I have nine years of college, speak three languages fluently, have edited materials prepared by graduate-educated professionals and am a stickler for grammar and spelling.  And I'm ashamed of those who made fun of Zachary.  It's been obvious from his posts that he is not flawless in English; I thought perhaps he was not a native speaker.  I have to say, too, that I see very few posts on this board with perfect English and spelling, so maybe that adage about stones and glass houses applies.  At any rate, now he's been forced to explain that he has a language challenge.  Nice job, folks.  

I think Zachary deserves our collective apology for judging and ridiculing him (not to mention piling on).  I, for one, am sorry for the way you have been treated, Zachary.  I hope it doesn't interfere with your enjoyment of our hobby or discourage you from staying on this board.  End of soapbox.

As to your problem, you can use a switch for a two-track engine house or even a small roundhouse.  Most of the basic kits I've seen start with three stalls.  If that's your situation, you can use a three-way switch.  It will save you a lot of money and space.

Hang in there, buddy.  There are a lot of decent but clumsy people in the world, even in the HO world.  


I hope this helps.
                                             -- D

Congratulations and welcome aboard!

I suggest you get a good caliper and some quality tools, like tweezers, scalpels or hobby knives, and a designated rail cutter.  You can get these items at a fair, even good, price at Micro Mark and Model Expo.  Be careful with the lubricants.  Many powered models need a VERY SMALL amount of lubrication when new but you will have more problems with too much lube than too little.  Also, I'd hold off on the 8 amp booster.  Five amps is plemty for HO unless you are planning a giant layout, like a whole basement, with lots of sound locos and several simultaneous operators.

Good luck.

By the way, this is a good source of information for you.  You can ckeck the old topics to see if your qyestions are already answered or use the board to pose new ones.

Doneldon

Lenz makes some decoders which are so tiny they will fit almost anywhere.  I put one in the Bachmann track service set and it works just fine.  I'd try the handcar, too, but that's just too tiny.

I just built a small layout for my grandson which I wanted to be bullet proof in regards to the electricity.  I soldered feeders to track or rail joiners and spaced them so the current wouldn't have to get across more than one joint.  I also put a tiny dab of dilectric grease, sold as lightbulb socket lubricant) on every rail joiners and briefly touched my soldring iron so the connections would stay clean.  I also made sure that there was a power feed to every end of every switch.  He lives 100 miles away so house calls for repairs would be quite a hassle.  Other than all of the work, this seems to be a solid system.

No.

You can use just about any small power pack on a closeout at your LHS or ebayto power your turnouts.

The masonite should work just fine and there really isn't a concern with warping on such small pieces as HO structures.  So...he has free materials and no need for interior reinforcement.  Sounds like a good deal to me!

Why not use one of the newer Atlas 15 degree turntables (yes, only 9") with the Atlas table in the floor of your pit and a 120' tables built above it?  You'll have a reliable unit, low price and excellent indexing.

The reason for the multiple track feeds is that nickel silver rail is a poor electrical conductor compared to copper wire.  Copper is even better than brass.  Using copper wire of a robust guage with short feeders will minimize voltage drops and keep the voltage similar all over the layout.  Twisting the bus (i.e., under layout) wires won't do anything to maintain the voltage; wires are twisted to reduce electrical signal interference between the wires.  This isn't an issue with DC but it can be an issue in DCC if you have very long runs.

I just built a DC HO layout for my grandson and I used lots of short feeders connected to 16 ga buses under the table.  I'm hoping that this will help his layout operate longer with minimal maintenance since he lives 100 miles away and isn't old enough yet, at nine, to diagnose and repair/maintain operational problems.

I used the Bachmann EZ system and I'm confident he will find that more then adequate for his needs.  I may have to add the booster if he needs more power for locos with sound.

The modest cost for adding strobes or Mars lights seems to me to make the lengthy rants kind of ridiculous.  Many (most?) modelers won't want the super elaborate set ups and they won't want to pay for them so a minority of others can have them.  Put your time and energy into upgrading your loco rather than griping.  And when you do gripe, use language in a way that makes you look credible.  Spell check and grammar check are free features, after all.  Use 'em!  In the alternative, why not develop and market a simple auxiliary light board for the masses who want more special lighting effects?

Licensing isn't an issue any longer; MTH more or less got the UP to back down on that and nobody seriously believes the BNSF will try to squeeze a few bucks out of the model makers.

Last, thank you to Jim Banner.  Jim, your expertise,  wealth of experience and sage comments are great to read.

Several folks have mentioned ebay and I'd agree with that.  First, though, you might try to get a ball-park idea of value by searching for your items on ebay.  Think of the best words which apply, perhaps include model numbers, and be sure to search the listings, not just the titles.  You won't find everything but some things will turn up to give you a starting point.

Most railway bridges (the El is a railroad, after all) aren't curved; they are a series of straight sections at angles to one another.

No.  The code 100 rail refers to the height of the rail, not the width of the railhead.

I'm surprised to see that no one mentioned dummy couplers.  They are ideal for permanent diesel lashups (ABA or such like), unit trains and many passenger trains.  In addition to staying well coupled, they look much better because they are closer to scale.  They're no good for cars which need to be coupled and uncoupled a lot but they are great where they can be used.

Would it really end the world if I use a 1.5 amp wall wart for the Bachmann DCC system (I'm building a small setup for my grandson) instead of the 1.0 amp supplied by Bachmann?  I'm hoping there is enough excess capacity in the system that I won't wreck anything.  I'm not anxious to get the 5 amp booster because it is too pricey and he won't need anywhere near that amount of current.  Thanx for any replies.

Doneldon