Search results

I started with DC and very quickly switched to DCC. The main reason is that my 4 year old son and I both want to run trains on the layout at the same time. He's constantly asking me to do something for him (coupling, uncoupling, fixing the occasional derail, etc...) so being able to have JMRI...

The trucks themselves look fine to me (photos below for reference and to see if any of you see anything out of sorts with them). Electrical continuity testing within the trucks also indicated no issues. When I removed the wheels from the trucks, I noticed some "fuzz" wrapped around the axles...

Thank you all for the suggestions! The track is clean, on top and inside. The track it's running on in the video is actually brand new track, but it does this all over the layout. I found my NMRA gauge last night and verified that the track is fine, as are the loco's wheels. I didn't get a...

It doesn't appear to be in the same spots each time. We're using a Digitrax Zephyr Xtra. I am pretty confident I can say that it's not a multiple throttle problem as it's been doing this consistently for a while. Even if it was a throttle issue, I don't think that would cause the sound to cut...

Other DCC locos are fine around the same track. I haven't checked the gauge of the wheels/track yet. Will do that tonight and report back.

The pride and joy of our fleet, a Walthers Proto Alaska F7A, stutters quite a bit. It didn't always do this. The embedded video is of the loco running over two sections of Atlas code 100 flex track, each of which has a feeder soldered to it (you can see the feeders on each side of the rail...

A simple question, but my google-fu is failing me and I haven't found a clear answer. If I want to be able to cut power to a track, say a yard spur, is it enough to put a SPST switch on the connection to one of the rails or do I need a DPST switch to cut off both rails?

They still have a web site. http://www.islandmodelworks.com. Their show list includes dates in the future, so it seems as though they're still around.

I've never used them, but you can control two sets of points with the Tortoise remote mount and an extra cable/actuator. Might make things a bit more cost-effective for you.

I think I'm closing in on a final plan. Well, "final" meaning that it's what I'm going to ride into battle with. I'm sure it'll evolve as time goes on. I've given two of the double slips the slip so the plan only has two in it now. The first one at the yard lead is a definite. I'm...

You guys are great. Thank you! I've started working on the next revision of the plan given all of your insights. Genuine question, though: What are the issues with the double slips? Is it reliability or cost? I like the space savings that they afford and understand that it comes at an...

Thank you both! I've negotiated an additional 87 scale feet of land rights in the basement and have been tuning the plan a bit. The revised version below addresses RBMNFan's points about the single-ended yard tracks while also giving a bit of a runaround capability at the "south" end. It also...

I clicked on the link expecting a laugh, but I read through every last page. Amazing work, and thank you for showing so much of how it was done. I really learned a lot from this!

I just mentioned the jig as evidence of a properly-installed uncoupler. Most of the time, stopping a pair of couplers over the magnet does just about nothing, whether they're Kadee or whatever happened to come with the car. I'm just wondering if there's a secret handshake or special dance you...

Thanks! We've both got the bug now. It's one thing for him to get hooked on something, it's become an entirely different beast now that the guy with the credit card has the bug as well. =). Your layout is gorgeous! This is one of our biggest issues right now. I've got a Kadee mounted at the...

Hi, everyone! My son and I have started getting into HO trains over the past few months. He's about to turn 4 and has always been fascinated by trains. After some trips to local club displays and shows, he said he wanted a "real train" rather than the Brio-style wooden track table he's been...

My 4yo son and I started out with a simple oval of Bachmann NS HO EZ-Track on a 4x8 sheet of plywood. It quickly became clear that we needed to be able to run two trains at once, and then we needed a yard, but there's only so much you can do with EZ Track inside of a 4'x8' double oval. The...