The best thing I've found for applying Scenic Cement to ballast is one of those blunt "syringes" you can get from the pharmacist for giving young kids liquid medicine. Put some Scenic Cement in a bowl, load the "syringe", and apply to the ballast.

Len

Yes, the Con-Cor cars handle 18in radius very well. The under body isn't completely accurate, but it allows enough swing to the trucks to let them get around the 18in curves.

One caveat though, if you have any 'S' curves include a straight section at least as long as one car between the curves that make up the 'S'. Otherwise the trucks on connecting cars will be trying to swing in opposite directions at the same time, and at least one of them will probably jump the track.

Len

There is one thing you have to watch with the Walthers 85ft Amtrak cars, they are 24in radius, minimum.

When they first came out the boxes were marked 22in radius minimum, but they had problems with even with 22in curves. So the next run the boxes were marked 24in radius minimum, and they work fine on 24in curves.

Being able to handle 18in radius curves is the the one big thing going for the Con-Cor, IHC (if you can find them), and Athearn passenger cars. And by replacing the wheels with Intermountain 36in metal wheels, it's very easy to add a Miniatronics (Walthers: 475-100YCL01) light kit to the Con-Cor  cars.

Len

Jim,

Predates the 1880's by a few hundred years, but maybe you could load up with a 'Davinci Ornithopter' some enterprising nut, er..., inventor is trying to make work!

Or possibly an 1843 'Steampunk' airplane (see article at: http://hubpages.com/hub/A-Steampunk-Airplane-from-the-1800s) that someone plans to improve on with a more powerful engine and actually get off the ground.

Note: We played around with the design of this thing back when I was in engineering school, and my hair was still brown. It could have flown, it was just underpowered.

Len

Yes, that F40PH should work fine with your EZ-Command system.

From the description is sounds like MRC did a special deal with Walthers Trainline to get a bunch of those locos and put their decoders in them as some kind of promotional deal.
The loco is a good one, just don't forget to lube it periodically per the instructions. Can't say one way or the other about the MRC decoder without knowing specifically which one they installed.

It's best to break in the Trainline locos by running them forward for 1/2hr or so, then run them in reverse for the same time. Change the speed after 10 minutes or so while doing this. They're very smooth runners once broken in.

Len

For the Con-Cor cars, you might also want to look at the Walthers Trainline F40PH locos. They're not DCC ready, but it's not all that difficult to hardwire a Digitrax DH123 or TCS M1 decoder in to them. They're available in Phase-III and Phase-IV paint schemes. Once broken in, they are very rugged, very reliable runners, with enough weight to pull more passenger cars than I can fit on my layout. Even without DCC, I've been able to get mine to creep at roughly 3-ties a minute.

The item numbers are:

931-335 Amtrak F40PH (Ph-IV)
931-337 Amtrak F40PH (Ph-III) (Advance reservation, due in 15 Feb 11)

There's also a GP9m available in the correct Amtrak switcher scheme for a coach yard, and a 'never happened, but looks cool' Ph-III paint job:

931-131 Amtrack GP9m (Switcher Scheme)
931-123 Amtrack GP9m (Ph-III)

Len

Looking at the picture on the 'products' page, it would appear the track spacing is 20 degrees. Does anyone make a roundhouse, aside from the one with the Tidmouth Sheds turntable, that will line up to that?

Most of the Walthers/Faller/Vollmer roundhouses are set for 10 degrees, and the Atlas is 15 degrees. Will 'Tidmouth Sheds' be available seperately as a genereic roundhouse, or do we have a new excuse to start scratch building??

Len

Quote from: gandy dancer#1 on January 05, 2011, 12:55:39 PM
Greetings: would some one tell me what is the best motor in ho locos?? Saw one which stated 8 wheel drive, so assume2 motors? also stated it was a 5 pole, with fly wheel?? would assume thesw pull a loy of cars?? kindea like my dodge cummins 2500 up against my dodge 318??

8-wheel drive would normally be a diesel with a center mounted motor and drive shafts going to each of the wheel trucks. A 5 pole motor means it has 5 windings on the armature, giving smoother starts and operation than a 3 pole motor. Fly wheels also smooth operation, reduding jerky starts and stops.

How many cars a loco can pull varies with the weight of the loco, type of wheels on the loco, type of wheels and trucks on the cars, and the weight of the cars.

Len

Short answer is no Baggage or Combine cars were done..

Life-Like only did the Observation, Full Dome, Coach, and Dome-Diner cars, and they appear to be getting phased out by Walthers since they bought Life-Like.

Len

Quote from: Techie401 on January 01, 2011, 02:13:51 PM
thank you for the information!  Happy New Year to you as well.  I have one more question...  Does the Bachmann EZ Track connect to any other kind of track?

Short answer, yes. If you don't want to modify the EZ-Track use the Life-Like "Power-Link" adapater tracks for their Power-Loc track system. Connect the adapters back-to-back and connect the EZ-Track to one end. The loop on the EZ-Track will fit in the hollow space under the adapter without cutting it off. Connect whatever other track system you want to the other end of the adapters. If connecting to Code 83 track, like Atlas True-Track, you'll need their Code 100/Code 83 Transition Rail Joiners.

Len

Quote from: jward on December 27, 2010, 01:22:13 PM
len,

i have to ask if you operate your trains. i am not talking about running them in circles, the tyco cars are more than adequate for that. but if you've ever tried to back them through switches into a siding or yard track you understand the shortcomings of both the x2f coupler and truck mounted couplers in general. having tthe two of them together only magnifies the problems. rerailing cars all the time isn't my idea of fun.....

these cars can be converted into decent runners, but this is not something somebody just getting into the hobby should undertake. there's alot of cutting, filing and drilling, plus the fact that the coupler height needs to be dead on in order for everything to work well. the beginner would be better off finding some old athearn freight car kits to put together until they get a feel for what's important to making your cars run well.

My layout is predominately a switching layout, so the answer is yes I operate my trains.

I converted my first Tyco car when I was 12, so I don't think of it as all that hard to do. The "quick and dirty" method is:

Pop to trucks off the car.
Use a pair of sprue cutters to take the talgo coupler box off
Use a "Truck Tuner" http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html to clean out the journals.
Pop in some Intermountain wheels (the bulk box of 100 brings the price down)
Install a KD #5 coupler box and coupler (trim the side 'ears' off, they'll interfere with the wheels)
Reinstall the trucks by popping the peg back in it's hole.

Slightly refined method:

Pop the original truck off and install the coupler box as above.
Fill the truck mounting holes with JB Weld Kwik epoxy (let it cure overnight)
Use an emery board to smooth the cured epoxy flush with the bolster.
Drill a hole in the center of the filled in bolster with a #50 drill bit in a pin vice.
Tap the hole for a 2-56 screw (tap & drill available from KD, Micro-Mark, or Micro-Fasteners)
Install the truck & wheels of your choice with a 2-56 screw of the appropriate length.

It's not all about the money. It's a hobby, and I enjoy turning a so-so 'toys' into smooth operating rolling stock for my layout. I also found doing such conversions when I was younger helped me develop skills that were useful for more complicated tasks as my interests, and layout, grew.

Len

Quote from: ACY on December 27, 2010, 11:42:02 AM
Also, I highly suggest not buying any cheap cars with Talgo trucks and truck mounted horn-hook (xf2) couplers, this includes Life-Like, Tyco, AHM, IHC, regular Model Power (not Metal train). Look for trucks with metal wheels and body mounted knuckle couplers. Also if you do chose to buy cars with xf2 couplers, you will need to make a conversion car and probably add weight to all the cars.

I tend to disagree with this sentiment. There's nothing inherently wrong with these cars that replacing the wheels with Intermountain's, and body mounting knuckle couplers will not fix. It's not that hard to do, and Tyco in particular did some nice paint schemes you can't find anywhere else. If molded on detail bothers you, they're no harder to upgrade than the old 'blue box' Athearn cars.

Len

Another option is to use either McHenry or Kadee 'shelf' style safety couplers. The shelf is similar to that found on horn-hook couplers, but smaller. It will keep the couplers from bypassing each other if there's a slight height difference when coupled.

Len

Joe,

Did a quick check, and my Williams Geeps handle the UCS track with no problem. My SD, which has much wider P/U rollers, is doing exactly what you describe. The rollers are contacting the center rail and control rails at the same time, triggering the magnet.

I don't own an WBB S2 Turbine, which is what the OP mentioned as having the problem. Are the rollers on the S2 wide, like the SD, or narrow like the Geeps??

Len

Just out of curiosity I dug out my micrometer with the long anvil and checked three 5530s. I found, on average, the control rails and electromagnet 'button' are .045", or just a hair under 3/64", higher than the running rails.

Len