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Thanks Russ! I'm on top of it. :D I've got so much stuff on my To Do list as far as rr reading goes, I'm going to be into 2006 before I have the slightest clue. This is a whole New World opening up. Man, what a bunch of fruit-balls in THIS hobby!! I'm totally On Board!!!

I've read about 60% of this book now, and just wanted to thank you again for the recommendation. Besides the fact that is very well printed, it's a great intro, covers a lot of ground, yet isn't so shallow that you get nothing out of it. I'm sure for experienced rr guys it's not too...

So with my vast new-found knowledge, I imagine that I pull my train off the main line onto some arrival side line. The little switcher comes out to take my caboose over and out of the way to some caboose place. Already I'm baffled. Assuming I already have the tech needed to operate two...

Oh man, I can guarantee it's not YOUR fault for explaining--I just have so much to learn and need to spend some quality time with all the information. I really appreciate the effort you and everyone else has put in to helping me out. It'll happen, it just requires some concentration and...

As always, thanks. Yup, I totally understand all about that bending over and crawling under stuff nonsense.

Can you guys explain what a 'liftout' and/or 'liftout section' is and what it's used for? Is this a section of mounted track that's physically removed from the table, a section of track that is electrically switched out of the track circuit, what? Also, Woodie refers to an 'edge' that the...

You guys are so helpful, thanks. I think I can now remember the sound of Grand Trunk trains in the distance, blowing through the Michigan back-woods. So...anyone remember the band "Grand Funk Railroad"? My goodness...strap me into the wayback machine!

That helps a lot, and thanks again. So, what's the deal with CONTROLLING these switches? What's available on the market that allows me to control 2 dozen turnouts without having to build a panel from scratch?

While I have no experience building track, I do have some engineering experience (NOT railroad engineering...mechanical & materials engineering). I don't see any connection between issues of expansion and contraction and the issue of soldering joints. I may not have thought of something, but to...

I've been looking at a number of track photos and reading about the use of crusher fines for ballast, etc. What I've seen is ballast that, in most cases, includes at least some rock with a 'feature size' that is close to the narrow dimension of the sleepers--that is, rock chunks that, to scale...

I've never built a track, so I have no personal experience. I just picked up a Kalmbach book on Garden Railroading (for beginners), and one of the authors there strongly recommends soldering everthing except turnouts. Makes sense to me, however my experience is that only copper and brass are...

I'm talking about cant, or...banking the corners. Never see it in the books, never see it discussed. Seems kinda important. So The Newbie's questions are (and 1 gauge is the context): 1) Do we do it at all? 2) Do we wing it? 3) Do we have rules-of-thumb for setting it up? 4) If we do it and...

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As a pre-beginner, you folks know I have a million stupid questions. Here's another one. I'd like to understand how switches are designated--I have the impression there are low-angle and high-angle switches (acute and less acute). I'd like to know if that's true, and what the typical...

Really, you guys (N Gauger and B 2882) have to understand I haven't the faintest clue about how rail works. My TOTAL experience is seeing the big choo-choo with a 150 coal car consist running down the front range in Colorado. Until last week I'd never seen the word 'consist' used outside the...

Thanks David. Isn't Brampton just a stone's throw from Sarnia? I grew up in Port Huron, and used to walk over the bridge to Sarnia to buy Export A's as an underage lad. Thought Brampton was nearby, for some reason. Eh?

I can't believe I didn't even see that forum until about an hour ago. Thanks for the help. I'll start with the Ten Commandments article, but you guys are WAY out ahead of me. My original question may have suggested that I know something about operations, but I know nothing at all. I'm going...

Try this site: shopswarf.orcon.net.nz/drills.html Also, do a google search using 'number drill sizes' and you'll see a number of sources for both number and letter drills. For wire gauge, do a search on 'american wire gauge' (if that's what you're looking for), or try 'wire gauge size'. Both...

Please forgive me if my terminology is sloppy. I've not found anything on what can be done with model trains other than running them around the track. I'm wondering...with available scale equipment can you build up a train from cars in a way similar to protoype operations? Now, I don't know...

Excellent. Thanks to both of you. Now, moving more toward the technology, do any of these sources also discuss what the various pieces of equipment are used for? Simplest example I can think of would be, "What does a 'switcher' do and how is it used?"...that sort of thing. You've given some...