We have taken the plunge and ordered stock of these boards so they can be offered at a more economical price, in lower quantities. Our first order of boards will be in stock soon. When this stock is gone we will re-evaluate investing in more.

The boards can be ordered online from pdc.ca.

I normally pride myself in solving problems that pop up like little gremlins on my railroad. Recently completing a reefer with all those little plastic parts that seem to disappear by jumping off the model and/or the surface you're working on, I ran into a problem I have never seen before.

All of the new layout lighting options leave me befuddled.

I have a 14x28 foot basement space, with a 7-foot ceiling and the floor joists above running in the 14-foot direction. Layout height will be 4 feet, plus or minus 6 inches.

Balancing cost and appearance, what's the best way to supply clear, even lighting in this space. We're modeling the Intermountain West, so clear, bright daylight is essential.

Fluorescents? Incandescent? CFL? LED?

Our club's HO layout is quite large and more than 35 years old. There are many looong tunnels; with very poor access to the tracks, which were very overdue for cleaning.So I worked up a temporary cleaning car to push along all the trackage. It picked up half  dozen screws, about 18 or 20 track spikes, two coupler box lids, a couple of stirrups, and two full-length brake staffs, one with its wheel still attached. Also piles of black fluff.

I started with a track inspection car from MicroMark and added a coupler.