Recent content by granite

Thanks for the replies, guys! I appreciate the input, very much. N-gager, you were spot-on, I picked a "test car" out of the bunch and warmed up the weights with a hair dryer, and it did soften-up the glue enough to pry them out. The glue used by the factory is some sort of nasty black stuff...

I have some Trainworx 100T Quad hoppers, and I'd like to run a few as empty cars (without loads). They're the 'made in China' version, with thick metal pieces glued onto the inside of the slope sheets for weight. I tried prying out the metal weights, but they are glued in very tightly and I'm...

I am thinking about buying an HO scale Athearn 'Ready To Roll' locomotive for a repaint/re-detail project, but would need to remove the handrails intact and re-apply them after completing repainting. Have any of you tried this before? I don't have any previous experience working with the RTR...

That is great news! I had not seen that announcement, thanks very much for posting, Dave. Intermountain is pretty good about releasing a variety of road names, so I have some hope now!

I know I'm dredging up an old thread here, but I'd really like to see a new release of the EMD SD40-2 without dynamic brakes. One of the most popular locomotives of all time, yet, if you need the non-dynamic brake version, one of the least available in N scale. It's pretty hard to build a...

JD, thanks for posting, very helpful information to know.

I am thinking about buying a Con Cor PA-1/PB-1 set online, but have never been able to test run them in person. Do any of you have experience with these locomotives? If so, how do they run compared to other N scale locos?

4x8 in N scale is reasonably spacious, so there is also a possibility of using a backdrop, high mountains, or a combination of both down the center and treat it as a sort of "walk around shelf" layout, with different scenes available along essentially all four sides (if you have walk around...

I picked up a new Model Power N-scale "Freight Station" kit recently, and on the cover of the box was a bright sticker stating that the kit included a free signal bridge. Although I was planning to buy the freight station kit anyway, I thought "okay, that's cool". So I got home and opened the...

I guess I fall into a third category, “toy operator”. Over the last ten years or so, I have reacquired most of the same equipment I had as a kid, and have shied away from the newer super-detailed stuff due to its cost and fragility. I like to run a lot of different road names and eras on the...