This is a  movie of the train runs I worked over the Dec 7 and 8th weekend.  I was in the caboose as Rear Brakeman.  Although there was only a little snow that weekend, the cars are all heated by wood stoves so are fairly warm.  I only got cold when I had to get out to throw switches and couple/uncouple cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYVzcHcsqDw&feature=youtu.be

This was a Christmas present from my wonderful wife - the speeder is advertised as "self-propelled" and it's a Spectrum-series and it's got a motor in it according to the parts blow-up, but is it DC or DCC?  I don't see a PCB, so is it safe to run on my EZ command?

I found several lighting kits for the old-fashioned Walthers Budd cars.  But there's mention of "DC" kits and then "DCC" kits. Since I'm runnning EZ DCC command I would think I want the "DCC" kit but I've already bought the "DC" kits and put one in a car and it works, so what am I looking at here ?  I mean, what's the real difference ? None of them are still listed as "in stock", all are obsolete merchandise, so can I make them work?
These are actually for my wife (she's the passenger guru - I do the freight trains and we work together) and are for Christmas presents but I'm having prob understanding.

I have a EZ Command controller and a Bachmann 4-8-4 locomotive that won't move forward or reverse, even though I found that being addressed as 3 I can turn the light on and off with Function/10.
Is there a way to reset it to factory with a switch or something ?  I don't see anywhere that the EZ Command can do a reset.

Can one of you gents explain how a DCC reverser works ? I mean, I realize the track section has to be isolated from the main track by cutting rails. I assume cutting both rails? But are both rails cut in two paces to isolate the problem?  Then what happens when an engine goes through the section ?
Or is it just plain PFM ?  (pure functional magic)

I have recently gotten some ore car kits. The instructions point out that the parts should be painted before being assembled, and I believe that would make a better finished product, but all my model paints are enamel which is a glossy finish  - not what one would expect of ore cars that had been in use for a while !
Any ides on de-glossying paints and finishes ? ( I have to ask, as we live in a small town (1800 pop) 100 miles from a LHS.  (or more)

That's what he said. I'm talking about the guy was gonna ride our train, and he appeared envious of me and my job.  I was working as rear brakeman on the Sumpter Valley Railroad (www.SVRY.com ). 
I was heavy into model railroads in my tens and teens (the fifty's and sixty's) then it got left behind when I went off to college, and war, and then got married and worked my butt off. But now I got a different wife and found the SVRY is in our neighborhood and she said "let's volunteer there and find out what it's like!"  SO, off we went and and got trained up and qualified to do brakeman duty, and it's a blast working on a real railroad, just like it was done 100 years ago on steam and narrow guage.
Anyway, we also dug out my stash of HO stuff left from my dad's estate. Yes, he save all my stuff when I left home for college and work and I collected it from his estate and put it into storage too.  Now I remember - I was into O-guage, but had given up on it and wanted to convert over to HO, and had bought some stuff but never got it running.  Now we got a portable layout working and are using DCC to run two trains on a dual-loop 4x8 table. This is a winter time activity to last us intil the SVRY starts up again in the spring.
The point of this post is:
You, too, can get involved in real railroading, for very little cash, just by volunteering for work on a tourist railroad. They'll train you and you just have to show up.  I know we, at SVRY, have folks from all over the Northwest, and as far as Alaska, that show up to work the train weekends. You start as Rear Brakeman, progress to Head Breakman, then Conductor, then Fireman, and finally Engineer.  Never thought you could drive a steam locomotive? this is how you can !
Sorry for getting so wordy and thinking backh to how it "used to be", but sometimes newer just doesn't seem better.

I need to replace some couplers on older cars, but I see there are nine items listed in the Bachmann catalog. What are their diffferences and how do  I determine which I need??