Model animation—bringing models to life—adds enormously to the interest and enjoyment of any layout or individual model! This edition covers one element for animating grade crossings—triggering and control using infrared detectors, servo motors, LEDs, and an Arduino Pro Mini for timing and control.

I need to remove some ballast from the inside of my n scale tracks on my layout as apparently I did not do it right because my cars are jumping track at times and the locomotives are stalling out in places. Any suggestions on how do this as it (ballast was glue down)?

When you're painting a model which needs to be multiple colors, after you've sprayed the last color, when do you take the masking tape off?  I think I've heard that it's better to let the paint dry completely, then carefully remove the tape, but I usually end up taking it off ASAP, while the paint is still wet.  My logic is that, once the top coat has formed a hard film, I'm more likely to tear a jagged edge when I take the tape off.  I also like to try to clean up any spots where the paint bled under the tape by gently scraping with a scrap of styrene - e