Recent content by Selector

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  1. Selector

    Probably not as many lone model railroads out there; but if there are some

    I purchased a second DT400 throttle from Digitrax when I purchased the system, the old klunk...Super Empire Builder. Still works like a charm BTW, now 21 years in. I wanted a spare throttle rather than to have to purchase and wait for delivery if one went on the Fritz.
  2. Selector

    Layout heights

    I have had four layouts, all but one near 45", but with grades the mains sometimes get higher, closer to 51". My third layout was very low, and I loved looking down on it. It was about 27" high. It was in a loft under a hipped roof in an outbuilding on our property, and since I like...
  3. Selector

    Hardboard backdrop swelling with mud (Completed, maybe solved?)

    Yes, priming it first, or a urethane coat, would help. You'd want to lightly sand whatever you leave there as a sealant so that the plaster adheres better....or add some wood glue to the plaster, very well mixed in.
  4. Selector

    Pro tips welcome

    I think you have done a good job. I am a sucker for double-slip switches, which are costly if purchased commercially, but I haven't had a layout without at least one. If you are interested, you can create a 'run-around' facility in that upper industrial track by placing a DS at the second...
  5. Selector

    Safely handling newer model railroading's "finer scale" equipment

    Tom, it may come down to these three: a. a realistic, if regrettable, and lamentable, assessment of your true new limitations and just accepting them as part of your journey; b. getting your eyes checked for cataracts, new corneal defects, macular degeneration, or other visual impairments that...
  6. Selector

    How much time….?

    Unfortunately, my main hobby is spending time on line seated at a PC. With some health issues, with enjoying hobbies on fora, and doing general comments and news/philosophy/politics/science reading. I spend the odd evening with telescopes when the Moon isn't blazing overhead or the winds and...
  7. Selector

    NOS BLI Paragon Locomotive stopped working on DCC after changing the address, still works fine on DC

    Use a CV calculator, like this one. Add to favorites: https://www.digitrax.com/support/cv/calculators/
  8. Selector

    What the heck is this?

    A matrix of 'double-slip' turnouts designed to allow a consist access to any number of terminal or through tracks. I can't have a layout without at least one double-slip in place. I made one years ago, still works like a hot damn, and purchased two more which also work well.
  9. Selector

    I'm going to be purchasing my first DCC diesel locomotive with sound, recommendations?

    Perhaps Bachmann or BLI, but I haven't been keeping up. There is also Bowser, Intermountain, Athearn Genesis, and Walthers. Atlas has a solid reputation as well. Really, you have to identify a specific locomotive, which railroads operated them, and then go from there. All are warranted, so...
  10. Selector

    Mineral oil in a pinch?

    What have you to lose? Put three drops in, fire it up, wait-two-three-four-five, and if there's nothing like smoke in about seven or eight seconds, cut power and cut your loss.
  11. Selector

    HO Code 100 cross over for parallel tracks

    It is the spacing between parallels that affords you a nice geometric meet in the middle of any kind of crossover, providing you're using two identical turnouts. There's no reason not to use whichever code of rails you need, to (due to cash flow or availability). You just have to make two...
  12. Selector

    Steam loco general question

    The term for the 90 degree offset of the driver main crank is 'quartered'. 90 deg is one quarter of a revolution. That way, one of the valves is always in a position to allow steam into the cylinder that will allow the choice of direction of movement. Suppose an engine abuts a stop at a...
  13. Selector

    HO- inexplicable derailings

    Wheel gauge for sure, but also run one of those loooonng, thin, needle files on edge through the frog routes. scrub, scrub....not hard, and not for an hour. Just two/three swipes in each direction, change the route and repeat. Sometimes flashing is in there from the mold extraction if it's...
  14. Selector

    Are N Scale Couplers Actually HO?

    The NMRA guidelines about such things are there for a reason, and after much debate and engineering. They just work. Scale modelers, those actually seeking to mimic an item in scale on rails, would want something more realistic. You almost couldn't see scale HO flanges.
  15. Selector

    I’ve been busy…

    Nice job. You have an eye and the skills, clearly.
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