I am having a problem installing a Tortise switch on my main line. The first two went in with little or no trouble; the third one is a royal pain. . . The problem is the adjustment so the switch throws in both directions. Here are the details:

1. The hole is more than big enough for the throw rod travel.

2. The original wire has been replaced with a stiffer piano wire with the correct bend.

3. The switch functions well when not inserted into position (ie. in my hand tested with power).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0-YzQp77zs

Photos of the rework recently completed on my HO scale "Hardwood Lumber Mill" complex.

Grade crossings begin

richard

I like the infinite baffle design that MRHs DCC columnist Bruce P  often writes about, latest in this months DCC column.  I want to use that whenever possible in my own locomotives.

Just a week before an op session in June 2014 one of my crew came on a visit. He is mostly an 0-scaler and I models in HO. We began to talk about sound setting etc, and went down in the basement for running and testing.

Hi!

I made this tutorial about ground covering with turf, just to show a really fast and cheap method to cover large areas with a reasonable realistic result.
The resulting surface is still very suitable for later detailing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ1ExNbqbGY

After all the discussions on artists inspired by model railroads and vice versa, here is the result of a collaboration between an artist and a model railroader.

My first time using pan pastels and and a paint mix for the spots on the top photo.

I'm making some progress in building a scratch build grain elevator. Here are some pictures. It's still a work in progress... More about the grain elevator on my website.

To All: Some railroads proudly display a company sign near their headquarters or yard office. I captured this one on film at Vassar, Michigan (in the Thumb Area) in the 1980's. This was the location of the original TSBY lines, later sold to Huron & Eastern RR. Why not install a company sign(s) on your layout? Photo by Elvin Howland. Yours, Elvin Howland/E. St. Louis Rail Group Layout.