ABC is right; it's easy to do your own lights.  However, the incandescent lights use a lot of current which won't be available for your locos.  They also make a lot of undesirable heat.  Try LEDs.  They use very little current and generate almost no heat.  You can get the parts from ebay and instructions on the web.  All you need is the LEDs, some resistors and a magnetic reed switch.  You can even use batteries if you want.  I don't like the battery unit (like Easy-Peasey) because the batteries are expensive.  I suppose you could use AA or AAA batteries instead of the button batteries the E-Ps use.

re you sure that the two switches in the bottom loop aren't reversing sections?  They sure look to me like they would turn trains back the way they came.

THANKS for taking good care of this board.  It is an invaluable resource.

I'm afraid you might have a problem finding rims so you'll probably end up making them yourself.  Maybe you can find a simple wheel, even a large moon disc, which you can whittle into a better looking one.  Be sure to check that the scale matches your trains.  Lots of quality model cars have no corresponding scale or they have the wrong scale.  Ironically, HO may be among the most frustrating.

You might want to reconsider your track plan.  The one in the video is fine for just running trains around in circles but not for much else.  The yard tracks are too short to be of any real practical value.  There are no sidings or spurs to which you can send cars to be dropped or picked up.  The round-and-round becomes monotonous.  Reaching in on a six-foot-wide table will be difficult to say the least.  You have a whole big empty middle which could be used for some interesting trackage and features, but it is unused.  The trains hugging the edges won't look so great and they will be in more danger of falling off if you have a wreck (you will have them), and breaking.

I suggest simplifying the main lines to no more than two, keeping at least one passing siding, using crossovers between the mains, running one yard with longer tracks rather than the two mini yards of the existing plan, and using the middle and corners.  These are great places for industries which will make your operations much more fun, and maybe even an engine terminal with a roundhouse or at least a substantial engine servicing facility.  Such a plan would allow you to just let trains run when that's what you want, and to do some more complex railroading when you're after that.  If you move the yard to the inside you'll be able to have much broader curves (better or operation and appearance), and shift things just a bit so you don't have your straight sections running along the edge of the table.  This isn't just for safety; it will also look much more realistic.  After all, real trains don't run on the edges of tables!  When they are at the edges of canyons or rivers or whatever, you can see those features.  So I'd have at least one side not parallel and close to the edge.  You might also want to consider hiding at least one end of the loops for a more realistic appearance.

I have to say that I had to turn the video off before it was half through because I was so frustrated by the track plan.  It will be big and expensive but very uninteresting.  It just bugged me too much to keep watching.

Good luck with your railroad and welcome to the hobby.

Yes, white stock is available but it won't necessaily resolve the issue of needing white.

I understand that at least some Kinkos will print decals on the customer's decal sheets on an ALPS printer.  I haven't tried this yet but it would be great if it's true.  I would certainly check at your local Kinko shop and see whether they want laser decal film or ink jet.

You can also make decals with your printer, either laser or ink jet.  The decal material is very expensive compared to paper, but a pretty good bargain for decals considering you get a whole 8.5x11 sheet.  You will need to know the font for your models.  Railroad Roman or Railroad Roman Expanded are common ones.

You can also put little dabs of caulk in safe places to attenuate the vibrations.

Use pennies and thick, gooey (plastic safe) construction adhesive for weight when you can.  It's the cheapest way (No pun intended.) to go. 

Ditto re the Spectrum Connie.

Navy, but I won't hold it against you.

Thank you for your help.  I was sure that I would get a useful reply if you answered.

Doneldon

My grandson wants flashing yellow beacons on his Bachmann DCC Diesels.  He has EZ-DCC so there is no way to program/control the decoder.  Consequently, I'm considering using a flashing LED connected "downstrem" from BOTH the forwrd and reverse lights, and then going to the common.  I've been afraid to connect this up because I don't want to fry the decoder or something.

Will this work?  My thinking is that I won't have a short because the non-working light, e.g.,  the reverse light when going forward, will be turned off (and conversely) yet there will still be current to the LED.

Thanks for any help/ideas anyone may have.

Whatsa frrt?  I hope it isn't what it sounds like or I'm gonna need a new hobby.

With very few exceptions, a curved bridge is really a series of straight bridges.  Viaducts can be curved.  If you just need a short curved bridge, use a short straight bridge but widen the base so you have clearance between the trains and bridge.  It's not hard to do, at least with bridges which have no tops.  Once, I used an Atlas through girder bridge but replaced the kit bottom with a piece of steel which slid right into the channels for the original bottom and it looked fine.

ebay often has Central Valley freight kits which were terrific.  They would be equivalent to "craftsman" kits today.  Plus, they included CV trucks.  The down sides are that the CV kits are mostly truss rod types and the kits are pretty spendy due to their rarity and the outstanding trucks.