O scale

I don't model in 1/48 so this question is academic but - when publications (specifically this one) use the identification of "O scale" does it mean scale 1/48 gauge track or a Lionel style  five foot version? Ow5?  Which way is Atlas O scale?

A great newsletter by the way -really is a NEWS letter.

Thanks

Artarms

O my...

O scale is 1:48.  O gauge can vary. Proto48 is exact O gauge for 1:48. Atlas and other manufacturers of O scale equipment (non proto 48) are generally using the "compromise" wheel/track gauge.

Or at least that's what I believe. However, since I'm not an O scale modeler I could be wrong...

Cheers,

Charlie

Les You did a great interview at Aristo Craft Booth

After I write this I'm going to the Aristo Craft . com site to check more on their total Radio control and forget DCC electronics for train and Engine control. When I first heard about DCC I thought that this was what DCC was all about so I may just sell all MY un used Lenz equipment and swith over to Aristo Craft Trains control system. Oh and everybody get your copy of the Augest News letter there are some fine articles this month about the Model Railroad and NMRA shows last month as well as some great new Items for the Model Railroader in most scales.

 Dan

Aristo Craft

Glad you liked it Dan. Aristo Craft has some very innovative and interesting products be sure to look them up. They are on my radar for advertising, amongst a host of others, stay tuned....

I'm Staying Tuned Les

I checked the Aristo Craft site and sill have many questions for them. They have or may have just changed the way HO DCC is used. As it seems that the system is compatible with DCC it just needs to be connected to their PC control board and then you only need apply power to the track no more short circuits no return loop wiring or dead frogs I'm still reading the information but this could defiantly change operations forever to total independent Radio control for a much lower price with control of 6 engines for under $200.00 U.S. including the controller.

Dan

Scale color coding

 I love the new color coding of items relative to scale.

I am so tired of reading reviews only to find they are for products in another scale.

Thanks for the innovation.

Tom

Aristo Craft radio control

A ways down (or up... not sure yet which way this one goes) in this blog, Dan is really excited about Artisto Craft's radio control, saying specifically "...and then you only need apply power to the track no more short circuits no return loop wiring or dead frogs ...". If you have a return loop anywhere,  or track power connections behind a live frog, I think there is still going to be a short circuit between the north rail and the south rail. And, if the length of a dead frog exceeds the electrical pickup span of the locomotive on that rail, the loco will still stop there unless the onboard battery power option is being used, but then there is no need for any track power at all...

An example conversion document provided by Aristo Craft ( http://www.aristocraft.com/techinfo/revolution/Eggliner_Installation_TE_Revolution.doc) still mentions "track power, so I think there is a little more to it than just plug-n-play...

Other information at Aristo Craft ( http://www.aristocraft.com/techinfo/revolution/Inside_The_Revolution_TE.pdf) suggests that the main differences between DCC and The Revolution are fewer control variables, no sensitivity to brief short circuits (unless they cause radio interference, maybe) and the possibility of local radio interference from other 2.4GHz radio devices in the area. The basic problems of managing a static two-rail power distribution seem to be the same for both systems. No need for a separate reversing switch/device in the reversing section...

I'm speaking both as "one of the electrical crew" dealing with the issues of maintaining a club layout that is both analog and DCC operated (on different nights) and as a planner of a medium sized home layout that will definitely be built for DCC from the ground up. Once the known issues of DCC are "engineered out" of a layout, operation becomes as simple as selecting a loco, selecting a route (optionally, with DCC anyway) and turning up the throttle - same as The Revolution.

Of course, if Dan and others are referring to another product then I am barking up the wrong tree and please accept my apologies!

Regards

Chuck Lee

August 2009 Newsletter

You guys nare blowing me away with the superb quality of your publications!  There is so much to read and view that it takes several sessions to gobble it all up! Slurp...  Keep up the great work.  Doug Freebern

Good question

This question about O scale coverage raises the exact same issue in S, although there wasn’t much to print about S in any form in the current newsletter. You have the tinplate side and the scale side of both scales with the tinplate side being the dominant one. When I wrote the S Curves column in Model Railroad News, I tried to have a balanced approach to the content. That raises the problems of always trying to explain the differences within the scale to the casual reader. However, when you do scale-only you ignore 90% of the modelers of that scale.

So this brings up a new question that I have for the publisher/editors, etc. Is MRH intended to be a “scale only” publication or will you also include tinplate also known as highrail, although that too can be moot.  MRN covers all aspects of model railroading and I was wondering if MRH intends to do likewise or be like Kalmbach which has two separate magazines for each main aspect.

 
 

Page two note

On Page two of this newsletter, it is noted:

FIGURE 2: The Atlas Model Railroad booth at the National Train Show was full of a wide range of models including this preproduction sample of an O scale USRA (United States Railroad Administration) 40-foot steel rebuilt boxcar. Both eight and ten-panel body styles are planned with either grab irons or side ladders depending on the prototype being replicated.

It is my understanding the O scale models of these freight cars have already been available. Atlas was showing a preproduction sample of the HO scale model that is on their production sched. Some modelers are excited about this new car, but hope the prototype details are more properly executed on the final versions than on the preproduction sample.

Eric

Eric Hansmann
Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Starting over in a new house: http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/

Atlas HO scale rebuilt USRA box car image

BTW, here's an image of the preproduction Atlas HO scale rebuilt USRA box car from the NMRA convention. This image was posted on July 11, 2009.

http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/114848321

And the Atlas HO scale product announcement on their web site:

http://www.atlasrr.com/HOFreight/hosteelrebuilt.htm

The O scale versions did not convey the side sheet support brackets well to match the intended prototypes. I hope the HO scale production cars render this detail better. I also note Atlas has used the wrong PRR car class on the artwork exhibited on their product announcement. The PRR cars are marked as X29c class, which is wrong as these are not rebuilds of the X29 box cars. The X29 was not a USRA car. IIRC, the PRR rebuilt their USRA single-sheathed X26 cars as X26c.

I am hoping for the best when these HO scale rebuilt USRA box car models wash ashore in six to twelve months. Atlas has done a solid job on their HO scale ARA 1932 box cars.

http://www.atlasrr.com/HOFreight/ho1932boxcar1.htm

I bought some of the initial run and look forward to the next batch. Especially the distinctive Seaboard B-6 class box cars.

Eric

Atlas HO scale rebuilt USRA boxcars

Thanks Eric, for your comments about the Atlas HO scale rebuilt boxcars mentioned in the August editon of MRH Newsletter. It looks like I managed to confuse myself in sorting through the pile of information gathered at the National Train Show. I'm on the road for the next couple of weeks and will try to figure out where I went wrong after I get back. I look forward to hearing your views of the car when it arrives.

Meanwhile, have fun and thanks again for your comments.

Richard Bale