Modeling topic
Genesis GP9's
Scooped a couple of these this weekend at 25% off. Got a pair of Southern Pacific's for my new Southern California shelf layout. I noticed in the manual they mention that installing a DCC decoder that on these Southern Pacific's have extra lights on the rear and I will have to solder them to the rear most pair of the tabs on the right hand side of the circuit board. I plan on using RailPro with these locos and not DCC at all. I'm starting out new and have decided that RailPro will be much easier for my layout.
Switch-Works Rail & Frog
This video shows how to lay stock rails, frog rails, closure rails and the frog for the Switch-Works "Ultimate" turnout. Switch-Works is a set of jigs for assembling "Museum Standard" track featuring wooden ties, metal tie plates, etched frogs and machined points.
Arduino based speed or light controller
This is an Arduino program that provides high speed pulse width modulation suitable (with appropriate electronic drivers) to control LEDS, lamps, DC motors and DC locos. So far I have tested it with LEDs and a small DC motor. I invite those so inclined to try it and point out the bugs and suggest improvements. (There's more than one way to code a cat.)
Switch-Works Throw Bars
This video shows how to build the throw bars for the Switch-Works "Ultimate" turnout. Switch-Works is a set of jigs for assembling "Museum Standard" track featuring wooden ties, metal tie plates, etched frogs and machined points.
How did the prototype work?
Hello all. I have attached a photo to this message in hopes that someone can enlighten me. The photo is on Swan Street in Jacksonville FL looking down the old ACL line that served industries in this area. Right in the middle of the picture between the switch points you can see a wooden deck of some type. I assume the device that enabled the conductor or the ground man to throw the points was under this deck. So does anyone know what it might have looked like and how it worked?
DCC Change
To All: I have been operating with a Super Chief DCC System by Digitrax for a number of years now.
I seem to have problems with the system every time I use it!.I have come to the end. I am going
try out NCE's Pro Cab starter system and see if their system suits me better. I have no reason
Wiring a Walthers double crossover
I am working on getting an older Walthers/Shinohara double crossover ready to work with DCC. I had set it aside a long time ago because it looked like a nightmare to make it DCC friendly. I'm following Steve Baggot's instructions on Alan Gartner's Wiring for DCC website.
GP 40 Needs ditch lights
I need some help wiring some ditch lights. The picture is of a Atlas GP 40 Gold series. The plug in the middle of the picture is for the head lights and number boards. It has 6 plugs, but only two are being used. When I plug the ditch lights in I can not get them to work at all. If the touch the head light wires the work fine. Any ideas how to make this work?
Replacement wheels
I have had a pair of Athearn PA-1's converted to DCC with the sound unit in the A Dummy. However, that engine has the normal plastic wheels which run okay, but I'd like to convert them to steel ones. What are the sizes of these wheels? Does anyone make a replacement? Can I rob wheels from some other derelict engine?
I know they are not standard 33 (freight) or 36 (passenger) wheels, but have no way of measuring them against any list in the various catalogs. Am I stuck with these or can they be replaced with steel ones? Thanks, in advance, for your input.
Digitrax 10 pin connector
The Digitrax 164 decoder has 2 connectors. One is the usual 9 pin everyone uses. The other is a 10 pin for the speaker and capacitor. I am looking for a source for that 10 pin connector.
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