Hi, Jack from Star, Idaho.  I ventured out and did some looking at the 70 ton three truck climax that I received as a replacement for the defective shay.  Well I opened up the water tender and found that the PCB had a small motor function decoder with a standard 8 pin plug.  I removed that and removed the PCB to expose the speaker housing.  There I found that a one inch 8 ohm speaker fit perfectly in the factory made area  for the speaker.  No drilling holes or creating an area for the speaker a great improvement.

Hi, Jack from Star, Idaho.  I finally received my three truck 70 ton Spectrum Climax as a replacement for the defective Shay I sent back.  They sent me one that has DCC but no sound.  Where can I find the Tsunami sound chip that is factory installed?  Bachmann shows the speaker but no information on the decoder.  the PC Board shows the motor function decoder but not the sound.  Soundtrax says that the decoder can be added but no information on the part number or decoder number.  Does anyone have any ideas where I can find one of these?  I don'

Hi Jack From Star, Idaho.  I have several cabooses and a few tenders that are lighted but they flicker when rolling.  I am looking for a "Simple Inexpensive" constant lighting circuit using LED's that I can make myself and be DCC friendly.  I know there are pre-made circuits on line but $15-$20 bucks is a bit steep.  Eventually I want to light sixteen passenger cars, all I need is a very simple circuit that I can manufacture myself.  I know there are some electronic experts out there and I really need some schematics and componet numbers to ge

Hi Jack from Star, Idaho.  I was asked a while back about what engineering guide I referred to when I built my large trestle.  When I was asking about lumber sizes and bent spacing I was referred to a Google book "A Treatis on Wooden Trestle Building."  If you Google that you should be able to find it.  The online book was filled with lots of information about how different trestles are built, timber size, bent spacing, and deck building.  Check it out and I am sure it will help you with any questions you may have.  In addition, I wa

Hi Jack from Star, Idaho.  I just received my order from Fast Tracks for the "Frog Juicer" they sell.  I hooked up the Hex Juicer today and what a great product!  I had the age old problem of short wheel base locos stalling over the frogs on my switches.  I was amazed how easy the install was and how well they work.  I found the ad in the MRH on-line magazine and will highly reccomend them.  I have a number of short wheel base steam engines and I can now creep through the switch without a single stall.  If you have the same problem h

Hi, Jack from Star, Idaho.  I need some help.  I have been putting together a Southern Pacific streamline Daylight passenger train.  Not being able to afford the MTH 8 car set, my next option is Athearn.  I have found that the Athearn RTR track really good, nice detail, and affordable.  I am looking for the ATH7963 Vista Dome.  I checked with Horizon Hobbies and they said that they are not sure when they will make another run.  Maybe there is someone out there that may have some for sale or have any ideas where to find some.  I would like

Hi Jack from Star, Idaho.  I received my MTH Cab Forward yesterday and I am really pleased with the loco.  I want to pull a Southern Pacific Daylight passenger just because I love the looks of that train especially pulled by the cab forward.  I am debating if I want to spend the money for the MTH eight car set or try to find something cheaper.  I do have a NP Rapido that is great, and an Athearn RTR heavy weight NP passenger.  The Athearn pulls really nice but lacks the lighting and interiors.  However, Athearn has discontinued production of the SP Dayl