For those who I have talked to about My layout(O gauge) under construction, and my collection of S gauge trains here is the link to my Blog with some pics <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/blog/2369">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/blog/2369</a><!-- m -->

Any chance of you moving your first layout thread over here? I really enjoyed you track laying tutorials. Or else are you going to go step by step with your new layout here? It's because of you that I have to try the fast tracks jigs...

Dave

I've been given a fantastic opportunity to accompany a friend / businessman of mine to the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. I expect this to be very interesting as Germans are serious toy makers and this is a HUGE event. A couple of years ago I attended the NMRA National Train Show in Detroit and the Zimo guys I spoke to said that show didn't even compare to Toy Fair. Prior to that moment, I though the Detroit show was HUGE!

Following the Fair, we decided to stay in Europe a few days longer and do some sight seeing, and decided on the Czech Republic, with the visit centered in Prague.

I'll be taking a camera along and will certainly share any rail or model related photos that I think this group may enjoy.

My primary reason for posting, however, is to get feedback from this community on anything I should take a look at. We don't have an itinerary yet for the second half of the trip (the German side is going to be pretty crowded, I think), so if you know of any interesting sites or events in the Czech Republic, let me know!

Matt

Note: The birthplace of Pilsner beer and possibly the CZ firearms factory are well up there on things I'd LIKE to see!

Hey Gang: I'm about to convert to the world of DCC, but have a question on something else..I have one of the Walthers Crossing llghts, the single lane overhead light..It says not to use with DCC..I was thinking this light is independent from the track, so why would it not work, whether the track is on DC or DCC..My thinking is this, if this light has its own power source and is not connected to the track, why wouldn't it work? The sensors would be in the track between the rails, the power would come from and old power pack or transformer , nothing would touch the DCC rails, Why wouodnt it work? I'm sure you've figured out by now I am not DCC inclined , or I guess to be politicaly correct,
I'm electonicly challenged.. Any Help with this is greatly appreciated..
P.S. I got a sweet deal on a Digitrax Super Chief system , I figured all I really needed was the Zephyr set..but with a deal like this I couldn't resist... :hey: $225.00 and it's new , box has never been opened, someone stiffed the owner of the LHS I go to...A big Thank You to whoever it was!

Some of you may remember that I am a fan of MicroSoft's Train Simulator. I love the game and have a lot of fun with it. I found out early in 2007 that MicroSoft is working on the release of a Train Simulator II. Later, that became Train Simulator X because people were getting it confused with an earlier attempt at a Train Simulator II that failed due to conflicts between MicroSoft and the graphics designers. The new game is supposed to provide better graphics and more realistic simulation as well as new routes, locos and consists.

When I first found out about this, it was slated for release in late 2007. Then it was pushed back to early 2008. Then that got pushed back to late 2008. I finally pushed it to the back of my mind and more or less forgot about it. This morning I happened across another forum I used to post on that is centered entirely around Train Simulator and thought that surely TSX has finally been released. Nope. It's now scheduled for release in late 2009 and any posts on that forum regarding updates are immediately locked by forum moderators.

I'm now convinced that this game is never going to be released and MicroSoft is just stringing along the last few remaining hopefuls. They can't even give a legitimate reason for the continued delays and there has been more than ample time to get this thing programmed and running right since it was initially announced. I'm giving up any hope of this game ever actually existing because I'm tired of getting my hopes up only to have them crushed by another delayed release date. We can put this one on the list of great MicroSoft failures right up there with Vista. The dream is over and there will never be a Train Simulator II or X or any other version because MicroSoft can't get it's act together in their gaming department long enough to finish it.

Ok, here is my very first attempt at weathering using chalks. I used two different color browns and black. What do you think?

As most of you know,a while back i started a standard gauge HO logging layout in the late 1940's in the pacific northwest.well,it took a backseat for a while and i finally got the scratchbuilding bug after being on the new site with all my freinds again .so this thread will have anything and everything i do to the layou.over the weekend and my day off ill post a diorama i built to test my scenery making skills .and next up will be 2 spool donkey and a work train with a totally scratchbuilt machinists car,flat car,wood chip gon and at some point ill build a caboose and boxcar to go along for the ride.i also have a 25,000 gallon water tank in progress and a fuel oil station made form a tanker.hobby lobby finally got some good stuff in so that really helped me out,so hopefully scratchbuilding will take much less time.and at some point ill HAVE to finish my sawmill,its way overdue but its been a real pain to find enough pics of the interior to do so.but even still,i cant wait to get home and start postin pics!--josh

about the water tank.i found the best form for the tank EVER.a 20 oz powerade bottle is the EXACT size in HO for the tank and the angled top has the right roof pitch to boot :o ,ha what luck!

I built a cardboard malt silo out of cardboard tubes covered with a thin layer of spackling compound.
Could you please tell me if you prefer the "plain" silo ( pic 1 ) or the one with a conveyor structure ( pic 2 ).
So far the conveyor structure is just a mockup.
Any suggestion or improvement advise ?
When it's finished I'll add a big "Canada Malting" sign

Jacques

First problem is I think that a double slip switch would help me get my trains where I want them to go.
I have looked at Peco at the LHS and it looks go, but it is code 100 and I am laying code 83 track. The nice thing about the Peco is that it was only 10 inches long and would fit nicely. Peco doesn't have a code 83 version of this turnout.
So the question is how big is the Walthers #6 double slip turnout?
Could I use the Peco code 100 and hook it into my code 83 flex track? If so would it look odd?

Kent

2009-01-17 ~ Start Time 10:00 AM ~ End Time 3:00 PM ~ Great Lehigh Valley Train Meet
2009-01-18 ~ Start Time 10:00 AM ~ End Time 3:00 PM ~ The Great Lehigh Valley Train Meet

Happening at the Merchants Square Mall in Allentown, the 17th is for Ho and smaller, the 18th is for the bigger stuff

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