foot = 3.5 mm.
Basset-Lowke adjusts the scale to the track gauge and it
becomes 1:87.
Trix-Werke in Germany (who was a competitor to Meccano),
starts making 16.5 mm track on a roadbed of pressed
cardboard, so that all three rails could be isolated from
each other, thus permitting two trains to operate
independently on the same track. They ran on 14 V AC, and
direction was changed with a pulse of higher voltage.
They used a scale of 1:90.
1936 Marklin introduces trains on 16.5 mm track with the
centre rail isolated, scale beeing 1:85. The motors had
two windings and were run on rectified AC. Depending on
what polarity was chosen at the controller, rectifieres
in the locomotive activated either of the two windings,
thus controlling direction of travel. This didn't work
too well, so Marklin adopted the Trix system.
Marklin does not call this scale H0 until after the
1939-45 war.
1938 American Flyer starts producing models to 1:64 scale,
but keep the same track gauge as 0.
What is to become S gauge, 1:64 models on 7/8" track,
is introduced by Cleveland Manufacturing under the name
C-D gauge.
After the war American Flyer drops 0 and H0 and offer
1:64 trains on S gauge 2-rail track. Lionel abandons 00
gauge.
(Some German names in this article really have umlauts: Nurnberg,
Nuernberg; Shonner, Shoenner; Marklin, Maerklin; Furth, Fuerth;
Guntermann, Guentermann.)
By Urban Fredriksson, 1991-2 (with input from others),
additional material 1997,98.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 08/13: British models
BRITISH MODELS
A question to the European modelers out there. How well does the
Hornby OO/HO units run? Are they in the same league as Atlas, Athern,
Model Power or Bachmann? And as a side question, what is the status
of Model Power? With most of their trains being produced in Yugoslavia
are they now effectively out of business or have they shifted their
I have just begun dabbling in British models. Although it's difficult
to make the comparisons you've asked, because some manufacturer's only
make diesels, while hornby makes predominantly steam, and each type of
model has its own idiosyncracies because of wheel size and drive
mechanism, I would say that Hornby is about equivalent to Athearn, a
fairly decent running model, with about the same level of detail. The
nly drawback I have seen re: Hornby vs. American HO is that the check
gauge - distance between driving wheel flanges, back to back, is fairly
narrow. This does not seem to affect them on Atlas Custom-line
turnouts, but makes for rocky running through Atlas snap-switches. The
tread is also a bit wide and can short out the rails close to the tip
of the frog. Again, this seem to happen mostly with snap switches,
which I bought for the kiddies to play with. I'll probably widen the
frogs with a razor saw, leaving the guard rail alone so it will still
keep the flange away from the tip of the frog. A little nail polish
on the rails near the from will help a bit also.
By reputation, Bachman Branchlines from England are very decent runners,
better than their American line. Same for Dapol. If you would compare
Hornby to American HO steam, they would probably rank at least with
Mantua, and lots better than Bachman or Model Power. For the money,
they are a good deal. I would like to note that I have seen an
improvement in American inexpensive steam, such as Bachman Plus and it
looks like IHC is beginning to produce some decent running steam which
I plan on using as the basis for a kitbashing project.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 09/13: CCD cameras
CCD CAMERAS
Over the weekend, a friend and I attended a train show and saw a Lionel
engine with a camera in it for $125. Was this a reasonable price? Is the
receiver supplied also? It wasn't obvious from looking at the box. Do
other companies sell cameras mounted in G gauge units?
Of more interest to us is how does it work? We assume that a cheap CCD
imaging chip was used, but do they bother to put the signal on a carrier
or do they just put the bare video on the track? If the latter, the
receiver is likely little more than an RF modulator.
They use a CCD camera, signal is on a 4 MegHz carrier, you can buy
the camera as a replacement part from Lionel (about $69 plus $5 S/H)
which includes the receiver. The signal is transmitted through the
rails.
An article on modifying the unit must have appeared in Model RR as
one I wrote was turned down (just a little too late). This is not
a bad price if it is new, it's like getting the engine for $60 if
you want the TV for something else!
I think picture is about 150x100 or so. It's not bad for black and
white and always interesting to visitors at my layout (I have the
O scale version and there is an HO version).
...
Actually, we found the picture quality to be pretty awful. It only
works well under very bright lights, and the battery drains very,
very quickly. We modified one to serve as a survelliance camera, and
it works very well out in the bright sunlight. Unfortunately, the
camera is very sensitive to the power supply, and even a filtered,
regulated supply causes interference. Picture quality on a regular
TV is fairly decent, with good enough resolution to see raindrops
and snowflakes. As far as use on the layout though, it's pretty bad.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 10/13: Distribution
DISTRIBUTION, HOBBY EQUIPMENT
Can anyone provide some information on how the model railroad
equipment marketing and distribution process works?
Who (besides Walthers) are the distributors, and what's their typical
relationship with manufacturers and dealers?
Toy and hobby distributors in various cities. They generally sell only
to established retail stores.
Con-Cor and Western Star are two I can think of off hand.
DISTRIBUTION, DISCOUNTS
What are typical mark-ups/discounts along at various stages of the process?
Discount to retail store is usually about 40% of retail price although
books are typically at 33% and brass at 5-10%.
...
Walther's retail price is a 40% markup. Some dealers do only a 20-30%
markup.
...
Hobby shops typically buy merchandise for 60% of list and sell it for
80%-90% of list.
...
Many hobby shops stock most items at or near the suggested retail price,
but typically offer specials and quantity discounts on new or popular
items.
DISTRIBUTION, CHANNELS
Do all products get sold through distributors, or are some supplied directly
to dealers?
Depends on the manufacturer. Direct to dealer distribution can actually
produce a higher profit for the manufacturer because there is no
middleman to pay. Because of this, generally only smaller companies
deal directly with dealers.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 11/13: Manufacturing
MANUFACTURING, MARKET RESEARCH
How do manufacturers decide what products to market? What kind of market
research, if any, is performed?
Very often products from smaller and specialty manufacturers are
personal requests, or products that are perceived to fill a gap in
the market. (Such as RPP's modern diesel shells)
MANUFACTURING, OEM
Which of the larger "manufacturers" (e.g., Atlas, Athearn, etc.) really do
their own manufacturing, and which simply put their name on a supplier's
product?
Athearn manufactures their own product. Con-Cor is shifting its
production to its Arizona plant, so they manufacture most of their
own product. Walther's does it's own freight cars, but the engines
are imports. Atlas' engines are imports (From Kato). Bachmann and
I believe Model Power engines are imports.
ConCor locomotives are made mostly by Roco (GP's, SD's, E7's). The
switchers (SW7 and MP15) were made by Kato. I believe that currently
Roco makes the parts for ConCor and ConCor has them painted and
assembled in Mexico.
Atlas makes their own cars (N, O), track, and buildings (HO, N, O).
Locos are made by Kato (GP7, C4xx, RS3/11, RSD4/5/12) or Roco (S2/4,
RS1, FP7, and EMD's now sold by ConCor).
Bachmann engines are made in China by Bachmann (they own their own
overseas production facilities). Bachmann (they claim) is the world's
largest producer of model/"toy" trains.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 12/13: Thomas the Tank Engine
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE
Help! My kids have fallen in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. What can I do?
[If in England]
Actual locomotives fitted with faceplates to look like Thomas and
Friends make the rounds to various rail museums that offer rides to
the public on weekends and holidays. Human characters from the
stories accompany the engines. If you find no other source of
information, you can investigate this in the schedules section of the
many rail enthusiast magazines available at typical newstands all over
England. You might possibly be able to get such information from the
British Rail tourist office in this country.
Two years ago I saw these engines at the the Didcot Rail Center near
Oxford. I was alone, but the emotions shown by English children seeing
the live engines for the first time were quite touching. That Center
may be reached by rail from London, Oxford, Reading, etc. and is
within walking distance of the British Rail Station. Interesting rail
museums are found in similarly convenient locations throughout the
country. All kinds of Thomas parahernalia can be purchased there.
Others are:
York: National Rail Museum
Carnforth: Steamtown
Bridgnorth: Severn Valley ... literally dozens of such centers.
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE, DETAIL
Can anyone supply details on Thomas?
This article is from the April 1993 issue of Model Railroader,
pages 86 and 87. The article and photos are by Michael Edwards.
Extracted here without permission, see above paragraph for due credit.
"Thomas the Tank Engine has steamed through many a childhood since the
Reverend Wilbert Awdry began writing stories about the little blue
locomotive 40 years ago. The books are wonderful, but the TV
adaptations - well, they're wonderful too. To find out how the
producers of Shining Time Station achieve such stunning results, I
visited the famous Shepperton film studios on the outskirts of London.
It all began 12 years ago, when executive producer Britt Allcroft was
working on a film about the age of steam. The film's technical consul-
tant was none other than Rev. Awdry, and Allcroft began thinking about
interpreting his creations as TV characters.
To some observers, a children's series staring a steam locomotive seemed
a big gamble - this was the age of space epics and Steven Spielberg.
Reverend Awdry himself was concerned that TV might destroy the delicate,
period quality the original book illustrations conveyed. He was a
stickler for accuracy.
He need not have worried. Authenticity became a major goal, and
specialty bookshops were scoured for reference works.
The locomotives
For the pilot film, the train models were scratchbuilt from plastic.
However, the problems were many and varied. To obtain better
reliability, the producers turned to Marklin's superbly engineered
O scale locomotives with their die-cast metal frames. They added new
acrylic bodies with radio-controlled eyes.
...
The many faces of Thomas
Those removable faces bring the characters alive, even though the only
moving parts are the eyes. Each character has its own basic face, which
was first sculpted in clay. Then a rubber mold was made, and copies
were cast in a mixture of resin and autobody filler. These were
reworked to different expressions from which the final silicone castings
were taken.
Date: 1998 Sep 18
Subject: FAQ GENERAL, 13/13: Gauge 1 Live Steam
Gauge 1 Live steam FAQ
Introduction:
So-called "small scale" live steam is actually on the large end of the
usual model railroading spectrum, though most live steam equipment runs on
much wider track (.75" scale or larger). Live steamers are easy to find in
gauge 1 (45mm or "G" gauge), less common but available in 0 gauge (32mm).
Gauge 1 live steamers are popular with garden railroaders because they
interoperate with electric gauge 1 equipment and because some of the
problems with live-steam operation are lessened outdoors. (Most people
don't have room for a .25- inch gauge track in the basement; spillage of
hot water or oil drips are more problematic on indoor layout materials.)
Some larger scale steam clubs also have gauge 1 tracks for the smaller
steamers. Because of the interoperability, most gauge 1 live steamers seem
to belong to clubs with other gauge 1 modelers, rather than specialized
gauge 1 steam clubs. (The folks who run electric models really seem to
like the live steamers, too!)
What makes up a gauge 1 live steamer? They share the basic characteristics
with all live steamers: they burn some sort of fuel to boil water and move
cylinders. They may differ from gauge 1 electric trains in that they
typically have working parts such as valve gear, pressure gauges, relief
valves, feedwater pumps, etc. They may differ from larger live steamers in
that their mechanical design is (often) simpler. Fuels are usually methyl
alcohol ("meths"), butane or solid fuels (rare). Modeling detail spans a
wide range: a live steamer will run with no more than a boiler, cylinders,
valves and pushrods. Aster and others make super-detailed scale models.
There are many other models which fall in between these extremes. Gauge 1
live steamers typically pull rolling stock which is also seen behind
large-scale electrics: LGB, Bachmann, scratch-built.
There are many technical distinctions among live steamers which will
affect both price and performance. Some examples: boiler types may be
"flue", "pot-boiler", "porcupine", "Smithies", etc. Each of these
represents a trade-off of construction complexity (and thus cost) vs.
efficiency. Some locos have two steam cylinders, some only one. Those with
one sometimes have dummy cylinders where they would be on a prototype,
with the working cylinder between the frames. Cylinders may be fixed (with
a wristpin on the driving rods) or oscillating (the driving rod is a
single piece, and the cylinder moves to accomodate the movement of the
attachment point on the driving wheel).
Because of the relative complexity of steam locomotives, it's usually a
good idea to chat with someone who knows about them, or to do some
learning about them, before buying one. Below are some resources which can
help.
On the horizon: gas-electric locomotives. The "large scale" live steam
community (1:12 or 1:8 scale) have been running gas-electric or
diesel-electric locomotives for some years. These are now starting to
appear in the smaller scales, too. These locos model modern diesels in
their operation: an internal combustion engine provides power to drive an
electric generator in the locomotive cab, which in turn powers the
traction motors which drive the locomotive's wheels. Kosaku Wada of the
Yokohama Live Steamers club (Japan) has developed a gauge 1 gas-electric
using an engine developed for radio controlled helicopters. The prototype
is converted from an LGB European box-cab diesel model, and is a smooth
runner and a strong puller. Mr. Wada has arranged for representation in
the USA, for those interested in going to completely self-contained (and
prototypical) power sources. (No products have been announced yet.)
RESOURCES:
Magazines:
In addition to Live Steam magazine, there are several publications which
cater wholly or partially to the gauge 1 live steam crowd.
Steam In the Garden magazine.
Steamchest Publications
P.O. Box 335
Newark Valley, NY 13811 USA
phone: 607-642-8119
bimonthly. US$27/year ($34 Canadian, $35 overseas)
(UK subscriptions available through Salem Steam Models in Wales or
Bandbright Ltd in Norfolk.) The only magazine totally devoted to
small-scale live steam. Features product reviews, construction articles
and plans, columns on machining and building, etc. Editor is an avid live
steamer.
Garden Railways magazine
Kalmbach Publishing Co.
P.O. Box 460222
Denver, CO 80246 USA
phone 303-733-4779
bimonthly. US$22.50/year (US$28 Canadian and foreign)
Focussed entirely on outdoor, large scale (almost exclusively gauge 1)
railroading. Often includes articles, product reviews, etc. relating to
gauge 1 live steam. Editor is an avid live steamer, and has also made a
very complete and informative videotape introducing small-scale live
steamers.
Books:
Beginner's Guide to Large Scale Model Railroading by Marc Horovitz and
Russ Larson. 1994. Greenberg/Kalmbach. ISBN 0-89778-397-2. 96pp.
$16.95 Chapter 9 of this book is an excellent orientation to small scale
live steamers. Covers past and current developments, theory and practice
of steam engines, operational procedures, radio control, available
equipment and considerations for the starter. Numerous illustrations.
Videotape:
Introduction to Small Scale Live Steam by Marc Horovitz
1 hour, 56 min. $49.95 + $3 shipping/handling
Sidestreet Bannerworks
P.O. Box 61461
Denver, CO 80206 USA
A plainly produced but highly informative basic course in little steamers.
Horovitz presents a lecture on the hows and whys of live steamers, showing
numerous examples of locomotives from antique puddlers to the latest
finescale Asters. He handles them, works on them, fires them and runs them
onscreen. Like sitting down for two hours and having a 15- year veteran
tell you everything he knows, only better organized than in it would be in real life.
Online:
The most complete online information source is Small-Scale Live Steam
Resources, <http://www.nmia.com/%7Evrbass/steam/>. This site includes an
expanded FAQ, lists of manufacturers and suppliers, clubs, events,
sources of plans and drawings, etc.
In addition to rec.models.railroad, the Usenet group
rec.crafts.metalworking has many live steamers who read and contribute.
Often a question on the topic could go equally well in either group. If
you have live steam questions, or wish to start doing metalworking
(machining, sheetmetal, soldering and welding) in your railroad modeling,
you may wish to look in on that group, too.
Events:
National Small-Scale Steam Up
every January, weekend around Jan. 15
e-mail: JRe...@aol.com
Online event information and registration form:
<http://www.largescale.com/steamup/>
This is the largest small-scale live steam event in the US. 1995's event
saw over 100 steam enthusiasts and their engines running almost around the
clock. Workshops cover topics such as scratchbuilding and kitbashing,
radio control, fuel choice, machining, layout planning, etc. Diamondhead
Mississippi is approx 1 hour drive east from New Orleans.
National Spring Steamup
late May or early June, San Jose California
Info/registration from
Richard Finlayson
2408 Grandby Dr.
San Jose, CA 95130 USA
tel: 408-374-8486 (evenings)
e-mail: rich...@steamup.com
Web site: <http://www.steamup.com/steamup/>
National Garden Railway Convention
upcoming: Orlando, Florida, 23-28 April 1996
Info/registration from
Registrar
P.O. Box 210304
Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33421-0304
Phone: 407-433-4535
Fax: 407-433-8136
E-mail: loc...@aol.com
The National Garden Railway Conventions are the outgrowth of live steam
meets organized by Sidestreet Bannerworks (publishers of Garden Railways)
in the mid-1980's. A live steam track is always available and there are
semi-organized live steam events during the convention.
International Annual Steam Meet, the Hague
Held around 30th April (Queen's day), in the Zuiderpark, den Haag (the
Hague), Netherlands.
Information from:
Stoomgroep West 'Zuiderpark' Secr.
Appelgaarde 31,
2272 TA Voorburg,
Netherlands
Tel.: 070-3271811
Organizations:
Gauge 1 Association
(Thanks to John Bryant, bry...@sce.carleton.ca, for the following info on
the Gauge 1 Association.) Membership is 12 pounds a year and, if I
remember correctly, there is also a one-time 5 pound charge for new
members. There is an excellent quarterly newsletter (the last one ran 64
pages) and when I joined I received an information package including a
complete how-to booklet on building a simple Gauge 1 locomotive, a list of
suppliers, and miscellaneous other items including newsletter back issues.
The one potential catch is that the Association's interests and membership
are primarily British. This is fine for me - an expatriate Brit most
interested in British railways - but might not appeal to others. Gauge 1
Association addresses are as follows:
Hon. Secretary R.E. (Bob) Hines
3, Coniston Close,
Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 9SW
ENGLAND
Telephone: (039 42) 2233
Membership Sec. Mrs Laura Foster
112, Clarendon Road,
Broadstone, Dorset BH18 9HY
ENGLAND
Telephone: (0202) 694213
Compiled by: Vance R. Bass, Nashville Garden Railway Society
Last updated: 1998 Sep 18
Vance Bass <http://edge.edge.net/~vrbass/>
Nashville Garden Railway Society
=====================================
The steam locomotive teaches us that the railway age was a totally
viable and a civilised alternative to the hideous consequences of
basing national economies on road transportation. -- Colin Garratt
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.scale FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
Introduction
Magazines
Indexes, comprehensive
Books
Model railroad clubs
Organizations
General interest
Historical societies
Industry, European
Definitions and terms
------------------------------
Date: 01 Mar 97,
but much of the information was current in 1994 and earlier
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 02/10: Magazines
The following is a list of magazines which carry articles of interest
to model railroaders. Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman
seem to be available in most of the hobby stores I've been to; the
others depend partly on where you live and partly on how good the
store is.
The bulk of the following magazine listings are from the same source
as the bulk of the historical societies, with the same guarantee.
The number in parentheses is the number of annual issues. Corrigenda (and
reviews/summaries from readers) are always appreciated.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
banen
Postboks 148
DK-4900 Nakskov
Denmark
Four issues per year. Railways and model railways,
predominantly Danish. In Danish.
BACKTRACK
(Fullsize Historical Railway Magazine)
Atlantic Transport Publishers
Trevithick House
West End
PENRYN
Cornwall
TR10 8HE
0326 373656
One year UK UKP 17.50
Europe UKP 24.15
US UKP 28.75
BUS WORLD (4)
POB 17018,
N. Hollywood, Ca., 91615
BRANCHLINE, Canada's Rail Newsmagazine
Published by:
BYTOWN RAILWAY SOCIETY
PO Box 141, Station A
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8V1
CANADA
Published 11 times a year, BRANCHLINE contains news, features, and numerous
photographs of railway activities in Canada, both present and past. At 28
pages, it also contains articles from former railroaders on "life as it was".
On a monthly basis, BRANCHLINE details changes in the motive power of
Canada's railways, as well as VIA Rail passenger rolling stock. It also
provides a monthly update to the CANADIAN TRACKSIDE GUIDE(TM), also published
by the Society. Changes in Canadian railway lines are detailed with
up-to-date decisions on abandonments from the National Transportation Agency
(NTA).
Subscriptions are CDN$32.00 for one year delivered to Canadian addresses. For
deliveries to U.S. addresses, US funds are requested ($32.00). Outside North
America, CDN $45.00 for surface delivery, or CDN $60.00 for air mail delivery.
The BRS also publishes the CANADIAN TRACKSIDE GUIDE, the only
comprehensive guide to Canadian railways. The 1995 edition is now
available. Now in its fifteenth edition, it contains 650 pages,
providing full and accurate up-to-date listings of:
- mainline, shortline and industrial locomotives,
- passenger cars,
- preserved railway equipment,
- urban rail transit equipment,
- cabooses, cranes, spreaders, plows, work service equipment,
- former passenger equipment now in non-revenue service,
- reporting marks used by all North American railways.
- schedules for virtually all passenger train operations in Canada, as
well as excursion operations.
Also included as an integral part of the GUIDE is the updated RAILFANS
GUIDE TO CANADA (introduced in 1992), which features over 150 pages of
maps and detailed listings for every mainline subdivision in Canada.
Each listing includes station names, siding lengths, locations of
crossovers, wyes, hot box detectors, and all radio frequencies used on
that subdivision. All in the same easy-to-read format. No photocopies
of employee timetables here! Added new for 1996 are listings for railway
subdivisions in the United States that CN and CP operate over.
The CANADIAN TRACKSIDE GUIDE is available at $17.95 plus $3.50 shipping
and handling, plus $1.50 GST when shipped to a Canadian address, from the
Bytown Railway Society,
P.O. Box 141, Station A, Ottawa Ontario, CANADA, K1N 8V1.
For orders to the U.S., we ask for payments in US funds to cover additional
shipping costs.
Further information is available from Dave Stremes at:
ad...@freenet.carleton.ca
BRITISH RAILWAY MODELLING (12)
The Maltings
West St
BOURNE
Lincolnshire
PE10 9PH
UK
0778 393313
UKP 1.70 US $3.95
A reasonably good middle of the road magazine.
<http://www.wgh.co.uk/warners/BritishRailwayModelling.html>
CANADIAN RAILWAY MODELLER
N. Kildonan RPO Box 28103, 1453 Henderson Highway
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2G 4E9
(204) 668-0168 Voice/Fax
$23.54 for 1 year (6 issues) Inside Canada, $28.00 Outside Canada
Focusses on Canadian prototypes and Canadian modellers.
CLASSIC TOY TRAINS for the collector and operator
Kalmbach Publishing Co.
21027 Crossroads Circle
P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612.
US subscription rates are 1 yr $26.50, Foreign $35.
Published bimonthly (but soon to have 2 etra issues each year
beginning December 1995)
Mostly Lionel, Flyer, Some large scale, build, repair, products,
interviews, lots of pictures of toy trains, lots of advertising, etc.
CN LINES (4)
Published by the CN SIG of the NMRA
Interested parties should write Norman Guinard, either at P.O. Box
516, Madawaska, ME, USA, 04756 or his Canadian address; 9 Dube Street,
Edmundston, NB, Canada E3V 2G1. Our dues are $16 U.S. for U.S. addresses,
$20 U.S. for UK addresses, $30 U.S. for International adresses and $20 Cdn
for Canadian addresses.
Our editorial team attempts to get out our CN Lines publication on a
quarterly basis.
As well anyone can subscribe to the following mailing list which is
monitored by a couple of our executive members.
A new mailing list has been set up called CNET. This list is for
discussions on all aspects (prototype, model railroading) of Canadian
National Railway (CN) and family railroads (GT, GTW, CV, DWP).
To join CNET, send an email message to:
list...@unl.edu
In the text of the message type:
subscribe cnet Your Name
You will receive a message from the listserv confirming your subscription.
To post a message to CNET, send the message to:
CNET will be maintained by Russ Watson (r...@islandnet.com)
and Allen Szalanski (asza...@unlinfo.unl.edu)
CONTINENTAL MODELER
Peco Technical Advice Bureau
Beer, Seaton, Devon
EX12 3NA, ENGLAND
<URL:http://www.mmcltd.co.uk/cm/>
Covers modelling of European, Australian, African and American
prototypes from a British viewpoint.
DIESEL ERA (6)
Withers Publ.,
528 Dunkle School Road,
Halifax, Pa., 17032
3.95/20
EISENBAHN AMATEUR
Buhler Druck AG
Postfach
CH-8027 Zurich
Switzerland
89.- CHF/year international (add 40.- CHF for air mail)
This magazine is mostly in German, with some articles in French.
It covers mainly Swiss railways (SBB/CFF and private-owned ones).
It has only a small modeling section.
EISENBAHN KURIER (12)
EK-Verlag GmbH
Postfach 5560
Mercystrasse 15
D-7800 Freiburg
Germany
Phone: (0761) 75 033/34, fax: (0761) 75 037
One year: DM 132.-; one issue DM 12.- + postage
Language: German. Around 120 pages, about 60 in colour, 40-45 on
model railroading, rest on prototypes, mostly German and Central
European, but almost always a section of 6-10 pages from some
other part of the world. Never any track plans, but the pictures
of the layouts featured are always top class.
eisenbahn (modellbahn) magazin (monthly) (I don't know exactly how to
write this, since modellbahn is in a different, lighter typeface on
the magazine)
Alba Publikation
Alf Teloeken GmbH + Co KG
Roemerstr. 9
40476 Duesseldorf
(0211) 4 6901-0
Publication of the Bundesverbandes Deutscher Eisenbahn-Freunde e.V.
As of the February, 1992 issue, it cost 108 DM for a subscription
in Germany (120 DM outside Germany). It covers model and prototype
issues, with B+W and color pictures and runs about 100 pages.
ELECTRIC LINES (6)
NJ International,
77 W. Nicholai St.,
Hicksville, NY, 11801
3.95/1950;36.75
FLIMSIES (26)
Western Lines Prod.,
POB 6776-W,
Orange, Ca., 92613
1/25/49/72/88/100
GARDEN RAILWAYS
PO Box 61461,
Denver, CO 80206
Phone and Fax (303) 733-4779
Published bimonthly for US$21
(US$28 Foreign) per year.
THE HOME SHOP MACHINIST (6)
Dept z-20, Box 1810,
Traverse City, MI., 49685
800-447-7367
JOURNAL OF CONTAINER TRANSPORT (2)
c/o DG Casdorph,
POB 2480,
Monrovia, Ca., 91017
JOURNAL OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT (2)
c/o DG Casdorph,
POB 2480,
Monrovia, Ca., 91017
JOURNAL OF RAILWAY TANK CARS (2)
c/o DG Casdorph,
POB 2480,
Monrovia, Ca., 91017
KEY, LOCK & LANTERN (4)
Sandy Van Hoorebecke,
73 Pitch St.,
Bloomfield, NJ., 07003
LGB Telegram (4 times per year)
Buffington Publications
P.O. Box 187
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0187
An English-language publication dedicated to LGB trains. It covers
both models and prototypes, and it focuses somewhat more on US
prototypes. It has color pictures, no advertising (but it does
have announcements of new products), and seems to run about 50-60
pages. A one-year subscription is $24, and a two-year subscription
is $44.
LGB Depesche (4 times per year)
in the US, available through
Buffington Publications
P.O. Box 187
Harrisburg, PA 17108-0187
A German-language publication dedicated to LGB trains and published
by LGB. It covers both models and prototypes, and it focuses
somewhat more on European prototypes. It has color pictures, no
advertising (but it does have announcements of new products), and
seems to run about 50-60 pages. A one-year subscription is $24,
and a two-year subscription is $44. (It is also available outside
the US directly from LGB, as I recall.)
LIVE STEAM
Dept z-19,
POB 629,
Traverse City, Mi., 49685
800-447-7367
LOCO REVUE
Editions Loco Revue SARL
BP 104
F-56401 Auray CEDEX
France
320.- FF/year international
This magazine is in French. It covers mainly French railways (SNCF).
It has a very good modeling section (how-to, detailing, electronics).
LOCOMOTIVE & RAILWAY PRESERVATION (6)
Interurban Press,
POB 250280,
Glendale, Ca., 91225
818-240-9130
LOCOMOTIVE QUARTERLY (4)
Metaphor,
Dept 1089T,
POB 383,
Mt. Vernon, NY, 10552
MAINE 2-FOOT MODELER NEWSLETTER (6)
6017 W. South Range Road,
Salem, Ohio, 44460
MAINLINE MODELER (12)
Hundman Publ.,
5115 Monticello Dr.,
Edmonds, Wa., 98026
206-743-2607
MJ bladet
MJF
Postboks 149
Skøjen
N-0212 Oslo
Norway
Published by the Model Railroad Association of
Norway. In Norwegian.
MODEL RAILROADER (monthly)
Kalmbach Publishing
21027 Crossroads Circle
PO Box 1612
Waukesha, WI 53187
Phone (800) 533-6644 (subscriptions, open 24 hrs)
(414) 796-8776 (editorial)
1 Yr. $28.95, $34.95 Canada, $39.95 Foreign. Payable in US funds.
(Canada add 7% GST to total)
MODEL RAILROADING (12)
Rocky Mountain Publ.,
2929 Blake Street,
Denver, Co., 80205
2.95/28
MODEL RAILWAY JOURNAL (8)
Wild Swan Publications,
1-3 Hagbourne Road,
Didcot, Oxon OX11 8DP,
UK.
8 issues a year, currently 2.40 UK pounds an issue,
postal/subscription rates on application.
The best UK (in the world?) scratch builder/finescale magazine. Very
well written, does not talk down, so possibly a bit daunting for
beginners, superb photographs. Covers 1:43 to 1:152 scales.
Covers mainly UK prototypes, black and white photos (except very
occaisional colour A2 picture), much of the coverage is on techniques
and approach to model making, so is applicable outside UK.
MODELLING RAILWAYS ILLUSTRATED (12)
Enquiries for subscriptions and backnumbers to
Owen Eyles
5 Riverside Estate,
Berkhamsted Herts HP4 1HL
Phone 01442 979097 Fax 01442 872279
Published by T & S Press Magazines Limited.
MODELLBAHNZEITSCHRIFT (7)
Berthold Weber
Erbsengasse 5
Postf. 1563
D-6092 Kelsterbach
Germany
Phone: 06107/4311, fax: 06107-61771
One year: DM 52.- in Germany; DM 60.- in Europe; DM 70.- in the
rest of the world.
Language: German. Around 50 pages, 10-15 with colour pictures,
rest black and white. Mostly German subjects. About 10 pages of
prototype articles, often with specific modelling advice like
suitable vehicles and so on. Usually two layouts featured, one
with text and pictures and one longer article of about 8 pages
including a track plan.
MOTIVE POWER REVIEW (4)
c/o DG Casdorph,
POB 2480,
Monrovia, Ca., 91017
MOTOR CARRIER & TRUCK TRANSPORT JOURNAL (2)
c/o DG Casdorph,
POB 2480,
Monrovia, Ca., 91017
N GAUGE SOCIETY
c/o I. Pulham
4 Russet Close
Stanford-le-Hope
Essex, England SS17 8AH
Sample issue of the N Gauge Journal, published six times
per year, available for 2 UK pounds or 5 IRCs. Editor can be
reached at shil...@Bournemth.win-uk.net
The N Gauge Society produces 11 wagon kits for members.
<URL:http://www.luna.co.uk/%7Egevans/pages/ngauge.htm>
N SCALE (6)
Hundman Publ.,
5115 Monticello Dr.,
Edmonds, Wa., 98026
206-743-2607
NARROW GAUGE & SHORT LINE GAZETTE (6)
P.O. Box 26
Los Altos, CA 94023-0026
USA
(415) 941-3823
NEW ELECTRIC RAILWAY JOURNAL (4)
717 Second St. NE,
Washington, DC, 20002
202-546-3004
5.95/20
NORTHWEST RAILFAN (12)
13118-163rd Av. SE,
Snohomish, Wa., 98290
NTRAK NEWSLETTER
2424 Aturas Road,
Atascadero, Ca., 93422
O GAUGE RAILROADING (6)
POB 239F,
Nazareth, Pa., 18064
This magazine is mostly about trains made to run on 3-rail tinplate
track, such as Lionel, K-Line, Weaver, and Williams. It contains less
material about 2-rail scale trains.
0 SCALE NEWS (4)
P. O. Box 51
Elmhurst, IL, 60126
0 Scale News is *the* magazine among 0 scale modelers.
PACIFIC RAIL NEWS (12)
Interurban Press,
POB 6128,
Glendale, Ca., 91225
818-240-9130
PASSENGER TRAIN JOURNAL (12)
Interurban Press,
POB 250280,
Glendale, Ca., 91225
818-240-9130
PRIVATE VARNISH (6)
"THE MAGAZINE OF PRIVATELY OWNED RAILROAD CARS"
Published for:
The AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE RAILROAD CAR OWNERS (AAPRCO)
Interurban Press,
POB 250280,
Glendale, Ca., 91225
818-240-9130
1 yr is $22 to US addresses, $25 outside the US
2 yrs is $41 to US addressed, $47 outside the US
PROTOTYPE MODELER (12)
POB 7032,
Fairfax Station, Va., 22039-7032
RAIL (12)
EMAP Apex Publications,
Apex House, Oundle Road,
Peterborough, PE2 9NP
01733 898100
ra...@consumers.emap.com
UKP 1.95)
Modelling supplement called MODEL RAIL, concentrates
on British "Modern Image" modelling. The main magazine
is current scene prototype.
RAIL CLASSICS (12)
POB 16149,
N. Hollywood, Ca., 91304
818-760-8983
RAIL MODEL DIGEST (4)
Hawkshill Publishing
PO Box 2, Chagford,
Devon, TQ13 8TZ
Tel/fax 01647 433611
(subscription only ukp24.00 for 4 issues - issued quarterly)
cost for overseas not known
UKP 6.45
Concentrates on high quality British modelling, 94
pages of editorial per issue.
RAIL MODEL JOURNAL (12)
Golden Bell Press,
2403 Champa St.,
Denver, Co., 80205
303-296-1600
RAIL SERVICES UPDATE (52)
2110 Sheridan Dr.,
Madison, Wi., 53704
RAIL TRAVEL NEWS (21)
POB 9007,
Berkeley, Ca., 94709
RAILFAN & RAILROAD (12)
Carstens Publ.,
POB 700,
Newton, NJ., 07860
201-383-3355
THE RAILFAN PHOTOGRAPHER (2)
POB 2558,
Littleton, Co., 80161-2558
RAILPACE (12)
POB 08855-0927,
Piscataway, NJ., 08854
1 yr is $39 2nd class, $61 1st class to US addresses
$47 2nd class, $66 1st class to outside the US
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN (monthly)
Subscription Dept. 2610
Box 700
Newton, NJ 07860
Phone (201) 383-3355
1 yr. $25, 2 yrs. $47, 3 yrs. $67, Canada add $6/year, foreign $8/year
RAILS (26)
Texas-Wolverine Co.,
POB 50612/MS101P,
Denton, Tx., 76206
RAILWAY MODELER
Peco Technical Advice Bureau
Beer, Seaton, Devon
EX12 3NA, ENGLAND
THE SCALE COUPLER (12)
Green Lantern Press,
POB 7032,
Fairfax Station, Va., 22039-7032
SCALE MODEL TRACTION & TROLLEYS QUARTERLY (4)
c/o Vanishing Traction Prod.,
POB 04016,
Milwaukee, Wi., 53204
"S"CALE RAILROADING (5)
1446 Fremont Av.,
Los Altos, Ca., 94024
TRAINS (monthly)
Same ordering address and phone number as Model Railroader
Deals exclusively with real railroads, both contemporary (the main
emphasis) and historical.
1 Yr. $28.95, 2 Yrs. $55 3 Yrs. $78 Extra postage: Canada $17.75
Mexico $18.50 Europe and South America $36.15 Central America $26.20
All other foreign countries $46.20.
TÅG
Box 4175
S-102 64 Stockholm
Sweden
+46-8-84 04 01, fax +46-8-84 04 06 lin...@bahnhof.se
Ten issues per year. Excellent coverage of Swedish
subjects, but often also good material on foreign
railways. Some model railway coverage. Good articles
and photos.
Published by Svenska Järnvägsklubben (The Swedish
Railway Club). In Swedish.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 03/10: Indexes, comprehensive
INDEXES, COMPREHENSIVE
I have seen advertisements in various model railroad magazines for
comprehensive indexes. Some of these indexes use a data base program while
others are just a published list based on subject matter. Does anyone have
any information or recommendations about which indexes are best, where
indexes can be obtained, and cost of indexes.
When somebody here on the net offered to sell individual issues of
_Trains_ from the 1940s on, I wrote to Kalmbach and got them to send
me printed copies of their annual indices - I probably sent them a
little money, but not much more than postage. It was a little tedious
looking through 50+ pages of fine print after a while, but I did
manage to select magazines based on the index.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 04/10: Books
Note: there are MANY books dealing with railroading, both model and
prototype, historical and contemporary, various regions, etc., and we
simply don't have space for an exhaustive list. I'd like this to be a
short (~20 entries) list of basic books to get somebody started. A
one paragraph review would be most helpful.
Steam Locomotive Cyclopaedia
published by Kalmbach.
This is a large (coffee table size) softbound book with a blue cover.
They publish a Diesel locomotive companion as well. You should be able
to find this book advertised in a "Model Railroader" or a hobby shop
with an interest in model railroading. A good book with photos and
drawings (most of which are in HO scale).
Track Planning for Realistic Operation
John Armstrong
Published by Kalmbach
This is an excellent softcover book which introduces you to the issues
involved in trying to design your own layout. It discusses enough of
prototype railroading to explain why certain track configurations are
common, and how you can incorporate compressed versions in your
layout. This has been widely recommended by many people and should be
considered a must-read for somebody setting out to build a layout.
------------------------------
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 05/10: Model railroad clubs
Model railroad clubs of the World are listed on
<URL:http://www.fileshop.com/personal/jashaw/rrclubs/clubs.html>
care of John A. Shaw, jas...@fileshop.com
...
The Antelope Valley Model Railroad Club
Located on the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds
P. O. Box 1384
Lancaster, CA 93584
Contact: Don Frozina, (805) 949-6107
Meetings: every Friday night at 7:30 pm
British 1:87 Scale Society
Hon. Secretary
David Armitage
6 Namu Road
Bournemouth
BH9 2QU
Canadian Rockies Railroad Museum Foundation (CanRail)
S scale layout, 1964 era, CP through the Rockies
Regular membership CDN$60 per year
Contact: Dave Chornell, (403) 486-0234
Carnegie-Mellon Railroad Club (at CMU)
We currently have 8 charter members and approximately 12 other people
who have expressed serious interest in the club. We have the use of a
small storage area in a residence hall on campus and are working towards
building a number of modules.
c/o Derrick Brashear c/o Jason Togyer
5115 Margaret Morrison Street -OR- Box 1376
Box No. 836 1060 Morewood Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa 15213 Pittsburgh, Pa, 15213.
Edmonton Model Railroad Association (EMRA)
51'x31' two-level HO gauge layout, 1961 era.
Meets every Tuesday from 8:00-10:00
Fort Edmonton Park, freight shed
Regular membership CDN$72 per year, bimonthly newsletter $7 per year
Contact: Mark Johnson, (403) 436-2480 (Mark.J...@arc.ab.ca)
LIONEL COLLECTORS CLUB OF AMERICA
LCCA Business Office:
Lionel Collectors Club of America
P.O. Box 479
LaSalle, IL 61301
New Haven Society of Model Engineers, Inc.
POB 661,
Meriden, CT. 06450
O and HO Scale layouts.
Club meets in the basement of the New Haven train station
Fridays 8-11pm.
The Purdue Railroad Club
Purdue Memorial Union, Rm. B-93
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Phone: (317) 494-8982
Email: pr...@sage.cc.purdue.edu
The Purdue Railroad Club is a Purdue University student organization
for Purdue students, staff, and faculty with a recreational interest in
railroads or model railroading. Club activities include "railfanning" and
the construction and operation of an HO scale model railroad layout. The
public is welcome to visit the club anytime it is open (usually Friday and
Saturday nights, when school is in session). Direct any questions via Email
to "pr...@sage.cc.purdue.edu". A brief listing of upcoming club events can be
viewed by using the UNIX "finger" command at this same computer address.
Rensselaer Model Railroad Society
New England, Berkshire, & Western Railroad
The NEB&W is set in September 1950, and features scenes
duplicated from acutal railroads. It is based on the Rutland
and the Delaware & Hudson railroads, and follows a ficticious
route from Try, NY to the Canadian border. All scenery, structures,
and rolling stock is constructed from prototype pictures,
and is accurate for 1950.
Currently [Feb 1999] only open once a month.
Call 518 276-2971 for upcoming dates. Admission is $5.
Due to the height of the layout and the prototypical speeds and
operation, it is not recommended for children under 12 or anyone
interested in toy trains.
The Rensselaer Model Railroad Society is a non-profit
organization funded in part by the Renssealer Student Union.
Tucson Garden Railway Society
3501 E. Ft. Lowell
Tucson, AZ 85716
Contacts:
Phone: Clint Watkins, Pres., 602-881-8533
e-mail: Bill Ganoe, bi...@sie.arizona.edu
Purpose: Promoting garden railroading as a family hobby.
Meetings: Monthly, usually at various members' homes.
Information current as of 21 October 1994
7mm Narrow Gauge Association
<URL:http://www.woden.com/%7Evarken/>
If you would like a free copy of Narrow Lines, full membership
details or any further information, please send two
International Reply Coupons ( or two 1st class stamps if you're
in the UK or EU) to:-
Mervyn J Axson
Patchway
12, Hulton Close,
Congleton,
CW12 3TF,
England.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 06/10: Organizations
NEM STANDARDS
How do I get a copy of the NEM standards?
The NEM standards come in only two languages: French and German.
This is so because the MOROP's (the European NMRA) only official
languages are French and German. In Europe, one can get the full
set of NEM standards by sending 19.-- CHF (Swiss Francs) to the
Swiss Postal Account 90-13498-8 in St. Gallen, Switzerland; and
indicating which language version one would like to get. Within
Switzerland, it costs only 16.-- CHF. Outside of Europe, send a
request (specifying which language you want) to:
Hans Hug
Ebnetstrasse, 29
CH-9100 Herisau
Switzerland
together with a 19.-- Swiss Francs cheque (only Swiss Francs are
accepted and credit cards are not accepted).
National Model Railroaders Association
This is the National Model Railroaders Association. They set
standards, host conventions, and generally promote the hobby.
Memberships are available, with discounted rates for students.
NMRA, Inc.
Headquarters Office
4121 Cromwell Rd.
Chattanooga, TN 37421
(615)892-2846
NTRAK
This is a national organization devoted to modular railroading in N scale.
They publish a set of standards for modules which can be connected to each
other. Clubs can use this standard to allow members to build modules at
home and then connect all of them into a large layout during meetings. There
are similar organizations in the other scales but none of them seem to have
the same widespread acceptance.
Jim FitzGerald, editor
NTRAK
2424 Alturas Rd.
Atascadero, CA 93422
(805)466-1758
Teen Association of Model Railroaders
Teen Association of Model Railroaders,
c/o John Reichel,
1800 E. 38th St.
Oakland, CA
94602
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 07/10: General interest
General interest
California State RR Museum
115 I Street
Sacramento, Ca.
95814
916-324-4724
Camerail Club
3238 5th Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Dues $5.00 per year, monthly 20-25 pages magazine with the latest
midwest news. No pictures but lots of good in-depth railroad news.
Early American Railroading Group
POB 101-Z
Allegan, Mi.
49010
Early Piggyback SIG
c/o Mark Vaughn
POB 24223
Chicago, Il.
60690
Society of Freight Car Historians
c/o DG Casdorph
POB 2480
Monrovia, Ca.
91017-2480
Locomotives in Parks SIG
c/o Dick Nedrow
POB 501
Manchester, Wa.
98353
Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society
North Freedom, Wi.
53951
608-522-4261
National Railway Historical Society
POB 58183
Philadelphia, Pa.
19102
National Trust for Historic Preservation,
1785 Massachusetts Av. NW,
Washington, DC.
20036
Railway & Locomotive Historical Society
c/o H Arnold Wilder, Treas.
46 Lowell Road
Westford, Ma.
01886
RR Club of Chicago
c/o Richard C Young
POB 4920
Chicago, Il.
60680
RR Prototype Modelers
POB 7916
Laverne, Ca.
91750
RR Station Historical Society
430 Ivy Av.
Crete, Ne.
68333
------------------------------
Date: 25 Mar 1999
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 08/10: Historical societies
A number of private (mostly volunteer) groups exist to help exchange
historical information about railroading. Most, but not all, of these
clubs deal with defunct railroads, although many include information
about successor lines. Note that many of these organizations are run
on a shoestring and thus may have moved or ceased operation since I
last wrote to them. Also, if you write to ask for specific
information it is considered good form to either join the club or at
least send a small donation - the person answering your letter isn't
getting paid to do so.
The following listings have been sent to me recently are thus are more
likely to still be valid by the time you read this.
NOTE: Each year Model Railroader includes an extensive list of
railroad historical societies in the February issue. It is bound to
be at least as accurate as the listings below, so get a copy if at all
possible.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Major UK Historical group is
HISTORICAL MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY
Membership Secretary
9 Park Place
WORKSOP
Notts
S80 1HL
Publishes 'Historical Model Railway Journal,' four times a
year plus a newsletter. Has a large collections of archives, photos
and drawings, copies are available to members. Now involved in
building its own headquarters at Butterley, Derbyshire were artefacts
and models can be put on display to the public.
Has recently taken over the PC range of transfers (decals) and
has developed a catalogue program for photographs.
...
AMTRAK
Amtrak Historical Society
c/o Jeff Kocar
2148 W. Cullom #1E
Chicago Il. 60618-1744
Dues are $10 yearly, It includes the "Observation Car"
its quarterly publication which delves into events in Amtrak's operations,
profiling people, trains,stations, routes and equipment. Members may
advertise their personal items for salr or trade, free of charge.
ANTHRACITE (COAL)
Anthracite Railroads Historical Society
POB 119, Bridgeport, Pa., 19405
Our (almost) quarterly magazine is called FLAGS, DIAMONDS, AND
STATUES. This group focuses on railroads serving the anthracite coal
mining region of northeast Pennsylvania, with emphasis on:
Central of New Jersey
Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western
Lehigh & Hudson River
Lehigh & New England
Lehigh Valley
Reading
ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE
Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, Inc.
According to the first quarter 1999 issue of _the_Warbonnet_ (the
official publication of the SFRH&MS) the business manager is:
Dave Kampsnider
Santa Fe Railway & Modeling Society, Inc.
9847 S. Spring Hill Ln.
Highlands Ranch, CO 80126
The group publishes The Warbonnet, a quarterly magazine of 30+
pages free to members. Annual membership dues are: Regular, $20
in the US., $25 in Canada, $30 in other countries; Sustaining,
$10 higher, respectively. Dues are payable in US. funds.
ATLANTIC COAST LINE
Southeastern Railroad Historical Society
c/o Joseph L. Oates
4007 Paddlewheel Dr., Brandon, Fl,. 33511
B AND O
B&O Historical Society
P.O. Box 13578
Baltimore, MD 21203
BC RAIL
BC Rail Historical & Technical Society
c/o Jim Moore
27245 Floral Court, Valencia, CA. 98219
Publishes the CARIBOU, for $12/year ( 4 issues)
BOSTON & MAINE
Boston & Maine
c/o Membership Secretary,
POB 2362, Harwood Staion, Littleton, Ma., 01460
BURLINGTON NORTHERN
Friends of the Burlington Northern Railroad
P.O. Box 17303
Whitefish Bay, WI 53217-0303
CANADIAN NATIONAL
Alf Goodall, (in Canada)
112 Mapleton Dr.,
Winnipeg, MB, R2P 1C9, Canada
RD #1, Box 295, (in USA)
Alum Bank, Pa., 15521-9658
CANADIAL RAILWAY
Canadian Railway Historical Association
120 Rue St-Pierre
St-Constant, Quebec. J5A 2G9
$30 for six issues of CANADIAN RAIL
CENTRAL VERMONT RAILWAY
Central Vermont Railway
5806 Edith Court,
Virginia Beach, Va., 23464
CHESAPEAKE & OHIO
Chesapeake & Ohio
POB 79,
Clifton Forge, Va., 24422
CHICAGO & EASTERN ILLINOIS
Chicago & Eastern Illinois
POB 606,
Crestwood, Il., 60445-0606
CHICAGO & ILLINOIS MIDLAND
Chicago & Illinois Midland
c/o Shane Mason,
POB 3882,
Springfield, Il., 62708-3882
CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN
Chicago & Northwestern
c/o Lou Hamilton,
1519 S. Mohawk Drive, Roselle, Il., 60172
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY
Burlington Route Historical Society,
POB 456, LaGrange, Il., 60525
CHICAGO NORTH SHORE LINE
Shore Line Interurban Historical Society,
POB 346, Chicago, Il., 60690
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC
Rock Island Technical Society,
c/o David J Engle,
8746 N. Troost, Kansas City, Mo. 64155
COLORADA RAILROAD
Colorado Railroad Museum
POB 10, Golden, Co., 80402
COLORADO & SOUTHERN
Burlington Route Historical Society,
POB 456, LaGrange, Il., 60525
COLORADO MIDLAND
Colorado Midland
1731 N. Cooper, Colorado Springs, Co., 80907
CONRAIL
Conrail Technical Society
POB 568, Maspeth, NY., 11378
Conrail Historical Society
51 Oak Terrace
Durham, Ct 06422
COTTON BELT
Cotton Belt
POB 2044, Pine Bluff, Ar., 71613
CANADIAN PACIFIC
CP SIG
Ross White
5 Grovenest Drive, Scarborough, Ont. M1E 4J2
Publishes "CP TRACKS" 4 times a year
$15 to Canadian addresses, $17.50 to US addresses, $20 everywhere
DELAWARE LACKAWANNA AND WESTERN
see ERIE LACKAWANNA
DELAWARE & HUDSON
Bridge Line Historical Society,
Box 7242, Capital Station, Albany, NY 12224
It's a fairly new society (2nd or 3rd year) and has a nice monthly
"Bulletin."
$15.00 Regular
12.50 Employee (of D&H Soo or CP Rail)
20.00 Family
17.50 Employee Family
50.00 Corporate
DULUTH, MISSABE & IRON RANGE
Missabe Historical Society,
719 Northland Avenue, Stillwater, MN., 55082
EAST BROAD TOP
Friends of the East Broad Top,
POB 551, Riverside, NJ., 08075
EAST TENNESSEE & WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
East Tennessee & Western North Carolina
c/o John R. Waite,
604 N 11th, DeSoto, MO, 63020
ERIE
see ERIE LACKAWANNA
ERIE LACKAWANNA
Erie Lackawanna Technical & Historical Society
Membership Chairman, Dave Olesen
116 Ketcham Road, Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Membership dues are $18/year. Publishes a semi-annual magazine
called "The Diamond" and a quarterly newsletter called "the extra
board". It also encompasses the Erie and DL&W roads.
FONDA, JOHNSTOWN & GLOVERSVILLE
Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville
c/o Walt Danylak,
115 Upland Road, Syracuse, NY., 13207-1119
FRISCO
Frisco Modeler's Interest Group
c/o Charles Dischinger,
2541 W Allen Dr., Springfield, Mo., 65810
Frisco Railroad Museum
POB 276, Ash Grove, Mo., 65604
417-672-3110
GREAT NORTHERN
Great Northern
1781 Griffith, Berkeley, MI, 48072
(originally the Fraternal Order of Empire Builders)
GULF, MOBILE & OHIO
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio
POB 24, Chicago, Il., 60499
HJ HEINZ
HJ Heinz
c/o Bill Dippert,
2650 NW Robinia Lane, Portland, Or., 97229-4037
ILLINOIS CENTRAL
Illinois Central
Membership Department,
c/o Jim Kubajak,
14818 Clifton Park, Midlothian, Il., 60445
ILLINOIS TERMINAL
Illinois Terminal
POB 251, Washington, Il., 61571
ILLINOIS TRACTION
Illinois Traction
19 Sunset Acres, Farmersville, Il., 62533
KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN
Kansas City Southern
POB 5332, Shreveport, La., 71135-5332
KATY
Katy Railroad Historical Society
P.O. Box 1784
Sedalia, Missouri 65302
phone 660-826-2223,
email KRHS at co...@iland.net
A web page devoted to M-K-T R.R. and the K.R.H.S.
<http://web2.airmail.net/rvjack2>
LOS ANGELES RAILWAY
Orange Empire Railway Museum
POB 548, Perris, Ca., 92370-0548
714-657-2605
LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE
Louisville & Nashville
POB 17122, Louisville, Ky., 40217
MAINE
Railroad Historical Society of Maine
POB 6647, Portland, Me., 04104
MARYLAND & PENNSYLVANIA
Ma & Pa Historical Preservation & Historical Society
Attn: Fred H. Voelcker, Jr., Secretary
P.O. Box 224
Spring Grove, PA 17362
Membership is currently $25.00 (US).
Send an SASE for more info.
MILWAUKEE ROAD
Milwaukee Road Railfan's Association
c/o Wendell Murphy,
7504 W Ruby Ave., Milwaukee, Wi., 53218-5458
MILWAUKEE ROAD LINES WEST
Milwaukee Road Lines West
c/o Ron Hamilton,
2506 SW Fissure Loop, Redmond, Or., 97756-9486
MISSOURI & NORTH ARKANSAS
Missouri & Arkansas Railroad Museum
POB 44, Beaver, Ar., 72613
MISSOURI PACIFIC
Missouri Pacific Historical Society
POB 187, Addis, La., 70710
MONON
Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society
c/o Ed Lewnard
410 S. Emerson St., Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
Dues $15/20 year, back issues about $2.50 each.
NEW HAVEN
New York, New Haven & Hartford
POB 122, Wallingford, Ct., 06492
NEW YORK CENTRAL
New York Central
POB 745, Mentor, Ohio, 44061-0745
NICKEL PLATE ROAD
Nickel Plate Road
POB 44222, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45244
NORFOLK & WESTERN
Norfolk & Western
638 Jefferson St., Ashland, Ohio, 44805
NORTHERN PACIFIC
The Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association
Norman Snow,
13044 87th Place, NE, Kirkland, WA 98034
Publishes THE MAINSTREETER magazine, a 32+ page quarterly magazine.
Articles cover locomotives, freight and passenger equipment,
operations, personal stories, models, and memorabilia.
Publishes a calendar illustrated with NP photographs and highlighted
with the dates of many important events in NP history.
The NPRHA holds an ANNUAL CONVENTION at an important point along the
line.
The Association also produces original video tapes and color slide sets
and offers a variety of clothing, hats, and other souvenir items. The
video tapes show and discuss the operations of the NP using the
experiences of veteran NP workers and historic films, photographs, and
documents. All of those items are available from our Company Store.
Regular association dues are $17.00 per year, with Sustaining
Memberships available at $32.00 (includes 1st class postage and a
contribution to the work of NPRHA). NP Veterans are eligible for the
special rate of $10.00 per year, with full membership privileges.
Members receive four quarterly issues of The Mainstreeter Magazine and
an NPRHA calendar. The calendar reproduces historic photographs and
shows significant events in NP history. Calendars are available
separately.
NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC
Northwestern Pacific
POB 721, Larkspur, Ca., 94939
ONTARIO & WESTERN
Ontario & Western
Box 713, Middletown, NY., 10940
PACIFIC ELECTRIC
Orange Empire Railway Museum
POB 548, Perris, Ca., 92370-0548
714-657-2605
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society
PO Box 389, Upper Darby, PA 19082
They publish "The Keystone" quarterly, an excellent glossy magazine.
Magazine subscription only: $20/year, $25/year for Sustaining
Membership, $50/year for Contributing Membership. $10/year extra
postage to foreign countries. Back issues available. They also offer
a photo list (although the turnaround is excruciatingly slow) and have
produced helpful and well-researched answers to several questions I've
asked.
PIEDMONT & NORTHERN
Piedmont & Northern
c/o Craig A Myers,
POB 5481, Greenville, SC., 29606
PITTSBURG, SHAWMUT & NORTHERN
Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern
RD #1, Box 361, Alfred Station, NY., 14803
READING
Philadelphia & Reading
c/o Robert L Danner,
POB 15143, Reading, Pa., 19612
RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN
Rio Grande Southern
POB 3358, La Mesa, Ca., 92044
ROCK ISLAND
Rock Island Technical Society
8746 N. Troost, Kansas City, MO 64155
$15/yr dues: quarterly newsletter, annual digest, single page calendar
regional and annual meetings, drawing service.
RUTLAND
Rutland
POB 6262, Rutland, Vt., 05701
SEABOARD AIR LINE
Southeastern Railroad Historical Society
c/o Joseph L. Oates
4007 Paddlewheel Dr., Brandon, Fl,. 33511
SOO LINE
Soo Line Historical and Technical Society
c/o Michael Harrington, Treas.,
3410 Kasten Ct., Middleton, Wi., 53562
SOUTHERN
Southern
c/o BF Roberts,
POB 4094, Martinez, Ga., 30907
Southern Railway Historical Association
POB 33, Spencer, NC., 28159
SOUTHERN PACIFIC
Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society
POB 2180, Huntington Beach, Ca., 92647
SPOKANE, PORTLAND & SEATTLE
Spokane, Portland & Seattle
6824-19th W. #134, Tacoma, Wa., 98466
COTTON BELT
Cotton Belt (St. Louis Southwestern)
POB 2044,
Pine Bluff, Ar., 71613
ST. LOUIS SOUTHWESTERN
SUSQUEHANNA
Susquehanna
POB 272, Netcong, NJ., 07857
TERMINAL RAILROAD
TRailroadA Historical and Technical Society
POB 1688, St Louis, Mo., 63188-1688
TEXAS PACIFIC
Missouri Pacific Historical Society
POB 187, Addis, La., 70710
THREE RIVERS
Three Rivers Narrow Gauge Historical Society
8 Cleveland Ct., Rockville, Md., 28050
(Three Rivers area [Allegheny, Monongahela & Ohio Rivers])
TOLEDO, PEORIA & WESTERN
Toledo, Peoria & Western
615 Bullock St., Eureka, Il., 61530
UNION PACIFIC
Union Pacific
POB 4006, Cheyenne, WY., 82003-4006
UPPER CANADA
Upper Canada Railway Society
PO Box 122, Station A, Toronto, Ont. M5W 1A2
Chartered 1941. Publishes "Rail & Transit" monthly, a 20 page magazine
of prototype mainline and transit news, historical articles and
occasionally including(as insert) a more in-depth Bulletin on a
particular subject. Some photos on cover and inside.
Membership dues, which include subscription to "Rail & Transit", are:
Canada - $29.00 USA/Overseas - $35.00 (or $27.00 in US funds)
Student(<=17) - $19.00
Monthly meetings are held in both Toronto (Metro Hall, 3rd Friday of each
month) and Hamilton (Hamilton Spectator auditorium, 4th Friday of each
month).
A brief description of the Society and Rail and Transit is on the web page
<http://www.cate.ryerson.ca/%7Ecal/ucrs.htm>
The Editor of Upper Canada Railway Society's RAIL & TRANSIT is Pat
Scrimgeour, and he can be reached at pscr...@fox.nstn.ca
WABASH
Wabash
c/o Vance C Lischer Jr., Secy.
535 Dielman Road, St Louis, Mo., 63132
WESTERN MARYLAND
Western Maryland Railroad Historical Society, Inc.
Union Bridge, Md., 21791
WESTERN PACIFIC
Feather River Rail Society
POB 8, Portola, Ca., 96122
------------------------------
Date: 27 June 97
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 09/10: Industry, European
MODEL INDUSTRY, EUROPEAN
Can you give an overview of the european model railway industry?
AUSTRIA
KLEIN is a producer of HO models from Austrian prototypes.
ROCO (Salzburg) is one of Europe's most important manufacturers. Roco
produces in 0, HO, HOe and N scale.
In 0 there is only a track system.
In HO Roco brings us a wide variety of rolling material from the whole
Europe. These highly detailed plastic models, mostly in exact 1/87
scale, are available for both DC and AC systems. Some of the best
known Roco HO models are the German Diesel TEE, the Swiss Crocodile and
the Swiss locomotive 2000. The rail system Roco-Line with ballast is
one of the most prototypical ones on the market. In HOe there are
models of the Austrian Mariazellerbahn.
In N there are not as many models, but also of interesting prototypes.
In the past Roco produced for the US market. I don't know if this is
still the case.
HOBBYTRAIN is a manufacturer of models in N scale.
BRITAIN
NB. Most British models are OO scale ie 4mm scale on 16.5mm
gauge track.
HORNBY (used to be Triang) produces a range of both steam and diesel
prototypes. Has a
reputation of being to of being towards the toy end of the market.
Though some of the latest models are better. Also produce a range
of Thomas the Tank Engine 2models.
WRENN These are die cast models produced from moulds originally made
by Hornby Dublo. Mostly steam outline.
Triang bought them, kept the name and hived off the models to Wrenn,
now taken over by DAPOL.
DAPOL Took over the moulds of both Airfix and Mainline.
Sold most of the moulds to Hornby, what use they will
make of them has yet to be seen.
REPLICA Originally was marketing models produced by Bachmann from
the Mainline moulds. Once Bachmann realised what the market was they
withdrew their support and Replica where left without a range. They
have now found some to manufacture for them.
BACHMAN See Replica above, since taking over some of the Mainline range
Bachman have produced under their own name and substantially developed
the range with new, good, steam locos and new mechanisms for both steam
and diesel models. Mainline mechs were a weak point.
LIMA After a shaky start with some British models in HO Lima
changed to OO and now have an extensive range of British prototypes,
the principle rival to Hornby and of similar quality. Models often
compromised by using parts such as wheels and bogies from the European
HO range. Particularly good for modern image Diesels.
GRAHAM FARISH. produce the only N gauge RTR models available apart
from a few by Minitrix.
See also "UK model railway suppliers" at
<http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/s.freeman/ogaug.html>
FRANCE
JOUEF produces models of French prototypes for the HO scale, 2-rail DC
system. For example there is a really fast TGV Atlantique.
GERMANY
ARNOLD (Nuernberg) builds models in N scale. Arnold has a version of
Lenz digital for N.
BEMO is a specialist for HOm meter gauge railways. Most of the models
are reproductions of Swiss prototypes.
BRAWA (Waiblingen) builds additional material for building landscapes
and towns, but also models of small German shunting engines in HO scale.
FLEISCHMANN (Nuernberg) produces model railways in HO and N scales for
the 2-rail DC system.
The HO models were first in 1/85 scale, but today the standard scale
1/87 is used. Long coaches are reduced to 1/92 or 1/100. Fleischmann
uses lighter colors than the original. The Fleischmann program is
mostly for the central European market. There are old Prussian models
and a beautiful ICE. The track system `Profi-Gleis' is with integrated
ballast.
In scale N, most of the HO program is repeated. There is a ballasted
track system as well. Fleischmann's digital system is called FMZ.
LEHMANN builds the large, weatherproof L.G.B. models in 2m scale.
LILIPUT used to be an Austrian company, but they went
bankrupt and were bought by Bachman. Their seat is now
Fuerth in German and they produce mostly European locos
and cars from epoch II to V.
MAERKLIN (Goeppingen) produces model railways in the scales 1, HO and Z.
The 1 models are expensive and robust, made of plastic and metal. There
are some German steam, diesel and electric locomotives and the Swiss
Crocodile. All Maerklin 1 engines will operate on 2 rail AC, and most
can also be operated on either AC, DC or digital systems, so you can
run them on any layout with 45 mm gauge, provided the curve radius is
at least 1 m. There is also a 1 track system and an overhead wire
system with German and Swiss pylons.
The HO models are produced for the 3-rail AC system. They are made of
die-cast metal or plastic, and some of them tin plate. Most models are
reproductions of central European prototypes, but there is also the US
Diesel engine EMD F7 with US freight wagons. Other prominent models
are the Kruckenberg rail-Zeppelin and the ICE. For the epoch I, there
are some nice models of prototypes from Wuerttemberg. Long coaches are
reduced to 1:100 scale.
Under the name HAMO, Maerklin produces models for the 2-rail DC system.
There are two track systems for the 3-rail AC system: the M tracks,
made of sheet metal, and the K tracks, with profile rails and plastic
sleepers. Maerklin also produces an overhead wire system for HO.
The Z models are (nearly) the only ones of this small scale. These
models are copies of German, Swiss and American prototypes. A track
and overhead wire system completes the program.
The Maerklin digital system is available for all scales.
PIKO (Sonneberg), founded in the GDR, is a manufacturer of HO models
from East German prototypes.
RAILEX is a small-series manufacturer of brass models in Z and
N scale. The N scale ones are marketed by Arnold.
SACHSENMODELLE (Oybin) produces models of European, mainly German with
a slight emphasis on ex-DDR, prototypes in HO scale. There is a model
of the famous Soviet sleeping car.
SOMMERFELDT produces the most complete, complicated and prototypical
overhead wire systems for HO, HOm and N, for most European railways.
TRIX (Nuernberg) produces model railways in HO and N scale.
In HO there are models for the exotic Trix-Express system (3-rail DC)
and for the 2-rail DC system. Trix has some old Bavarian models.
The N scale is more important. Prototypes are German and French.
Trix produces the third digital system, SelecTrix.
ZEUKE (Berlin) is the only manufacturer of model railways in TT scale,
mostly reductions of GDR prototypes.
BUSCH, FALLER, HEKI, NOCH, POLA and VOLLMER are important producers of
houses, landscape material, electric equipment and other accessories
for all scales.
ITALY
LIMA offers a variety of models of European rolling material, in HO
scale. There are some very interesting models of railcars like the
TGV or the German Lufthansa Airport Express. However, some of the
Lima `models' are still cheap plastic toys.
RIVAROSSI is a manufacturer of HO models from US prototypes.
JAPAN
KATO is the best known Japanese manufacturer. Kato makes models of
European and Japanese prototypes in HO and N scale.
SWITZERLAND
HAG builds expensive metal models of Swiss prototypes in HO scale, for
the AC and DC systems.
There are many manufacturers of very expensive small-series brass
models in 1, 1m, 0, 0m, HO and HOm scales. FULGUREX and LEMACO are
the best known.
SPAIN
There are ELECTROTREN and IBERTREN. They seem to have HO and N models
of Spanish prototypes. Electrotren is Maerklin H0 compatible.
------------------------------
Date: 01 Jan 97
Subject: FAQ SOURCES, 10/10: Definitions and terms
Definitions and Glossary of Common Railroad Terms
DEFINITION, BOOMER
What is a boomer?
A boomer is (was) any transient RR worker. At one time, there were
more jobs than skilled railroaders, especially in times of "boom"ing
traffic (wheat harvest, etc) or a local boom, say due to a mine
opening. Some men travelled, habitually, from road to road. They were
a figure of some romance, and figured popularly in RR fiction. One
could have boomer operators, boomer conductors, boomer anythings.
DEFINITION, CRAFTSMAN KITS
What are "craftsman" kits?
A craftsman kit implies that more time (and perhaps skill/experience)
is needed to assemble the kit. They often include parts made of wood,
metal, plaster, and paper/cardstock in addition to plastic, requiring
knowledge of what adhesives should be used for different materials.
The benefit of this extra work is that the model typically looks much
more realistic and detailed if properly assembled; such kits are often
made in small runs and correspond to a specific prototype rather than
simply giving a general impression. Many structures are available as
craftsman kits in addition to models of rolling stock, with Westerfield
being probably the best known supplier of cars in HO scale.
DEFINITION, FROG
What is a "turnout"? What is a "frog"?
The frog is the part where the curved rail for the diverging line
crosses the straight rail for the straight ahead move. (I tried
drawing a diagram -- didn't work in ASCII!) In Australia (and the UK)
it is more usually referred to as the 'crossing'.
The frog number simply refers to how sharply the diverging line
is diverging. For all practical purposes, you can consider it as
the number of inches it takes for the diverging rail (at the frog)
to diverge one inch from the straight rail. So a #4 frog takes
4 inches to diverge 1 inch, and is sharper than a #6 frog which
takes 6 inches.
...
A frog is the 'center part' of a switch where the diverging rails cross.
The frog number is a ratio of the length to width of the frog. A #4 frog
is 4 times as long as it is wide. With a little bit of geometry you can
figure the angle of the frog. A #4=14.36 degrees, a #6=9.56, a #8=7.187,
and a #10=5.73 degrees. As you can see a #4 is a sharp turnout.
...
This table is taken from "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" by
John Armstrong. This book has been recommended as a source book for
operation and planning basics for modeling. Since one of the goals of
the book is to design and layout a model railroad there are a lot of
details needed for drawing a plan in detail.
Turnout Angle N scale HO scale S scale O scale
Frog. No. Degree
4 14.25 15 3/4" 29" 39" 53"
4 1/2 * 12.5 36"
5 11.4 24" 44" 60" 80"
6 9.5 30" 56" 76" 102"
8 7.15 60" 110" 150" 200"
*Atlas "No. 4" HO Custom-Line turnout is actually a No. 4 1/2
(The following paragraph is describing a diagram which I could not
reproduce.) The curved leg of a standardized railroad turnout is not
of uniform radius. A short section through the frog is made straight
to improve the action of the wheels at that critical point and to allow
the same frog to be used in right and left-hand turnouts alike. The
switchpoint is not shaped to a perfect curve because that would make
it impracticable long, slender, and fragle. For any standard turnout
there is an equivalent substitution radius, as shown in the diagram,
which can be substituted for the actual rail location in fitting the
turnout into a section of curve. Approximate values for substitution
radii are given in the table above.
DEFINTION, GAUGE
What does "gauge" mean ?
Gauge is the distance between the inside faces of the two rails of
a railroad. In the US, most of Europe, the normal or standard gauge
is 4'8.5" (1.435 meter).
Common smaller gauges in the US are 3' and 2', while in Europe one
finds 1.0 meter as well as 0.75 meter.
The Indian standard is 5'6" although called Broad Gauge to
differentiate from the substantial amounts of 1.0 metre.
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana and
Nigeria all use 3'6" called the African standard, or Cape gauge.
Other major railways are those of the former USSR using 5'0", China using
4'8.5" and Japan and Taiwan using 3'6".
DEFINTION, HYDROCAL
What is hydrocal?
This a plaster product commonly used for creating terrain. The easiest
sources seem to be model railroad stores, since I've yet to find a
building supply store that has any idea what I want. The advantage of
hydrocal is that it is very strong once it sets up, as opposed to
plaster which needs something underneath it to support it even after it
dries. Hydrocal needs support while setting but cardboard strips do
just fine. Regular plaster requires chicken wire and wood supports for
shaping -- it's a lot more work, and a lot more weight.
DEFINITION, KITBASH
What does kitbashed mean?
Kitbashing refers to starting with one or more commercial kits but
assembling the pieces in a different fashion, often adding other
material or recutting the original pieces.
DEFINITION, MODEL SCALE
How to specify the scale and gauge of a model railroad ?
To specify a model railroad's scale, one uses "designations".
Unfortunately, these designations do not have a universal meaning
(and some even changed over time). The most common ones and their
most accepted meanings are given in the following table (NEM is the
European model railroad standards body):
Designation US NEM Others
Z 1/220 1/220
N 1/160 1/160 UK: 1:148
TT 1/120 1/120 UK: 1:101
HO 1/87.1 1/87 US: 3.5 mm per foot -> 1/87.1
OO 1/76 UK: 4.0 mm per foot -> 1/76.2
S 1/64 1/64
O 1/48 1/45 1/43.5 also (see next question)
I 1/32 1/32 Some UK 1:30.4
II 1/22.5 1/24 also (see next question)
G 1/22.5 1/24 also (see next question)
When a model railroad models a non-standard gauge prototype railroad,
one can indicate it by appending a "postfix" to these designations.
Sad enough, there are (at least) two types of such postfixes.
In the US, the postfix is made up of a lower case "n" followed by the
prototype gauge expressed in feet. Thus, an Sn3 model railroad models
a prototype railroad with rails 3 feet apart at a 1/64 scale.
In Europe, NEM gathers prototype gauges together in 4 categories:
normal gauges (1.25 to 1.70 meter), metric gauges (0.85 to 1.25 meter),
narrow gauges (0.65 to 0.85 meter), and industrial gauges (0.40 to 0.65
meter). Each non-normal category has its own designation postfix:
"m" for metric, "e" for narrow, and "i" for industrial. Thus, an H0m
model railroad models a prototype railroad with a gauge between 0.85 and
1.25 meter at a 1/87 scale. The idea is that as one goes down to a
narrower gauge, one uses the next smaller scale's track.
For example: H0m track is in fact TT track, while H0e track is N track.
British N scale is, in fact, 1:148, not 1:152. The 1:152 scale (2mm/ft)
is used by the "2mm Scale Association", which pre-dates N, and is a
scratch builder/advanced kit builder scale, with fine track standards
(eg. code 40 rail, 9.42mm track gauge).
DEFINITION, MOVING FROG
What is a "moving frog"?
There are several types of frogs that "move". Some model (and some
real) frogs have moving wing rails that actually close the gap for
the opposite route, reducing wheel "bounce" and thus reducing frog
wear. In model railroading, the old "Tru-Scale" turnouts have this
type of frog.
...
The slim switches by M"arklin for the K track system (HO central
conductor, AC) also have moving frogs. And from Fleischmann there
are switches with moving frogs coming in 1993 (for Profi track, HO
2-rail DC).
At all the high speed railroads (at least TGV and ICE, I don't know
about Japan) there are switches with moving frogs used, but they are
very long, and they have concrete sleepers. The type used on DB high
speed lines allows 250 km/h on the straight track and 160 km/h on the
curved track. The model switches described above have wood sleepers
and are still too short to be used on a scaled high speed line.
DEFINITION, MOW CAR
What is a Maintenance of Way (MOW) car?
These are "non-revenue" cars (so-called because they are not used to
service paying customers) used by the railroad for upkeep on the track,
roadbed, and surrounding infrastructure. These are typically older or
damaged cars no longer suitable for high-speed work. They include
things such as cranes, ballast cars (converted hoppers used to spread
gravel between the ties), tie cars, rail cars, etc. Since they are
usually fabricated by the shop crew out of whatever is available they
come in a wider range of styles than ordinary cars.
DEFINTIONS, MORE ON O AND G
Are 0 and G designations really ill-defined ?
It seems that way. In the US, track has been traditionally laid to
scale 5'0" gauge instead of standard. American 0 scale modelers divide
into three groups, according to how they handle the discrepancy between
gauge and scale:
a. most 0 scalers live with the discrepancy;
b. some model at 1/45 scale, keeping the traditional O gauge;
c. some model at 1/48 (known as Proto:48) and narrow the traditional
gauge to standard but these models will not operate on the first
two groups' track.
In Europe, different scales are used in different countries: some use
1/45 and others use 1/43.5 scale but in general 32mm gauge track is
used.
What's more is that there have been changes over time. A very similar
problem is encountered by G scale (IIm scale in Europe) modelers.
DEFINITION, PROTOTYPE
What does prototype mean?
It has several meanings, but typically refers to real-world trains
(in contrast to scale models of them). Also called 12"-to-the-foot.
However, it can also mean the first item in a series, which meaning is
often applied to equipment built as tests by real railroads.
DEFINITION, RERAIL FROG
What is a rerail frog?
A rerail-frog is a kind of a metal ramp thing that is used to help
re-rail a car or engine that has gone off the track but not wandered
too far away or overturned. It is temporarily spiked, wedged or
clamped next to the rail at the wheel that needs to be lifted back
over the rail and then the car is pushed or pulled by the engine to
get the wheel to ride up over the ramp and back onto the track.
Typically in branch line service you would see these dangling from the
sides of the tender along with some chains or cables. More tools
including jacks, levers, wrenches for splice bolts and so on might be
kept in the caboose or stashed on the engine.
DEFINITION, RTR
What does RTR mean?
Abbreviation for "ready to run," indicating that the model can be
removed from the box and placed directly on the tracks without any
assembly, and usually without painting or lettering.
DEFINITION, SCALE
What does "scale" mean?
Scale is the proportion which the model bears to the prototype.
For example, an 87 feet platform will be represented by a 1 foot
long model platform in 1/87 scale.
DEFINITION, SCRATCHBUILT
What does scratchbuilt mean?
Scratchbuilt usually means starting with wood, cardboard, plastic, or
other basic materials and then designing and cutting all of the
necessary pieces.
DEFINITION, SHAKE IN THE BOX
What are "shake the box" kits?
"Shake the box" is a slightly derogatory term describing a kit so
simple to assemble that all you need to do is shake the box and it
is finished. (Actual assembly usually takes 30-60 minutes and requires
only a knife, plastic glue, tweezers and a small screwdriver.) This
ease of assembly usually indicates that there is a lower level of
detail, but also makes the kits less expensive and allow you to build
up a large fleet in a reasonable amount of time. Athearn freight cars
are an example of a good quality kit of this type.
DEFINITION, TRACTION
What is a traction layout?
The term as used in model railroading refers to streetcars, trolleys,
and electric-powered interurban lines. They usually contain very tight
curves and overhead wiring (functional in some cases) in an urban
setting.
DEFINITION, TURNOUT
What is a turnout?
From "Railway Track and Maintenance: A Manual of Maintenance-of-Way and
Structures" by E.E.R. Tratman, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1926,
p. 342 [formerly published under the title of "Railway Track and Track
Work"], quoted here without permission:
Turnouts -- Where a train is to be diverted from one track to another,
a turnout is installed, which is essentially a curve connecting two
parallel or diverging tracks. This curve, however, is composed of three
principal parts: (1) a switch, consisting of two movable rails to direct
the train onto one track or the other, as desired; (2) a frog to allow
the wheel flanges to pass the intersection of the rails; and (3) rails,
known as lead rails, connecting the frog with the switch rails.
DEFINITION, WINTERIZATION HATCH
What is a winterization hatch?
A hatch or cover used to cover up or close off the normal ventilation
for oil-coolers, air-coolers or excess fan/radiator area for extreme
cold weather.
DEFINITION, ZULU OUTFIT
What's a "Zulu outfit"?
A freight car carrying people. Living rough, in the car. Could be
emigrants heading west, or ranch hands accompanying a shipment of
cattle, or.... In first case, could have animals in the car with them.
Date: 17 Nov 96 14:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 01/10: Introduction
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.scale FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed
to Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
Introduction
Command control
Cleaning track
Card order operation
Tab-on-car operation
Fast clocks
Engines, break in and tuning
Double heading
Couplers, Kadee
Couplers, screw-type
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban_Fr...@icl.se
------------------------------
Date: 16 May 95 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 02/10: Command control
What is Command Control?
Using modern electronics, it is possible to use the rails of
a model railroad to carry both power AND information at the
same time. Using modern digital technology (Ones and Zeroes,
as in computers) a LOT of information can be sent over the
rails in a short period of time. Again using digital
technology, small units to pick out (recieve) and act upon
particular messages can be made affordably.
All together, systems which send power and messages over the
rails to recievers in locomotives or other trackside locations
are known as carrier control or command control systems.
Various individuals and companies have experimented with these
ideas to produce and/or sell command control systems for model
trains. However, none of the early developments really worked
together; there was no "common language" for the information
messages travelling on the rail.
The National Model Railroad Assn. recently adopted a standard
for putting power and information on the rail, providing the
"common language" which has been missing. This is called
the Digital Command Control (DCC) Standard.
The standard will allow different manufacturers to now produce
command control components which can work well together.
Company A's transmitter will correctly control company B,C,
and D's recievers in different locomotives.
In practice, one person's or several people's commands (speed,
direction, turnout position, etc.) are electronically combined,
and put on the rails all over the railroad.Recievers act only
upon the messages sent to them, using track power to do their
jobs. This allows much greater flexibility in the operation of
model locomotives, as two or more locomotives can be right
next to each other, yet be controlled by different people,
OR, combined together under the control of one person.
With command control, layout wiring can be greatly simplified,
since the need for blocks is greatly reduced or eliminated.
David_Gibbons <dgib...@sr.hp.com>
...
COMMAND CONTROL
What is command control and how does it work?
You really ought to check out the proposed NMRA standard for Digital
Command Control. For a PC and about 30-50 dollars you have the guts
of a CMRI. Some freeware is on the way for the PC, you can program
it yourself or you can purchase one of the excellent programs for
$100-$300.
The idea is that the PC can be programmed to send digital command
packets out it's serial port. It's then sent through a simple
amplifier, since most serial ports don't put out the amperage to power
a layout. A freeware program already exists for the Mac; a PC
program is forthcoming.
Obviously, the above scenario only allows keyboard control. If you
want control panels, walkaround throttles and all the other stuff most
modelers use, you'll need to do something more. But, if you're only
interested in having a computer control your trains, the above will be
more than sufficent.
While most of us look at Digital Command Control as requiring a decoder
in every locomotive (expensive) it is not necessary for some operating
styles. For instance a progressive block approach can be implemented
using a decoder in front of a throttle. The command station then
controls the DC throtles and they control the trains. Unlike the
origional Chubb approach that required N (number of cabs) throttles
per block, this technique only regueire one decoder-cab combination
per block.
Switches can be controlled digitally which provides a method to enter
digital computer controlled operations gradually as you budget allows.
Model Railroader recently publiched an article on using a parallel
port to control switch machines. I suspect that it would a cheaper
way than having each switch machine equipped with it's own digitial
controller, but it will require more wiring.
Decoders are available for all scales (I have installed one in a
Microtrain F7 complete with directional lighting)
You can get digitial controllers for about $45. Hopefully, this will
drop. You presumably have the computer sitting around, being used for
other things, so it's practically "free". The only other thing you
need is the program, which will hopefully soon be freeware, and the
amplifier, which is about $30. When the price of the controllers drops
some, hopefully to ~$20 [I can always hope], you'll be able to have
computer control of 10 independent locomotives for under $250. Used
to be the interface to the track from the computer cost more than
that....
...
For the PC end, I might recommend an older Atari 520 or 1040ST. They
can be purchased new in Europe or used in the US for around $150. You
can connect a tv to it or use a monochrome monitor (maybe better or
this useage.
The advantage of the Atari computer is:
Very compact single board computer with built in 720K floppy disk (no
HD).
Easy programmable GEM interface ( you would be able to point and shoot
with the mouse to get your trains moving and control turnouts).
Disadvantage is that there has to be someone out there with an Atari
computer who could write this software.. DOS software won't work on
it.
For the small space these things take up, I think it would be great.
Plus they are dirt cheap. A hard disk wouldn't be required for
command control since your application could easily be kept under
700K. Or a boot disk could be used. This is a great alternative to
people who CAN program in BASIC, or C or Pascal and don't own a PC
(perhaps a costly alternative to an Atari.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 03/10: Cleaning track
CLEANING, TRACK
What is this black crud on the top of the rails? What causes it, and
how can it be eliminated?
Probably an oily dirt residue that cakes up. In the club I belonged to
years ago, there was mandatory twice a week maintenance which consisted
of manually cleaning all track by rubbing/burnishing it with with a
piece of cork roadbed. Took about 3-4 members about 15 minutes to do
it. Worked like a charm and had none of the deliterious effects that
abrasive rubberized type of rail cleaners will eventually cause. Plain
old cork would remove the oil, dirt excellently.
...
Another way to clean it is to load a little product called Rail-Zip on
a rag and rub the rails. It doesn't take long and is perfectly safe
and enhances electrical contact.
To keep from having to clean the rails as often, clean the wheels of
the rolling stock. Chances are you will find a big clump of that
black crud on them. A light scraping with an Xacto knife gets it
right off.
...
If you want to get rid of the black crud, NOT using rail zip helps. The
film of oil lift on the track is what the other stuff, mostly dust,
sticks to. The idea about the cork roadbed sounds good. The old trick
with the Masonite (R) under the boxcar helps too.
The best thing you can do is get rid of the plastic wheels. Black Crud
sticks to these much better than metal wheels. This will get most of
my fellow N-scalers mad at me because I'm telling them to throw away
their Microtrains wheels. Try NWSL, small flanges and they weigh twice
as much as the MT wheels.
...
I posted this info a couple of years ago. It concerns a "magic potion"
that almost eliminates track cleaning. I use a variant of the CTC-16
Command Control System (PMP-112) and it is very sensitive to dirty
wheels and track. With the "magic potion", the system works perfectly,
all the time. I haven't cleaned track in two years execpt to wipe off
dust before an operating session. We operate twice a month, so this
is qute a testimonial.
First, some background on my dirt problem. I used to clean the track
with a Bright Boy before operating and things would work OK for about
1/2 hour, then engines would start acting up. I tried cleaning the
engine wheels halfway through an operating session by placing a thin
cloth on the rails, wetting it with denatured alcohol and holding the
engine on the wet spot with the power on. This worked for about 10
more minutes. Another cleaning would reveal more crud. What I
figured out was that after 10 years of use, my car wheels had a lot of
crud built up and were transferring the crud back to the track.
Before I heard about LPS-1, I decided to bite the bullet and clean ALL
my car wheels (that's 1200 axles worth!). Since this was SOOO much
fun, it took 9 months of tedious on and off work sessions with friends.
Just before we finished, Mark Paris of TinyTronics told me about LPS-1,
so I decided to try it.
I went through a few steps before using it, the first being to test it
on a test loop before I screwed up 1200' feet of track on my layout.
Also, I wanted to do an experiment to verify my hypothesis about wheels
transferring dirt to the track.
I set up an oval with new Atlas FlexTrack to run a train on and cleaned
the new track with alcohol (I didn't use a Bright Boy, because I now
suspect that the binder used in them is what causes the wheel crud and
because they cause scratches on the railhead that can collect dirt).
I cleaned the wheels on my best running engine and ran it continuously
for 1/2 hour with no problems. After cleaning the track and engine
wheels again, I got six cars with dirty wheels and pulled them around.
Within ten minutes, the engine was stalling and bucking! Just to double
check, I again cleaned the track and engine wheels (getting lots of
black crud) and pulled some cars with clean wheels around for 1/2 hour
with no problems.
Next I applied LPS-1 to the track. I used a 2" long piece of 1/2"
square balsa wood to apply it to the track. I just sprayed a little
on the wood (which soaked it up) and wiped it on the track. While the
track was wet, I ran the engine over it to get some on the engine
wheels, then took the engine off so the track and wheels could dry.
After a half hour, I tried the test again with the dirty wheels. I
pulled them around for an hour with no problems! What surprised me
was I could actually see black gunk on the track (I guess it was coming
off the wheels somehow) and the engine still ran great!. It seemed
impervious to dirt!
Convinced, I applied it to my layout. First I thoroughly cleaned the
track with electrical contact cleaner, again spraying the cleaner on a
piece of balsa and wiping the track with it. The balsa works great,
since it absorbs the cleaner and stays wet and it doesn't get caught
on switch points and track joints like cloth does. I'm not sure if
this cleaning step was necessary, but after spending so much time
cleaning wheels, I didn't want to skimp. I used a track cleaning car
(a piece of Masonite suspended below a box car) to clean tunnels and
hard to reach areas by pushing it with an engine. Needless to say,
I used a lot of pieces of wood (the track was filthy!). After cleaning
it, I applied the LPS-1 using balsa and the track cleaning car. I also
cleaned and coated all my engine wheels.
The next operating session (August, 1989) went beautifully. Every
engine ran like clockwork. I have been operating twice a month since
then and have reapplied LPS-1 once (for no special reason). Before a
session I will push the track cleaning car over the layout to remove
any dust that has settled. I use a clean piece of balsa to wipe dust
off sidings (dust still settles on the track, LPS-1 doesn't *repel*
dust). If I don't wipe the dust off, the engines will cough a little
until the dust gets pushed out of the way.
LPS-1 Greaseless Lubricant is a product made by Holt Lloyd Corp.
(Tucker, GA and Los Angeles, CA) and is designed for use on electrical
contacts. They also make LPS-2 General Purpose Lubricant and LPS-3
Heavy Duty Rust Inhibitor, neither of which are suitable for our
purposes. LPS-1 has a bizarre characteristic: it is normally
non-conductive but in the presence of an electric field or with metal
to metal contact, it becomes highly conductive. Sounds sort of like
what happens with locomotive wheels and the track, eh? It's been
described as "a long polymer kind of thing" (don't ask me what that
means, ask a chemist). It goes on wet and drys in about 30 minutes.
It won't attract dust. It smells a lot like WD-40. It reduces
traction a tad (I would guess-timate about 10%). A friend who does
N-scale, Bill Kepner, was having terrible contact problems after
ballasting, tried LPS-1 and is now a true believer.
If you read Model Railroader, there has been a product advertised
recently (~ last 6 months) called Stabilant-22. It sounds exactly
like LPS-1, except they charge $30 for a few grams (or something like
that). LPS-1 comes in an 11 oz. spray can for $4.19. Such a deal.
One can will last 3 or 4 lifetimes.
I have found LPS-1 at Ace Hardware Stores. Most stores don't stock it,
but can order it for you. A nice store will order a case and sell you
a can. A nasty store will order a case Just-For-You (sell the rest to
your friends).
...
I saw this post [on LPS-1] several years ago and tried it. I am a true
believer. It works. It is also sold by a number of manufacturers in
small quantities for $10 or more (it is exactly the same thing as LPS-1
only repackaged).
The only problem I have had was when I overapplied it to the rails. I
thought that if a little would work fine a lot would work better.
WRONG. What happened is that it instantly cleaned the crud off all my
wheels and when the LPS-1 dried out it reapplied it in large
quantities to the locomotive.
I now use it to clean wheels and a small amount on the rails with
excellent results. I have found LPS-1 applied to a Q tip the best for
cleaning wheels and spraying LPS-1 to the bottom of a masanite block
on a track cleaning car the best method for applying it quickly to
the entire layout.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 04/10: Card order operation
CARD ORDER OPERATION
What is card order operation, and how is it used?
The usefulness of card order operation is that it allows you to give
each freight car movement a sense of purpose, just like in the real
world, in a way that does not take a lot of work. Put simply, you have
a card for each freight car, which always accompanies it and lots of
cards, each representing a load. It takes a certain amount of work to
prepare all the cards needed, but when you have done that, you will
not be needing any other papers nor a pen during operations.
The car cards must have a pocket for the load cards. Some make the
pocket from clear plastic, but you can also make the cards from a
single piece of paper you fold and either tape or staple shut like
this:
_______________
| |
| \
| \
| \
|_______________ |
|_____|
_______________
| |
| /|
| / |
| / |
|_________|_____|
On the left side of the card, you write down all relevant car data,
type of car, reporting marks, how much and what kind of loads it
takes, distinguishing marks and other notes. For example:
Ni 12.5 tons Ommk(u) 20 tons
Coal
Wurttemberg 22 235 K.Sachs.Sts.E.B 59 066
Brown, two platforms Light grey
May go in passenger trains
On the right side of the card, hidden when there is a load card there,
you write down what is to happen to the car when it has become empty:
"Return to nearest yard" or "Return to the coal mine".
You should then make a number of load cards, common wisdom is to make
at least three per car to avoid too repetitive movements. On the cards
you write down destination, source, type and amount of load, what type
of car it requires and any special remarks. Examples:
To: Harbour To: Coal mine To: Freight station
Fm: Coal mine Fm: Harbour Fm: Brewery
20 tons coal 5 tons dynamite 10 tons beer
Ommk(u) G, N Private beer car
May not go in
passenger trains
It is generally a good idea to let the cards reflect each other, a load
of timber from the harbour to the sawmill can become a load of lumber
to the furniture factory and from there a load of furniture.
All sources and destinations need not be on the layout, if you have a
hidden return loop or fiddle yard, that can be represented on the
cards simply as "East" or something. This is very convenient, as there
are practically no limits to the traffic to such a place, whereas the
cards in general should reflect the track capacity at different
locations.
An operating round begins with you drawing a number of load cards
from a stack. Then locate suitable empty cars and get them to where
they are needed, and at the same move the empty cars since last round
to where their cars say. When the empty cars are spotted where the
loads are, insert the load cards into the car cards, assemble the
trains and move them to their destination. When spotted, remove the
load cards and return them to the stack; Whereupon the cycle can
begin again.
------------------------------
Date: 16 May 94 14:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 05/10: Tab-on-car operation
I've had experience with waybill/card systems, computer generated
switch lists and tab-on-car systems. Since I am not fond of paperwork
and my tired old eyes have trouble reading the reporting marks on HO
cars, I much prefer the tab-on-car system. The one I use is a variant
of the system pioneered by John Allen (I think) and used on the Model
Railroader employees layout (described in MR some years ago). My
system works much like the classic card system but is much easier to
use.
I have been operating with this system for 10 years and have found it
to be very adaptable, flexible and easy to use by all but the most
stupid of operators. The main drawback is the obvious unprototypical
tab or marker sitting on top of the car. I feel that the benefits far
outweigh this.
The basic idea is to have a marker of some kind on the car that
indicates to the operator where the car goes. I use 3/4" "fender"
washers for the tabs. A fender washer has a smaller hole than a
normal washer so there is more room to put information on the tab. I
use colored 3/4" round Avery labels (available at office supply
stores) to color code the tabs for each town. Each tab has two sides,
one representing the shipper, the other representing the consignee.
To make the tab, I affix an appropriate color label on one side and
write the town code (two letters) at the top and the industry code (3
letters) at the bottom. Even though the color shows the town, some
operators may be color blind or stupid and the two letters help out.
I use a sharp Xacto blade to cut the label out of the hole area. The
other side gets a different color tab for the second industry or
location.
(Note: deciding on the traffic flow is another topic. You need to
figure out who is shipping what in which kind of car to whom when).
The tabs allow a car to continuously shuttle between two layout
locations. If you have a larger layout, operators never notice that
the same car is coming and going. On my layout, each of 300 cars will
be moved by various trains to and from the tab locations. Different
cars take different routes based on the particular duties of the
trains servicing the locations. Cars may take from 2 to 7 operating
sessions to complete one round trip. This has two beneficial results:
1) The make-up of the trains varies continuously,
2) There is a natural-feeling increase and decrease in traffic
density in any one town or yard at each operating session.
I once operated on a layout with 4 locations per tab but found it
needlessly confusing. Each side had two destinations and some
thinking is required to figure out which is currently in effect.
Having only 2 locations greatly simplifies things and doesn't detract
from the apparent randomness of the system. Perhaps this would be a
problem on a smaller layout.
Each car has a 1/4" piece of piano wire sticking up in a convenient
place to act as a tab holder. Box cars and such have the wire in the
middle of the roof; tank cards have it on the dome; etc. If the wire
is painted the color of the car it is barely noticeable when the tab
is off.
The simplest usage to to have operators move the car to the
destination shown on the tab and then turn the tab over. The next
operator will note the tab does not match the car's location and will
put that car in his train to be moved to the next location. If
certain trains have specific responsibilities, instructions need to
generated for that train so that the proper cars are moved.
A refinement is to have the concept of a longer loading/unloading
time, like the "work" box in the classic card system. I will have
operators place a plain tab marked "work" on the car after it is
spotted and the tab is turned over. The next operator will then
remove the work tab but leave the car alone and the operator after
that will pick up the car. This mimics moving cards from the "setout"
box to the "work" box then to the "pickup" box.
If you have work tabs marked with the code for each industry, the car
can easily be respotted properly if it needs to be moved in the course
of switching other cars. This is a problem with other systems because
you are not sure where an existing car belongs if it needs to be moved
out of the way temporarily.
Another refinement is to indicate on the tab if the car is loaded or
empty. When an "empty" car is spotted, it is obviously being loaded
and the tab will be turned over. When a "loaded" car is spotted, it
is being unloaded and the tab can be removed entirely, indicating a
newly emptied car that needs to be moved to a yard or off-line staging
area. When a car is required for a newly generated load, the car
assignment person finds an empty car and places the tab on it.
In this case, extra markings are required on the tab: "turn" or
"remove" (or "mt" and "ld") and the car type required for the load
("bx", ho", etc).
I did this some time ago but found it didn't serve much purpose other
than keeping another person busy. It also made for more rules about
what to do with empty cars, etc. I also found that, when there were
not enough empty cars in the yards, the assignment person would need
to locate tabless cars at industries not yet moved to a yard and would
reassign them. So it ended up that there were never any "empty" cars
going to the yards anyway.
Another trick is to mark some cars as "through" cars which would
circulate between staging yards, kind of like a work tab. Half of the
cars on a through freight would have the tabs covered with a black tab
indicated they stayed on that train for one cycle. When it got back
to the staging yard, the black tabs were moved to the other half of
the cars, allowing the older "through" cars to be switched during the
next cycle. This allows longer trains without the confusion of
arbitrarily not working some cars.
For cars going between on-line industries and off-line locations I
have tabs marked CS SOUTH and CS NORTH (Colorado & Southern southern
and northern locations). Northbound trains pick up CS NORTH and vice
versa. CS N/S tabs are white to indicate the special handling. These
tabs are turned in the staging yards since that is their final
location.
My layout actually has two railroads, the C&S and the Great Western.
The C&S has 5 towns with the following color codes: Denver (red),
Longmont (orange), Berthoud (yellow), Loveland (blue), Ft. Collins
(green), C&S N/S (white), through (black), work (silver). The GWR
uses the same colors for its 4 towns but has a white segment at the
top of the tab with GW in it to distinguish them from the C&S:
Loveland Yard (orange), Windsor (yellow), Johnstown (blue), Milliken
(green).
Once people get past the appearance of the colorful tabs on the cars,
they enjoy the "ease of use" features of the tab system:
1) Yard work is a snap - just sort the cars by color. This is
great when working against a fast clock.
2) Switching is easy since a glance tells you where the car goes.
3) It is fault tolerant - if some dummy spots a car in the wrong
place, the next operator will move it to the correct location.
4) No paperwork.
5) No setup between sessions unless some "balancing" is needed
to compensate for the ebb and flow of traffic.
6) Cheap - the washers and Avery labels are a lot cheaper than the
cards and envelopes and boxes associated with a card system (not
as cheap as computer switch lists ... unless you count the computer).
7) Easy to set up - it can take a loooong time to write all the
info on the cards or get a switch list program working.
George L. Booth bo...@hplvec.lvld.hp.com
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 06/10: Fast clocks
FAST CLOCKS
What are fast clocks? How do I use them?
Fast clocks, as their name implies, are clocks that run faster than
the standard 12-hour clock. Typically, they run 6 or 12 times faster
which translates into a "fast day" every 2 (6:1) or 1 (12:1) hours.
...
The purpose of a fast clock is to permit timetable operations within
the constrained environment of a model railroad. No more, no less.
There are three principal factors that are accounted for in this
manner.
The first, of course, is distance. If a real train were to travel an
hour between stops, at, say, 50 mph, we'd need 50 scale miles of track
-- over 3000 feet in HO -- to absorb that hour. Most of us don't have
quite that much room for our layouts... By scaling time at, say, 10:1,
we reduce that to 300 feet -- still a lot, for most people, but it's
starting to approach something manageable. Note, that an N-scaler
would need ``only'' 1650 feet of track for the same situation, and
hence could get away with a slower clock -- but your equations would
have the clock run faster.
The second major reason for scale time is to aborb the differences in
how long certain operations take. For example, when we couple or
uncouple cars, we don't have to worry about air hoses, pumping up the
brake line, having someone physically there to pull the pin, etc. We
also don't have to have our brakie walk the full length of the train
to throw switches, put down fusees, etc. All of these things are
largely invariant with respect to scale, too.
Finally, most of us don't have ``real time'' to devote to operations.
(If nothing else, we need to do things like build cars, engines,
factories, etc.) If I run my clock at 10:1, I can reasonably expect
to get a full day's operation into one operating session -- and thus
I can have trains going out and back, meeting lots of other trains, etc.
...
Fast time is not meant to try to scale down time, but to compensate for
lack of distance on a layout and to fit operating sessions between a two
and four hour time frame (some do go longer, depending on the ratio and
if they're run on a weekend).
Anyway, I've operated on layouts which have used a 12:1 ratio (one
real hour equals 12 fast ones) and 6:1 (one real hour equals four fast
ones). I've found the 6:1 sessions to more enjoyable as you have time
to do things like switch at reasonable speeds and yes, even, think. At
12:1 you sometimes feel that you are moving 87 times faster.
Should also note that fast time is used to schedule trains to
different parts of a layout and that having a train depart a town and
arrive at another one an hour later is more realistic than having it
arrive 10 minutes later real time.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 07/10: Engines, break in and tuning
ENGINES, BREAK IN AND TUNING
How do I break in my new engine?
If you are comfortable in opening and taking apart the engine, then I
would suggest to disassemble the engine trucks, clean them from the
manufacturing grease with water and soap. When throughly dry, check
the gears for any flash from manufacturing, so that they are smooth,
then reassemble the trucks lubricating the gears with plastic
compatible oil or grease. I use Labelle oil (I forget the item number)
which is plasic compatible. I then run the engines at half speed each
way for 10 min. on the club layout. Nowadays I use this method only on
Athearn and few other engines.
I have found though that in the last years, manufacturing methods have
improved. Engines from Kato, Proto2000, Stewart, Roco, the new Lima,
run fine right out of the box, so I leave them alone and deal with
them when I do maintenance (which is a few years away).
As for your engine, if it is from the latest production, that is,
center motor, one or two flywheels, both truck powered, I would leave
it alone and just run it around by itself as stated above. I have the
new Italian engine 656 Caimano from Lima and I did not have to
lubricate it at all (I did open it anyway because I am thinking of
putting constant lighting).
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 08/10: Double heading
DOUBLE HEADING
How do I tune two engines for double-heading operation?
One solution is to use a computer controlled command control system.
This would allow the computer to control each locomotive in such a
way that everything runs together smoothly regardless of the DC
response of the individual engines, as long as you don't try to run
the consist faster than the slowest loco will go. This should also
improve reliability of pushers and mid train helpers.
The cheap and dirty way:
Run heavy trains with all the power at the front end and put the
faster locos in front, so all the couplers will be in tension at all
times. This works OK if the differance between the engines is not
too bad. If it is a gross mismatch, one or locos may not run at all.
...
Obviously to make two engines run the same speed, they must be geared
the same and the motor has to be the same make (generally speaking).
If the speed difference is small (don't ask me the values, please),
the consequences to the engines is minimal. But, if the difference is
great, (eg. Athearn GP9 and Proto2000 FA1), then I would not run them
together and just live with it.
My personal rule of thumb is that in general not to run different
makes engines.
If the trains pulled are long, or the cars are weighted to NMRA
standard, the speed difference should not count much, because both
engines will work to pull the train.
Example: 30 weighted cars going up a steep grade will require 2 or
3 engines. A typical train like that at the club would have a Kato
in front and 2 or 3 Athearns following.
BTW, slower engines, where the differnce is small, are great for using
as helpers. Sometimes at the club we run trains with about 60 cars
and mid-helper engines. We try to put the slower ones as helpers so
that the danger of derailments is minimized.
Another note is that dirty wheels also contribute to difference in
speed. So clean those wheels.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 09/10: Couplers, Kadee
COUPLERS, KADEE
What are Kadee couplers and why should I use them?
Most locomotives and rolling stock come with an industry-standard
coupler - for HO they are X2f (commonly called horn-hook) and for N
they are Rapido. These couplers are only suitable for those who don't
plan to do much switching and coupling/uncoupling of the cars, their
primary advantages being that they are free and require virtually no
adjustment.
Kadee makes a line of more prototypical looking couplers that are
available in all common scales and which are used by most serious
modelers. They are magnetically operated, allowing you to uncouple
cars without touching them. Uncoupling ramps made of permanent
magnets or electromagnets can be positioned at strategic places on
your layout to perform this uncoupling. Rix (another company) sells
an inexpensive magnetic rod which can be held between the cars to
uncouple them without removing them from the tracks. Note that Kadee
couplers are not compatible with the standard couplers, so once you
switch you'll have to convert all of your equipment. In HO the most
common size (#5) costs $2.95 for a package of 4 (2 cars).
------------------------------
Date: 12 Sep 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ OPERATIONS, 10/10: Couplers, screw-type
COUPLERS, SCREW-TYPE
Does anyone have a source for "screw-type" couplers?
I used 3-link and screw couplers in 4mm scale, although the screw
couplers didn't actually screw. A variety of suppliers make them.
They look good, but I found them too fiddley. They are one of the
reasons I moved up to O-scale. My Eric Underhill 0-6-0ST has screw
couplings that actually screw. I think you can get them separately
from Slaters.
...
I think that there is a working metal screw coupling in H0 built by
Brawa. For train compositions that are never separated, there is a
screw coupling imitation by Maerklin (in H0).
In `1' scale, there is a fully functional screw coupler by Maerklin.
It can only be used with a curve radius larger than 210 cm.
...
Marklin sells a box of 50 in HO scale. I orderd a box, but has not
come in yet. That means I have not seen them and do not know exactly
how they work. They do go with the NEM pocket. I will use them with
my Roco passenger cars, since the trains do not get switched that much.
I am using the new Kadee couplers for the NEm pockets and they work
great. Of course they look terrible on European cars.
...
Symoba and Maerklin makes dummy screw coupling imitations for HO NEM
362 coupler pockets. If you use them, the cars becomes permanently
coupled, and has to be turned over if you want to uncouple them. It
has been described in the literature how you modify the NEM 362
pockets to let the couplers be retained by steel wire, enabling
magnetic uncoupling, but everything of course will hang out from the
other car.
...
I can't help you with 3.5mm screwlink couplings, but the following
company supplies working (and non-working) screwlinks for 4mm scale:
Exactoscale Ltd, 29 Crouchmore Avenue, Esher, Surrey KT10 9AS.
The last time I bought some they were #2 for the working pair and #1.50
for a non-working pair. They look very good, and yes, by twisting the
coupling on the working ones, the two links do get closer.
I have to admit that I've only had a fifty percent rate of success with
the working ones, as I tend to get solder into the screw thread, but
maybe you're better with a soldering iron.
Most of Exactoscale's items are concerned with 4mm, 18.83mm gauge,
dead-scale locomotive construction: gearboxes, drive shafts, frame
spacers, sprung hornblocks and so forth; so I don't imagine their
24 page catalogue will hold a great deal of interest to most readers.
Their advert in Model Railway Journal states that the catalogue is
available on payment of #2.00, of which #1.50 is refunded on the first
order over #15.
...
Screw couplings are certainly very common on fine scale British layouts
in both 7mm and and 4mm scales. In 4mm, they are usually somewhat over
scale to ensure that they are robust enough to be used, although for
many years PC made (and may still make - I don't build models in 4mm
any more) etched couplings which are very close to scale dimensions,
but are a little to delicate for continuous use as train couplings.
The Jackson ones are much better for train coupling, but are a bit
overscale.
In 7mm, CCW make a very nice unit, which is very close to scale.
Slaters make a set of lost wax brass castings which I have yet to
build totally satisfactorily (I now throw Slaters screw couplings away,
and replace with CCW). Slaters three link couplings in both 4mm and
7mm although again slightly overscale work and look fine.
Date: 97 Mar 01
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 1, 01/21: Introduction
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.railroad FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
Introduction
Layout, curves
Roadbed, Homasote
Electrical power distribution
Track, glueing
Layout planning software
Track, ballast glueing
Track, ballast, material
Curves, prototypical
Roadbed, bending cork
Track, bending
Track, code
Custom turnouts
Track, detection units
Track, electrical gaps
Track, flex
Track, nickel silver vs brass
Track, soldering
Turnout problems
Turnout numbers
Dust control
------------------------------
Date: 27 Mar 96 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 02/21: Layout, curves
CORK, RADIUS
How do I get the cork to go around curves?
Cork roadbed is typically provided in a split section, thin enough to
follow normal curves in a given radius. One netter suggests soaking
the strips in hot water first. This makes them flexible enough to do
about 8" radius curves before breaking.
CURVES, DRAFTING
How do I make the curve reasonably regular?
Use a pencil on the end of a string and tack the free end of the
string to the track base at the center of the curve (i.e. center of
the circle formed by the curve). Then keep the string taught and draw
the centerline of the curve on the track base with the pencil.
Similar methods use a solid beam instead of string.
...
I find using a metal measuring tape very easy to use. Pin a tack into the
board, and hook the end of the tape onto it.
(Dale Stanbrough, <da...@goanna.cs.rmit.EDU.AU>)
CURVES, KINKING
How do I keep flex track from kinking when I have a joint in the middle of
a curve?
One simple way to REDUCE kinking is to stagger the joint (tends to
happen naturally in curves anyway) so that the actual break in one
rail is an inch or two (or more) away from the break in the other rail.
Sliding the rails so that the break occurs over the ties of only one
of the sections will also help.
joint
================== ============================= <- rails
} } } } } } } } { { { { { { { { <- ties
============================== =================
joint
} = tie from left section
{ = tie from right section
ELIMINATING THE KINK
I solder the two sections together to ELIMINATE the kink. I lay the
first section, and glue it most of the way, leaving a few inches at
end unglued. Then I solder both rails of the two sections together
while the ends are straight. Then I finish gluing the rest of the
first and as much as necessary of the second section.
Concerning soldering rail, still use a metal rail joiner, but then
flow solder into the outside edge of the joiner/rail area. Don't
solder the inside edge, or it will create problems with wheel flanges.
The rail joiner helps hold the rails in alignment while soldering, and
will keep them together should the solder joint fail (due to thermal
expansion or contraction).
A second note about soldering on flex... You'll want to be careful not
to melt the plastic "spikes" (I've melted entire ties). Melting them
will naturally exacerbate kinking/gauge problems. How do you melt
solder (374 deg F) without melting plastic?? Good question! If you are
an expert with a soldering gun, no problem. I've found that using a
100 watt gun helps because it heats the rail fast, so you can get in
and out quickly. Plasitc meltage seems directly proportional to time,
rather than temperature.
Handling flex: I try to keep the sections straight until I really need
them, and then I only bend the section for fitting purposes in the one
place where it's going to go. This way, no pre-kinking gets into the
rail and the rail will on its own seek a smooth curve between the
endpoints. This also helps in making STRAIGHT mainlines. Of course
for old, somewhat overused yards or spurs, you might deliberately kink
up the section first, and then try to lay it as straight as possible...
this produces a good effect when sighted along at track level.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 03/21: Roadbed, Homasote
ROADBED, HOMASOTE
What do I need to know about homasote?
[The following description of Homasote was written by Gregg Fuhriman]
My Experiences
--------------
Homasote is a material made of densely compressed newsprint, and is
usually sold in 4' x 8' x 1/2" sheets. It is also available to the
model railroad hobby as precut roadbed strips. My experience is with
the large sheets, which I purchased from a building supply store. In
1987, one sheet cost around 25 dollars.
I cut it into many 8' strips, using a rotary saw set at 45 degree
angle to get the "ballast slope". The ascii drawing below shows an
edge-on view of how I cut the Homasote sheets:
| |<---- wide enough for track
___________________________________________________________
|\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \|
-----------------------------------------------------------
<---------- 4' ---------->
These strips were then used as-is for straight roadbed. To make curves,
I cut dozens of kerfs crossways about 3/4 of the way through the strip
and about 1/2" apart. The strip could then be "bent" into the desired
curvature by compressing the kerfs on the inside of the curve. The
purpose of this exercise was to reduce wasted Homasote; it is not a
cheap material.
The homasote strips were then glued to plywood sub-roadbed using
carpenter's glue and clamps. I also drove small nails through the
Homasote into the plywood to help hold things in the right position
while the glue dried. Special shapes, like around switch stands, were
shaped by hand using a utility knife to carve the homasote.
Summary of My Experience and Netter's Comments
----------------------------------------------
Benefits of Homasote are that it holds spikes and nails well, and it is
a sound-deadening material to reduce train noise. It glues easily, as
it is a porous material. It is relatively "soft", so it cuts easily.
Cutting this material with a power saw generated piles of fluffy, gray
dust that went everywhere and proved to be a pain to clean up. I
reccommend wearing a dust filter to avoid breathing in the dust and
fluff. Cutting with a utility knife is neater, but more difficult and
tedious as the homosote tends to "grab" the blade (just as it "grabs"
spikes and nails).
Forming curves with the kerf-and-bend method was not 100% successful.
At least half the time the strip would break in two. Also, the
resulting curve is not super smooth ... they are actually several
short straight sections. Heavy sanding can smooth out some of this
(but with more dust).
Other netters have suggested painting the Homasote with a latex paint
to help seal it against moisture (introduced mostly during ballasting,
but also to guard against ambient humidity). Its dimensional stability
with respect to temperature and humidity has been panned, though I
have not noticed problems with my layout so far.
ROADBED, HOMASOTE
I'm starting a first layout in my dorm room (4X6) and I'd like to hear some
of the pros and cons of plywood and homasote for the base of the layout.
Homasote is something you laminate on top of plywood. Don't use it
"free hanging" from the benchwork. If you're using something like L
girder benchwork with cookie-cutter trackbeds, one sheet of plywood
goes quite a way (because you can splice together the cut-outs to make
more track bed.
1/2" or even 3/4" plywood with an overlay of 1/2" Homasote is what I've
seen used on industrial strength layouts. I'm using 1/2" Homasote on
top of 3/8" plywood on my layout -- the downside of this is that it
takes more supporting risers to get a decently rigid roadbed with
thinner plywood.
...
I'd recommend an open framework as being better for landscaping, but if
you're sure you want one big flat area to build on, I'd recommend both:
homasote over plywood over a 1x4 frame. Homasote is much easier to
drive track nails into, not to mention removing them if you want to
re-arrange your trackwork.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 04/21: Electrical power distribution
POWER, DISTRIBUTION
I have an HO layout power problem. At the furthest parts of the layout there
is a noticable power drop. How can I fix this?
What you need is a power feed to this part of track that needs power.
If you use blocks, each block needs more that one feed from the block
switch. Most people just put the power feed right in the middle of the
block. Instead, the feed should be split in two (or more) and one be
put towards one end of the block and the other towards the other end
of the block. More feeds, less chance of having power drops.
At my club, each joint has a wire jumper, and the joint itself is not
soldered. This controls the expansion/contraction of the rail in the
heat/cold environment.
...
Run a second pair of wires off of your transformer and attach them at
the farthest point of track, or at the point where the engine seems to
be slowest. This should allow the bad connections, or resistance of
the track to be eliminated.
...
Don't depend on track to carry your power to the ends of the world
(layout). The conductivity of track isn't that good, and NS (Nickel-
Silver) is even worse than brass. I've been told that code 100 NS
track has the same conductivity as a #22 copper wire. NS is recommended
over brass however for it's lack of corosion. What you should be using
is feeder wires from the track down to a point below the layout, and a
fairly heavy gauge wire to carry the power to the feeders. Our club
has a policy where we drop a feeder wire at every point where two
tracks join. This insures that every section of track has at least
one feeder wire connected to it, and is some insurance against "dead"
sections. I like to solder the feeder wire to the bottom of the track
connector. That way the wire is not seen on top. We use #10 stranded
wire to carry power to the feeders.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 05/21: Track, glueing
TRACK, GLUEING
My track doesn't have holes in the ties for nails. How do I hold it in place?
A construction cement called "Liquid Nails" will hold the cork and
track in place. Just a thin coating of this with the track pressed
down onto it will set in about 30 secconds... even with the 8"
radius curves which the flex track will not hold on its own.
An alternative is to use white glue spread with a finger over the
surface of the cork. You will need temporary pins along the track to
hold it in place while it dries.
------------------------------
Date: Most: 20 Mar 94, updated 97 Mar 01
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 06/21: Layout planning software
Other information at:
The Webville and Hypertext Railroad Company,
Signal System: Rail-related Software at <http://he.net//%7Ecolemanc/soft.html>
Sillub Technology, a Computer Aided Layout Design program for Model Railroaders
at <http://www.sillub.com>, e-mail <sil...@sillub.com>.
Sebastien Marchant, at <http://www.mis.enac.fr/%7Emarchant/>
has written a freeware program for drawing track plans on a computer.
Sandia Software, Beginning Railroad Design, at
<http://sandiasoftware.com/design.htm>
===============================================================================
Layout planning software
===============================================================================
ABRACADABRA, DESIGN YOUR OWN TRAIN
Could someone please give me the name of the Abracadabra product that is like
"flight simulator for trains", i.e., the one that lets you simulate being the
engineer on a layout you program into it. There are several products on the
market with similar sounding names and when I call around to try and find it
at one of the local software houses I want to make sure that I'm asking for
the correct one.
"Design Your Own Train" and "Run Your Own Train" are a pair of
programs that let you do what you say. RYOT gives you a "hogger's eye
view" of the road; that is, the view is supposedly that which you
would see from the cab.
"Design Your Own Railroad" allows you to create a layout complete with
scenery, then run trains on the tracks. You only get a bird's eye
view, though.
I personally have used DYORR, and recommend it. I have not used DYOT
or RYOT, but have heard that they are less sophisticated products. Of
course, if you are determined to have the flightsim-style view out the
windshield, RYOT is your only choice.
All three products are published by Abracadata software, (800)
451-4871. It's cheaper to order the products from MicroWarehouse,
however: (800) 367-7080.
[Editor's note: I've also seen advertisements for products which look
more like CAD packages tailored to model railroading. A review would
be most appreciated.]
REALROAD
REALROAD from Digital Power is a locomotive simulator that operates
model railroad trains. With this program, you enter information about
the type of train you want to simulate. REALROAD uses this information
and monitors throttle, brake switch, direction switch and many other
user settings to control the model train, making it perform just as a
real train of the same type would. It works with existing 8- to 20-volt
dc model railroad and track wiring. No modifications are necessary.
An interactive calibration procedure allows the program to learn about
each model locomotive.
REALROAD comes with enough information to simulate 150 locomotives.
Freight and passenger-car information is also included. You can modify
or add to the list of possible cars, as desired. Multiple locomotives
can be combined on the same train with varying numbers of cars, proving
*(?-providing?)* virtually endless train simulation possibilities.
REALROAD's controller card installs in an empty PC/compatible slot,
while power-supply and track connections are made via a terminal strip
on the back of the card.
------------------------------
Date: 02 Aug 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 07/21: Track, ballast glueing
BALLAST, GLUEING
When handlaying track, how/when do you folks glue down the ballast?
Some people ballast their trackwork after they have layed the ties
but have not yet layed the track and some lay the ties and ballast
the track at the same time. Although I have never layed ties and
ballast at the same time, I have ballasted before laying track.
Basically what I do is the following:
1. cut all of the ties to length
2. sand all of the tie ends smooth
3. stain all of the ties one of three colors
4. glue the ties down
5. spread all of the ballast, making sure that
none goes above the tie tops
6. fix the ballast using the standard
wet-water/glue method
7. lay the track
This process is nice in that there is no way to glue your points
shut. However, you do have to be careful to make sure the
ballast does not interfere with laying the rail, so I don't know
if you coul model fresh ballast where the ties are buried. It
is also difficult to model old branch lines where the ties have
sunk into the ground. But for modeling logging lines or older
mainlines, it works beautifully.
When staining ties, I like to have three colors of stain to give
some variety. I usually stain about 75% of the ties one color,
20% of the ties a lighter color and 5% of the ties a darker color.
The lighter color represents older ties while the darker color
represents newer ties. Because I model logging lines, my 75% is
a silvery gray color (20 parts alcohol:1 part grimy black), the
20% is a lighter gray color (20 parts alcohol:1 part gray) and
the 5% is a fresher wood color (20 parts alcohol:1 part dark tan).
...
Ballast is added in the same fashion for both handlaid and
prefabricated track. The roadbed is prepared and the track laid in
position using your favorite method before any ballast is added. The
method described below also works just as well for grass, dirt, etc.
in the rest of the layout.
There are several methods, but the basic idea is to spread the ballast
in place (I use a cheap 1" paintbrush to shape it), soak it with some
sort of wetting agent, and then flow a fixative into it. Variants
abound - this is a FAQ in the model railroading magazines as well, so
look there for alternatives.
The most common wetting agent is tap water with a drop or two of
standard dishwashing liquid added to cut the surface tension (the
water will just bead up otherwise and won't soak the ballast). This
can be sprayed on with a *fine* mister or carefully dripped on with an
eye dropper. The most common fixative is a 50-50 mixture of white
glue and water, again with a drop of detergent. This is dripped onto
the ballast and allowed to dry. All of the water will evaporate, so
the ballast should be as wet as possible without floating it away;
otherwise you may just glue down a top crust which will chip away
later.
...
1) Get a small paintbrush with loose bristles about the width of the
inside of the track.
2) Get a really fine grind, almost dust-like.
3) Mix up in a spray bottle half white glue and half water with a
little more glue than water.
4) Fill another spray bottle with water.
[Usually it is a good idea to add a drop of dishwashing detergent or
rubbing alcohol to the water to reduce the surface tension and allow
the water to penetrate the ballast better. Ed.]
5) Spray the grind with the water to compact it so when you apply glue &
water mixture it doesn't blow all over.
6) Spray with glue & water mix. Do small sections when doing track.
7) When doing gravel roads or grass, do large sections.
8) Take your time and be patient.
9) Have Fun!!!! 8^)
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 08/21: Track, ballast, material
BALLAST, MATERIAL
Who makes good ballast material, and do you mix/combine several coarsenesses
or make it uniform?
Woodland Scenics is probably the most popular brand, but at least one
poster described it as looking like kitty litter; a bit harsh but not
far from the mark in my opinion. Their finest grade should be used by
N and HO scales, and it's really too coarse for N.
The other major source is actual rock. You can just walk outside if
you live in the area you model, you can try the local quarry or gravel
operation to see if you can get a small sample, or you can order it
from several operations which advertise in the model railroading
magazines. If you use real rock you must crush it, sift it to size,
and then remove any ferrous particles with a magnet.
Note that most real railroads use ballast that is available locally,
so the color of your ballast will differ based on the area modelled.
Most of it is a standard gray, but iron ore roads have a distinct
reddish hue, and RMC just finished a series about a marble quarrying
railroad which used marble chips!
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 09/21: Curves, prototypical
CURVES, PROTOTYPICAL LAYOUT
I have a question about track laying and rail curvature. I am under the
understanding that rail curves on prototypes are designated by degrees of
curvature. Does this mean that a curve in the track points the train in
a new direction X degrees from the way it was going? If so doesn't this
have to occur in a specific distance to indicate the sharpness of the curve?
Yes indeed. The measure is in "degrees per chain", where a chain
is an engineers chain (a unit of distance equal to 100 feet and
traditionally measured with a chain).
Just to keep things confused, land surveyors also measure distance
in chains (and rods!), but a surveyors chain is not the same as an
engineer's chain!
Think of trying to survey a railroad line. You can't just stick a
compass point in the ground at the center of the desired curve and
scribe the centerline of the track, the sizes are just too large, and
in addition, your surveyors frequently can't leave the right-of-way
for fear of death because the adjoining landowners are furious about
the condemnation proceedings by which the right-of-way was just
obtained.
Instead, what you do is work your way down the right-of-way pounding
stakes into the ground every chain (100 feet!) to indicate where the
centerline of the track belongs. The grading crew follows you and
tries to make a level grade along the line you've surveyed (with the
help of a leveling crew that uses different surveying instruments,
specifically, levels), and then another survey crew follows,
re-marking the centerline on the top of the grade for the tracklayers.
To do curves, you set your transit over one stake and sight back at
the previous stake (let's assume it was on the tangent, for simplicity).
Then you invert the transit to make it point along the same line, but
in the forward direction, and rotate it by the number of degrees in the
specified curve. Your partner is standing at the other end of a chain
anchored to your stake, and you signal him with your hands to shift
left or right until he is on the mark, whereupon he drives a stake.
You then pick up your transit and your end of the chain, walk to the
new stake, and repeat the process.
Of course, it gets more complicated on rough terrain.
The angle between the two stakes (spaced 100ft apart) with the center
of curvature as the vertex is equal to the "degree" of the curve. The
angle of the right triangle (stake,center,P) is one half of the
"degree" of the curve. Thus with "d" = the "degree" of the curve,
"r" = the radius in feet, and sin and arcsin calculated in degrees we
have:
d = 2 arcsin(50ft/r)
or solving for r
50ft/sin(d/2) = r
stake
|\ ^
/ | | |
/ | \ |
/ 50ft| |track |
/ |P | |
center ----------------| 100ft
\ | | |
\ 50ft| | |
\ | / |
\ | | |
|/ v
stake
|<----- r ----->|
Note: The 100ft is measured along the cord of the curve, .i.e. a
straight line, not along the curve, making "180 degrees" (r=50ft)
the sharpest curve that can be expressed in "degrees".
One benefit of surveying curves this way is that, if the track needs
to make a total curve of, say, 10 degrees, as measured between the
tangents at each approach to the curve, all you do to determine the
number of surveying stations between the start of the curve and the
end of the curve is divide the total curve by the number of degrees
allowed as the maximum curvature. Thus, for the example 10 degree
curve, if the maximum allowed curve is a 2 degree curve, then there
will be 5 survey stations that must be offset by 2 degrees each to
make the total curvature.
Approach spirals into tight curves can be worked out similarly. To
start a 9 degree curve (that's pretty sharp), you might require one
survey station at 3 degrees, one at 6 degrees, and then 9 degrees per
station from there on into your spiral, and then work your way back
to a tangent with a 6 degree step and a 3 degree step.
...
Just to confuse matters a bit, _Track and Turnout Engineering_ by G.M.
Kurtz mentions that in mountainous terrain the Southern Pacific used a
50 foot chain for curves and in flatter terrain used the usual 100
foot chain.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 10/21: Roadbed, bending cork
ROADBED, BENDING CORK
How do you bend cork roadbed?
I have found it useful to soak the cork in hot water first, and then
bend it while wet. (As per Life Like's instructions on their package).
I was fortunate that the glue I was using (Liquid Nails) was able to
bond securely even to the wet cork. I was using N scale roadbed and
was able to do about 8" radius curves without breaking the cork.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 11/21: Track, bending
TRACK, BENDING
I've heard that you have to be careful laying curves so that you end up
with a smooth curve instead of a series of chords going from one tie to the
next. So how do people bend smooth curves? I know that there are expensive
rail bending machines available (sounds pretty specialized, and definately
beyond my means).
A rail bending machine is easy to build. As long as you're laying wide
radius curves, you won't need one. Balance a meter or so of rail on
your finger and let it droop under the influence of gravity, whatever
scale you're in, even up to prototype sized rail, you'll get it
drooping to a wide radius curve! Actually, your finger won't
comfortably hold a meter of prototype rail, and you can safely spike
rail in curves significantly tighter than the arc to which it sags,
but let's get on with it!
Suppose you're building a curve that does need pre-bent rail. Most LGB
stock curved track is in this class, most HO stock track isn't, but if
you're building scale models of streetcar track or turntables, you'll
need a rail bender in almost any scale you work in.
Here's how to build one:
Take three pieces of square wood stock (2 cm or 3/4 inch thick for HO,
4 cm or 1.5 inch thick for O, 6 cm or 2.5 inch thick for G), make the
pieces 5 or more times longer than they are thick, and glue and nail
them to a solid base like so:
_____ _____ _____
| || || | The middle piece should be free to slide
| || || | but very snugly held between the outside
| ||_____|| | pieces. The two outside pieces should
__|/////|_______|/////|__ be solidly glued and nailed to the base.
| |
| |
|_________________________|
Next, build three "pullies" out of stacks of washers rotating on wood
screws. Each pully should look like this:
_
__ | | _
/ |__| |_| |__________
( | | | | \ __ This screw should not quite come through
( __| |_| |__________/ your wood square stock when screwed in.
\__| | | |_|
|_| \ This washer (or stack of washers) should be a tiny bit
\ thicker than the foot of the rail
\
This washer (or stack of washers) should be a bit thinner
than the gap between rail head and rail foot, so it rides
against the side of the web of the rail. This washer
should stick out above the smaller washer enough to keep
the foot of the rail from running into the smaller
washers as this washer rolls (or slides) along the web
of the rail.
Now, screw one screw (with its stack of washers) into each piece of
square stock, about 1/3 of the way in from one end; don't overtighten
them, since you want to leave the washers able to roll along the edge
of the rail.
From above, it should look like this when done:
___________________________
| |
| (O) |
|___________________________|_
| | |
| | (O) | < the sliding member can be slid
|_|___________________________| in and out with a bit of effort
| |
| (O) |
|___________________________|
Now you can start bending rail. Clamp the bender in a vise with the
slider offset about like is shown and try to force a length of rail so
it goes under one guide washer, over the middle one, and under the
final one, with the foot of the rail against the boards and the rail
head away from the boards. Adjust the offset of the slider until you
can just manage to shove rail through, and the three guide washers will
put a uniform bend on the rail.
You'll find that you can only bend the rail a bit on each pass through
the bending fixture, and the limit on how much you can bend it is
determined by how hard you can shove the rail in. Don't pull the rail,
you'll lose control of the radius that way. Shove it through, and
after each pass, slide the slider a bit farther to tighten the radius
on the next pass.
I used this approach to bend perfect circles of rail for a turntable
ring rail, and I figure it's good for many more applications.
Note that the washers should be nice and round, with no flats or rough
spots. If they have flats or rough spots, they're likely to slide over
the web of the rail instead of rolling, and that'll make it much harder
to push the rail through. For larger sizes of rail, you might want to
grease the washers.
------------------------------
Date: 02 Aug 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 12/21: Track, code
TRACK, CODE
What does the "code" associated with track mean?
This is the height of the rail, expressed in thousandths of an inch.
Code 100 rail (common in HO) is 0.100 inches high. This is equivalent
to prototype rail weighing 152 pounds per yard, which is larger than
almost all rail used by real railroads in the United States. Advanced
modelers typically use rail sizes closer to that used on the
prototype, as shown below:
----------------------------------------------------
Nominal | Mass | Scale | Scale | Scale |
Scale | Market | Mainline | Branch | Mining |
----------------------------------------------------
G, #1 | .330 | .250 | .175 | .125 |
----------------------------------------------------
O | .175 | .148 | .100 | .070-083 |
----------------------------------------------------
S | .148 | .125 | .083 | .055-070 |
----------------------------------------------------
HO/OO | .100 | .070-083 |.055-070 | .040 |
----------------------------------------------------
N | .080 | .055 | .040 | n/a |
---------------------------------------------------
Z | .062 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
----------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 13/21: Custom turnouts
TRACK, CUSTOM TURNOUTS
What advice can you give me on making custom turnouts?
I've made a number of turnouts including a double crossover that leads
into a double-slip switch for a yard throat. (I did not make the
double slip, just the crossover, but it was still an alignment
challenge.) Iv'e used several methods and find the best one involves
soldering the rail to PC board ties. This is the only way I have found
to get the rail in correct alignment and keep it there. I've tried
just spiking the rail to various materials as well as various contact
cements. The latter are applied to the rail, allowed to dry, and then
heated with a soldering iron to soften the glue as the rail is pressed
into place. This last method works for running rail in code 55 and 40,
and you can put down quite a bit of rail in a hurry. But I find it is
too much trouble to get and keep alignment in turnouts.
The best article I have seen on turnout building is by Ed Stimpson Jr.
in the May 1978 Model Railroader, titled: Maintenance-free turnouts,
beginning on p. 62. You should be able to get this from any
decent-sized library. If not, ask for the interlibrary loan librarian.
I have tried these techniques and they work. To summarize the article,
you begin with a paper pattern. Glue PC ties at strategic points along
the length of the turnout. Obviously, important spots are at the frog.
Many turnout problems are in the area of the frog and guard rails. The
most important tool is a NMRA gauge. Be sure the various gauges are
correct. If you are not a perfectionist, don't bother to make your own
turnouts. Quick-and-dirty or good-enough approaches eventually lead to
trouble. Further, it is not a way to save money if your time is
valuable. There might be some savings if you are making a hundred and
can set up jigs and do mass production.
BTW, I do not like making turnouts in place on the benchwork as this
is hard on my back, but many track layers prefer this method. This
way, each turnout is custom-fitted to its location. The techniques in
the article work for either method.
I deviate from the article when making the points themselves. I bend a
piece of rail to the opposite or reverse of the angle needed (sorry I
don't know the term... I flunked geometry). Then I file the bent part
to a straight line until it is almost all the way through. Then I fold
the rail backwards toward the filed-down part to form the point. Sorry
it won't illustrate in ascii. Imagine bending your arm slightly, then
filing your elbow down to almost nothing, then forcing your arm
backwards so the outside of your forearm touches your triceps (ouch!).
The straight rail is laid first, then the points are soldered in
place, followed by the closure rails and the outside curved rail.
Guard rails are added last. Gauge on the guard rails is important as
they keep the flange on the other wheel from hitting or picking the
points. Finally, the coper on the PC ties is slit to prevent shorts
across the rails. There is more to it than this, and I suggest you
find a copy of the article. Making yor own is often the only way to
solve a special problem, and it's not all that hard.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 14/21: Track, detection units
TRACK, DETECTION UNITS
How should I go about setting up a track detection system?
Get a copy of Bruce Chubb's book "Building Your Own Universal
Computer Interface" available from Tab or Walther's. This is a
further development from his series several years ago in MR about
the Model Railroad Computer Interface.
He describes the system in there. If all you need is a track detector,
this book also includes a description of his circuit that is compatable
with command control systems.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 15/21: Track, electrical gaps
TRACK, ELECTRICAL GAPS
What are the recommended methods of installing/cutting/maintaining electrical
gaps?
Here on the NEB&W, we use handlaid trackage, but we still have a large
number of gaps, especially since we use solid metal frogs. And what do
we do about the gaps? The answer is...nothing. That's right, nothing.
Our gaps are just that, gaps. In fact, a little over a week ago I cut
a curved number 10 turnout into the mainline, and there is a 1/8" gap
right off the frog on the mainline route. And it ran perfectly during
all twelve hours of our weekly open houses. In fact, the only problem
we had with it was due to the angle of the frog. Being such a shallow
angle, I had to install the guide rails to keep the wheels from taking
the wrong route in the frog. After I did that, there were no further
problems. And, all of our curved mainline turnouts are superelevated,
which makes it all the more difficult.
On a layout like ours, where we have no humidity control, the gaps
should be left open to allow for the expansion of the rail and the
benchwork. As long as the rail is spiked securely in place, open gaps
will prove no problem.
It also means that areas like turnouts, crossings, etc. and other
special trackwork won't be knocked out of gauge by expansion problems.
...
I have a small (3' X 4') N scale layout with mostly hand-laid track.
Generally I cut gaps using a moto-tool cutoff wheel which makes nice
straight, narrow gaps. I usually use a small shim of styrene that is
epoxied in place to fill the gap. The styrene is easy to file down to
the contour of the rail and can be painted to become invisible.
As the layout is small, gaps are only about 2-4 feet apart and the
amount of expansion and/or contraction would be minimal. For longer
sections, I would probably leave the gaps open as the plastic filler
might not be flexible enough to take the compression and rails between
the gaps would buckle slightly out of allignment.
...
Here's a technique that works for me:
1) spike track securely in vicinity of gap
2) cut gap (if it wasn't built-in in the first place)
3) fill gap with epoxy cement
4) when set, paint over epoxy with rail color
[Some railroads fill their own rail gaps with epoxy. Painting is
optional]
...
If the gap is on a curve, (to be avoided if possible) I puddle some
epoxy on around where the joint will be, let it cure.
I allow for expansion by allowing the "normal" rail joints on straight
track to be a little loose and only solder joints on curves, to keep
the rail ends in line. I then run a pair eighteen gauge wires under
the track to serve as a bus and run feeders up from this to connect
to EVERY piece of rail on the layout. Nickle-silver dosn't oxidize
very quickly, but it is not a very good conductor.
...
I cut my gap, usually using a Dremel cutoff wheel. Then I take a flat
or square, not round, toothpick and push it into the gap. I then "set
it" with some white Elmer's or furniture glue. Next day, I trim up
the toothpick to conform to the rail contour and have a permanent,
fixed gap. Have some that are still good, AND, for all purposes
unseen, for over 20 years.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 16/21: Track, flex
TRACK, FLEX
What should I know when laying flex track?
I used a construction cement "Liquid Nails" to hold my cork and track.
Just a thin coating of this with the track pressed down onto it will
set in about 30 secconds... even under said 8" radius curves (and my
flex does not hold curves on its own).
And about Liquid Nails, the stuff skins over fairly quickly (couple of
seconds) but will remain usable for a couple of minutes. Just make
sure you press the track down into it firmly and you should have no
problem.
...
To join track on a curve, solder it while straight, and then bend it.
You're best off avoiding joints on curves as much as possible.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 17/21: Track, nickel silver vs brass
TRACK, NICKEL SILVER VS. BRASS
Nickel-silver vs. brass: what are the issues?
Nickel-silver is a copper-nickel alloy (mostly copper), considered to
be metalurgically similar to brass but superior in corrosion
resistance. Brass oxidizes rapidly to a non-conducting surface, which
means that power will not reach the locomotives or cars, resulting in
stalls. Both forms of track will accumulate other gunk on them,
requiring some form of cleaning. In general, nickel silver is much
better than brass, and is worth the small extra cost.
The more recently developed alloys used in high-quality G scale track
are much less corrosion-prone. Brass is sometimes favored over
nickel-silver for outdoor use, because it expands and contracts
somewhat less with changes in temperature.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 18/21: Track, soldering
TRACK, SOLDERING
Anybody have any advice on soldering HO rail?
If you join the two piece of rail with metal rail joiners, then solder
the join, the solder will flow much more smoothly. This assumes you're
using nickel-silver or brass rail of course! Make sure that the
soldering iron heats all three metal parts (ie. both rail ends and the
rail joiner) to the same temp before applying the solder, and it should
be drawn into the space inside the rail joiner without any trouble.
Note that solder is not a very good gap filler, so if you've got gaps
larger than about 0.5mm or so, you'll waste your time trying to fill
them with solder without having a bulging great lump of solder in the
way of the wheel flanges.
Also note that you should still have non-soldered gaps every metre of
so to prevent the solder joins fracturing due to expansion and
contraction. Ideally, straight track should have NO directly soldered
rail joints, but you should use bridging wires to leave the rail ends
free to move. Curved track will usually need to have soldered joins
unless you're particularly skilled at spiking rail on curves.
...
I am one of the proponents that do not believe in soldered joiners.
Joiners should be left free to move and expand as nature dictates.
Joiners are a mechanical way to join two pieces of rail, and should be
just that. They should not be electric current carriers. No matter how
good the contact is, it will eventually fail due to oxidation.I believe
that the "bus" method (ie. a wire line that follows each section or
block around the layout) is the only reliable method to power a layout,
but that is my own opinion. There are a few different approaches to
dispense power to all sections on a layout.
A lot of people will say that it is a waste of time to solder the wire
under the layout to the track, but think of the fewer headaces you will
have with electric problems.
I would like to give two examples:
1) NTrak and modules in general (no explanation here).
2) At the club I am a member of, the layout was built in the early
50's. The HO mainline is still the original one. It is code 100
brass and has 3 major blocks. Rail is laid down and spiked on True
Scale patterns (cannot think of the name). I do not know how long
the main line is but we had a train with 98 cars (we run mostly
modern cars) and 10 engines pulling and it occupied just less of a
half of the main line. Each rail is joined but not soldered.
Back then they used a method used in O gauge layouts. A piece of wire
was soldered near the end of each rail, connecting electrically the two
rails. Talking to the old members, they hardly had any problems as far
as power flow is concerned (shorts yes). The only problems of power
flow were due to failure of the solder joints. Even now, after 40+
years we find the need to re-join some of the wire with new solder
(after a good cleanup), although most of them are still the original
solder joints.
Performance is very reliable, and that is what counts in the end.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 19/21: Turnout problems
TRACK, SWITCHES
What problems can I have with switches and how do I avoid them?
I have found problems with Atlas switches. The flangeways don't seem
to be deep enough through the frog, and the large plastic frogs can
cause engines to stall. Also, the switch machine housing sticks up too
far, and can entangle steam locomotives with wide draft gear.
Use Peco or Shinohara turnouts for N scale; they run and look much
better. Also, if you are nailing down the track, allow a little room
under the nail head for the switch to "float"; putting the track nails
all the way in can distort the rails.
...
My first fault was that I tacked down the turnout. If the turnout is
allowed to "float" it will operate better.
Second, use a jewlers file, and file the points of the turnout, this
was described in MR a few years ago.
The third thing I did was to get rid of the N scale electric switches.
I was lucky that my local hobby shop took them back. I traded them in
for the HO below ground throws, and some piano wire. I cliped the
plastic pin off at the base but befort the cone on the HO machine. I
then cut the piano wire about 2" long, then using an iron, heated the
piano and forced it into the cone stub. I then installed the machine,
with the piano wire fitting in to the turnouts throwbar (between the
rails). Once the machine was secured to the underside of the layout,
I then trimmed the piano wire (about .05) above the throwbar.
This made the turnouts not only work better but look better. For a
finishing touch I cemented pieces of ties (left over from flex track)
next to the turnout for switch stands.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 20/21: Turnout numbers
TRACK, TURNOUT NUMBERS
What does the number associated with a turnout mean? What's the difference
between, say, a #4 turnout and a #6 turnout?
The number is based on the angle between the straight and diverging
tracks. Skipping the exact definition, a #4 turnout is generally the
sharpest practical size and is equivalent to an 18" curve. #6s and
#8s are more gradual and are typically used on larger layouts both
because they look more realistic and because longer equipment will
work better on them.
Traction models and models in the smallest scales (N and Z) can often
get good results with much smaller turnout numbers, down to #2.5 in
common usage.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING, 21/21: Dust control
DUST CONTROL
Can anyone recommend a method of controlling dust on a layout?
Short of covering up the layout after each use, a better method is to
have the layout set up so that it's viewed almost from eye level AND
has a 'roof' over it about 0.5 to 1 metre (2 to 3 feet) completely
covering the layout.
If you've ever seen articles on shelf-style layouts built at eye
level, you'll notice that a lot have the scenery 'wrapping over' the
top of the layout.
I've got no permanent layout, but the small yard I have built on the
workbench in the garage has a wall-mounted cupboard over one end, and
it's amazing how dust-free this area stays. The section that's not
covered over by this cupboard collects a lot of dust, dead insects, etc.
...
A couple of years ago Jack Burgess wrote in RMC how he licked the
dust problem on his layout (located in a CA garage.) As I recall,
he did some weathersealing of the garage door (not 100%), carpeted
the floor (concrete _creates_ dust as it is walked upon), and
lastly, he installed electrostatic air purifiers that run constantly.
Date: 17 Nov 96 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 01/05: Introduction
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.railroad FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 02/05: Introduction
FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 02/05: Layout design
FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 03/05: Benchwork - Tools, Girders and Legs
FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 04/05: Benchwork - Joists, Risers and Roadbed
FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 05/05: Comments
------------------------------
Date: 22 Jul 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 02/05: Layout design
This, and the two following sections on benchwork comes from
Frank Kastenholz, who as an introduction writes this:
I'm going through the process of building a railroad right now.
I thought that as I went throught the process I'd journal
any hints and the like that I've discovered during construction.
As of 17 April 1994 I've got a design complete, and I have
the L-Girders, legs, major joists (i.e. enough to hold everything
together under the 'stresses' of construction), and plywood
'surfacing' is in place. I've chosen to build using the
'cookie cutter' method on a plywood base. I'm using plywood
because I couldn't find any Homasote. I'm doing cookie cutter
for two reasons: 1) I do not have enough
space to set up a second work-area to cut roadbed strips out
of the plywood -- with cookie cutter I can put the plywood
on top of the joists and cut it in situ and 2) I'm doing
an urban setting so most everyplace will have horizontal surfaces
anyway.
As of 17 May, the benchwork is pretty much done. I still
have some trimming and minor adjusting to do, as well as
adding any supports or joists that I find that I need.
As of 13 June, the main line (cork roadbed and track) is in
place and I am starting to thoroughly test the track.
As of 6 July, I've thoroughly tested the mainline trackwork
and have started working on the wiring.
Anyway, here are some hints and tips that I've developed during
design and construction:
DESIGN
======
1. Read and thoroughly comprehend "Track Planning for Realistic
Operation" by John Armstrong (Model Railroad Handbook Series #6,
Second Edition, Kalmbach Books 1979, ISBN 0-89024-504-5).
2. Read and thoroughly comprehend "Track Planning for Realistic
Operation" by John Armstrong (Model Railroad Handbook Series #6,
Second Edition, Kalmbach Books 1979, ISBN 0-89024-504-5).
(In case you missed it the first time :-)
3. As you do the design, make cheat-sheets. These save huge amounts
of shuffling through books and recalculating numbers and the like.
What I've done is photocopy Figures 5-1, 5-8, 5-9, and 8-9 out
of Armstrong's book (Standards {such as minimum radii} for different
types of line, Crossover dimensions, Grade Chart, and Turnout
Dimensions, respectively). I've also made out a sheet of paper with
various useful calculations pre-computed on it -- stuff like
rises for a given length of track at a given percent grade, linear
distance around curves for things like 30, 45, 60, 90, and 180
degrees of curve at various useful radii, and so on. I'd suggest
that you put these cheat sheets on colored paper so that they
will be easily found among the piles of paper that you generate
as you design.
4. Take your time with the design. At this point, things are very easy
to change. You should also use this time to get as much input as
you can, reading books, looking at other layouts, looking at the real
things, and so on. I spent about a year doing the design work,
probably with about 10 fairly detailed track plans and maybe another
20 rough sketches, and did plans for 2 different rooms. No doubt
my friends and family thought that this would be entirely a paper
endeavor...
5. Make a very carefully drawn diagram of the space you have and then
photocopy that diagram. You are going to go through several
iterations and it is easier to put a failed plan aside and start
on a fresh piece of paper than it is to erase the failed plan,
or make another drawing of the space. This also gives you a history,
letting you refer back to see what ideas didn't work out and what
ideas did in previous iterations.
6. Leave space in the design. Inaccuracies, errors, and so on will creep
into things at every stage of the effort. If you want to try
something that needs the exact amount of space that's available, you
will probably end up being disappointed. Rooms are not square, walls
are not straight, all the errors add up. Under-design for your
space.
I've designed my layout to fit into a space that is 6" (about 15cm)
smaller in each dimension. I can always expand the layout to fit
into the extra space.
I've also designed into the 'critical' track work places where some
track can be removed, making things smaller, without adversely
affecting my basic design rules.
With luck you will end up with more space than you planned for. I
am sure that you will have no problem filling that space. If you are
not lucky, then the plan that you have made should still fit.
7. When making plans for the benchwork, remember that l-girders and
their webs, legs, and joists all have width -- don't draw them as
single straight lines.
8. Your paper plan should be considered only a final first draft of the
final plan. Draw a full size version of the plan, preferably on big
pieces of paper on the floor of the actual space to be occupied by
the layout. Unfortunately due to space constraints I did not have
this option -- I've had to build the benchwork 'on faith' that things
will more or less fit. I'll put the plywood surface in place and then
draw the plan on that.
9. When doing the design, select grades that are easy to measure
directly. If you have a sophisticated, culturally advanced measuring
system available, such as the Metric system, this is easy, 10mm in
1 meter is a 1% grade... For those of us living in more backwards
portions of the world, who have to make do with the English
system, a 2% grade is just under 1/4" per foot, a 3% grade is just
3/8" per foot. By choosing grades that are easily measured like
this, you will make setting the elevations in the benchwork much
easier.
10. When doing the design, remember that you will have to be able
to conveniently reach and work on every spot of the layout. Leave
ample room for aisles and access holes and place them so that all
parts of the layout are within easy reach.
Simply being able to reach some spot to put a car back on the rails
is not sufficient. In fact, this is a relatively minor concern
since the trackwork will (hopefully) be good enough so that there
will be no derailed cars. Of more importance is to be able to reach
spots to install and clean the track, work on the scenery and so on.
Another facet of this is to arrange the layout so that the taller
elements are farther from the access spot than the lower elements.
In one place on my layout I have some elevated track that is right
next to the aisle, with 'ground level' track behind it. As soon as
I put in a temporary structure to hold the elevated tracks, I could
see that the arrangement was 'suboptimal' and I will probably
rearrange it when I build the permanent structure.
11. When placing turnouts on the plan, don't forget that the switch
machines require room. They take up 'footprint' on the layout
(e.g. an 'above-ground' machine such as from Atlas will require
about 1" by 3" (25mmx75mm) parallel to the turnout). "Underground"
machines will also require 'depth' (e.g. a Tortoise will require
about 6" (150mm) of space for the machine and access). This is
most important when you have multiple levels of track.
------------------------------
Date: 22 Jul 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 03/05: Benchwork - Tools, Girders and Legs
BENCHWORK I -- Tools, Girders, and Legs
=======================================
1. The wood that is available today seems to be softer, and presumably
weaker than that which was available in the past. I've assumed that
Linn Westcott used the strength figures for 'old time' wood in his
benchwork book. As a result, I'd suggest that you use one size
'quantum' larger wood than his book would otherwise recommend.
Not only will this cope with possibly weaker wood, but it will give
you a margin for error.
2. Use screws to put the whole thing together. You'll make mistakes
and simply unscrewing the mistakes is a lot easier and cheaper than
throwing them away.
3. Use 2 drills when you are doing the work. I have one drill with the
screwdriver bit in it and the other with a drill/countersink bit in
it. There are a lot of screws in L-Girder construction. If you
constantly have to change bits, you'll never get anywhere.
4. Make sure that all the benchwork is accessible. I have one section of
benchwork that runs parallel to a wall. I did not want to attach it
to the wall so I built it as a standard L-Girder table -- with the
L-girders attached to the outsides of the legs and the flanges of
the girders facing 'out'. Then I moved the section into position.
About an hour later I had to make some adjustments to the section,
but of course, the screws attaching the 'back' girder to the
legs were facing the wall -- and there was not enough room in behind
them to make the changes. I had to take the section out and rebuild
it so that the back girder was facing the room, making it
accessible.
5. When doing the benchwork construction, make one schematic diagram
with all of the relevant plans on it. This should also have all the
dimensions you need. Then take all other pieces of paper and put them
someplace else. This avoids confusion as to which one has the
right dimensions on it. I had two copies of the benchwork plan
where I was working. One was an early plan and the height marked
on the plan was about 4" (10cm) too high. I built about half the
benchwork too high. Once I discovered the error I had to rebuild
things to be lower. Fortunately it is easier to make a long piece
of wood shorter than to make a short piece of wood longer...
6. The person who invented the big wood clamp that's sort of like
an alligator clip should receive the Nobel Prize for Model
Railroading. These can be put into place and 'clamped' with one
hand, making it real easy to hold things together with one hand
and clamp them with the other. More traditional screw-type clamps
require two hands -- which leaves you one short for holding things
in place while clamping.
Get several of these. 2 is probably an absolute minimum.
4 would probably be optimum. They should be big enough to clamp
l-girders to legs, but not so big that they can not be opened
and manipulated with one hand.
7. At least one pair of bar-clamps is useful for clamping joists
to the l-girder and holding it all in place while you drill pilot
holes and screw them together. The more you have, the better
since you can then clamp the risers to the joists, set the
roadbed's elevations and grades and THEN screw everything together.
8. When assembling the benchwork, I've found that you should build
one section very carefully, making sure that it is level, at the
right height and position, and so on. Then build each successive
section off of what has already been built. This way you are always
working from a known good point in the benchwork. What I did was
as each section was finished, I got the L-Girders for the next
section and put temporary legs on them at about the right height
(connected with clamps so that they were relatively easy to adjust),
then I'd butt the 'new' l-girders to the existing ones, get them
level and then connect them up. Then I'd replace the temporary legs
with the permanent ones.
I never measured the girder height after I built the first section --
I'd just get the girders level and then connect them to wherever they
met the legs.
My layout is roughtly 'C' shaped. The baseline section that I built
was the 'middle' of the C -- then I built the arms out from that
section. When I was done, I checked the level from the end of one
arm to the end of the other arm and the two arms were within 1/4
inch (~6mm) of each other.
------------------------------
Date: 31 May 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 04/05: Benchwork - Joists, Risers and Roadbed
BENCHWORK II -- Joists, Risers, and Roadbed
===========================================
1. If you are setting any sort of grades, a gauge similar to the one
in the February 1994 Model Railroader is extremely useful. The
only addition is to have a longer base available, so that you can
span between risers.
2. I've found that there are two sets of risers that one uses.
One set are the 'first' risers that are used to set the
elevations and grades of the roadbed. These risers are the
ones needed to get the roadbed at the right height. They are
also the hardest to put in since they must be installed before the
roadbed is in place.
The second set are added after the roadbed is in. They deal with
adding additional support where it might be needed, for example,
if the roadbed sags someplace. They are easier to add since the
roadbed can be used to set the height of the riser.
3. When installing the risers, the first ones should be spaced no
farther apart than you can level. For example, if you have a 24"
(600mm) level, then these risers should be no more than 24" (600mm)
apart. This allows you to set the riser-tops by levelling directly
from the one to the next. You could use long pieces of wood for
this, but the wood may have a slight warp and then you would end
up screwing up the grades. Over a long distance, these errors can
add up.
The other way to set riser-tops is to measure up from the top of the
L-girders, but if the L-girders are not level, then you repeat the
error.
4. If there are spots in the layout that must be at certain,
unchangeable, heights (for example, to go under/over fixed
obstacles) then start setting the elevations at those spots.
If you start someplace else, the small errors that occur may
add up and you might find that you do not reach the target
elevation where you should.
5. When splicing sections of plywood roadbed together I've been
using scraps of L-Girder, attached under the roadbed with the
flange facing down and perpendicular to the roadbed joint.
The L-Girder is strong and, because of the flange, will not be
likely to twist or bend, so the roadbed joint will be kept
in alignment.
6. When attaching the roadbed to the riser cleats, I've found that
temporarily screwing the roadbed to the cleat from the top will
hold everything together. Then you can drill the pilot holes
and screw them together from underneath. Then remove the
temporary screw.
You have to firmly hold the roadbed to the cleat while drilling
the pilot holes and screwing them together since the drill bit,
and then the screw, would tend to push the roadbed up, away,
from the cleat. A clamp would work, but sometimes getting the
clamp in the right spot is difficult, and anyway, it would probably
be in the way.
Cork Roadbed
============
Laying the cork roadbed was pretty simply and straight forward.
1. Make sure that the sub-roadbed is clean and reasonably
flat before laying cork on it. Any surface irregularities or
large bits of dirt, sawdust, goop, and the like, can telegraph
themselves up through the cork.
2. After I nailed the cork to the plywood roadbed, I went over it with
a 'shaper' such as a Stanley Surform. This eliminated any significant
irregularities in the cork surface. These irregularities could affect
the track -- causing sudden rises or dips in elevation, or perhaps
raising or lowering one rail with respect to the other. These
These irregularities occur at the joints in the cork -- usually
the butt joint where one strip ends and the next begins, or in
switches and other 'fancy' trackwork where there is a lot of cutting
and fitting. Generally there is little variation side to side since
the two parallel pieces are the same 'strip'.
3. The actual layout should be designed on the sub-roadbed and the cork
laid out on that design. This should all be done as accurately as
possible. The best guide for laying the track has turned out to be
the center seam in the cork.
Track
=====
The track that I am working on is my main line; it is all
double-tracked, code 100, Atlas nickel silver. I thought about doing
code 83, or the like, but I've never worked in code 83 before and since
this layout is my 'return' after about 10 years, I figured I'd better
stick to the more forgiving code 100 until my skills got sharpened.
0. After long thought, I decided that I'd sacrifice 'prototypical
realism' for 'modelling reliability'. Code 100 is bigger than
real life, true. On the other hand, it would be more forgiving
of my rusty track laying skills, of cars and engines that might
have big flanges, or out of gauge wheels and the like.
If the track 'looks good' but suffers constant derailments then
the layout will just sit and gather dust.
I'm not saying "don't use code 83." I am saying that when you select
your track, remember that the real role of the track is to physically
support the trains and to provide an electrical distribution medium
and the track size you select should be one that you feel comfortable
working with to provide this physical support and electrical
distribution. Poor trackwork means poor operation which means an
unhappy model railroader.
1. Lay the track slowly and carefully. Do not rush. If you get tired or
bored or distracted, go do something else. Good trackwork is the key
to having the trains run without derailing. I've found that I can lay
2 or 3 sections of track before my mind starts to wander -- then the
curves aren't quite as smooth as I'd like them to be, the straights
are not quite as straight, and so on.
2. I've been soldering the rail joints. A high-power soldering gun is
preferred here since you want to get the joint up to temperature as
fast as possible. The longer it takes to heat up the joint, the more
time there is for the plastic ties to get gooey and melt and throw
the track out of gauge.
3. I am using Atlas Flextrack. In order to make sure that the track
curves are right, I bought some curve gauges. However, I've found
them to be non-obvious in their use. Basically, if you stick the
gauge between the rails, then the nail-holes are covered up so you
can't nail the track into place. The best method I've discovered
is to use the gauge 'half way'. You place the gauge so that part of
the gauge is in track already of the right curvature (the 'back end'
of the gauge) while the 'leading end' gets the 'new track' properly
lined up. The 'leading edge' of the gauge should come right up to
the next nail-hole, but not obstruct it.
I could machine out a slot along the center of the gauge, but
only thought of this remedy after I started writing these notes
(and well after I'd finished with the track....)
I've found, however, that if you are careful in laying out the
cork roadbed, the center seam of the cork is an excellent guide.
I laid most of my track following the seam and afterwards, after
checking with the curve gauges, found that things were 'just
right'.
4. When soldering the track, keep the tip of the soldering gun very
clean and hold the soldering gun to the inside of the track and
apply the solder to the outside. Enough solder will wick in and
around the rail joiner and into the joint between the rails to hold
everything together. This technique reduces the amount of solder that
gets on the inside of the rail at a position where it could interfere
with wheels running by. Less solder on the inside, means less cleanup.
5. Get a metal wheeled truck and run it constantly over the joints. Any
clicking sounds indicate flaws. A Kadee truck works fairly well for
this.
6. Use your files alot. I've found it convenient to do the filing in
two steps. First, before joining any track, I file all the ends.
Then, after a joint is made, I file the joint so that the railheads
are smooth and there are no obstructions.
Before joining, I file the following spots of the rail:
- Under the base and on the base's shoulders to make sure that there
are no burrs and to put on a bit of a bevel. This ensures that
the rail-joiner will slip easily into place. This is especially
important for the ends that are 'field soldered' since excessive
force in putting on the joiners could kink or misalign track.
- Straight across the end of the rail. This is especially important
if you've cut the rail with rail-cutters. This ensures that the
ends butt tightly with one another, ensuring a good surface for the
wheels to ride on.
- The top and inside edge of the railhead. This removes any burrs
that could impede the wheels.
It is much easier to work with the track while you can move it around
and hold it in the 'optimum' position for filing. Once the track is
on the roadbed, it stays where it is and the file (and the person
using the file) have to move to get into the right position.
7. Keep the workarea clean. You don't want goop in the railjoints or
under the ties -- it can throw things out of alignment.
8. In working with flextrack, it's easier to solder things together in
a fixture to maintain alignment. I did 2 and 3 sections together in
a fixture and then installed them on the roadbed.
Atlas flextrack has one rail that 'slides' along the tie strips,
the other doesn't. Things seem to work better (laying out curves
and the like) if you join the tracks so that the sliding rail of
one piece is joined to the fixed rail of the other.
9. Try to arrange things so that the 'field soldered' joints fall on
straight sections. Also these joints should be made in spots
where there is easy access to the track. It is easier to keep the
alignment.
10. I tried to first lay all the track, then check everything for alignment,
etc etc etc and then do the field soldering. didn't work. Things would
shift slightly, joints would come apart a bit, or get out of
alignment. This was not good. Put a piece down, get it aligned, and solder
it to its neighboer and then go on to the next one.
11. Check everything with a rail gauge. I like the NMRA guage since it is
made out of thin sheet metal it can not only check the guage but the
thin metal will easily pick up any irregularities, burrs, or nicks in
the rail. When found, get out the file...
I have checked the entire track, not just the joints. One common
problem that I've found is that if the nail in the track is too
tight, it will create a bit of a depression in the cross-tie, which
then tends to pull the rails together slightly. The rails are then out
of gauge and derailments occur.
12. Have plenty of light available while working. Once you have what you
think is enough, go get some more. You'll do a much better job. Plenty
of light will reduce eye strain, making it easier to work. Good light
also makes it easier to see flaws in the rail joints. Burrs, nicks,
and dents in the track (all derailments waiting to happen) are
also more easily seen. Especially useful is a small light that you
can use to shine on a section of track from different angles. This
way, you could get a good reflection off of a flaw.
13. After laying the track run trains. Run lots of trains. Spend as much
time as possible running trains, using as varied an assortment of
cars and engines as you can. The idea is to find and fix bad sections
of track now, before the ballast or scenery is in place. (It's also
fun :-)
One particular test I am thinking about running is to take a car and
make it 'top-heavy' so any excess swaying will topple the car over, or
at least sway a lot. This should (in theory) allow me to find spots
where there might be dips in one rail and other 'cross-railhead-level
problems'.
The next edition will have the results of this test.
14. Try to arrange your track laying so that place where you have to cut
a piece of track to fit will occur in easily reached locations. This
makes it easy to cut the track, check it for fit, adjust it, and so
on. The two most common positions where this will occur are where
the track 'meets up' with the next turnout (since turnouts generally
have to be in fixed positions, and when we get to the next one, we
are left with 'a little bit' of track to lay) and where loops get
closed.
I've written this about a week after I completed the main line of the
layout that I am currently building. I've been running test trains
on the track for much of that time. For the most part, the track is
excellent. There are some places where there are problems -- and those
places seem to be where I had to learn one of the above hints 'the hard
way'.
Switch Machines
===============
I've been using Tortoise switch machines throughout the layout. While
these hints are specifically a result of experiences with them, they
should apply to just about any switch machines.
1. Test the machines before installing them. I haven't had any problems
with the switch machines, but I figure that if there are any
problems with them, it is better, and easier, to find the problems
standing at the workbench than once the machine has been installed.
2. I've attached the switch machines to the underside of the roadbed
with screws. One thing to be very careful of is to get the screw
holes going straight into the roadbed. In a couple of places
access is a bit tight and the pilot holes went in at an angle.
3. I've found it convenient to run power to the switch machine locations
as the machines were installed. This way I could test each machine's
alignment as it is installed.
4. Tortoise machines, including the mounting flanges, are a bit too wide
for mounting side-by-side for parallel HO tracks that are spaced the
minimum distance apart (2"/51mm).
5. In general, switch machines will take up space -- either underneath
the roadbed or next to the track. The roadbed should be wide enough
for mounting the machines, and for under-roadbed machines, there
should be enough vertical clearance for the machine, and for
your hands and tools in order to install and align the machine.
Control Panel and Wiring
========================
1. Masonite by itself it too flimsy for building the control panel. It
should be either a stiffer material, or some stiffeners should be
added.
2. I've screwed the panel directly to the framework. This is not good.
Attach the bottom of the panel to the framework with hinges so that
you can open it up.
3. If you can, leave plenty of room between the individual block and
turnout control switches. It makes soldering the connections much
easier.
4. I've daisy-chained the power from one switch to the next. This has
led to a rat's nest of short wires. Yuck. Some kind of a bus
distribution scheme would be better.
5. The wiring has run directly from the switches on the control panel
to the terminal blocks. If I ever have to remove the panel,
disconnecting all the wires will be painful (and I'll almost
certainly make mistakes when connecting them back up). I'd
suggest using some kind of connectors, such as Molex or Amp between
the control panel and the terminal blocks.
------------------------------
Date: 17 Aug 95 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ LAYOUT BUILDING part 2, 05/05: Comments
From Lennart Elg <lenna...@nutek.se>
In his excellent comments on layout design, Frank Kastenholz stresses the need
to leave room for errors etc. I could not agree more, but in my experience,
leaving a margin of 15 - 20 cms around the room is too little:
It may take care of drawing errors etc, but unless you possess super-human
self control you are still likely to end up with a plan overcrowded with nice
ideas you cannot bear to leave out.
My advice is more drastic: If you want to model in HO, design the best O scale
layout that fits your room, make sure you are happy with it, and only as the
last step convert the layout to HO - and this is important ! - do not fall for
the temptation of introducing a single extra building or track!! Sidings will
suddenly seem to be of realistic length, buildings can be reasonably sized
etc.
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 01/15: Introduction
The FAQ consists of six parts, normally posted one day apart,
every month.
The rec.models.railroad FAQ is also available through WWW on:
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/modrail/faq/
GENERAL
SOURCES
OPERATIONS
LAYOUT BUILDING, 2 parts
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
Every separate article has it's own date stamp which reflects
when that text was last updated, but I'm also planning to post
major changes to the FAQ separately.
All contributions and corrections are welcome and should be emailed to
Urban Fredriksson <gri...@canit.se>
Since I did write very little of the text, I'm probably not
the person to ask more detailed questions.
This file contains the following parts:
Introduction
Kits, Bowser
Styrene, glueing
Laser cutting
Painting, Accuflex
Painting, airbrush, Accuflex
Air compressors
Painting brass
Painting, brick red
Painting, Diosol
Weathering
Painting road ties
Drill sizes
Soldering, resistance
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 02/14: Kits, Bowser
KITS, BOWSER
I've read about the Bowser kits. How difficult are they?
Building a Bowser steam engine kit properly does require a substantial
amount of effort. First, all of the castings (boiler, frame, cylinders,
tender, etc.) require a great deal of filing to remove flash. In some
cases extra metal must be removed and holes may have to be relocated
for parts to fit properly.
Another step that is not necessarily difficult but does require patience
is riveting together the valve gear. It is also tricky (and important)
to get the valve gear to operate smoothly so that your engine runs
smoothly.
You must also of course paint the unit. Bowser recommends to first
completely assemble and run the model to make sure there are no
operational problems. Once satisfied with its running characterists,
the model will have to be at least partially dismantled in order to
paint it.
The "super detail" kits that Bowser sells contain a collection of brass
(?) castings. In some cases, the brass castings are to be used instead
of metal castings supplied in the standard engine kit. Examples of
this include: the generator, bell, and power reverse mechanism. Of
course, there are many parts not included in the standard kit such as
the injectors, marker lights, and tubing (which must be bent from
straight wire). I suppose that if you add up the prices for all the
parts in the "super detail" kit you would find that the kit is a
better deal than buying the parts separately. You have to decide
yourself whether or not you want to buy this kit. The engines will
certainly look nice without it, but the engine will look much better
with the super detail kit.
Once completed, a Bowser steam engine will be one of your most powerful
engines. This is mainly due to their weight -- they are quite heavy.
To answer your specific questions...
I usually spend a couple hours a night building a kit like this. In
doing so I finish in a couple weeks. Tools I find useful include:
- a good set of small files
- a set of small drills
- a small hammer and anvil (for riveting)
- an airbrush
If you are considering a "super detail" kit I would recommend that it be
purchased with the engine kit.
PS. The Bowser kits do not come with an illuminated headlight. However,
with a "grain-of-rice" bulb (I recommend the 12 volt), it is easy to
add one.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 03/14: Styrene, glueing
GLUEING, STYRENE
I'm installing a bridge on my layout and am having some difficulty glueing
the styrene bridge piers (back and bottom) to the wood base. Any and all
suggestions would be most welcome.
Walther's Goo seems to be a good all around adhesive. Be sure you don't
use too much, cause Goo will warp plastic and remember that it dries in
a deep orange color, so you may have to paint it after it dries up.
...
I have used a "white mastic" type glue for this type of thing. I forget
the brand, but you can buy it at Color Tile. The things I like about it,
are that:
1) you only need a TINY drop (like cyanoacrilate glue), and
2) it dries milky-clear.
------------------------------
Date: 28 Jun 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 04/14: Laser cutting
LASER CUTTING
While thumbing through RMC and MR I noticed a marked increase in the number of
craftsman kits that now include "laser cut" parts and it occured to me that I
don't really know what this means. Yes...I do know that it means a laser is
used in some fashion to cut to very exact sizes, but what technology is being
used? For example, is the laser mounted in a plotter head? Is it 2-D mirror
controlled? Does it cut multiple goods at once? Is it driven from some
CAD system?
For a change this is something I can talk about without going to a
book for reference. For the past several years I have worked on
using lasers for manufacturing in the electronics industry. I can
tell you that they are probably using a CO2 or Nd:YAG laser which
is focused to a fine point at the part to be cut. Both emit light
in the infrared part of the spectrum and cut by heating the material
to boiling point and evaporating or melting through.
There are two methods used to cut the pattern, either the laser beam
is moved using mirrors or the part is moved using a X-Y positioning
table. The choice depends on the cutting speed and the area to be
covered. Directing the laser by mirrors is very fast but has a
limited work area. Probably the second method is used where a large
x/y motion table is used.
This system has the advantage that a large sheet could be put in the
machine and multiple parts cut from the one sheet unattended. The
pattern is almost certainly designed on a CAD system and downloaded
to the laser cutting workstation. The X/Y table is then computer
driven based on the CAD drawing.
It may be possible to cut multiple layers at once but the possibility
of debris from the cutting process depositing on the other layers
might discourage its use. The other drawback to multiple layer
cutting is that the layer the laser is focused on would have the best
cut, the other layers would have cuts of lesser quality. It all
depends on the quality and look the manufacturer wants in the finished
parts.
...
I would like to comment on Laser Cutting. I have not seen the any of the
kits with "laser cut" parts but as I have been involved in designing
photo-etched (chemical milled) brass kits for some years I have been
watching the advent of laser cutting with interest. As I see it the two
techniques are complementary. Photo-etching is not really practical for
metal thicknesses over about 1mm so is used for the smaller scales, while
laser cutting, is which is much more expensive, is used for the model
engineering scales (G1 and above). Of course you can't etch wood at all, or
plastics easily, so lasers could be used on these materials, but at the
prices I been quoted 1 a foot run makes it a speciallist technique, at
least in this country.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 05/14: Painting, Accuflex
ACCUFLEX
What should I know about Accu-Flex paints?
I managed to track down some Accu-Flex at the Train Shop in Santa
Clara, CA. on a recent trip, and used it to paint a Rail Power Products
Dash 8-40CW cab last weekend. I sort of made the exercise a torture
test, mostly to see what I could do or not do with Accu-Flex. First of
all, I had never painted anything with an airbrush other than sheets of
styrene while fooling around -- the cab was the first "real" model I've
airbrushed. I sprayed the Accu-Flex unthinned from a Badger
single-action, internal mix airbrush, running off a borrowed Badger
compressor (thanks, Dave!). The Accu-Flex bottles attach directly to
the airbrush -- no pouring paint back and forth. I sprayed UP Armour
Yellow with good results -- the paint covered well and I was able to
achieve good coverage in a single session. Even on a small item like
the cab, I was able to spray the sides and work back to the beginning
to spray over the initial pass because the paint set very quickly --
multiple passes with no runs. I waited about two hours and masked the
cab with 3M Magic Tape (I said it was a torture test :-). I sprayed
the UP Gray over the yellow and got good coverage over the first color
coat. I peeled the tape as soon as I capped the paint and washed out
the airbrush.
I wound up with a small parting line on one portion of the cab, but
that was because I sprayed twoards the tape boundary instead of over
it. Othere than that, I couldn't see any parting line with the naked
eye, and none of the cast-in detail was obscured at all. I did get
some spatter in the yellow, which I attributed to low air pressure.
SInce the biggest objection to Accu-Flex seems to be that you can't
take it off once it's on, I called Badger's marketing department to see
what they recommended. Badger referred me to the guy they bought the
paint from, so I called the manufacturer (a guy named Greg Konrad).
Mr. Konrad was very helpful, suggesting a mixture of two to three
ounces of liquid Spic and Span mixed with about an ounce of ammonia in
warm water. Let the part sit for 5 - 10 minutes and scrub off the
paint. This mixture worked very well -- I scrubbed the paint off the
cab with an old soft toothbrush. Paint removal was good, although
there was a small amount of color left around some of the raised
details. I don't expect it to be a problem because of the thinness of
the original coat. Mr. Konrad also said that he recommended spraying
with a single action, internal mix airbruah, using 30 PSI, at about 4 -
5" from the surface, a recommendation echoed in the Model Railroading
review.
This means there's a problem using the normal hobby compressor, because
most of them only operate at around 20 PSI, and you really need the
higher pressure -- Mr. Konrad's quote was "water is heavy, you really
need to push it." I expect that could cause problems for a lot of
folks, but I'm using an airtank with a filter and regulator for now,
with a shop-size compressor to follow. (I'd rather spend the extra
money and get full shop air for tools, etc. than invest $150 in
something I can really only use for airbrushing.)
Bottom line? It looks like great stuff to me. A beginner (me) put it
on easily and effectively while just about trying to make a mess of
it. It doesn't smell, the vapors won't cause bad things to happen to
your liver or bone marrow, and cleanup is soap and water. You still
should probably use a spray booth (to keep overspray and airborne dust
and crud off the model), and a filter mask (to keep overspray and crud
out of your lungs). I don't know what the professional and semi-pro
folks will think of it, and I don't know what the availability will be
like (it took a while for SMP Accu-Paint to be a regularly stocked
item). I'll be happy if I can find it on a regular basis so I can
skip the solvent-based stuff, or messing with water and Photo-Flo with
the Polly-S paint.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 06/14: Painting, airbrush, Accuflex
After numerous applications using different air pressures with my Paasche
model H (single action brush) the best finish that I could achieve [with
Accu-Flex paint] was a slight semigloss white finish on the side of my HO
scale 48' A-line intermodal container. What went wrong?
I had the same problem when I tried at < 30psi, or had the needle
pulled back in the position I use for Floquil or Scalecoat in my
single action airbrush. When I reduced the flow *a lot*, things
started improving. When I pushed the needle so far forward I couldn't
believe any paint could get through, sure enough, it did, and it
worked amazingly well. The stuff likes to be sprayed amazingly thin,
and is amazingly opaque. Thicker and it really glops up. I soaked a
ruined paint job in brake fluid until I got it off, and tried again
-- and got it right. I see why the reviews caution against double
action airbrushes--the normal range of motion is way too large. 1/4
or less of the needle's travel is all you'd need, but that's too hard
to control. I expect badger will be coming out with a "small movement"
double action brush soon...
I got some on my fingers, and unlike floquil, it took a week to wear
off.
I also like handpainting with the stuff. the stuff thins like
watercolors, but is much more opaque. In full concentration, it flows
as well as floquil and dries much faster. It mixes predictably, but
you have to be quick or it'll dry out on your palette. About 30%
water slows it down enough to be more usable, without thinning it so
much that it runs when brushing. It's weird to spray thicker paint
than handbrush... the thing I haven't figured out yet is how to
drybrush -- it dries on the brush before I can use it. I bet there
are some new tricks I can do for which watercolors are too thin.
The things I like most is the lack of noxious chemicals (it does smell,
but compared to any other paint I've used, negligable), water cleanup,
(be quick or it'll paint the inside of your airbrush!!) how fast it
dries enough to be handled, and how thin an opaque coat can be. What
I don't like are the problems created by how fast it dries, and the
absense of certain colors I have come to expect in floquil: metalics,
depot buff, roof brown, boxcar red (they must...but what's it called?)
I too have a big compressor (I recently used it to wetsand the bottom
of a sailboat--no electric sanders for that job!) so I don't mind the
high pressure requirement.
...
Well, I posted a quickie about a month or so ago, and my experience was
also negative, BUT after playing a bit more, I've changed my mind.
My main problem with my first experience was too little pressure (about
25 psi... where I spray Scalecoat...). It caused the stuff to dry
*really* fast... I found myself "blipping the throttle" while turning
the loco around, to keep from clogging. This was with the "Light
Tuscan Oxide" color.
The second experience was with "DM&IR Maroon". I bumped up the pressure
to 35psi, and it sprayed better, but still not well. I did like the
finish much better this time, though.
The third experience was last night with the DM&IR maroon again. I
decided to give it the "best possible conditions"... aka I completely
diassembled the brush and cleaned it before use. It had months of
scum built up, as I expected. This time I also followed a friend's
advice by painting a very thin coat before the main coat. This is
because the paint will tend to run more than most. This is caused by
the fact that it's not etching the plastic. With the dry coat, you can
lay a slightly heavier color coat. It should be noted that by the time
you're done shooting the light coat, it's dry on the first side, and
you can carry on.
My fourth experience was a brush-painting of some details with white.
This is what blew my mind. The paint is incredibly thin to work with,
yet it covers like nobody's business. It is in this use that I wouldn't
recommend anything else.
--Overview--
My experiences have been increasingly good. Basically it's a need to
modify old techniques to use with the new paint. The pressure *must*
be at about 35, and it's probably not a good idea to paint at less
than room temperature (water-base paint would probably be more delicate
with temperature.)
Cleaning is a little more of a problem, it takes more time. BUT, you
are NOT spending this time playing with toxic, flammable chemicals.
Also, the neatest thing is that by the time you are done cleaning, you
can pick the models up and go upstairs... they're dry enough to handle
within 5 mins.
Remember, this is coming from the writer of the R.M.RR FAQ's brass
painting guide!
...
This may or may not apply to you also. A local modeller was having a
similar problem with the paint and contacted Badger. Seems some early
batches of paint slipped out that were too thick and need to be thinned
up to 30% with water. The difference can be noticed when shaking. If
if it sounds like Accupaint (or floquil, etc.), then you don't need to
worry. However, if it sounds like you're shaking a bottle of syrup,
try thinning it. I had two bottles (primer and antique white) that
needed thinning and worked great afterwards. Again, this may not apply
to you.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 07/14: Air compressors
AIR COMPRESSORS
What should I know about air compressors?
Getting one with an airtank attached is preferable otherwise you'll
be running it continually. I recommend whatever one you get has a
bleed-off relief valve.
Regardless of what you buy get an oil/moisture filter/trap and a
regulator. Air pressure will vary from airbrush to airbrush; medium
used; viscosity; and, temperature and humidty factors present when
spraying.
...
My personal preference is to pump the air tank up to about 50psi then
bleed it off at 8-25psi as required. It helps to have the water trap as
close to the airbrush as possible. A hose about 6 feet long from the
tank to the water trap, air filter and regulator, then the thin hose
to the airbrush. It is advisable to have two pressure gauges, one
showing the pressure in the tank and the other showing the pressure
through the regulator.
You might like to see Airbrushing For Model Railroaders (I think it's
Kalambach Video).
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 08/14: Painting brass
PAINTING BRASS
How do I paint this $1,200 brass model I just purchased?
Well, being handy with an airbrush is the "only" place to start
playing with brass... if you don't already have some experience...
practice airbrushing on some less-expensive (and less detailed) stuff.
My [Dennis Lippert] "system" for painting brass steam locos has always
been basically the following:
(1) Test-run the loco... to make sure it ran before you took it
apart(!). Check all of the valve gear and rods for loose screws,
tighening if found. It might even be a good idea to fully break-in the
loco before putting it through the "trauma" of disassembly.
(2) Disassmble as follows: remove lead & trailing trucks. Detach the
boiler from the frame. Install the weight (if it was just wrapped up
and sittiing in the box). Remove the trucks and couplers from the
tender, and remove its body from the frame also. If the smokebox
front is removeable, you might want to take it off also. This *should*
be all the disassembly that will be necessary.
(3) Inspect the model. Fix anything broken, and check out the factory
clear-coat lacquer. If the lacquer seems to be smooth and isn't
chipping off, use it as a primer for your paint. If the lacquer is no
good, strip the loco (I use ScaleCoat's stripper).
(4) Wash the loco with soap and "water as hot as you can stand". This
is to make the surface clean so the paint will stick better. Don't
worry about getting the motor/drive wet. As long as it dries
completely before putting power to it, it will be OK. Let the model
dry for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. After washing the
parts, always wash your hands before touching the model (or better
yet, wear rubber gloves).
(5) If the loco was stripped, it needs to be primed. I use a PPG
two-part epoxy primer (because a friend got it for me), code-named
DP400/DP401. You mix equal parts of the two bottles, let sit for 30
minutes, then thin with lacquer thinner and spray (it will only last a
couple weeks in the bottle after being mixed, so don't mix much). It
should be noted that Floquil's "primers" are basically just paint
colors with thicker pigment (for sanding). They DO NOT adhere to the
surface any better than the normal paints (this from a PPG paint
chemist who has "chemically dissected" them).
(6) Prepare your paint. I like Scalecoat II because of it's good
coverage and shiny surface. You get the best smoothness if the paint
is slightly on the thin side, rather than slightly thick. But just
*slightly*. (if Scalecoat is overthinned, it will chemically "fall
apart".
(7) Adjust the airbrush to spray a very small amount of paint. Our
first area of attack will be the chassis. Connect power leads to the
frame and the drawbar, and put about half-power to the chassis. Hold
it by the motor (assuming can motor), and spray all of the stuff
that's moving, from various angles. sit the chassis aside, upside
down, and leave it running for five to ten minutes (to make sure the
paint doesn't stick anything together when it dries.) Since the
airbrush is turned down right now, we can also spray the lead truck,
trailing truck, tender trucks, etc. Be sure to hit them from many
angles, and to roll them around while painting them. ( A skill in
itself... hitting a moving target! :-) Possibly the single biggest
trick in airbrushing brass is getting paint on everything that will be
seen (a bare spot under a detail on a black plastic loco looks like a
shadow... on brass it looks like someone forgot to paint it!)
(8) open the airbrush up to a "normal" spray pattern. Start to spray
any part (boiler, tender, etc.) Begin by spraying from obscure angles
around all details. Then come back and lay a smooth overcoat over the
entire area.
(9) once done with the main body parts, you can come back to the
chassis. Spray all non-moving parts with the "heavier" spray pattern.
Try to avoid spraying on the moving parts (since they're already
painted). Again, the motor is the nicest handle to hold with.
(10) Now you should notice that everything is painted (unless I missed
something). In the case of a PRR steamer, the boiler and tender body
should be brunswick green, the chassis components should all be black.
Take some time to look at all the parts from any angle that you can...
there WILL be bare spots somewhere (trust me!)
(11) Wait for things to dry. With Scalecoat I paint, this can take
days to quit being tacky. Suggestions to speed drying include:
-put it outside if it's a nice warm sunny day... in the sun.
-put it in front of a forced-air furnace (warm, dry air is good)
-bake it (I've never "baked" - don't look to me for suggestions
The best idea is to do one of the above to remove the tackyness, and
still let the parts sit for a week. This guarantees that everything is
dry and hard.
(12) prepare for next color(s). On most steamers this would include
graphite smokeboxes, Oxide red tender decks/cab roofs, etc. Check
your prototype! Mask carefully, but prepare yourself for the fact
that you *will* get overspray under the masking. Luckily, black is
easy to touch up. Always "overdo it" with metallic colors, and cover
up the overspray later. The metallics are incredibly hard to touch up
without it showing, so make sure everything that is to be metallic
gets sprayed the first time.
(13) Apply next color(s). Using a very low pressure (10-15 psi) to
keep overspray to a minimum. Remove masking as soon as you are done.
"Bake" again. [You can often do two or more "extra" colors at one
sitting... as long as they aren't too close to each other on the model
(overspray problems).]
(14) Clean paint from parts which must make electrical contact. These
include tender truck bolsters, wheel treads, drawbar, etc. with
lacquer thinner and Q-Tips. The engine drive wheels are easiest to
clean if you again run the chassis on a power pack.
(13) Reassemble the loco. After reassembly, do any kind of touch-up
work and details. (i.e. if you did a graphite smokebox, the railings,
etc. will also be graphite, so repaint them [black]).
(14) Dullcote the loco (or semi-gloss) after decaling. This will seal
the decals and give "an extra layer of protection" against chips.
(15) Weather the loco if you like, wrap it up, take it to the club,
and begin to brag. This is the most important step, as very few
people seem to realize that it takes more real effort to read this
message than it does to get a good paint job on a brass model!
Above all, follow these simple rules:
- have fun... painting your first couple of brass locos can be
stressful.
- take your time... it's not that important to get done today (or even
this week!).
- use a spray booth, rubber gloves, and possibly a respirator. A simple
mask won't help much... as the pigment is the least of your worries.
These may seem like overkill, but we are looking at a couple of hours
at the booth... much more time than, say, painting a freight car.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 09/14: Painting, brick red
PAINTING, BRICK RED
What paint best matches red brick color?
Gee, I've been waiting to answer that question. I came upon the answer
right after I started getting back into model rr, a few years back.
Somewhere w-a-a-a-y-y back in my memory, which I believe I read when I
was about 12, says that the popular color for bricks (at least prior
to the last few years) was venetian red. And there is a color by that
name. (I think it's Polly-S, not Floquil) And just to show how well it
matches, I kitbashed a DPM bldg with some embossed & colored foam from,
I think, Heiki, that was brick, and the color matched *exactly*.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 10/14: Painting, Diosol
PAINTING, DIOSOL
I am soon to become a first-time user of Floquil paint. I realize that
Diosol is the required solvent for thinning, but is Diosol required for
cleaning brushes and airbrush, or can I use another solvent for the
clean-up work?
Why would you want to use something else? If it's cost you're worried
about, perhaps you're buying Diosol in those little tiny jars???? They
also sell it in larger metal cans and it is MUCH MUCH cheaper that way.
Hope this helps.
...
While the metal cans of Diosol are MUCH MUCH cheaper than buying the
little tiny jars, it still doesn't beat laquer thinner's price.
Diosol and laquer thinner are *similar* in composition, but because they
are not *exactly* alike, I suggest using only Diosol for thinning and
leave the laquer thinner for cleanup.
...
I use mineral spirits for cleaning up after most of my Floquil paints.
I have found that there are a few that just do not clean up well with
the mineral spirits, so I keep a can of Diosol handy for these colors.
I don't recall right off the top of my head which ones they are but
when I use them I sure do know which ones they are. Most (90%) of my
painting is done using Floquil paints with an air brush.
...
I would strongly suggest not getting laquer thinner anywhere near a
plastic model. The one time that I did this (accidentally), the
plastic instantly dissolved.
...
Courtesy of this newsgroup (I can't remember who suggested it, but
thanks), I now use Lacquer Thinner for cleanup after painting with
Floquil. It works just as well and is substantially cheaper even than
the big cans of DioSol. I try to soak the narrow passages of my
airbrush in the stuff for half an hour or so after using it for floquil
(or testors, etc). I use Diosol for thinning, and for cleanup when
brush painting (I keep a little jar for several sessions, until it's
too dirty to use). B.T.W. I never bought one of those tiny bottles
of diosol (I think 8 oz was my first size) and I still think it's too
expensive to use for cleanup.
You can get lacquer thinner anywhere you get paint, varnish, etc.
I'm mostly converted over to AccuFlex now, but still use Floquil or
Testors for drybrushing, metallics and a few other colors that are
missing from Badger's new line. Among its other good properties,
AccuFlex cleans up with water, which is so nice.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 11/14: Weathering
WEATHERING, CHALKS
What tips can you give me when weathering with chalks?
About "fixing" the chalk in place. I use Testor's Dullcote in the
small spray can. I have heard several people say that they tried
different brands and settled on Dullcote -- I've never used anything
else.
About chalks disappearing when sprayed: I use a paintbrush loaded with
chalk and lightly drop the chalk onto the model where I want the
weathering. Then I go back and rub it into the paint. Usually, it's
stuck so well that it won't come off even if I wipe my finger over it.
When I spray it with Dullcote, I make sure to spray a light coat --
just enough to seal the chalk. I have noticed that the weathering is
minimized slightly, but it definitely doesn't disappear. My guess is
that if you don't rub the chalks in, the aerosol spray blows the chalk
off before the Dullcote can fix it to the model. I have noticed that
dark colored box cars tend to swallow up the chalk (make it invisible)
more than light colored cars. That's probably because of the smaller
contrast between the car color and the chalk color.
By the way, the chalks I use are "Sanford" brand and I use the set
called "Earth Tones". They are commonly available at art and craft
stores and cost $5-$6 (in Boise anyway). Another set that I know
people use is the set of gray shades.
...
Unless you're using very high pressure for spraying, it's
unlikely that the chalk weathering is being blown off. But you
are changing the reflective properties of the surface.
You need a rough surface to hold the chalk. You might try a
light spray of dullcote, delivered from farther away than
normal, so the spray is almost dry as it hits. You'll also want
to apply a normal coat of dullcote after you're done, to seal in
the chalk. Otherwise it'll rub off with handling. This final
coat will also change the appearance of your weathering. The
effect of chalk weathering is in large part due to the
micro-roughness of the chalk itself. (This has nothing to do
with the roughness of the surface previously mentioned. That was
just to get the chalk to stick.) When you seal in the
micro-roughness, even with a "flat" spray, you completely change
the reflective nature of the surface, and a lot of the
weathering effect disappears. This is very pronounced for
light-colored weathering on dark cars, and much less so for dark
weathering on light cars. When weathering boxcar red cars, I
have to make them look garish, almost cartoonish, with lots of
"extra" weathering so they look right after the seal coat.
Hint: eastern cars weather due to rain, soot and corrosion.
Western cars due to sun bleaching and abrasion. Thus eastern
cars tend to weather dark, and western cars light.
...
I have experimented, with some success, using ladies' cosmetic blushes
which seem to be a caked powder. They come in a wide variety of colors
[caution: some look somewhat metallic] and can be easily applied with
the applicator supplied or a Q-tip. This method is great for moderate
and subtle weathering.
If real heavy weathering is desired, I use weathering paints or
lacquers.
The beauty of powders or chalks is the ease of removing what you have
done if dissatisfied. However, the blushes, like most powders/chalks,
can seem to disappear if too heavily oversprayed with a clear
"fixative".
WEATHERING, DIRT
Any thoughts on how to simulate 3-D clumps of mud and dirt in HO scale?
I'm building the Walthers (Kibri, actually, I think) front end loader,
and I've never seen any such construction equipment without very large
clumps of dirt and mud on it, especially on the tires and scoop. Looking
at the numbers, realistic dirt should be noticeable, so I'd like to
simulate it.
Consider combinations of dry pastel (chalk-type) and paint. For
example, scrape the pastel with a knife to get lumpy stuff, then drop
it on wet paint.
...
This is just a quick idea; I've never used this one on anything but
scenery, but what about borrowing from the "bonded ballast" idea? If
you were to thin down some white glue, then spray? eye-drop? it onto
the equipment, then lightly sprinkle real dirt, let dry, maybe enough
would adhere to fit your purposes. Of course, this method might well
be too crude, but I have to put in the disclaimer that it's just off
the top of my head!
...
I just started experimenting with chalks and I'm really impressed. I
just bought an F7 A-B set and wanted to lightly weather them (that
recently washed look). I used black and brown chalks on the roof and
black, brown, and mustard colors on the sides (Union Pacific F7 with
gray roof and yellow sides). What I really like about chalk is that
it creates a subtle, road grime sort of look but has more variety and
brings out details better than a wash or a light overspray of paint.
It seems like darker chalks work better on light-colored paint and
medium or lighter-colored chalks for dark paint. If you look at
prototype box cars, they all look about the same color -- lighter
colors darken and dark colors lighten until they all have that
medium-dark grime look.
I still use paints to touch up the fans and exhaust stacks, and to
weather the trucks, fuel tank, etc.
...
The old "zip texturing" method makes *excellent* dirt, clumps and all.
Obtain some dry paint pigments at your favorite art store or find some
commercial zip texture kits at a train store. It's a little expensive,
but goes a long way. Get earth colors, of course.
Mix the paint pigment into some dry plaster - Hydrocal works very
nicely for this. Use the pigment sparingly; it's easy to add more
but kind of hard to get it out. Mix thoroughly.
Paint some water on the area to be made dirty and sift the plaster mix
over it. The plaster will absorb water and bond with the surface yet
will still maintain its fine texture. Put a little in a spoon, hold
the spoon over the dirt area and tap the side of the spoon - little
clumps will fall off the sppon. Maybe spritz a little water over
the area and add some more. Repeat until you like the looks.
If you want to make a nice dirt road, mix up some "water putty" to
a heavy cream consistency and gently pour it over the road area. It
has enough surface tension to form a raised area, yet stays nice and
smooth and flat. If you pre-wet the area, it will flow into smoother
edges. Sift some of the plaster mix over it for color and texture.
When it dries, lightly rub it with a Bright Boy to make smooth areas
where it was worn by tires.
Sometimes the old ideas and techniques are worth trying...
WEATHERING, TECHNIQUES
Any hints on wood weathering techniques?
I mostly use the Letraset felt pens. They come in a bunch of Pantone
colors. The M series are wide and work great. I have the warm gray
colors and most of the 40X, 41X, 42X,& 46X ones. My favorite one is
451. They dry fast so you can as you construct. They do smell like
marker pens though. In the latest NG&SL Gazette someone aged his wood
by toasting it. By pulling it out at different times you get board to
board variation. Makes the wood brittle though. They also once had an
article on the Letraset pen method but I don't remember the issue.
...
I use the same india ink and alcohol mixture to stain wood, and I
accidentally found a good way to make water stains when using this
mixture. I used some cyanocrylate (sp?) glue to attach some small
parts to a water tank I was making and it unknowingly wicked into the
wood. I didn't see this until I applied the ink and alcohol and it
caused the area of glue to simulate a water stain.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 12/14: Painting road ties
PAINTING, ROAD TIES
Is there an effective way to make Atlas' plastic ties look better? Has anyone
tried painting them, and if so, how did it work? Would any of the Floquill
colors be good for this purpose?
Almost any-ol' paint of the right color will do the job. My personal
favorite is Floquil Roof Brown. It's dead-flat, goes quite far if
thinned 50-50, and "just looks right to me". Just airbrush the rails
and ties... the nickel-silver rails are worse to look at than the
ties. Then clean it all off the railtops with a bright boy.
Why not Floquil "rail brown"?? IMHO it's way too light of a color...
closer to mud than oily OLD rust.
------------------------------
Date: 10 Jun 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 13/14: Drill sizes
DRILL SIZES
While there isn't an algorithm that works for drill size to diameter (at least
not a simple one), there is a look-up table.
Drill Diameter Drill Diameter Drill Diameter
Size (in.) (mm) Size (in.) (mm) Size (in.) (mm)
1 0.2280 5.791 41 0.0960 2.438 81 0.0130 0.330
2 0.2210 5.613 42 0.0935 2.375 82 0.0125 0.318
3 0.2130 5.410 43 0.0890 2.261 83 0.0120 0.305
4 0.2090 5.309 44 0.0860 2.184 84 0.0115 0.292
5 0.2055 5.220 45 0.0820 2.083 85 0.0110 0.279
6 0.2040 5.182 46 0.0810 2.057 86 0.0105 0.267
7 0.2010 5.105 47 0.0785 1.994 87 0.0100 0.254
8 0.1990 5.055 48 0.0760 1.930 88 0.0095 0.241
9 0.1960 4.978 49 0.0730 1.854 89 0.0091 0.231
10 0.1935 4.915 50 0.0700 1.778 90 0.0087 0.221
11 0.1910 4.851 51 0.0670 1.702 91 0.0083 0.211
12 0.1890 4.801 52 0.0635 1.613 92 0.0079 0.201
13 0.1850 4.699 53 0.0595 1.511 93 0.0075 0.191
14 0.1820 4.623 54 0.0550 1.397 94 0.0071 0.180
15 0.1800 4.572 55 0.0520 1.321 95 0.0067 0.170
16 0.1770 4.496 56 0.0465 1.181 96 0.0063 0.160
17 0.1730 4.394 57 0.0430 1.092 97 0.0059 0.150
18 0.1695 4.305 58 0.0420 1.067
19 0.1660 4.216 59 0.0410 1.041
20 0.1610 4.089 60 0.0400 1.016
21 0.1590 4.039 61 0.0390 0.991
22 0.1570 3.988 62 0.0380 0.965
23 0.1540 3.912 63 0.0370 0.940
24 0.1520 3.861 64 0.0360 0.914
25 0.1495 3.797 65 0.0350 0.889
26 0.1470 3.734 66 0.0330 0.838
27 0.1440 3.658 67 0.0320 0.813
28 0.1405 3.569 68 0.0310 0.787
29 0.1360 3.454 69 0.0292 0.742
30 0.1285 3.264 70 0.0280 0.711
31 0.1200 3.048 71 0.0260 0.660
32 0.1160 2.946 72 0.0250 0.635
33 0.1130 2.870 73 0.0240 0.610
34 0.1110 2.819 74 0.0225 0.571
35 0.1100 2.794 75 0.0210 0.533
36 0.1065 2.705 76 0.0200 0.508
37 0.1040 2.642 77 0.0180 0.457
38 0.1015 2.578 78 0.0160 0.406
39 0.0995 2.527 79 0.0145 0.368
40 0.0980 2.489 80 0.0135 0.343
------------------------------
Date: 20 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT
Subject: FAQ CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, 14/14: Soldering, resistance
SOLDERING, RESISTANCE
Any recommendations for a resistance soldering unit?
Go to your local friendly electronics supply house and buy a
transformer with 110v primary, 6.2v (? or there about) secondary and a
4 to 6 amp output on the secondary.
Go to your local Radio Shack and get an insulated box big enough to
hold the transformer.
Wire a 110v plug to the primary of the transformer. (Do I need to
remind you to use a grounding plug and take care not to electrocute
yourself???)
Run the secondary to two wires, one with something like an alligator
clip, and the other to a clamp making a good connection to a carbon
rod.
Where do you get a carbon rod? one might ask. Go somewhere where you
can wash some chemicals away, and cut up an old flashlight battery or
two. I have had good luck with both C cells and AA cells. The center
contains a carbon rod. Make a point on the rod with some sandpaper, or
a pencil sharpener, or something, and clamp the second wire from the
transformer's secondary to it. Radio Shack will have conenctors that
will do the job.
Now, when you plug in the transformer to the wall, and you connect the
alligator clip to something metal connected to what you want to
solder, and touch the sharp tip of the carbon rod to where you want to
solder, the metal right around the tip of the carbon rod gets REALLY
hot. Sounds kind of like one of those $250 dollar units to me. If you
really make it fancy, you might spend $25 or $30 building the thing.
How to make it fancy??
First, I like to put a control on the 110v side of the transformer. A
normal light dimmer works well, although I have also had good luck
with a sewing-machine foot control. These do not really have the
current rating, but are ok for light duty work. I like having both
hands to set up the work (the rod holds stuff in place) and then Zap
with the foot.
Second, I use large stereo-type plugs to connect to the secondary side
with the clips and rods. This lets me have several different rod-size
and clip configurations that are easy to switch.
Third, Fancy handles for the carbon rods...
Fourth, whatever else comes to mind. For the price, and ease of
construction, you can afford to experiment.
Ron Herfurth
numerous scales that use G gauge track shouldn't this section be "Starting
out, G gauge" ?
----------
> This file contains the following parts:
>
> Introduction
> Starting out, HO scale
> Starting out, N scale
> Starting out, G scale
> Live steam
> Gauges and scales
> Early model railroading history
> British models
> CCD cameras
> Distribution
> Manufacturing
> Thomas the Tank Engine
> Gauge 1 Live Steam
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 18 Mar 94 01:00:00 GMT