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  1. Iron Horseman

    Moving energy

    With both of these photos it is the background that really makes it look so good. I would be interested in a session, thread, or how to of how you did them. All the ones I have done there is something that is either too big for as far away as it is supposed to be, or too small for as close...
  2. Iron Horseman

    Granite Gorge and Northern - Ohio (cont'd)

    poltergeist in the controller. Sounds like your diagnosis process of re-connecting one at a time was sound. To bad about the result.
  3. Iron Horseman

    Atlas and Peco H0 track

    Yes. Have intermixed them at home / club / and museum without issues.
  4. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    Yes, that was what I was talking about. Marked in yellow. A friend of mine cut that strip out to put on top of the risers. Trying to save $5 of plywood costs. It was a mess on several counts.
  5. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    Ok! Please tell me you are not going to cut that strip of wood out from under the uprights in picture 4., but rather use another strip of wood from another board. I had a friend that did cut that out and it ruined the structural integrity of the main sheet of plywood.
  6. Iron Horseman

    Returning after a long time

    Yes nostalgic, but remember it has some very tight curves in it already so modification for a second passing track might be hard. Plus only two industries.
  7. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    The "L" part makes it much stronger and stiffer than just a single 1x4, or 1x3. The inside of the short part of the L gives an area where things can be attached by putting the fastener up from the bottom. The top side of the short part gives a wider working area when attaching things from the...
  8. Iron Horseman

    Newbie question on DCC

    Is this simply 1 loco on channel 0? The "DC" works by the command station extending one pulse for an extra long time. That is, the bi-polar DCC signal is still there but instead of a nice steady shift from positive to negative, the channel 0 pulse stays "on" to the one polarity long enough to...
  9. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    So the book doesn't have you use any roadbed?
  10. Iron Horseman

    Small HO or N

    Yes you can get that in a smaller loco. Or a larger loco in N-scale. https://www.trainworld.com/broadway-limited-7230-up-big-boy-4007-1941-as-delivered-aftercooler-25-c-100-coal-tender-paragon4-sound-dc-dcc-smoke-n.html BUT if you really like that specific one. They are on sale at trainworld...
  11. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    Wow, I did not know that one could buy train stuff from Wally World.
  12. Iron Horseman

    Is Kato N scale the same as Atlas N scale?

    Thanks for the info. I knew there were tiny differences, but usually ignore them because I've never had an interest in running European equipment (or at least not mixing it). I did know N-gauge track has been used for several larger scales narrow gauge, most notably was the AHM mine trains...
  13. Iron Horseman

    Got my E-unit back together

    Cool, I am assuming it will be perfectly clear when/if I ever actually dissemble one of these things. We sort of need a quick ref one could just look up O-scale E unit repair in.
  14. Iron Horseman

    Small HO or N

    Hmmm, I'm getting confused. But for start. Going back to the original post you asked if anyone did such a thing and I can say I have done both. In 1981 I put an n-scale train around the base of a 6.5 foot tree. It was not even noticeable until after one stepped on it. N-scale Christmas...
  15. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    So the book has you doing L-girder AND a solid sheet of plywood in cookie cutter style. Once again interesting. I like that idea, as sometimes the track doesn't seem to want to follow the real plan. The only thing with doing it that way is that your rail joiners will have 1 use on them...
  16. Iron Horseman

    Upgrade Pre-war Lionel to DCC

    To change the direction of an AC motor one has to reverse the "polarity" of the motor's magnets. So Lionel and American Flyer use a circular or rotary switch triggered by a coil (that is what I am calling the relay). With each power application the coil triggers and flips to the next...
  17. Iron Horseman

    Model Railroad Crisis!

    Those are some great panned shots.
  18. Iron Horseman

    Magilla’s first layout build.

    Oooh, looks like cabinet grade REAL plywood.
  19. Iron Horseman

    Upgrade Pre-war Lionel to DCC

    I presume you are talking about before you install the decoder. Just straight loco on straight AC power? If so, have you tried manually changing the direction relay. Some of them can get "locked" into the neutral position.
  20. Iron Horseman

    Which way?

    Depends on the display. Some locos, especially steamers do have a "better" side so one can show the compressors, or feedwater tubes, or whatever better. The last layout I did doesn't really have a direction. I run the trains one direction one time and then flip and run the other direction...




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