Not getting much response on the LS forum, and my grandson is getting upset about not being able to play with his train, so I'll try the Thomas folks for help:

What is the minimum radius required by the new LS Thomas/Annie/Clarribel train?

I tried running my grandson's new set (he's visiting for the week) on an existing LS layout with LGB R1 curves, and Annie & Clarribel kept derailing. It looks like little pins on the bottom of the car are blocking the wheels from turning far enough.

His old Lionel LS Thomas set ran on this layout just fine.

Len

In most of the pictures I've been able to track down, it looks like 2 - 4 coaches was the norm. I found one with 6 coaches, but it was obvious the loco was straining.

Remember, the Sterling was built for speed - not pulling power.

Len

What is the minimum radius required by the new LS Thomas/Annie/Clarribel train?

I tried running my grandson's new set on an existing LS layout with LGB R1 curves, and Annie & Clarribel kept derailing. It looks like little pins on the bottom of the car are blocking the wheels from turning far enough.

His old Lionel LS Thomas set ran on this layout just fine.

Len

If you can't find ink erasers, there's always the Walthers 'Bright Boy':

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/949-521

You can use a flat file or emery board to shape the end if you need to for getting into tight places. I usually chamfer one end like this /\ for getting into wheel flanges.

Len

Larry,

Check out http://www.bcae1.com/switches.htm

There are diagrams for wiring a number of different switch types. About 3/4 of the way down the page is a diagram for a lighted rocker switch that explains things pretty clearly. You can even operate the switch on line!

Apparently these are actually SPST switchs (normally two contacts) and the third contact is the return path for the internal light. The picture is pretty self explanatory.

The '+' side of the power source would be one side of your DCC bus, the bottom of the bulb being controlled would be one of your stall rails. The '-' side of the power supply connects directly to the other rail (shell of the bulb base in the picture).

Len

Not exactly. You said the switches have three contacts, which would normally make them SPDT type switches. To use a SPDT as an On/Off switch you usually use the center contact and one of the end contacts. With a lighted SPDT switch, the light only comes on when a specific end contact is used, it's off in the other position.

I was just describing a method for determining which 2 of the 3 contacts to use for the light to come on. Once you have that, the switch goes in line with the wire from the power source to one side of you roundhouse stall track. This lets you turn it On/Off. The wire for the other rail would go direct from the power source.

One thing to check on is whether the switch light is a bulb or LED. LEDs normally operate off standard DC, and will not be too happy with a DCC signal.

Len

If there are 3 contacts, it's most likely a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch. The off color contact is probably the common contact. You'll actually only use two contacts for a roundhouse stall track "On/Off" switch.

There's a simple way to find out which contacts bring the switch light on. Connect one side to a power supply to the center contact of the switch. Connect the other side of the power supply to either side of the switch. Set the power supply for somewhere around 10 volts. If the switch light comes on in either switch position, those are the contacts to use for turning the roundhouse track on.

If not, move the outside wire to the other side, and flip the switch again. The light should come on in one position or the other. Use the contacts where it comes on for your roundhouse track "On/Off" control.

Len

Speaking of Athearn 'blue box kits', for any who haven't seen the official announcement yet:

QuoteAthearn News Special Announcement

October 16, 2009


Greetings,

Effective immediately, we here at Athearn have made the difficult decision to discontinue the production of our Blue Box line of kits. There were several factors that contributed to this extremely challenging decision however, the primary issue revolved around affordability and ensuring that our Blue Box kit pricing remain aligned with what the market can bear. Unfortunately, due to increased manufacturing and labor costs it has been determined that we are no longer able to continue offering kits at competitive price points as compared to our already assembled products.

For over 50 years the Athearn Blue Box kits have been sold worldwide, bringing happiness, joy and excitement to thousands of model railroad enthusiasts. Your passion for these products has allowed us to thrive and grow into the industry leader you still support today, and for that we are eternally grateful. Moving forward this will allow us to dedicate more resources to new and exciting projects in our Ready To Roll, Genesis and Roundhouse lines for another 50 years, or more.

We will continue to support all service and warranty needs on Blue Box kits from our headquarters in Long Beach, California. You can find our contact information here.

The Folks at Athearn

Guess they'll be showing up on e-Bay as "Rare and hard to find" soon.

Len

If you don't want to go the drawbar route, Walthers has a scale dummy knuckle coupler (933-1045) available that gives pretty close coupling. Regular price is $4.98 for a 12 pack, but currently on sale for $2.98.

The sometimes have a burr on the inside face of the knuckle, but it's easy to clean out with a #11 X-acto blade.

Len

Have you tried replacing the couplers with a drawbar made of sheet styrene?

Many of the early cab units came as A-A or A-B sets attached with drawbars. The railroads retrofitted them with couplers to gain flexibility in assigning power to trains.

Len

Jeff,

The Atlas turntable works fine with EZ Track with some slight modification to the EZ-Track. I would suggest using 2-1/4 or 3in straights as the transition pieces.

Remove the loop and pin from one end of the transition piece. Butt that end up against the turntable, centered in the opening, and mark the height and width of the turntable approach track opening on the end of the EZ Track. Lay the EZ Track on the approach track opening and mark the depth on the EZ Track.

Trim off the marked area of the EZ Track road on each side with a razor saw or knife. Sand or file the cut edges smooth, and install to the turntable. Your approach and roundhouse EZ Track with attach to the transition piece normally.

Len

That's why I have both tuners. Tried using the Reboxx on what seemed to be fairly soft die cast metal, and it sort of worked. Problem is it dulled the edge too much for getting the plastic right.

Then I got a Micro-Mark sale notice that included their version, so I got one from them for the plastic trucks, and kept the Reboxx for the softer die cast ones. A hard Arkansas slip stone keeps the edge of the Reboxx tuner shaped up enough for that.

And I'm with Jeryl on the Intermountain wheels. With a few oddball exceptions, that's all I use when I upgrade.

Len

The deck appears to be the same length as the 9in straight in the picture, which would make it the EZ Track equivelant of the Atlas 9in turntable.
Converting that to HO scale feet would make the deck 65ft 3-3/4in long.

Can't say I care much for the $175.00 price tag for a manual turntable, even if it does include the roundhouse. Especially since the roundhouse is European style, and not much use to American RR modelers. It also bothers me there's no mention of whether this thing can be motorized, or when the motor will be available, and at what price, if it can be.

I realize this is aimed at Thomas fanatics, but there are a lot more American railroading HO folks out there that would love to see the turntable available seperately for a more reasonable price.

Especially considering the MSRP on the Atlas turntable and motor drive is $31.95 each. But they can be had from  Amazon, and other places, for roughly $22.50 each, giving a total of $45.00 + S&H for a motorized turntable. And it's not that hard to trim the ends of EZ Track to match up to the Atlas turntable.

Len

Generally speaking freight cars use 33in wheels and passenger cars use 36in wheels, although there are exceptions. Intermodal cars that carry double stacked containers may have 28in wheels to lower the overall height due to clearance issues.

Model passenger cars by IHC have 31in wheels, which can be hard to find metal replacements wheels for. Trimming off the brake shoes provides clearance for 36in replacements though.

A 'truck tuning' tool will greatly improve the rolling performance of your plastic trucks. It's basically a reamer with a 60deg point that cleans out burrs and gives the axle socket proper clearance for the axle end.

The can be had from Micro-Mark:

http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html

And Reboxx:

http://www.reboxx.com/Tools.htm

I have both, and haven't noticed any real differance in how the work.

You don't need to use a lot of force to spread plastic trucks for wheel removal or replacement. A small screwdriver can be used for a bit of leverage when removing old wheels.

Replacing trucks can be simple or involved. It depends on the type of car, type of original truck mount used, and type of truck mount on the new truck.

For freight cars I normally use the appropriate KD trucks, mounted with 2-56 screws. You can get them in bulk fairly cheap from Micro-Fasteners http://www.microfasteners.com

On old Tyco, Life-Like, Model Power, etc. cars that have talgo type trucks with prongs that snap into a large hole in the car, I use a 7 step process:

1. Remove the old trucks.
2. Fill the holes in the car with epoxy (I prefer J.B.Weld 4 Minute)
3. After the epoxy sets, file it flat to the bolster, then drill and tap for a 2-56 screw.
4. Install body mount coupler/draft gear boxes of your choice.
5. Install trucks of your choice.
6. Check coupler height and trip pin clearance, adjust as necessary.
7. Return car to service.

I use the same general process for cars with trucks mounted using oversized sheet metal screws.

For Con-Cor, AHM, and IHC passenger cars that use a plastic pin to hold the truck in place, filling in the hole and drilling/tapping as above is the way to go. You'll find the trucks have less tendancy to fall off.

Len

One thing to keep in mind when using multiple LEDs in a parallel or series combination - make sure they all have the same specs! Electricity takes the path of least resistance (no pun intended), so if the specs are different you get one lit LED and a bunch of dim/dark ones.

If you want to figure it out the old fashion way, the resister formulas for a single LED, and multiple LEDs in parallel are:

LED current limiting resistor formulas:

Note: If the calculated value is not available as a standard resister, use the next

highest value.

Single LED and DC power supply:

    V t – V led
R = -----------
      I led

Where:

V t = Total Power Supply Voltage
V led = Operating Voltage of LED
I led = Operating Current of LED in amps

Example 1: 12VDC power supply and a 2-volt 20mA LED gives:

R = (12 - 2)/0.02 = 500 ohms
--------------------------------------------------
Multiple LEDs in Parallel and DC power supply:

Voltage remains constant, but the current requirement goes up by the number of LEDs

used. The LEDs must have the same specifications and the formula becomes:

    V t – V led
R = -----------
    I led x N led

Where:

V t = Total Power Supply Voltage
V led = Operating Voltage of LED
I led = Operating Current of LED in amps
N led = Number of LEDs

Example 1: 12VDC power supply and 4 2-volt 20mA LED gives:

R = (12 - 2)/(0.02 x 4) = 125 ohms
------------------------------------------

If your lazy, like me, use the resistor calculators at:

http://www.quickar.com/noqbestledcalc.htm

It even tells you what the next highest standard resister value is when the calculated answer is a 'between' value.

Len