How about some sources for tools?

Whether it's electronic tools for troubleshooting DCC installations or wiring, hand tools for model making, or some other special trick (3rd hand anyone ), let us know what you've found and where.

Andrew

For anyone interested in modeling "What if?" as in What if the WP, DRGW, SP or Milwaukee Road had not been bought out or gone out of business, Athearn is coming out with a bunch of their latest diesels painted for fallen flags. There is an article about them in the August news letter at the Model Railroad Hobbyist site.

Potash is a commodity that is quite popular in the region of Saskatchewan that I live in.

We have many major facilities located around here and they are all serviced by rail. Here are a few pictures i have taken of the one facility as well as some of the cars. Since I saw the cars advertised in the recent MR magazine I thought there may be some interest in the images I have.


The Mosaic Potash Facility at Colonsay, Saskatchewan
http://www.mosaicco.com/about/locations_...lonsay.htm



The power


I think I saw an add in the latest MR magazine about someone who is releasing these 3 new cars(i have seen the salmon colored ones but no pics):




http://www.potashcorp.com/
http://www.mosaicco.com

Throughout this summer I have been taking my camera with me everywhere I went. This thread will be a place for me to share them with other train enthusiasts. I don't claim to be any good and many of my pictures are taken through bug splattered windshields but i think that just gives them character. Please enjoy some of the shots I have taken. I will try and break each batch into a separate post.

Hi Guys,

i was working with a client of mine for his new Steel Mill Layout hes doing in his garage. He wanted me to see if i could come up with a plan for him to fit his layout space in his garage, so i said sure, this would be fun, i love making trackplans

He gave me a list of the structures he had on hand, and i added in a couple he didnt have and that he said he would like to have on the layout. Well here are the specifications


Color Specifications;

GREEN = Layout Base
RED = Mainline Loop
Yellow = Walthers #7 Curved Turnouts and Walthers #4 WYE Turnout.
BLACK = All other trackage
ORANGE = Structure
BLUE = Water for Harbor Scene for the Ore Boat, 2 Hulett Unloaders and the Bridge Crane.


Benchwork & Track Specifications;

~~Benchwork Dimensions are listed on the plan. His Benchwork is fairly low to the floor for his kids to see, so a 4' Reach he said wouldnt be a problem....
~~Small Blue Triangle is an extension he needs to make for the loop to work.
~~All Turnouts in the back, beyond 2' from layout edge, or behind structures will be remote, all others manual for some operational fun
~~ALL turnouts are Atlas Custom Line Code 83 #6 LH or RH Turnouts
~~Minimum Radius on the plan is 22"


List Of Structures, Starting from Bottom Left of the Plan;

~~Rolling Mill #2 (Mill #2)
~~Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)
~~Northern Light & Power Sub-Station (NL&PS)
~~Tri-State Power Authority (Tri-State)
~~Northern Light & Power Powerhouse (NL&PP)
~~Bridge Crane
~~Hulett Unloader #1
~~Hulett Unloader #2
~~Great Lakes Ore Boat
~~Harbor/Dock
~~Railroad Shop
~~Rolling Mill #1 (Mill #1)
~~Rolling Mill #3 (Mill #3)
~~Engineer's Office (EO)
~~Blast Furnace (BF)
~~Coke Oven & Quencher Tower
~~Blower Engine House (Blower)


Now we realize there is no yard whatsoever on this plan. There is also nothing that connects the loop so a train could travel in the other direction. This would create a Revers Loop and i didnt think he would want to deal with that since hes just starting out (think he had a very small N scale layout a while ago). I told him there was going to be no yard unless he got more room on the bottom to travel down the wall a bit more, but he cant because there is a refrigerator there and then the door to enter the house. He said he didnt mind at all and would just live without the yard. The main reason he wanted a loop was for his kids to sit and run trains with him, so he was very happy with the LONG loop that goes throughout the layout and kinda snakes through the structures.

Well without further a-do, here is the plan lol

**EDIT** i do see one very large problem with the plan, there is no run-around track at all on the plan, and the only way to put a large run around track in is to make a reverse loop. im going to have to talk to him and see what he thinks and if he would be up to wire a reverse loop. So this may not be the final plan after all lol

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New information for 2009 tours:

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It's on PBS - check your listings...

Returned from the summer holidays with two kits of the following tram, 1:87.

(picture from wikipedia)

Started cleaning the parts yesterday to start constructing it, am planning to build one unmotorized, as per the kit and making one powered. First I'm going to have to decide on whether it'll be more or less realistic running on normal gauge or whether it might be a better idea to reduce the gauge to TT or N (H0m, H0e?) to allow for a smaller little layout should I want to build one at some point (will want to finish the N gauge layout first though)

The pantographs on this kit are plastic (as is all), and those I might want to replace with brass. Apparently there may or may not be a motorization kit available for the model (the instructions were unclear about that, were mainly reminding not to glue the wheels and filing off excess plastic)

I guess a running model would do well with a proper wheels/bogies...will need to shop around for something with 8mm(inside)/10mm(flanges) wheels 22mm apart.

I'll post pictures when things progress more.

First of all, I haven't laid any track yet, but I think it might be worth asking before it's too late.

I decided to add point motors to make the wire jungle under the layout even more of a mess, and now I have a few questions:
1: Is size an issue? Will I be able to use OO point motors for my N points (I'm looking at some British ones to use as they could be hidden under the layout - couldn't care less about having the ugly above-ground mechanisms of my minitrix points visible.)
2: Latching mechanism: I will probably cut away the original hand switching mechanism but I think that also houses the latching mechanism, so would that have to be added to the point motor? Any simple DIY solution employing a spring or something?
3: Would a separate power source be adviseable? (I have two ~0,5A transformers for running the trains) How about utilizing capacitors?

Again thanks for taking your time answering my (newbie) questions...

edit:
4: Point motors under the layout could be introduced at a later stage without too much remodeling, right?

There's a new sheriff on the forum....Cowboy signed up today....

Welcome Cowboy.....Roll up your sleeves and dig in. We are having a ball here....and now & then take our trains seriously...