Hey there! Now that this site is back, I figured I'd throw this here too since I've not had much luck looking elsewhere and have gotten good advice here in the past.

So, a few months ago, I FINALLY found my grandfathers missing brass locomotives. Unlike most of the rest of his collection, these I have no intention of selling off, but they need a lot of work, and so I've kind of made a commitment to myself to pick one and start restoring it this spring once my leg heals up (and then onto the next one and so on). Does anybody have any good links on working with HO Brass? In particular:

-Cleaning Oxidation
-Dealing with Corrosion (the Climax in particular has BAD green corrosion, I hope it isn't a lost cause)
-Fixing the electrics (most don't run at all due to age)
-Lubrication (don't know if it is different for brass)
-Painting
-Adding Headlamp Holes (I ASSUME I can just drill the can open but if I'm wrong, I'd like to know)
-Repairing/Replacing damaged parts
-Converting to DCC (the big one, I don't actually have an HO layout anymore, had to switch to N for space reasons, so this isn't a huge deal but I figure prepping the models for DCC down the line would be best done while i'm in there, even if I setup temporary "jumpers" for now in place of actual decoders)

And I'm sure more questions will come as I work, so yeah, lot of info out there, just looking for good resources to get started. Thanks!

Pics of the locos for the curious: https://imgur.com/a/iggutAw

I'll soon be moving into an apartment that is too small to bring the Layout with me (it aint much, a simple 4*8, but still too big for this space). I am planning to pack up the locomotives, Rolling stock, and  perhaps the track (undecided on that point, its regular ez track). Anything in particular I need to do to the locomotives to prepare them for storage? I expect it'll be a while until they are broken out again, at least a year.

So, after QUITE a long time idling, i have the funds set aside to move forward with my layout and actually start adding scenery and such. Now, one thing i have to do is actually fasten down my track, and I used EZ track when i set it all up like four years ago. were i to do it again i'd likely use regular track as i imagine making the too-high EZ track look good is gonna be a task, but its what I used soo, it is what it is. That said, one thing i'd really like to accomplish is to deaden the noise caused by the big empty space. My first thought was some kind of expanding foam, but then i thought that that would likely lift the track causing issues, has anybody found a good material to use to reduce the dead space and therefore the noise?

So I recently got a decent deal on a supposed new Sound value 2-8-0. Only catch? Untested.

Well it arrived and wouldnt ya know, it doesnt run. The motion binds on the wheels. I've determined that it is infact the Motion, the motor and worm spin fine.

I CAN return it, but i'd kinda like to fix it as i'm fond of the 2-8-0's and the two i have just arent enough! Only problem is, i cannot for the life of me figure out WHY its binding. The rods dont seem to be impacting and the axle slots are clear. to my untrained eyes, it should work. but it dont.

SO, i have pictures of the rods in the worst spot (it catches roughly every quarter turn, but this is the spot that it cant be forced past while rotating "fowards", it CAN be forced though with effort if rotating backwards). I also have a short video displaying the binding. I'm HOPING somebody can make a suggestion as to what might be causing it, if they see something wrong that I missed.

https://imgur.com/gallery/6RzKrMM

Thanks for the help you can provide,Sincerely - Bricks

Hello, so I'd like your help diagnosing this. First of all, a video of the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZCgfwwues&feature=youtu.be

the problem is that clicking noise and the visible rock. sometimes the loco will actually stall and I have to kinda wiggle it around to get it moving

Now, some testing has revealed:
It only happens going fowards, never in reverse
It only happens going counter-clockwise
it only happens on the outer loop, and only on the section I filmed it on (not on the other side of the loop)
it always happens at the same point on the driver revolution.

Also, just to say, this is the later spectrum release with sound, though I took the sound decoder out because for some reason it kept loosing power.

Any ideas?

Hello, my other project atm is fixing the 2-10-0 that I broke. In an effort to alleviate stalls I temporarily removed the sound board from it, replacing it with a standard decoder from a 2-8-0 that I am working on. Anyway, the wires from the rear headlight came off the board and I was wondering if rthere is a schematic of it since I cannot find the contacts to solder them back on.

While I'm at it, It ran much better with the regular decoder (for some reason), I just needed the decoder back. Is there a way to tweak the sound decoder to get the same stall improvements?

Hey all. I just obtained an old Spectrum GP30. I'm usually a steam guy but the price was like 30 bucks and I'm somewhat fond of the Gp's. Anyway, turns out it was older than I thought because it has a split frame design. Is there  a good guide to converting it to DCC? I'm having trouble figuring out what to do and my attempt to isolate the motor failed.

Also, the decoder I was using had a few wires come out when I reclaimed it from a failed project. Is there a good schematic showing which contact on the main decoder board do what? I'd rather not waste it since decoders are expensive.

So I've just about had it with my 2-10-0. Its constantly disappointed me with its relatively poor running, low speed (WAY too low), frequent stalls, and the fact that to get it moving at any decent rate when pulling just 8 cars, you need to throttle it to max (which defeats the purpose of sound since the chuff rate is ridiculous). Now, I love the 2-10-0, but its driving me crazy. On a whim I plugged it into the tender from a 2-8-0 and the running quality improved dramatically. Now, I like the sound and all, but its not worth this headache. I happen to have a decoder from a 2-8-0 that had an... accident, and as such was wondering how much wwork I need to do to swap the sound board in the 2-10-0 with a plain decoder.

Hello, anybody know any tips for preventing my only sound loco from occasionally stalling, especially on switches. All my locos will stall on rare occasions since I'm apparently incapable of cleaning my track, but only the 2-10-0 does it with rather annoying frequency.

Has anybody tried 3D printing structures for a layout? I'm considering it since it would be cheaper by far than buying buildings. I'd have to actually design the buildings unless I found files somebody else had done but considering this semester one of my classes is on Drafting by hand and in AutoCAD (software), creating the files should be completely within reason.

I gotta say, I've seen people talk about adding weight to tenders, but I never would have believed the difference it makes. my 2-10-0 (my only sound loco) would stall all too often, especially over turnouts, from power loss. I added a tiny bit of weight by gluing some old pinewood derby weights to the upper part of the shell, couldn't have been more than .5 oz, and the thing runs so much better now, even smoother somehow. I also shoved some weight onto the cab roof, scraps so it would have been around .1 oz.

So I wanted to kind of get a feel for what would be required to re-letter my 2-8-0's to the name I've actually given my layout. to that end I had a few questions for the more experienced among us

1. You obviously have to get the OLD lettering off, I've seen many different suggestions, what have you found works
2. What did you use for re-lettering. I've seen things like Alphabet Decal sheets, but that seems A: expensive since you wouldn't use anywhere near the whole sheet and, since the name I'm using has 3 A's and 3 S's that's a minimum of 6 per Locomotive, that's a lot of sheets. and B: Would I really have to line up each letter by eye? How does one even go about doing that.
C: I love white rim Drivers on Steam Locomotives, its not a necessity, but if it could be done, how IS it done.

For the record, the name is Passaic And Hudson.

I've Several steam locomotives but the 2-10-0 and 2-8-2 I'd want to keep in their Susquehanna Lettering as I love the NYSW and it would run in the same general area so, hey, it fits. The 4-4-0 I wouldn't be re-lettering because, to be honest, I only have it since I got it as a replacement from Bachmann. It doesn't fit with the rest of my stuff so I rarely use it. Similar though not as strong situation with my 2-8-4.  The 2-8-0's though are nice looking, good sized, locomotives that would be neat places to start. I'd likely practice on the remains of the IHC 4-6-2 I used as parts for my other 4-6-2 so its not like I'd be jumping in, and besides, I wouldnt be able to really start this for a while anyway. But for now, I wanted to get a feel for what would be needed,

Though I'm not brave nor skilled enough to do so, I was wondering if anybody had attempted to make a 4-8-0 from the Spectrum 2-8-0. It looks quite doable. I've always found the 4-8-0's from the N&W to be interesting Locomotives.

Since Sharing seem the thing to do, I thought I'd post some pictures of my layout thus far. Scenery has not been done since I ran out of funding but The track is there. the buildings may or may not be moved, however for the most part things are how I like em. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, I'd love to hear em.



Overview



Another Overview



My Only Passenger Equipment, an IHC Pacific and some old Athearn Cars. The Pacific is one of the few locos I have that can pull the cars since they roll REALLY poorly. The 2-8-4 can pull em, as can the f-40. the 2-8-0s can barely move them while the 2-10-0, 2-8-2, and 4-4-0 cannot move them at all. I actually have a fourth, an observation car, but I do not use it since I can't fit it and I don't have a way to turn it around.



The Yard



The Engine House

Hello, so, I clearly misunderstand how headlights work in DCC.

I finally got around to replacing the burned out headlight in my 2-8-0, put in an LED. Thing is, rather than being on constantly as all other DCC locos do, it goes off adn on brighter according to speed as if running on DC. the headlight function does disable/enable it but it has that scaling. Why would this happen? and yes, I've tried a decoder reset as I usually do when a decoder issue happens.

Hello, so, when passing over a turnout on my layout, the trailing truck on my SY 2-8-2 derails. It is the only thing that does. I'm not suprised as it has always been more sensitive to issues given that it has little pressure downwards. That said, Something is still wrong that it comes off at taht same point every time. I've looked very close and found that at a point almost to the end of the points, the truck lifts and the wheels ride the rail before dropping off as seen below:



I do not see any issue with the turnout but I thought I'd ask if anybody more experienced saw anything. Here is the turnout empty:

so the info I found was off by a bit, how long is the number 6 crossover? I'm trying to find a combination of straights to match it. Thanks!

Hey all, in a few days (once the shipment comes) I'll be laying the track for my layout finally. Having finally gathered enough cash to get the rest of it (college is a large money suck). Since I already had a lot of it and, while it isn't the prettiest, it looks alright to me once ballasted, I decided to just go ahead and finish it with eztrack rather than replace the 250+ dollars I already had acquired over the past two years.

Naturally I'm pretty excited however as its going down for good this time, I need to get it right. I had an Idea to help with the noise created by the empty space under ez track and I wanted to run it by you guys, see if you thought it would work. My idea is to fill in a bunch of the open space under the track with Foam Backing rod (also called Foam Caulk Saver). Its a foam cylindrical material, comes in 20 feet lengths and is about 3/8 inch thick, compresses nicely though. I've used it with great success to deaden the noise in modified nerf guns which are notoriously loud and I thought it might work well Here. I've about 40 feet of the stuff and its rather cheap (about 4 bucks a roll) so I figured I'd use two rows of it under the track on the main loops and the remnants on the sidings. Think it will work?

I've been looking forwards to finally getting a setup for quite a while so here's to the first step! now I just have to start saving up for scenery!

Hey, so, I got my Athearn Streamlined Coaches running again now that I got new couples for them however I have an issue. They keep being separated from the locomotive every so often. The Locomotives that Drop them the most are my SY Mikado and F40, both of which have clear differences of height between the locomotive and the cars but all Locos have a small difference. Has anyone managed to alter the height on these locomotives?

My 2 2-8-0's have never been the most stellar performers. Both have ridiculous starting points (40/128 and 48/128) compared to my other locomotives, none of which exceed 20 with the SY 2-8-2 smoothing out at 3. They are incapable of crawling  and have always had a slight lateral sway as they moved. However, one of them has developed a problem that renders it unusable.

The locomotive suddenly became jerky, thumping every half revolution, stalling on occasion, refusing to move before hitting 55/128 speed steps and even then being jerky. As it goes, it makes a thump and jerk every half revolution. I've taken the shell off and separated the part of the chassis with teh motor from the part with the wheel assembly and see nothing caught in the drive however taking just the part with the wheels and free turning them or having that part pushed around by another locomotive showed a sticking point about every half revolution so the issue must be there. Any ideas?