Everything on model trains, model railroads, model railways, locomotives, model train layouts, scenery, wiring, DCC and more. Enjoy the world's best hobby... model railroading!
Digital Control on Garden Tramway
Bill T sent in this pic to share:
“Always enjoy your blog and information. I am in Scotland, so here a picture of my Garden tramway. I use Z21 to digitally and control it on my iPads and iPhone. When visitors come we can all run trams. There are 14 trams to choose from for the system all digitised. The overhead is not electrified but the pantographs correctly run on it to make it authentic tramway practice. Share on your site if you wish.”
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE – Model Railroad Scene
I’ve had numerous requests to publish some more SPOT THE DIFFERENCE puzzles as it’s been some time since I ran the last one. See how you go with this model railroad layout photo. At first glance the photos look identical, but there are actually several differences. How many can you find?
Simply add your answers using the COMMENTS link below.
Making Track Curves Too Tight
With the pr
essures of fitting everything into a layout, there will always be the temptation to make the curves tighter than they should be. This is typically fraught with problems, even if you have done some test runs with locomotives and cars around the curve.
Even if the trains run okay –
- Does the tight track curve look natural? If you are modeling a modern era railroad, rolling stock lengths are much longer these days than they were in the past. Long cars make the curves look even sharper than they are.
- Would a real railroad have curves that tight? The answer to this is always a resounding“no.” Real railroad curve radii are much larger than can be accurately modeled in a reasonable space. The best that can be done is to make the curves as large as your space will permit, then use some scenic tricks to distract the viewers from the appearance.
- What happens when you buy a new loco or longer car that won’t make it safely around the curve? This actually goes back to the choice of era you choose to model. A setting with large late steam era articulated locos is not a good decision for a very limited space.Logging and mining or switching puzzle layouts with shorter rolling stock are better choices if your situation requires sharp curves.
The golden rule is this: make the minimum radius AT LEAST as large as that recommended for the longest car you plan to run on your layout. That way you won’t have any regrets later.
Insulfrogs or Electrofrogs
Duncan is into N gauge and sent in this question:
“Hi just starting in N gauge, I am planning my DCC railway and want to know about turnouts, do I need Insulfrogs or Electrofrogs?”
Use an Ask a Question link to send in your question for publication.
Wiring Street Lights on a Model Railroad Layout
Daniel sent in this question:
“ I am installing numerous street lights on my O scale layout. How can I connect them to power/neutral wiring without soldering all of those connections. Can I use termination blocks? Or are the numerous connections unavoidable? Thanks”
Send in your question using one of the many the ASK A QUESTION links.
Dead Rail System
Ian models HO and asks readers for opinions on dead rail systems – “Any thoughts anyone
if so best systems available please?”
Dead Rail Definition – One of two rails that are laid across a railway track-scale platform, but which are not connected with the weighing beam, and that will permit a locomotive, or other load exceeding the capacity of the scale, to move across the scale.
Power To Layout
Gary has this question:
“I am brand new to model railroading & will be setting-up a small N Scale layout (less than 4′ x 8′)using Kato Unitrak. I also have a Kato locomotive that has DCC with LokSound. After wiring the bus (with feeders) can I initially run the locomotive using the Kato Power Controller (22-018) that I have and then in the near future switch over to the NCE Power Cab I have been looking at? Or, should I just bite the bullet and go out and get the Power Cab to begin with? I just can’t seem to find any articles that address this issue. Let me thank you in advance for any help/guidance any of you may be able to provide.”
Recording Data and Inventory of Trains and Accessories
Robin asked:
“I did a few excel spreadsheets when I was employed and thought I should start a record of my growing collection of locos, cars, coupler types etc. I then started to think of all the other things I could record like where I purchased the item, price and date, manufacturer, model number, prototype length in feet, maintenance history, wheels configuration… there’s probably no limit if I wanted to go crazy. My question is this – should I use a spread sheet which I could backup on a cloud or portable hard drive, or should I purchase software that will do the job, if so what software? Also, what data should I record and how should I organize it into groups? A lot to ask I know, but I value feedback from anyone who has already made these decisions on where to start and where to finish. Thanks in advance.”
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DCC Decoder Selection
N scale enthusiast Michael has this question:
“I picked up an Alco 479 PA DCC ready loco – a pair of them with the road name Southern Pacific. I’m having a heck of a time finding the right sound decoder for this loco. I believe Alco is Atlas? The current non DCC board says CDN4 DCC Ready PCB. Guidance please?”
022 Lionel Switches
Gary who models O scale asks:
“You have probably answered this before. I have an 022 Lionel switch that the track arm will not fully move to the left or right. I have checked and serviced it three times. Any suggestions? I hate to just dump it. Thanks.”
Heisler Drive-Line Short
John asks readers:
“I have an HO brass Heisler with a square rod and tube for the driveline. I think it was insulated at one time but I can’t figure out what to use as it must slide freely. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.”
Weighting Wagons to Represent Prototypical Weights. A Good Idea or Not?
Garry asks:
“I’m not sure if I am wasting my time trying to replicate prototype weights of loaded/unloaded wagons. It might be best to weight them based on feel, the curves, turnouts, and engines I operate? I thought I was being clever trying to make things an accurate representation, but I’m finding this has its problems? Someone with experience advise please?”
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