this is just the hobby evolving. things happen. you never know what the future will be like. we can adapt or grouse. i prefer to adapt and move on. much more fun and challenging.
i have seen scratch building projects from 50s and 60s mr magazines of beautiful mrr stuff when there was no internet and you had to "scratch" around for materials. the old times adapted to whatever was available. it is a dieing art. i use to love reading the articles by el moore.
lex

do not know about the 0-6-0. right now in the yahoo nce dcc group there is a discussion about the dcc for two motor 44 ton. two people have successfully done a dcc install. i read another forum some months ago someone did a dcc in two motor 44 ton and the decoder smoked after 20 minutes of running. I would measure the motor current first using a dc power pack.
one guy in the nce forum has done two installs with the two motor version using the below article. there are details to watch out for. you can smoke a decoder if not carefull.
it is not like the single motor version.

There is an article in the January 2001 MR on how to do the installation.
lex

some years ago my grandson came with me to a model railroad show and we bought some lionel 027 and a couple manual switch tracks.  with a 4 by 8 foot layout he was very happy.
i have some tinplate marx 027 i use to set up for christmas but stopped doing that. they are much to loud when running.
I found some plastic linoel 027 that are much quieter.

lex

Quote from: train2b on October 15, 2009, 07:18:42 AM
Can anyone recommend a train set to start my 5 year old son with?  Are these sets easy to put together?

you did not say but i have to assume he does not want a push toy. i have seen a wooden set with wood track at my local hobby show that has a lot of stuff for that age.
if you go with electric type modify the power pack so the knob cannot go full speed. an engine flying of the track on a table cam be damaged when it hits the floor. he will not be happy.
lex

they are toy quality and noisy. i have heard them before. i have the john bull. same thing. does not run very well. if it does run, goes about 100 mph
lex

don't know if any of you have seen this magazine. it is free and is available every three months. the fourth issue just came out today. lots of good information
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/
lex

Quote from: Bill Baker on October 13, 2009, 09:08:25 AM
I've got a house with a front porch that is screaming to have a screened porch.  I really don't know where to search for "screen" in HO scale.  If anyone knows of a manufacturer or a substitute product that would pass for screen, I would appreciate some information on it.

Secondly, I'm looking for a tender dog house around the 1940 era to go on my Bachmann 2-8-2 SY.  I've checked Walther's, e-bay and Cal Scale and haven't found one suitable. Again, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bill

hello bill

i contacted psc about those parts. here is what they tlod me.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
is part number 32515, n&w doghouse in stock? thanks.

      Yes, $5.50 each, Thank you.

do you have any screen in stock?

   Silver screen......
48384  28 opening per linear inch
       .008" x 2-7/16" x 5" sheet         $8.25 ea.

48385  34 opening per linear inch
       .005" x 1-15/16" x 3-11/16" sheet  $6.25 ea.

48386  56 opening per linear inch
       .003" x 1-7/16" x 3-1/4" sheet     $6.25 ea

We also have in stock brass screen, please let us know if that is of
interest. Thank you,
                    Mike
------------------------------

i would also buy there parts catalog. a lot of good info parts.
lex

ok, I will store that information. i would assume there is enough room for camera and battery. i do not plan to ever use a camera though. the battery with regulator could be useful for led lighted passenger cars and caboose lights and not worry about the track pickups. he does have a lot of possibilities.
lex

Quote from: RAM on October 13, 2009, 09:33:10 PM
Ok I found this report.     CSX Transportation (CSX) says a freight train carrying two carloads of molten phenol left its Stanley, OH rail yard last week unmanned after an engineer inadvertently pulled a throttle, instead of a brake, before dismounting.

The engineer, who had been working on the 47-car train, did not realize the error until he was off the locomotive and it was moving too fast for him to stop it, says CSX.

The train traveled about 66 miles through northwestern Ohio before CSX employees were able to catch up to it and ...

What gets me is , the engineer doesn't know the difference between the throttle and the brake.  I didn't know the CSX ran one man crew. 

common ram,
he made a mistake. The wet steps did not help.

I have a friend who has been a machine mechanic for paper slitting/winding machines and hasseen an operator mistakenly hit the wrong button. it can happen with experienced operators. you get comfortable, ok complacent, doing a job and hit the wrong button or control.
he has seen an operator slip becaus of a spill that was not wiped up  and hit a stop button which stopped the whole machine. could have been worse.

read the whole article. There was also a conductor. Again, read everything in the link.

here is the link again.

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=70901

ok, original intent for the post is the railroad movie in 2010. sometimes peopl mention there are very few railroad movies.

lex

doghouse.

greenway brass has one but it is $20. it does not look n&w.
http://greenwaybrass.com/s_87_parts.shtml
if psc has the n&w doghouse #32515 in stock, it is $5.25 but you have to solder it togeter. it is brass. call them.
lex

the regulator takes care of the surge. i bought the power kit from a guy on the soundtraxx forum. here is the circuit he uses. jim betz is his name.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/nswmn/flicker_free_JB.htm
i modified mine a little as i like to experiment. the max voltage for the cap is 5.5 volts. sometimes called super cap or memory backup cap. i think there are some caps that are 8 volts max. you would have to look around.
the people on the links usually respond to email if anymore questions.

some people use electrolytic smt caps since they are smaller in size than tubular electrolytics if they do not want to use a super cap.
lex

Quote from: meguell3 on October 13, 2009, 11:48:59 AM
Why are you guys coming up with makeshift ideas when precision craft makes the perfect screen type and size?
http://www.precisionscaleco.com/
Go to Misc. then go to screen..

because walther's did not have it is why i did not mention psc. you would have to call psc for availability. i have to do that sometimes. psc does not always have what they advertise. Sometimes they do and walthers does not, though you will usually see  it listed in walthers, just not in stock. i have their psc paper catalogs.
lex

for screen, take a look at coffee filters. might work
lex

make sure you get the 7808 with the to220 case. the 7808 with to3 case is quite larger.
in the lighting circuit link i gave you, there is a large value capacitor used on the output of the regulator. i do not remeber what the voltage rating of the cap is but it is used to minimize light flicker. i use a 0.47 farad, yes farad, cap in a lighting circuit to minimze flicker. look at the lighting circuit again. that is a lot of ufd's.
lex

did you see the below one.
http://tinyurl.com/ygnpq67

precision scale use to have another one 32515 part number. a n&w dog house. call them. i do that some times. http://www.precisionscaleco.com/
click on aboutpsc. i oder direct sometimes
lex