Recent content by 3railguy

IHC makes a CNR Mountain in HO. No 6064. It doesn't have a bullet nose however. It is a blank Selkirk looking boiler face. It comes with a semi-vanderbuilt tender. Royal Hudsons have been done in brass by PFM and Overland models.

I recall seeing that issue. I have a few issues featuring the Enfield and Ohio project railroad. When I was a kid, I was absolutely fascinated by the articles. What got me into N scale three years ago was Intermountain tunnel motors.

Those are sharp. The Rio Grande especially.:thumb:

$80 is a decent price. The Bman 2-8-0 is one of the better steam engines you can buy. I have one. It is smooth running, reliable, and nicely detailed. Be forwarned Bman has quality control issues and lemons do pop up.

I like the first plan. It looks practical and easy to manage. The second one however is too busy in my opinion and requires some tricky methods of dealing with switches on grade and elevated curve crossings. It doesn't leave alot of room for a believable arrangement of structures, bridges, and...

If I'm not mistaken, Germany did loan some steam engines to the US or they were confiscated and train ferried here during WWII. It was something I read but I can't recall just what or where.

Yes, Athearn and Intermountain are doing the models you state. Current Intermountain F units are silky smooth runners and are extremely well detailed.

I have not built a permanent layout yet but I bought samples of Atlas and Peco code 55 flex track and switches to see what I like best. Atlas is definately better looking and more economical. I'm pretty sold on Atlas code 55 I think. Atlas code 55 flex is springier than Peco eliminating kinks...

You might want to try MRL car sides and core kits http://www.nscalesupply.com/MRS/MRS.html Or AMB car sides and AML core kits http://www.nscalesupply.com/AMB/AMB-Passenger.html

For F units, my choice would be Intermountain. They are better detailed than Kato and just as smooth running. The Katos however are probably more reliable and bullet proof. I like Kato best overall. The new mid production SD-40-2 has seen a few improvements over the older models. Love the...

I've never cared for track cleaning cars. They seem to do only half a job. My favorite is elbow grease. Rub it good with a track cleaning eraser followed by wiping it all with 91% aclcohol with a soft painters cloth that doesn't leave fibers behind. I keep rubbing until little or no crud appears...

Well, then maybe Elmers and sandwiching between lots of books is a safe way to do this.

If you got straight 1 x's you should be OK. Everyone is right about ripped plywood. It's perfectly straight and has great structural strength. But only as long as you rip it straight. This can be a problem on a small benchtop saw. 1/2" plywood is also harder to nail into on edge. I used Elmers...

Get yourself a trench coat with inner pockets and you can sneak the whole train store in the house. As long as you don't flash her with it, she'll never know.

Micro Trains and Atlas are my favorite picks with Micro Trains being tops. Atlas comes with accumate couplers which have been improved. Athearn and Intermountain comes next. Intermountain cars are very nice and come with Micro Trains truck/coupler assemblies but there has been some quality...