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Has anyone ever purchased anything from Top Hobby Trains? Wanted to purchase something from them, but don't seem to be able to find any reviews. Thanks in advance!

For a long time I've been looking for an HO kit that represents a particular passenger station I want to model. Haven't been able to find one anywhere. Earlier today, I noticed this photo on Walthers' facebook page in one of their posts from last fall. Unfortunately, despite scouring the...

On my layout I have two sequential crossovers, in effect giving me double-crossover capability. I'm trying to figure out how to properly signal it, and haven't been able to find much information on what is prototypical, or even what others have typically in similar situations on layouts. At...

As I'm getting closer to completing my layout's trackwork, I'm starting to think of "what's next" - scenery or signaling. There will be at least one gated & animated grade crossing and I plan to have functional signaling on the layout, although I haven't yet decided whether to go...

About a year ago I started building my Alberta-themed layout. It's been very slow-going, but I finally have a continuous loop on one of my mainlines. With the exception of one town "dry-fit" into place, there is no other scenery so far. A lot of work still remains to add-on the upper tier on...

The year is 1991-1998(ish). It's summer. You are on the main drag of a small quiet Alberta town. At first glance things look pretty typical. A grain elevator off in the distance. A funky water tower rises up on the far end of town. The last hopper of a lumbering grain train has just cleared the...

Visiting Minneapolis for work today & tomorrow. Any good model train shops there that dabble in HO folks can recommend? Google comes back with Becker's & Choo Choo Bob's. Not sure if any others are worth visiting. Thanks in advance!

I'm trying to fit double crossover capability between my two mainlines. There is really only one relatively short section where both are parallel to each other and at the same height, so space is a concern. The plan was to go with the Walthers newer DCC-friendly double crossover. The...

Hello, I have an opportunity to buy a Bowser HO C630M. Was looking for a DCC/Snd version, but can only find the DC version available in the scheme I need. Are these essentially "sound-ready"? In other words, is there already a speaker slot in the chassis, so that it's just a matter of...

My layout is set in 1990s Alberta. I have a pretty good plan of how I want to do the small town near the top of the layout with farms & grain elevators (the big "farm" on the left is an access pop-up that will eventually be fitted with a lift-out. Same with the lake on the upper right). I'm...

Started building the switch panel for the yard on my layout. - DPDT switches for the tortoises - Twin Bi-color (Red/Green) 3mm LEDs wired in-line with tortoise motor feeds for each turnout (when one is green, the other is red) - Power will be fed from a distribution block - All tortoise feeds...

Why did you have to make the FP9As so nice? You'd think forcing me to get the 6525 would be enough... But nooo! A shop on eBay just HAD to have 6507 w/sound at 30% off list. So now 6525 has a brother on the way. Hopefully the wife won't notice for a while...

As I'm starting to lay down track, one of the throwbars of my double-crossover is ending up directly above a support leg in the benchwork. I'm planning on using tortoises. The attached diagram shows the location that the throwbar is over and the proposed angled control rod hole through the...

Looking for a station building that at least bears some resemblance to the prototype in High River, AB. The Atlas kit is a potential option, but was hoping someone could recommend one that's a little more similar to the prototype. Thanks in advance!

Seem to have shown up en-force in the usual channels within the past week. Has anyone received theirs yet? Any 1st impressions? In an impulsive, sleep-deprived haze I ordered one from MBKlein this morning, but curious what others' impressions are so far.

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house, and I scoped out a nice 10'x13' area in the basement for my long-planned first HO layout. Really looking forward to not having to constantly set-up/tear down the unitrack on the floor of our 600 sqft condo. Layout will be freelanced CN/Via...

New to the forum and the hobby. In the process of upgrading a Walthers VIA F40PH to sound. Have decided to go with a Tsunami, but am curious what others who've done a similar conversion ended up choosing for speakers and mounting location. I keep trying to decide between a Soundtraxx round 1"...