Hello,
Does anyone know what type of couplers are found on these cars?
http://athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH93094
I broke a coupler and can't find that Athearn sells couplers.

I'm looking for the type/name of the coupler and the manufacturer.

Thanks,
C. Jackson

Does anyone know when the Pennsy E8's will be making the trip back from Chicago across Ohio and into Pittsburgh after National Train Day in Chicago?
I have heard that it's Sunday May 8 across Ohio and into Pittsburgh and out of Pittsburgh on Monday May 9 but I would like a second reference.

Thanks,
Cody

Does anyone know the schedule for this years OCS and Track Geometry Train?

Thanks,
Cody

I have not posted a layout update for some time now. I am currently working on building my first model railroad, the 4x8 CSX Mount Storm Subdivision. It is a fictional line but Mount Storm is a real place in West Virginia. My model railroad is set in very, very rural West Virginia in 2008. It has a small 6-track yard, a coal mine, a lumber yard, and a small warehouse. Here are some pictures of the layout that were taken over the past few days:

A view of the entire layout. Here you can see KCRR (Kanawha Creek Railroad- the coal mine switcher) #6380 headed to the CSX Kanawha Yard to pick up some coal hoppers.

Here you can see KCRR #6380 trundling down the line near CP CREEK. #6380 is an Ex- Santa Fe B23-7. It is a Bachmann DC locomotive. It was the second locomotive I ever owned and was bought in 2008, it broke in June 2009 and in July 2009 I took the motor and all unnecessary parts out to make it a dummy. Yesterday I took the assembly out of it's sister: UP #124 also a Bachmann B23-7 and put in in ATSF #6380 so it could run again.

A view of the Kanawha Yard area. The area near the tracks where there is no gravel is where the Interlocking Tower will be which has yet to be built. The interlocking tower will serve the purpose of a yard tower.

Two of the three industries on the layout. The spur to the far left is the lumber yard and the one to the right with the flat cars is the small warehouse.

A view of the coal loadout which was completed in July/August of this year and was the first kid I've ever built. The spur towards the bottom right of the frame is the Coal #2 Spur which is just storage for the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine.

My Bachmann Spectrum DC Conrail C40-8W

My Bachmann Spectrum DCC CSX C40-8W- the favorite locomotive in my fleet.

The newest piece of rolling stock in the fleet- an Atlas Trainman 50' 6" CSX boxcar which I acquired at the Greenberg Train Show in Monroeville, PA.

A CSX Bethgon Coalporter- I have 5 of these Athearn cars and am looking to get 5 more.

The nose of KCRR #6380 sitting idle on the Coal #1 Spur with Kanawha Yard in the background.

A look through the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine coal loadout, yesterday a friend suggested I put some gravel in there to support the tracks since there was nothing supporting them and once I add the Scenic Cement they will turn black, like coal which would be realistic, in my opinion.

The roads in the Kanawha Yard area

The road in the Kanawha Creek Coal Mine area, the white paper is the size of the Kanawha Creek Coal Office I will be putting there, in reality, it's a BLMA Yard Office.

The ballast and road near the coal loadout

The gravel around the shed for the coal loadout

The grade crossing area, I rasied up the road to track level using Woodland Scenics Mold-A-Scene plaster.

The rear end of Q358 passes the Lumber Road grade crossing

The Kanawha Yard from above

UP 124 after the change with Santa Fe 6380. I like the shinier trucks on the UP and the duller on the Santa Fe, that's the only noticeable change, and, of course, the fact that it won't move on it's own now.

KCRR #6380, I really like the duller gray trucks on this locomotive, but maybe that's just me.

Any comments/opinions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Cody

I have recently ballasted my track and was running my Bachmann DC B23-7 on the layout just to test everything out since it is my most inexpensive locomotive. I was running with a couple of cars I don't use either. When the locomotive (heading forward) gets to a curve in the traffic the front axle derails but only sometimes and it only derails going one way. If I reverse the locomotive all 3 axles go over the point fine but the last axle (the same as the earlier first axle) derails. The cars do not derail either.

I have looked at everything on and around the track that could be causing the derail but have found nothing that has worked.

Are there any solutions to this problem?

Thanks,
Cody

I'm currently in the scenery/ballasting stage of building my model railroad and I recently bought some Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement for the first time ever. I was reading the back of the bottle and it said that when using around track you should apply with an eye dropper, well I figured that would take forever. Is it safe to spray it with a regular spray bottle then use an eraser or something like that to wipe off the scenic cement off the rails once it's dry?

Thanks,
Cody

I was reading a post on here by "New ChooChoo" during school earlier today about HO locomotives and DCC and it got me worrying about if what I intend to do will work:
I currently own the Bachmann EZ-Command system with Bachmann Spectrum DCC Equipped CSX C40-8W. In the near future I intend too buy an Athearn CSX SD40-2 #8888 which has "DCC Ready wiring harness installed" (Athearn product number: ATH95188).
I want to take out the current decoder in the Dash 8 and replace it with Tsunami TSU-AT1000 "Plug & Play Sound Decoder". The number for the SD40-2 is: 828041 and for the Dash 8 is: 828046. I also want to add speakers for each which is product number: 810113 which will both work with the Dash 8 and SD40-2.

Will all of this work with the EZ-Command? What else will I need to buy or need to know?

Thanks,
Cody

I have the Bachmann EZ-Command DCC system as well as a Bachmann DCC-Equipped SD40-2, Bachmann DCC-Equipped GP38-2 and Bachmann Spectrum DCC-Equipped C40-8W. I would like to add sounds to my engines and I already assume that the current decoders do not have the sound function, am I correct?
Can the EZ-Command handle the sound function? If so, how?
And what decoder will work best for these engines? All I want out of the decoder is the headlights and sound and someday maybe operating ditch lights.

Thanks,
Cody

I am buying a 3 set of 53' Intermodal containers and am looking for well cars that can hold a 53' container. The only cars that I can find that have a length in the name are 69' and 89'.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-4301 Will this work to fit 53'? It says nothing about the length in the title or description.

Thanks,
Cody

I currently have a 4x8 HO layout set up on a table in my family's Rec Room but I have to take it down for Christmas as my family uses the table for wrapping Christmas presents so my trains will not be run from Thanksgiving weekend until sometime after Christmas like late December/early January. I have a Bachmann Spectrum DCC C40-8W, a Bachmann Spectrum DC C40-8W and a Bachmann DC B23-7.. is it safe to not run these engines for a long period of time like that and is there any break-in procedures that I have to follow when starting the engines again?
Note: It is possible to plug in the layout when it is put away but only for short periods of time and I can only do it if needed.

Thanks,
Cody

I'm looking into getting operating signals for my layout.. I was looking on hobbylinc.com and found out that Atlas makes a number of operating signals such as this: http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/atl/atl239.htm

I'm looking to get about 3 of those and 2 of these: http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/atl/atl235.htm

What else would I need to buy or do to make them all work in sync with each other?

Thank you,
Cody

What is the proper height of a HO scale tree?

Thanks,
Cody

This afternoon my mom and I were looking all over for a wooden cane for a school project (I have to dress up like FDR) and we couldn't find one. We went to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, CVS then we finally decided to go to Ollie's which is pretty much a junk store but sometimes they have some weird stuff (like wooden canes) so I went in and couldn't find any and so to get back to the exit I walked through a toy aisle and I saw two large stacks of IHC HO scale RPO cars! They were Richmond, Fredericksburgh & Potomac and they were Seaboard Coast Line and they were only $5.99 each! Now, I know IHC is out of business and they're products weren't that great in quality but I'm only 14 and when I see a good buy even if it may not be the greatest quality, I'll buy it or in this case, I'll but 4 (2 RF&P and 2 SCL). I don't have much use for them right now as I'm running modern CSX but in the future I could or I could run some sort of CSX business train.

But this goes to show that even in the strangest places and in the strangest situations you can find trains.

Cody

I was watching a video on Youtube made by World's Greatest Hobby and it was on building model structures and they used some special glue but I couldn't see the name. Is there any special glue or anything that I should use when I'm building model structures?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVtfA88EMhk   The video that I was referring to.

Thanks,
Cody

Does anybody have any experience with this product:
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/wrr/wrr3051.htm
Is it an easy to build kit?
How long is the conveyor belt that comes with it?
Will these conveyor belt's work to add on to the flood loader?
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/wrr/wrr3518.htm
It says that they will work with the Walthers Western Coal Flood Loader but I personally think that the Western one looks as good as the one that I'm thinking about buying.

Thanks,
Cody

It seems to me that I haven't posted or been on here for a while, mainly since I started building my model railroad. So, I thought I would post some pictures of the model railroad still in progress and the cool trains I have seen lately.


View out of NS (Ex-CR) SD50. It had just come down from the nearest NS Yard to replace an SD40-2 for it's 90-Day Inspection. It was stopped and the crew let me sit in the engineer seat, blow the horn, showed us the controls and took us to the engine "room". (I'm not giving any details on the location, date, loco number, etc because I don't want the crew to get in trouble for breaking the rules, so please don't ask)


Looking back behind the engineer seat


Looking forward. In the distance on the siding is a train unloading at the transloading facility.


NS 3335 with 3332 on the rear end in Armstrong Mills, Ohio on 3/20/10 heading east loaded.


NS 3335 at the Farm on 3/20/10.


The Conrail had replaced 3332 and was crossing Captina Creek


NS GP38-2 and two ATSF B23-7s at Mingo Junction Yard on 4/7/10. They are headed to Finger Lakes Railway in New York off of the Ohio Central deadline.


FGLK 2310


OC (Ohio Central) 3304 and 3303 (Ex-CP SD40-2s) leading a loaded garbage train west on the Ex-PRR Panhandle Line. It is just west of Mingo Junction right outside Gould Tunnel.

Now onto the modeling photos:
It is nowhere near done. I still have a lot of detail to do.


Here ATSF B23-7 #6380 and CSX C40-8W lead a train past a UP B23-7. The ATSF is just a dummy while the UP and CSX are powered. The CSX is DCC and the UP is DC.


CSX and ATSF leading a train through the Rock Cut.


CSX and ATSF lead a train through the Rock Cut

Please feel free to post your negative, positive or whatever type of comments you have about my railfanning photos or my model railroad work. Also, feel free to post your model railroad photos and/or railfanning photos.

Cody

I have a Bachmann EZ-Command DCC system with a Bachmann Spectrum CSX Dash 8 and a DC Union Pacific B23-7 (it was a gift from a friend, otherwise I would have picked CSX) but when ever I supply power to the track the UP makes a noise. I'm not sure how to describe it. It sounds cool at first but after a while it gets annoying. Is there anyway to get rid of this noise?

Thanks

Which of these will work better with an Athearn CSX SD40?
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH89882     SD40
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44915.htm   Decoder with NMRA plug
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bac/bac44913.htm   Decoder with Wire Harness

Thanks

I found this roadbed but I don't know how to work it when it comes to doing the turnouts:
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/mid/mid3015.htm

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Cody

What are the right size nails for Atlas Code 83 track?

Thanks