...for Accurail cars. I'm not sure if these will apply to all Accurail cars, but they work for the various 40' boxcars, in all styles.
If you don't use the Accumate couplers supplied with these kits, you'll find that the coupler pockets are not quite deep enough to accommodate the bronze centering spring used with Kadee couplers:

   

Attaching the coupler cover snugly will crush or distort the protruding parts shown, resulting in poor coupler performance. The solution is to build-up the sides of the coupler pocket, using strips of Evergreen .010"x.020" styrene, as illustrated:

   

I cut the strips a little longer than necessary, then trim them to length after the cement has hardened.

   

Another area that can be improved is the weight. Some folks glue them in, using solvent cements which continue to "work" after the car is in service, eventually resulting in deformed (and sometimes un-useable) floors. Silicone sealant will work for a while, but, eventually, the bond will give way, especially if the car is stored in its box, laying on its side. My solution is to hold the weights in place, using commercially-available strip styrene.
Since the weights are .080" thick, .080"x.080" strip works well. First, ensure that the weight is flat by attempting to rock it, with each side up in-turn, on a flat surface. Straighten as required. Next, centre the weight side-to-side on the floor:

   

Now, add short lengths of strip, as shown, "trapping" the weight in place ( the ends of the car will prevent any movement lengthwise):

   

Use more of the same strip, cemented in place with solvent cement, as shown. I clamp it until the cement has set:

   

   

For some cars, such as reefers and single sheathed boxcars, the floor is not wide enough to allow the method used above. For these, simply cement the short pieces in place as shown below. Make sure that they're .080" below the ledge upon which the floor sits:

   

When the cement had dried, drop the weight in position, as shown, then snap the floor in place:

   

Wayne

How big a file size are we allowed for posting pics?

...from the lense of Barney Secord.

The shops at Lowbanks, approached from the west:






And another pass, from the east:




"Interesting" how the right-hand one third of the picture gets chopped off.

Wayne

Since a monorail doesn't fit in any of the other categories, I'll stick it here...
Blue monorail at Disneyland.

Those that are into off road racing will know that Dakar 2008 was cancelled due to terrorism threats. Dakar 2009 will be run in South America. Has anybody been able to determine what channels will carry coverage for North America next year and when? The race starts January 3rd and finishes, I think, the 27th. It looks like Versus will have coverage but not till April. I'm hoping to find same day video coverage but it's not looking good.

How this for an opening post in the HO Forum?

Post some photos and information about some of your favorite HO models.

I will start with my custom painted and decaled Atlas U23B locos. By the time these locos were built in the real world the Lehigh & New England no longer existed having gone out of business in 1962. In the world of the Ridley Keystone & Mountain it still does. In the mid to late sixties the L&NE needed newer locos. Since the L&NE (in the real world) was an all ALCO diesel road I figured that once ALCO was gone they would continue with ALCO’s defacto successor; General Electric. The paint scheme is based on the scheme the L&NE used on their real diesel locos.

The forum now supports notifications via Jabber. Jabber is an instant messenger protocol used by a few companies. Most notably, Google Talk and Live Journal Chat are compatible with this service. There are some other smaller sites that run Jabber chat servers as well. You can also sign up for an account at jabber.org with a supported Jabber client see their site for more information.

To utilize this service, fill in your jabber chat id in your profile under the Profile tab. Your jabber chat id should be something like <!-- e --><a href="mailto:username@gmail.com">username@gmail.com</a><!-- e --> or <!-- e --><a href="mailto:username@livejournal.com">username@livejournal.com</a><!-- e -->. After you've entered your jabber id, you can subscribe to forums. When someone posts a new message, the forum will send you an instant message with a link to the post.

This service does not work with MSN, AIM, or Yahoo Chat. If support for those chat protocols becomes available, it'll be added at that time.

Yep, the first post in N scale:

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Well, this is the second post by an admin, I tried once and "saved" it, now I don't know where it went. OK, so far it's a great looking board though.