can anyone please tell me how i can re size a photo so i can put it on here? i tried posting some pics i took on saturday and kinda feel like an idiot that i can figure how to post them on here. thanks very much.



todd

Hello Mighty Admins,

A little request.

Can we have the Thread and Thread Starter displayed under "Last Post"? Not just the Thread Starter...

Thanks.

I haven’t done any model railroading lately, but this was one of the last things I did, probably 18 months ago or so…It was a diorama I built to photograph some of my Hon30 stuff…

I started by gluing some scraps of foam to a piece of plywood…



I laid a piece of flextrack on the foam, to kind of see what it would look like, then I added some more scraps of foam, & didi a little carving…in the first photo, you can see a piece of cardboard I used to give me an idea of what size bridge I would need to span that gap in the scenery…






I did a little more landscaping with this stuff called Sculptamold, & I poured plaster of paris where the “water” would go…

I'm building a small grain elevator for my micro layout.
The silos were built using cardboard tubes glued together and covered with a thin coat of spackling compound.

I noticed at the picture of a prototype elevator that there is a small structure that runs on top the whole length of the silos group.
On the picture it's the small structure with a bunch of small windows.
So the question is : What's the purpose of that structure ? does it cover a conveyor belt or something like that ?
What's the estimated height of that structure, about 7' tall ?
The 2nd picture is the one of my unpainted micro elevator.

Jacques

I was researching on-line for Ro-Ro / Ro-La equipment and I found this Website http://www.vagongyar.hu/en/index.php?pageid=1:

Take a look at the "Products" and "Gallery".

Take a look at the cool / exotic european railway equipment.

Does anyone make a model of these?

10-axle Ro-La wagon (Saadkkms)
Based on the design and engineering licensed by ABB-Henschel we built cars for transporting long-distance lorries. As the floor height is very low, this car is excellent for travelling via tunnels among hills and mountains. Due to the 10-axle running gear, it is capable of carrying a very heavy load; further the maintenance cycle is also longer compared to the 8-axle version designed for the same use.
   

8-axle Ro-La wagon (Saadkms)
Based on the design and engineering provided by the customer we built the 8-axle low-floor cars for transportation of long-distance lorries. Due to the floor height the car is suitable for travelling in the flat area.
   

They ride on these funky low profile trucks / Bogies:
   

The following is meant for discussion and food for thought no more no less.

Let's discuss industries and how we should model them..
First thing first..

Freight cars.
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Many of us buy freight cars that we like,just gotta have or perhaps like in my case a love for boxcars especially the IPD short line cars that was numerous in the 70s and we end up with excess number of the same type of car then we really need.
However,wise modelers will only buy the cars that match their industries..
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Matching cars with industries.
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Matching cars with industries takes a lot of discipline and advance planning.As we design our layouts we should focus on what types of industries we want to serve or will we be focusing on-say-grain or coal? Then of course the bulk of our cars should be covered hoppers or open hopper cars.
However,
On my past ISLs I tried to keep a even balance of cars between boxcars,covered hoppers,coil cars,gons(with removable load) and tanks.To my mind that gives a variety instead of looking at those IPD boxcars.

But Larry,I already have a ton of freight cars.

Lucky you..You get to match the industries to your cars the biggest industry needing your most dominate type of car.
--------------------
Choosing industries..

Choosing industries is a personal thing but,I will share my ideas..

I fully believe the bigger the better..I just like Godzilla size industries that look like they actually need rail service.IMHO even 3 or 4 large industries on a small layout looks better then several small industries that looks like a 53 foot trailer would max out the receiving area..
---------------

A highly debatable subject.
---------------
Should we match industries-elevator to grain mill or grain mill to bakery?

IMHO no..Why? I fully believe off line inbound/outbound loads is superior..Why else would you need that Santa Fe or PRR boxcar?
Also this gives you a opportunity to rotate cars-in other words- no more "gee,there's that rusty B&O gon again".

However,there are exceptions like loads in/empties out between a mine and power plant.

Catch All
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The team or distribution (modern speak)track can be a life saver if you have cars with no where to go.A load of John Deeres can be off loaded at a team track as can a tank car,plastic pellets etc..
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The industrial siding
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A short word here..What we need to remember is the industry siding is privately own by the company that uses it.The serving railroad track ends at the derail.
For those of you that uses ETTs you can have fun adding operation notes to your ETTs.
Such as: Locomotives larger the the 600 class are forbidden to operate over the A.F.Stephens Corporation industrail track at MP.123.8

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd kick off this thread for my layout dispite not having any photos that I can share with you yet. I do have pictures that I've taken, but my computer is unable to read the new fancy SDHC card in my digital camera and I left my USB cable back in the office; but I should be able to get my hands on it soon and give you a photo update shortly.

For those of you unfamiliar with my project, I cam building a steel mill facility in N scale. This includes major structures like blast furnaces (x2), coke oven, electric arc furnaces, and rolling mills. I will also be including supporting facilities such as the blast air blowing engine house, chemical processing plant, settling tanks, power plant, workshop, etc. to try to make the layout as realistic as possible.

Also, there is a harbor with an ore dock and bridge crane (maybe a hewlit someday) with room for a couple of bulk carrier freighters. At the other far end of the layout is a high grade haematite open cut mine (Western Australian style) and stock piles with a gaint bucket wheel escavator. Needless to day it's a big project, but I'm loving it.

I'm going old-school DC and have two separate "lines." I have a main line whick basically takes iron ore from the stockpiles to the blast furnaces or to the ore dock for export. The other line is for all the switching with the steel mill; for example: carrying hot metal to the BOF or rolling mills, carrying slag, transporting steel to the dock, and carrying coal to the coke ovens.

Only the main line is wired up right now, but neither thr branch to the ore dock nor the branch to the blast furnaces highline are done so the GP38s justt chase each other around the the loop which suitably satifies my 1 year old.

I've got a decent track planning CAD program that I'll have to produce a track plan for you and post it, but I can't be bothered right now, so I'll have to put on my to-do list.

I was a bit torn deciding if I should post this thread in the N Scale section or into Logging/Mining. Obviously I've gone with the later since I am modelling an iron ore mine and the section appears to be underrepresented.

Anyways, again sorry for no photos, and thanks guys for PM'ing me to let me know about the new "the-gauge.net"

-Dr.J

My family & I just finished watching The Polar Express. We really enjoyed the story, the visuals and sound effects.

I did some googling and found out that the "real-life" Polar Express is based in Owosso, Mich. and I found this website (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mstrp.com/schedule.html">http://www.mstrp.com/schedule.html</a><!-- m -->) as well as 1-2 others. Just wondering if any forum members have visited and recommend this railway and if it operates during the summer, etc.

Owosso isn't that far from Toronto (Mapquest says less than 5 hours) so it might be a good place to visit during the summer, especially if a Berkshire (and other steam locos?) are operating!

Thanks,
Rob

I recently installed an Auto Reverse Loop Module on my layout and was impressed with it's operation. The module is made by MRC. However, lately it doesn't work. I initally used it with my NCE DCC system but recently I was using a regular power pack (straight DC) to run an older engine and the module failed to reverse the polarity. Do these units only work with DCC? Did I possibly burn the unit out by using the DC power? I haven't had a chance to re-connect the DCC syatem back up. (my layout is in the early stages of construction and my DCC system is not installed yet. I was just 'testing' it earlier. I used the straight DC for other 'testing' :| ). Any advice will be appreciated.

Also, if anyone has any experience with these auto reversers I would appreciate some imput. I know there are several manufacturers of these units out there and am wondering which is best.

Thanks,

Kevin