Hi
Any one know if the Thomas windmill and light house can be taken apart.
easily I have been thinking about getting both.
Painting them in more realistic shades of colour.
Possibly fitting interior lights while I am at it, no mention if interior lights are fitted to these operating accessories  on web site or catalog
All of this so that they can be used on an exhibition layout
Why because at exhibitions you cease to be a railway modeler and have to be more of a showman and the public want lots of trains and operating bits any thing that keeps them interested in the layout is good.
Unlike us a lot of the public at exhibitions don't seem to be, as interested in prototype Fidelity or realism they want to be entertained.
regards John

Hi
I know a lot of train manufacturers HO and OO scale (Bachmann do both) make loco crews specifically designed to fit their locomotives.
Bachmann don't seem to do this does any one know why?
Can any one sugest a brand of crew that is suitable for
Bachmann steam locomotives.
Is the demand out there to justify a top notch crew to fit bachmann locomotives
Perhaps they could base their crew on the Bach-man image that we have all become used to right down to a legible bachmann cap badge and big mustache for the driver
(I did say top notch crew)
Thats my thoughts any others got thoughts on this??
regards John

Hi Guys
These all seem a bit modern
A hunt around the web came up with a Grandt line I hope I have the name right.
HO scale 25t box cab Kit at $50US, I think for a std gauge one what period would they be.
Has any one built one of these kits how hard are they to get a good result with.
I had the daft idea of semi permanently coupling a powered and dummy kit together
with the dummy providing extra pick up.
They are only a tiny looking thing that I suspect could be prone to pick up problems over switches
As its a kit it can be any color I like
The possibly low haulage ability would not be a problem on my small railroad
regards John

Hi ebtbob
I am actually working a bit earlier than that on my RR they would probably be brand new??.
The loco I have is an 0-6-0 switcher with short haul tender next loco just about have the cash for it is a modernized 4-4-0.
There don't seem to be any early diesel locos about so its a question of, How far in the future they are all six pieces of my rolling stock is old time short cars which I think match the have and planned next loco.
Its the small size that caught my attention first, as I don't have a lot of room to play with.
Oh! and just a Small personal taste thing there available in Red
regards John

Hi
What year where the prototypes for these two locomotives first built??
And when where they scrapped or are there still some out in the real world??
I need to know so I can see if I can stretch time things a bit to include these small locos.
Not sure any one makes anything earlier in the way of small diesel locos
as RTR or easy kit.
regards John

Hi doneldon
Feel free keep that brain storming
There are some very good and interesting ideas getting hammered
into some thing like a usable forms.
Any and all contributions are going to be of use to me or some one else
I think the stage trickery you and Jim are discussing is very interesting
Still think I will pass on sound 
regards John

Hi Jim
I don't have to imagine Hail on a tin roof I can tell you exactly what its like.
I have a tin roof on my house.
Don't know the brand name, but there is or was a very nice Aussie made corrugated HO aluminum sheet done.
I should not have much trouble over here finding suitable model sheet.
The local outline model railways regardless of State modeled would need large quantities of the stuff for roofs, fences, factories railway buildings
farm sheds.
Even for some rolling stock was corrugated iron bodies.
In some places the whole house was corrugated iron at one time.
I would imagine they would have been oppressively hot in summer and
and cold enough to freeze I think you know the rest in winter.
regards John

Hi
All well an experiment with folded paper and cheap carp super market super glue seems to have worked and produced an I think sturdy enough pup tent.
A couple of plastic broom bristles or micro rod should work for the tent poles.
How ever I am not happy with the stark white far to clean appearance
Any suggestions for a water based ink and what color that I can thin right down and slosh over the paper to pre stain it before making the tent huts
proper.
I have worked out what seems a reasonable way of joining the framed canvas part to a timber false front for a combined store and accommodation version.
The question is what on earth stops the 16' high front falling back and crushing the store part of the structure.
I am working on the basis the tent hut part has a reasonable frame built
that will be part of a finished store if town stays around long enough.
Would it be wrong to give these type of huts in a USA context a corrugated iron roof.
That has been added when the store owner could afford it.
regards John

Hi doneldon
Interesting Idea must pass that one on to a friend doing an exhibition
layout.
Though I am not sure I want to know what he would do with it.
A yellow bright LED would be the light source  for that as oil lamps
give a yellow light.
I think LED's are a low heat light source??.
just the light and some interesting shadows could work as well.
I know sound is or will be the next big thing these days some sounds
are best left alone unless you know a movie sound man.
regards John

Hi Johnson Bar Jeff
Yes I mean an open platform coach just like on the "western movies"
Sorry slipped back into more familiar UK RR terms.
Have been offered a short Tyco old time combine just after finishing on here last night apparently apart from a missing brake wheel and shaft its OK.
Is this brand any good??
If it is who makes brake wheels and shafts as  detail parts and what else
would be easy to add??
Have no idea what the story is with this brand have had conflicting versions on them more bad than good.
regards John

Your cannons could come from Hat, Revel a few other toy soldier suppliers
that make 1/72 figures these will be close enough for HO
I would suggest since its only the cannons you want that Napoleonic or ACW cannons would do, something around a nine pound cannon should look right perhaps one of the figures painted bronze and plinthed could be the monument.
You should be able to pick up the mentioned brands at your local hobby or toy shop or from the internet if thats your thing.
With the mentioned brands and similar you will have to prime them with Auto plastic primer before painting them, barrel and ironwork black/gun metal sorry can't help with the correct color for the gun carriage.
I know the Brits where grey the French was an earthy green but no idea what color the  USA or CSA painted there gun carriage's
regards John

Hi scoutersama
The first thoughts that come to me are a baseball field, sports store.
given the size of town you describe I would suggest you need a place of worship what this actually is.
Is defiantly up to you but it will help suggest a reasonable population, I would also suggest the county sheriffs office and substantial looking bank again these buildings will help suggest population.
A few stores including at least one posh one and a bar for the business district multi occupant may again help with the population impression. a few houses and that should nail it.
a school would be nice but could be land hungry.
A memorial park this need not be big a few square inches with a couple of cannons and some sort of memorial and flag pole possibly part of a larger park.
I haven't mentioned rail or industry buildings as you seem to have a handle on the things you want in that area.
But basically you want buildings that help suggest a bigger population than the area you will have for town a couple of tenement blocks may help but they to me suggest a rougher part of town
regards John

Hi J3a-614
The track plan is very basic a loop with passing track and outside dead end siding on the left,
Two sidings inside just right of the center and a two road loco depot on the right hand side on the outside of the loop two hidden sidings at rear.
all on 4'6" x 4'6".
Have managed to keep it to second and third radius peco track
The main scenic feature will be a ridge with a road bridge on left and tunnel on right  town on ridge nowhere else to put it.
Behind which are the roundy bit and two hidden sidings.
As for period unsure but the freight stock is five old HO roundhouse kits for
the Devils Gulch and Helangon RR these look to be some where around thirty feet long that part of label is chaffed away but they are shorties so its pretty early in the piece or the RR is broke. loco is a Bachmann Smokey mountain 0-6-0 not sure if I chose the right one there and a red bobber caboose later a modern?? 4-4-0 is planned there is only so much that can be fitted in the small space can't find an early ugly diesel loco so its all steam.
Passenger stock have literally no idea yet that will be determined by length more than anything else short heavy weight combine perhaps or western style balcony coach and caboose.
Its more a capture feel than dead on thing very much learn as you go,
and hope it works out.
Its not LMS so its lets see what happens and what the US books and good people on this forum can tell me
Don't have a photo act so posting pics of bench work and whats made so far is a problem.
More junked than made at moment.
regards John

Hi Donaldon
I think tents are perhaps best in folded paper yard broom bristles should be OK for the poles this gives the advantage of a little sag and for the brave who want to go mad and interior detail them the flaps can be cut to fold back.
For tent huts I would think balsa wood base box with match wood frame
door plastic or pewter casting again paper for the tent part 8' walls ??.
fiddly maybe drive you insane quite possibly, but I think the results would be better.
The war games crowd often use very light weight card for making tent encampments that are strong enough to put up with most gaming hazards.
So for rail modeling which doesn't get handled anywhere near as much
I would think paper would work, it could possibly be hardened with cheap carp supermarket super glue before painting.
Haven't thought about false front tent store yet they are a bit more complicated?? not quite sure how to do a false front yet they where supposed to look decorative and convey a sense of reliability to the store
regards John

The thing is is that Bachmann isn't as cheap as a company like Hornby that just takes other toolings and puts different paint on it. Just like with the Thomas line, they'd make new moldings for the trains and it would be more work than you think.
[/quote]

Erhm Hornby can do that because every Real (Rev Audrey) Thomas trains are based on real UK trains and Hornby has already made the model ones.
So its no big deal to change the color and make a face to fit in place
of the smoke.
And they have the license for it in the UK
Rev Audrey's own models where done the same way minus the faces.
If the UK market wanted the as on TV ones all of them would have had to
be made from scratch like Bachmann did for the US market.
You do realize I hope that Thomas is about 80 years old and many in the UK
where bought up with Thomas and hold the view that the way Hornby did them is the right way to do them.

I don't quite see how this fits in with the Polar Express Discussion because any company that choses to make it in HO.
Will use existing molds if they can, so they can keep the price down at a level people will pay.
We are happy to pay the prices for our trains many parents are reluctant to pay that price for a toy that may well end up in pieces.
Don't be surprised if one day some one makes it for the discerning adult collector.
Because thats where the money is.
regards John