I have several Athearn CNR coaches and their trucks (or bogies) each have 6 wheels (i.e. 3 axels).

A few of these coaches often derail. Sometimes, some of the wheels have been out of gauge and I've replaced those. Also, my layout has some tight curves, around 16.5"R to 18"R. My coaches that have 4-wheel trucks can handle these curves OK but it's hit and miss with these CNR ones.

As a possible solution, I'm wondering if I should remove the middle set of wheels from each truck. From a distance, while operating the layout, I don't think you'd notice that they were missing. My theory is that the 6-wheel trucks have trouble coping with the curves of my layout so it might be solved by turning them into 4-wheel trucks. Does this sound like a reasonable solution and has anyone else had to do this?

Ironically, these coaches currently run better on my layout's tighter, inner loop (that has 16.5 to 17"R curves) than the larger one (that has 18"R to 22"R curves).

I'm also having trouble with the knuckle couplers on a few of these as well. I suspect that the problematic ones are couplers that came with the Athern coaches and are not actual Kadees.

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I've posted some pics of part of one of these coaches as well as a close-up of its 6-wheel truck.

Rob
   
   

It is official, 7 steam locomotives are now committed.

I don't know if they list them on their website currently, but the Little River 4-6-2, a new 4-4-0, and 3 saddle tankers will be there...plus the two berks. I don't recall the 7th.

I'm looking forward to the last full weekend in July!

Michael

I attended the annual model train show in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. It is held in the Western Development Museum which is where i help out with the full size live steam traction engines. I took a bunch of pics to share. There was a layout visiting from Edmonton that was just amazing. It was the highlight of the show for me. I will try and add descriptions to some of the pics but if anyone has any questions please ask and i will try and describe what i remember.
Now the picture quality is less than stellar as i took them on my Blackberry but it is definitely better than nothing. Next year i will try and remember my real camera.



Live Steam


On sale for $575



Filming of Corner Gas TV SHow






















Dispatcher using a laptop as a CTC


Tim Hortons and a lot of Cops













Via Rail Turbo Train




Mine scene located in tunnel


Flatscreen showing display of a camera mounted in one of the Locomotives










Narrow gauge display
This is one of my favourites



The G scale with lots of details and motion.
































THe museum display and behind the scenes play area.



Lego display - had a elevator that was sweet



My Purchases:
All bachmann el chepo cars. I got the entire lot for 15$

Hi everyone! Long time no see! Rather than copy/paste the entire thread from Zealot, I'll just put a link to that thread I made for progress made on my layout, and any new updates will go here.
The Zealot thread:
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The new stuff:

I have made a little progress, but nothing much. No new pics since I last posted, unfortunately. I have gotten a little work done on carving out the river/lake but still have a bit to go with that.
I was at a show yesterday, which I posted on Zealot since I didn't know about this forum yet, and bought a bridge. Musket Miniatures cast resin wood plank bridge with pewter railings, 2" wide by 4"long. With this bridge, I've decided that rather than having a tunnel in the back corner, I'll use a rock cut with this bridge for the trucks.

Unfortunately, thats about it. Hopefully I'll be able to post new updates before too long

Long read but good for any NS fan

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I've been holding on to a set of plans for a CPR Interlocking Tower that I picked up from the Canadian Pacific Historical Association found here... http://www.cpsig.ca/cpdocs/wanted.asp You have to register for the site to get access to the files, however its not like its a huge deal. To be honest, I thought for sure that I'd be building this little project out of styrene or even strip wood, but never card stock.

So, I rolled out of bed early this morning and had a bug in my ear from the go thinking about this. The previous evening I glued together some large pieces of card stock from a jumbo sized cereal box. Each sheet is about 2mm thick. I sandwiched three together to get some sturdy pieces for the main walls. Then I just started chopping up some scale sized "lumber".

Here is where I was at earlier this morning...I decided to get ambitious cut some wood siding for the exterior.


A couple hours later and I was at this point.


Steady progress.


Back Wall with the door to the upper level of the control room...I'm sure the stairs for this are going to be a real challenge! :|


This is where I'm leaving it for tonight...actually I might just finish the last wall after the kids go to bed.


Let me know what you guys think so far and any words of wisdom you can give me.

i am looking to buy a few of ho scale walthers coil car kits. i prefer undecorated. but would take csx, conrail,norfolk southern or ej&e. i have not had much luck finding these items in kit form if anyone knows where i can find them or has any i am definately interested. thanks very much.



todd

Hi guys, for anyone interested, i have listed a few more buildings for sale on e-bay

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bnsfmodeler123

After Russ pointed me in the direction of modeling something closer to home (actually very close to home, about an hour at most from me), i have decided to go with a spot local to me, which is La Mirada, California. The BNSF serves quite a few industries in this little area. There are 2 what looks to be small yards just off the mainline that runs through the area. This is a definite plus since this will not be a continuous run, and instead a group of modules.

Rather then start a new thread, ill just edit this one.... lol

It all comes down to this area, the yellow markers border the industrial district that the BNSF serves:



This will give my M&ET some serious competition, And i may just go all out on this one and scratch the M&ET plans (well not scratch completely, just hold off for a long while and maybe something later on in life lol). 2 Reasons for this, 1. is this area is SO CLOSE TO HOME for me. I can make several trips out there when i need to, and the M&ET located in Modesto, CA is about 6 hours away from me, so getting pictures will be pretty dang hard lol. 2. i can use all my locos for this project, i will not have to get locos in other paint schemes like the M&ET since the BNSF does its own switching in this area..... More money to spend on building supplies and track laying lol

Here are some pictures of the overall area i snapped off real quick. I know the tracks are pretty hard to see :oops: close-up pictures will be posted when im working on certain areas to better see the tracks....



Shows one of the small yards id like to model. Right/Center














Thanks Russ for pointing this area out to me, this will definitely make the prototype modeling process alot easier on me

Next to come will be the start of the area in the planning program

Inaugural Photo Contest Voting is now open in the Contet Forum:

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