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(I posted this over at the Tycoforums. Just thought some here might find this interesting too). Alright, so i enjoy messing around with cheap battery powered toy trains, just to see what semblance of quality they retain, and to see what I can kitbash and rebuild them into. Echo, New Bright...

Hi all. :) Long story short, I'm moving to college and I wasn't going without my model trains. I've got two years at Washington State University ahead of me, and after that I'll likley be finding my own place, so it doesn't make much sense to work on my home layout. Instead, I've been working...

Does anyone know if the Palouse Empire Rail Society in Pullman, WA still exists? Their website hasn't been updated since 2010, and my the email I sent them has just come back undeliverable. Does/did anyone on this board belong to the club or live in the area that knows the scoop? Thanks. :)...

Hi all. :) So, I needed a motorized truck to fit an old critter shell I had lying around, since a new HO layout I'm building has very sharp curves due to space limitations. However, I wasn't going to spend $100 for one motorized truck. So, within the space of two days, I found that spare...

Hi all. I've got a question for you. I volunteer as a caretaker for the HO layout at my local Children's Museum. Having worked at the museum for over a year, I've found that Athearn Blue Box/ Athearn Ready-To-Run locomotives are the most desirable locomotives to use because of their...

Hi all.:) It's been awhile since I updated you on my auto-reversing HO cable car that that moves via a "cable", not an onboard motor! The system uses a cheap, auto-reversing cassette Walkman to pull the car along it's track and to sense when the car reaches the end of the line. The next step is...

Hi all. I've got a bit of a problem. I am the volunteer caretaker for the HO layout at my local children's museum. The layout is running well, but we recently had to order in some new Athearn motor brush springs. As it turns out, it was nearly impossible to get those springs. The museum...

Hi all. I'm trying to get a small 3 rail O-gauge loop set up. It's going to be a loop with one passing siding. I want the layout to be divided into three blocks: 1 for each of the passing sidings, and one for the single track portion of the loop. How do I wire this up? I imagine it's almost...

Hi all, I've got a quick question for you. I've got an old (but unused) 12 Volt DC reversing circuit board (usually used for point-to-point trolley setups). I want to use the board (I'm all DC), but I don't know how to mount it properly. The board is open, meaning that it has no case of any...

Hi all. I've been starting to rework some of my generic HO equipment to more closely model certain prototype cars. Of course, this means that some repainting is necessary. So far, I've been using an old box of Testors model paints. These paints are probably(?) at least 30 years old. I bought...

Most of all model railroads have moving trains, but not as many have animated highways/ roads. I'd like to have moving cars on my layout's roads. I've recently ended up with a good deal of HO slot car track... Disclaimer: Okay, I know that "HO" slot cars" are not HO scale. However, I'm...

Hi all. :) I was generously given two boxes of old HO rolling stock and locomotives. Most of the equipment is Athearn with the occasional Tyco or Mantua car. However, I did get one Burlington Northern locomotive that was made by Lionel. The date on the bottom of the engine says 1976...

Hi all.:) Got a few updates for all of you! First off, I'm starting on my next layout, even though I'm still in the middle of construction on my previous one. I'm only going to be living at home for another year, and then it's off it Washington State University for 2 years. So, I figured that...

I've been playing with HO scale since age 7 (I'm 19 now). All this time, I believed that Tyco and early Life-Like trains were only really usable if you modified them to have body-mounted couplers and were suitably re-painted or weathered to blend in with "scale" equipment. Now I'm seeing a...

Hi all. :) Our church has a Harvest celebration (called "Heidelfest") every year which a lot of kids come to and enjoy. Last year I brought my wooden railway collection (including Thomas) which kept the youngest ones entertained. This year, I want to build a small HO model railroad that the...

Well, I've got a problem. I had two transformers for my D.C. powered layout. One was a Life-Like "train-set" transformer, and the other was a nicer Spectrum "Magnum" unit (bought used at Value Village). The Spectrum Magnum worked well for awhile, but all of sudden it up and quit today. I can...

Hi all. Well, it's been a little while since my layout last appeared here. And yes, it is VERY different. The logging theme idea has come and gone, and I've gone back to what I knew I should have done all along: a museum theme. I'm not one who likes doing a whole bunch of switching. I just what...

Why not power them... with a cable! I built this in about an hour, from concept to reality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEBMYwcJKYw

Hi all.:) I've recently begun volunteering at my local Children's Museum, taking care of their approx. 4x8 HO scale layout. There's a long, lower track that runs around the edge of the layout and goes through a nice long tunnel. The upper track does a circle where it changes between the inner...

Hi all.:) While I've learned many things about model railroading over the years, I have yet to learn the best way to lubricate an HO locomotive. Are there certain lubes that should/ should not be used on engines? And what parts of the engines really need oil. The gearboxes seems an obvious...