Do you need to buy the rail separately for the fasttracks quick sticks sets or does it come with rails and frogs. I am looking for a way to get as many switches as possible for a cheap price so is that best or are there cheaper ways?

Here are the screenshots of the parts for a small shack that I will 3d print at school (hopefully thursday). It is in 1:87 scale and the parts are as follows: Window, Roll Up Door, Door and the four walls. The roof will be lasercut with a shingle pattern whenever I get that file made. It was a fun project and I have no problems sharing the .stl file if anyone is interested.

Well I am able to go to trainfest this year so that is awesome.What are some can't miss things there and is there anyone who wanted to say hello there. Not really any specific questions just letting you guys know I am able to go for what seems like the first time in for ever. A final thing is will Model Railroad Hobbyist be there? It sure would be nice to see you again Joe.

Title says it all which design do you think out of these would work best for a design. Would it be possible to fit an 18" minnimum reversing loop in D or F or would that be to tight. Any ideas would be great.

In a group of items I recently received two of these covered hoppers in the Pillsbury and C&NW paint schemes. I was curious how prototypical in detail and such these were as there is something about them I really like. I see there are many of these kits on ebay though does anyone know of a better source as putting together a bulk unit train is something I am now thinking of doing. Any ideas on a cheap source of many.

Having access to a laser cutter and abundance of thin MDF board at engineering club I was wondering if this would be a good candidate to lay the track on instead of directly on the foam. I could set up basic files then combine them doing multiple once on a 12"x24" sheet so will it work? I also thought maybe it would work well for fascias allowing me to add track diagrams easily.

So living on the BNSF main line you see a lot of traffic, you also see some maintenance (and in one case recently a wreck). Right not many ties are being replaced so really cool to see but of course it is from 9 at night til 3 in the morning so trying to sleep aint so fun. Still really cool to see though,

Turns out my old middle school is giving up the layout from last year. I am getting the table at least and maybe items with it. So now the fun part. Designing a track plan. I definitely want a yard of some sort so any ideas. It is a 6'x7' oval and I want HO scale.  Can't wait to start, Keegan

So, my school has probably one of the best clubs ever. It is known as engineering club costs nothing but that is not the best part. It goes for 2 hours and you have access to the latest version of Autocad and other programs in that family, with these you can then use the LaserCutter or one of three 3d printers on site. My first project I am working on is a stone bridge and have already completed the side with stone file and done a test cut. It turned out great and I used many shortcuts such as Hatch and Array to speed up the process. Overall it took me just over and 1-1/2 hours.

I recieved an email recently with some great news. I have a request to do a double clinic at the Midwest Regional Convention in April. This will be in Rockford Il. and they want me to do it twice on a Saturday. I will also be a main speaker (reason people should come) though am still awaiting final verdict from my parents.