I just received an email from a fellow member of the modular railroad club asking about this route. He has decided that he wants to do a proto/free lance model of that area for his home layout and has had difficulty finding reference materials on it. He mentioned that he has ordered a railroad atlas and is waiting for it's arrival. The only railroad atlas that I know of was one published by Kalmbach that was a reprint of a 1948 atlas, but I doubt if that route has changed all that much since 1948. I also remember seeing a video on the Amtrak Coast Starlight that featured that part of the route, but I don't remember where I saw it or who the publisher was. Does anyone here have anymore info or know of other reference materials that I am not aware of?

I hate to complain...really I do. I own/design several websites myself, including forums, and I know what a thankless job it is.

I realize that Trebuchet MS is considered a "web safe" font, but I find it to be extremely difficult to read. Have you considered changing the font to something like Verdana, or giving board users the option to change the theme via their Control Panel?

Many of you may have heard about the new series of kits Walthers is releasing. There are 10 all new structure kits in HO scale, as well as a new SW9/1200 and all new freight cars also in HO scale.

I personally am very exited, and i will be getting at least one of each of the new structure kits (most likely more then just one of a few of them lol) as well as both road numbers for the new loco, and a few of the new freight cars coming out to go with the set.

These Structure kits, Locos and Freight Cars are due to be released starting in late October 2009 and continue till late September, 2010. A complete list of whats going to be released and when, as well as other information and pictures can be seen here: http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/ethanol

I see this year that the 29th National Narrow Gauge Convention will be held the 16-19 of September in Colorado Springs.
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Anybody have plans of going? I think I'm going to try and get up there for an overnighter but I'm not sure which night yet. Since it's a 12 hour drive for me, I'd probably end up flying into Denver and renting a car instead.

Mountain Man, I know you live right near there and I've been trying to PM you but my PM's keep disappearing. It'd be neat to meet up with you if your planning on attending.

Is anyone here having problems either sending or receiving PM's? Some people have been sending PM's only to have them disappear. That includes me and even TrainNut. Not to everyone, but to some that I've sent and was suppose to have gotten.

I will ask Pat to look into this, but let me know, and for sure, be put on notice that this could be a problem that needs our attention.

Hi All,

This afternoon i placed an order for Athearn's HO Gas Turbine #58 with tender has anyone done a DCC sound install or seen one with it ?

How about a nice, compact uranium refinery on the outskirts of your small, mountain town? This is an aerial view of the Cotter Plant on the outskirts of Canon City, Colorado. It is served by a rail spur out of Canon City.

Infamous fugitive Ronnie Biggs of the Great Train Robbery of 1963 was released from prison today on "compassionate grounds". Biggs' health has been ailing, and he has been freed from prison to face his imminent death from pneumonia.

CNN story

How common was it back in the old days (1900s-1930s) for a railroad company to acquire trackage from another railroad that had become defunct and bank-owned? I'm working on writing the history for my freelanced road, and I want to ensure some degree of accuracy.

Hey Guys,

Im making this post to show off some new straps i5 got in the mail from one of our own members here, Combat. He made these straps on his own and were working together on coming up with some lengths and prices for these straps. Still a work in progress here, but hopefully soon he will be selling these

These straps could be used on trucks, flatcars, gondolas, pretty much all light loads on anything you can put a load in/on. I had a Ford Aeromax and a 48' Spread Axle Aluminum Flatbed Trailer loaded with some construction materials that had been loaded some time ago, i had just glued the loads to the trailer deck, and this was the perfect thing for the test on these straps.

Well i got to gluing them on, and i think personally they look great and look pretty dang realistic. Combat has made some for me in Black and Yellow, the 2 most common colors ive seen used to tie down loads on trucks. Here are some pics of what i did with my trailer/load and the straps












I used CA glue to glue one side down, and then when it dried after a few seconds i stretched it over to the other side of the trailer over the load and glued over on the other side.

I found it was easiest if some excess was left on either side of the gluing point like shown here:



This made it easier to get it tight because you could pull the end, and your fingers wouldnt get stuck and dry to the trailer with the strap LOL. After both sides were dry, i simply took some flush cutters and snipped off the excess on either side of the trailer so the straps were flush with the bottom of the trailer deck.

Anyways, just thought i would share a cool new product thats coming soon from Combat