Modeling topic
Berrett Hill touch toggles and the Arduino
Since Kevin at Berrett Hill Trains (a MRH sponsor) sent an email about a once in a lifetime sale, I thought I would let people know they can easily use the touch toggles with the Arduino.
If you are not familiar with his products he makes touch sensitive controls (touch toggles) and control boards that connect to the controlled accessory. He has boards to control stall motor switch machines (e.g. tortoise), snap action machines (e.g. atlas twin coil), servo control and servos for turnouts or other animation, and a relay base to turn on/off heavy loads.
Drill Bits
Working on putting some Walthers Cornerstone kits together and the kit I'm currently working on calls for using a #60 and #75 bits. Now I have a lot of different drill bits for bench work and stuff like that. Do I need to go buy the special bits for hobby or is there equivalent like a #60 is a 1/16" bit?
HOn3
I am doing a logging layout set in the Teens and 20's era when things were just beginning to modernize, No particular place. I already have some expensive HO Locos. I also want to use some HOn3 for things like side tracks into the mountains, Mills etc, but I do not want to "break the bank" so to speak to get an HOn3 loco or two. How do i convert an HO loco to HOn3 I know there is a way.
EMD GA8 (Work in Progress)
A work-in-progress animation of an EMD GA8 narrow gauge export diesel locomotive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRdgkHCgd4
I'm looking for feedback from those of you who are familiar with this type of locomotive. Any feedback or information will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Damin.
Bachmann Cylindrical Hopper heavy duty bash-painted & decaled
Like the title says, so far a lot of work has gone into this project. I removed the walk, hatches, end cage, bolsters, reshaped the ends, replaced the top with a IM cylindrical hopper modified top and removed everything that could be removed. As usual, I'm clueless on how to post photos, so maybe our leader will help like he so kindly did on my last post.
Regards, Bobby
BC&SJ ops
Op sessions on the Bear Creek & South Jackson are continuing. I'm working to get the railroad ready for the National Convention this August (here in Portland).
I had a "practice session" for a local round-robin group. Some of the members are regulars at the BC&SJ, but the big majority are not so it seemed like a time to check out how my layout works with lots of new guys. I did compromise a bit - the Monday guys are not, for the most part interested in TWC or TT&TO so we ran with a foot-board dispatcher and no fast-clock or radios.
The Time is MOW
I'm on a BCRY MOW car kick lately, as I'd like to have some models of rolling stock that the shortline actually owns. It began with the cut down gons which I've just started, and now I'm tackling ballast hoppers. As anyone familiar with N knows, there are basically two RTR ballast hoppers available; the beautifully done Atlas 70-ton Hart hopper and the generic Walthers hopper with crude 70s-era tooling. This ended up being a rather tough decision...
Setting Up JMRI and and using the Bachrus MTS-DCC to speed match locomotives
After doing the podcast on A Modelers Life JMRI month I got a few questions on setting JMRI and speed matching my locomotive. So i did a video on setting up JMRI DecoderPro and Using the Bachrus MTS-DCC to speed match my locomotive. I use Excel for the grafting. I hope this is helpful for those of you trying to get this set up.
I am setting the follow standers for my locomotive:
Yard switchers top speed 35 mph
Freight Loco top speed 55mph
Passenger Loco top speed 65mph
Gateway Central XV HO Scale Switching Model Railroad
I just ran across this looking around on the net:
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/2010/gateway-central-15-ho-scale-switching-model-railroad/
Wow! What potential this has! It could easily be lengthened or made part of an existing layout. The possibility of detailing is endless. Operation would be challenging and fun.
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