Model Forum / General / Railroads / October 2005

What are Heljan's locomotive wheels made of? Looks like bronze to me.
Goodness knows what it is, but they seem to get dirty between one
operating session and the next, and require cleaning before the loco
will run properly. (I used neat Ecover citrus cleaner and degreaser, and

Does anyone know if the Airfix Civilans set is still available in some form
or other? My only problem with these is that the shoes are rahter indistinct
which makes it difficult to remove them from their bases. I've seen the
Dapol box but it would be nice to have a bit more ...

Dumb Question
I am making my first white metal hit (signal box interior, Wills Scenic) and
was wondering the best way to cut the quadrants from the sprues.
Also, what is the best way to paint them, enamel, acrylic???

Before automatic barriers, what would have been the arrangement for a
level crossing on a 4 track line. Assuming that the road was normal
width the gates wouldn't have been wide enough to provide a barrier
across the railway line.

Due to upcoming business travel, I am wondering if there are worthwhile
prototype (preferably narrow gauge and/or steam) sights to see or hobby
shops to visit around Madrid, Spain, or Andalucia.  Any suggestions on
railroad-related (or sightseeing) topics greatly appreciated!

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currently are more than 2,500 links in 250 categories.
Webmasters with railroad oriented sites -- whether commercial or

I'm building a small town branch line layout in N for my son and we've
opted for the "wire in tube" method of changing the points.  I've
received the wire and tube this morning, and it's not rocket science to
work out how it functions, however I would like operate these points by ...

Has anyone had any luck motorizing the HO Peco turntable?
Care to share? its driving me up the wall!! I'm trying to use a "meccano"
type motor with gears, and it sucks...
Rob

The other day it was mentioned that the Peco Jubilee loco was "probably"
one of the "best" locos in N gauge ever produced.  Well there's one up
for grabs on e-bay ( Item number: 6004176557  if the link below fails)
http://cgi.ebay.co ...

I am currently motorising my points. I have the switching controlled by
Maplin push-to-make switches.
I would also like to wire in a led to indicate which track is now 'live'.
Can anybody point me to any suitable wiring diagrams to achieve this, as

Is there anything available in OO/HO code 100 between a Peco short rad
(24") rad turnout and a settrack turnout 2nd rad (17.something inches).
I am tight for space again in one location but I don't want to use
settrack. I did contemplate using a short Y but the geometry is wrong.

Are these wagon types screw coupled on the following?
TTA
V Tanker
Seacow

Anyone have a link or source where I can get plans/demensions for an
EMD F7 engine.
Thanks.

Anybody know the dimensions of CN's coal gondolas?
I need truck centers & length and width of the top of the gondola frame. any
additional dimensions would be grand. I have the data from equipment
registers but external length is to the pulling faces and there's no truck

I'm building a DCC-based railroad. In addition to the usual "invite a
bunch of friends over and have an operating session" control, I'd also
like to have the ability to have a computer do some things. One movement
in particular that I thought I would want to do is to ...