Model Forum / General / Railroads / November 2009

Heljan have just announced that the following items are planned / under
development with delivery scheduled from 2010 onwards:
4mm OO-SCALE
4-wheel railbuses (due 2010/11)

I've been thinking about building a traverser to go with a small scenic
area.  I can get hold of an old flatbed scanner to motorise it, and
possible some kitchen-drawer-type runners.  Does anyone have experience
building traversers, and do you think this will be possible?

I got an Overland brass C30-7 from a guy on ebay a couple of weeks
ago, and it arrived with some of the handrail staunchions broken
loose. The loco had been bubble-wrapped, and was in it's original box,
but there was no surviving foam inside the box, and so the C30-7 had

Does anyone know where I can buy Athern 4-wheel locomotive replacement
trucks?
Jeff

1. Switches
(a) are you using switch machines or manual throws ... reasons for
choice(s)?
2. Turntable

I am off to Falkirk Tomorrow,
I went last year to this show and it was superb, If you havent been there
before I would recomend the show as a must see.
I didnt get chance to look around Falkirk though, so Does anyone know any

DCC programming for an F7ABBA and an F3ABA
I am most interested in how one programs a consist using the ABBA and
ABA configurations. Regrettably, I don't yet have the DCC equipment
which makes this discussion one directional. I own an Athearn Genesis

Anyone who needs a small diesel switcher under DCC control might use
the Spectrum HO 44 ton, single motor or two motor versions.
r

I have finally located my 1950 Lionel train set and the broken boxcar.
I bought a used replacement for the broken one, but it is very rough,
so I am going to use the best of both to re-build the unit.
The Box car is the Lionel N.Y.C. Box car part 3464 with an animated

For those interested I've put some photos of the American section taken
at the recent Tolworth, Surrey, England model rail show on my fotopic
site starting here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/p62168797.html
More to come soon

I have a large finished layout in my basement that Ive got bored with,
so I am planning on demolishing it and building a new one. The track
is Peco code 100 and includes many turnouts and crossings.
Do you suggest I reuse the track and turnouts or go new with Code 75?

Does anyone know of published designs on the web for traversers
and train lifts? I'm getting arthritic and need to have the steaming up
area for my garden railway at table height, and then some means of lowering
the complete train (say, up to 6 feet in length) down to the running

HO scale:
Has anyone had the opportunity to compare the performance of the BLI
Cab Forward to the Intermountain Cab Forward ?  or heard of any such
comparisons?

I was quite active and involved in model RR'ing a few years back. I
assembled a fairly large collection of HO scale cars and engines.
Needs changed, finances required some re-directing, and I sold off
about 50% of the items, and basically lost touch with the hobby for

It seems that I am always searching for hard-to-find, HO scale train
cars and engines. Items that slipped by me completely [or items that I
failed to purchase at the time they were available], and now they are
no longer being made.