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  1. Hoppy

    Fire Scene

    thank you all for the great ideas!
  2. Hoppy

    calculation for a 2.5% grade

    thank you both for the reply, I wanted to double check my figures. I appreciate the input Jim
  3. Hoppy

    calculation for a 2.5% grade

    it has been a while, but someone either confirm of correct me on this... a 2.5% grade would be a rise if 2.5 measured units (scale feet, inches etc) for every 100 measured units on the run? am I figuring this correctly? it seems like a pretty long distance if I want to get to an incline of 4"...
  4. Hoppy

    Brass track, is it so bad?

    thanks for the information and the science behind it. Hoppy
  5. Hoppy

    Please help this New guy with a layout

    How much vertical space do you have? I have seen folks work nice layouts by using different levels, 2-4 levels with small rises/grades between levels can really add a lot of space, you still have the problem of the turning radius with only 2.5 feet to work with, that is only 30" which gives a...
  6. Hoppy

    Fire Scene

    Ok, seeing everyone is so helpful here, I thought I would bounce and Idea off some folks. I am redoing my entire layout (my oldest daughter has graduated college, getting married and will be moving out soon, so I get to move from the garage to the now spare bedroom (yeah air conditioning!) I...
  7. Hoppy

    Farm House from layout

    Not sure if this worked or not, I am not super savvy with technology! This is the farm house from the farm scene from my layout. This is actually one of my favorite structures. It is a replica of the Sears and Roebuck house that they use to sell from their catalogs back in the early 1920's. The...
  8. Hoppy

    Rail Thieves

    yup I saw that in a report last week sometime. The price of steel has really gone up and thieves are taken it from everywhere. I get reports of vehicles that were broken down on the side of the road and when the owner comes back in the morning to repair it, the cars is gone and scrapped already...
  9. Hoppy

    Brass track, is it so bad?

    ok back to the brass questions, although oddly I do have an outhouse on my layout LOL, The fella at my local hobby shop (very nice guy but has been consistently incorrect on things I ask him) told me that mixing the brass and nickel silver track together is a bad thing due do, and I qoute...
  10. Hoppy

    using DCC in HO scale slot cars?

    thanks for the replies, i Can get chips small enough, I just was not sure if having to post them so close to the motor magnets would damage the chips. Back "in the old days" you had to be careful with magnets (like sound speakers) near computer chips. was not sure if that was still an issue, but...
  11. Hoppy

    using DCC in HO scale slot cars?

    No kidding, here I was thinking I was original LOL. Thanks for the reply Eric, I appreciate the information
  12. Hoppy

    Pre War Golbert HO Hudsons

    Jayl1 Thank you for the link, it was not one that I had and it had exactly what I needed. Thanks for the help
  13. Hoppy

    using DCC in HO scale slot cars?

    Hello all, I know this is not a railroad question per-say but I will ask anyway.... On my HO scale layout I use "Vintage" (meaning old) Aurora Model Motoring slot car track as my road way. Do you think it is possible to wire N scale DCC chips, for power and maybe lights only, into these cars? I...
  14. Hoppy

    Pre War Golbert HO Hudsons

    Hello fellow RailRoaders, I am in need of help! I have two pre-war Gilbert HO Hudsons that I am trying to restore, but can not get the wiring right for nothing. I need wiring diagrams (or at least a photo of the inside of a working tender with the e-unit wired) for them (will pay if needed) I...
  15. Hoppy

    Converting AC powered engines to DC power Help?

    Thank you all for the advice, I will try the different combinations and see what I cam up with. Eric I would have remotored but my hope is to keep this train as original as I can while still being able to run it on an HO track with other Ho trains, unfortunately it would be easy enough to just...
  16. Hoppy

    Converting AC powered engines to DC power Help?

    Oh and one more thought, my purpose is to try and eliminate the eunits all together and just be able to change direction on the engine by reversing the polarity of the DC current, as a more modern engine would run on
  17. Hoppy

    Converting AC powered engines to DC power Help?

    Tom, Thanks for the information, the motor is indeed a coil magnetic field motor with brushes. When AC power is applied it will run, when DC power is applied it just shakes and gets hot? I saw Model RR magazine where a person had converted their AC powered American flyers to run on DC power...
  18. Hoppy

    Converting AC powered engines to DC power Help?

    Hello fellow railheads, I am stuck in a wiring problem. I have 3 pre war HO scale American Flyer Hudson Engines I am trying to convert from the previous AC power that they used to DC power for use on my layout. I known I can somehow bypass the eunit in these engines with a diode or rectifier...
  19. Hoppy

    1948 Hudson restoration...

    I have been working on this 1948 Hudson for a few days now, She is working great and looking good, now if I could only find an original Tender with smoke unit in it. Just because they are 60+ years old does not mean they should be this hard to find LOL! Updated it with a knuckle couple up front...
  20. Hoppy

    need advice on a rebuild...

    Wanted to thank all for the thoughts and Ideas. Going back and checking the DC vs AC possibility made me break down and pull out the old volt meter. turned out my that the DC power source I was using was cutting out on load and causing the issue, The motor and train is up and working great so...




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