Well, I typed in the thread title, now I got to put some info in it. 

Annnnn I'LL start with an Athearn about 40 ' tank car. Roller Bearings of the old Athearn Metal Line..
frank

   

The holidays are behind us, we should have all the decorations packed and put away, leftovers are all gone, we might have time to sit down and chat. Anyone want to try for later next week? Like maybe Thursday? Just a feeler, I'm good Wed, Thurs or Friday...

I get it when manufacturers paint their items with prototypical road names.  For example, there may be a model of a 40 foot boxcar that is specific to a particular railroad that the model manufacturer decides to sell in a dozen different road names.  Usually, they choose an appropriate paint/lettering scheme of a car that is similar to the model they are selling, so in this case they will use the same paint scheme for similar boxcars of that railroad.  The idea is to make their model appeal to a wider market.  Unless you do research, you would never know that the PRR did not have that particular kind of boxcar, because the paint an lettering look believable.  

But the "trainset" cars always baffled me.  Why paint a hopper car yellow?  I have never seen a yellow hopper car.  It finally dawned on me - they too are trying to make their products more colorful to appeal to kids (and parents) who appreciate variety.  If they painted all in prototypical paint schemes, most of the cars would be black or oxide red.  My kids like to see the different colors.  A trainset that has a black tank car instead of a red tank car, or a brown boxcar instead of a boxcar that advertises Kellogg's cereal probably isn't going to sell as well.  

I have a box of old Bachmann and Tyco cars from when I was a kid.  I decided I am going to upgrade the couplers and wheelsets and use them when I set up tracks on the floor for my kids.  Some of them I am just leaving painted as-is, such as the green Burlington Northern boxcars.  But the yellow and blue hopper cars?  Egad!  they are getting painted black!

all i need to do is start another project but found this photo 
   
then while cleaning out some junk boxes i found this  and just couldn't help my self 
   
ordered some components from tichy will post up dates when order arrives. 
Jim

what is the ruling grade on your layout ? seems like I'm faced with  a 3.3 % unless i change layout height.
jim

just picked these from rose bush , smell as good as they look .

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Taking a break from layout building, I've decided to build the new station for my small town of Blackwater. I got this small Portable station kit from Darryl at Interaction hobbies.
     

It's a very nice little kit. At the same time I also got the optional detailing kit:
   

The detail kit comes with the interior parts like the furniture, wainscoting, benches, and a basic lighting kit.

   

The kit is separated into bags for the laser cut parts and the stripwood that will later be used for both some interior detailing and the station platform.

   

The detailing kit is packages pretty much the same way. 

I started painting the interior walls and parts this afternoon.

   

The instructions come with paint color suggestions, mostly from Valejo. but I've been painting my RR structures with for different acrylics for a more 'family' look so I've stuck with those. The interior walls are painted with Americana Yellow Ochre and the wainscoting, doors, and interior trim is done in Ceramcoat Barn Red. The exterior will also be done in this color. I perfer to brush paint the interior so it gets a subtle shading and weathering.

The line between Peter's Corner and Beeton is always prone to larger snowfalls and drifts due to the higher elevation on this section of the Leetown Division.Today Extra 4409 will be kept busy after last night's snow storm.

P1420499 (4) by Ed Creechan, on Flickr

When it comes to DCC I am a real novice and beginner. My layout currently runs on DC. However, I do have a Bachmann EZ Command system that I can hook up when I need to run something in DCC. I know it is a very basic system and has many limitations.
 
Now that I am in the process of redoing the layout, I am ready to make the jump into DCC with both feet and I am looking for recommendations on a good starter set or system. I would like to run multiple trains some of which may use two or more locomotives. I am still on the fence whether I like sound or not at this time. I am undecided about operating turnouts, signals, and such things at this time.
 
I am looking for any advice, tips, recommendations, etc.

Got a question, I'm using some sheet plastic for my new building. As near as I can find out, it's made from a mix of recycled Polyethylene and Polypropylene. It is thin, (.05"), soft, cuts easily, has a rough texture but doesn't adhere paint very well. It resists sanding too, (100 grit belt sander barely takes the texture off one side). It can be painted, but scratches and flakes off if you're not careful. I've been using acrylics. I like it for my building because, it cuts easily and the texture resembles stucco in N scale.

Has anyone used this stuff and painted it? If so, does a primer work, or do I need to use an oil-based paint or even a rattle can? I would not think a clear coat would help since the problem is one of adhesion. I like acrylics because I can mix my colors. I've already used this plastic for my backdrop, a scratch or flake isn't as big a deal on a 36" x 36" painting as it is on an N scale structure.