Thanks for the input; I saw Fasttracks webpage, but didn't think they had code 148 rail in G gauge. I will contact them (or Micro Engineering) directly, and see if they have it.

I am building a Hartford Products Seattle Car and Foundry Log Car, and it calls for two 12" pieces of Code 148 rail. Does anyone know where I might obtain those?

Thank you, gentlemen; I will try the picture frame wire first.

Anyone know of a material which simulates the 1" wire rope used on logging railroads?

Thanks,Narrowminded; I tried the eraser trick, but no luck. I think I will have to buy a replacement (not a big deal,only about $10; but the trick will be finding someone to replace it...I am abysmally inept at electronics!)

Anybody have experience replacing the smoke unit in the Spectrum 38-ton Shay? Mine has apparently burned out. My habit was to put 8 or 10 drops of oil in the unit, run it until the smoke appeared to be dwindling (about 5 minutes or so), then add another 8 drops, run it for another few minutes, then shut it off and run the rest of the session without smoke.  I had only done that about 7 or 8 times, being careful not to run it "dry". Do these units tend to burn out this quickly? Does any other company offer a smoke unit that (1) lasts longer, (2) produces larger volumes of smoke, and (3) "pulsates" with the speed of the engine?  Thanks for any help you may offer.

I just got my first order of Bachmann lubricants (for my new 2-truck Shay), and noticed that the Light Oil seems to have a greater viscosity than the Heavy Oil; is this the way it's supposed to be?

Thank you Jon, Jerry and Kevin (nice article on bridge cribbing in GR). I am now optimistic about using batteries, although am still bewildered by all that is out there for RC, charging methods, combined track/battery, etc; I think I need to just get my feet wet with one system, and go from there...Cheers.

I would like to run a Spectrum Shay loco (probably the 38-ton 2-truck model) on battery power, but am concerned about how much running time I can expect from a battery small enough to fit in that tender (or loco); I would prefer not to have a trailing box car behind the engine. Thanks.

Thank you Jon and Narrow Minded. I was actually trying to estimate the scale of some G gauge equipment on e-Bay, and those figures looked about the right size, so the equipment is probably in the 1:22 range.

Does anyone know the scale of Bachmann's "Large" scale figures?