Modeling general discussion
ISO Atlas Reading And Northern 2 Rail O Locomotives
Looking for the Atlas Reading & Northern U23B or SW8 2 Rail O locomotives in good condition. If you have one you'd be willing to part with, please let me know.

What's on your workbench - July 2020
Launching a new thread for your July 2020 workbench progress. Let's see what you have been building!
Eric
Eric Hansmann
Editor-at-Large, Model Railroad Hobbyist
Follow along with my railroad modeling:
http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/
hot wire versus a cold knife
well i am in need of some custom foam inserts. to protect some locos (factory foam is turning to dust).
not sure if worth the cost or need for a hot wire to melt through it. or if want/need that kind of edge.
or just use a kitchen style powered meat knife.
and then what is the best kind of foam used out there.
never having ever done or seen it done first hand. so i do not really know what i need. or why.
as the great number five said..... need input.
thanks.

1st Monster Weathering Contest voting results! Great job & congrats to the winners!

Animating Semaphore signals
Apart from servos controlled by ardriuno or similar complex electronic devices, are there simpler ways to operate a semaphore signal? I have thought of two. 1. Use a relay, by soldering a piece of wire to the moving contact, you can then attach that wire to the actuating arm of the semaphore to operate the blade/arm. My prototype (South African Railways) used upper quadrant semaphores, so I simply have to push the arm/blade up and keep it up till the train has passed and triggered an optical sensor to disconnect the power to the semaphore which will then reset it to danger.
Organizing, storing, and keeping track of stuff for the layout
I've seen some other posts on the NMRA facebook page about how people store things. The one constant is that everyone accumulates lots of stuff and then needs to find it. A couple of thoughts about the tricks I use:
Organizing:
1:160 n scale vehicles.
I see a lot of 1:150 “n scale” vehicles. Where might I get 1:160 vehicles other than woodland Scenics or classic metal work - which is shaky when it comes to the 1:160 scale?

Weekly Photo Fun - Jun 28 - Jul 4, 2020
It's another week . . . post 'em if you got 'em. There were a few late-comers in last week's post. Check them out, then come back here afterward.

Armchair workdesk
To spend more time with family I want to create an Armchair workstation that allows me to spend time with the wife and still be able to do trains in some small way. What suggestions or ideas for operating a workstation in your lounge/ living room. I've already able to have a live-rail display but want to move that to doing that to a armchair workstation. What pics do you have if you are working in an Armchair. Is it a feasible goal and what sort of tasks do you do. Obviously spray paintinging is out of the question but there is few tasks i could do while watching tv.

Armchair workdesk
To spend more time with family I want to create an Armchair workstation that allows me to spend time with the wife and still be able to do trains in some small way. What suggestions or ideas for operating a workstation in your lounge/ living room. I've already able to have a live-rail display but want to move that to doing that to a armchair workstation. What pics do you have if you are working in an Armchair. Is it a feasible goal and what sort of tasks do you do. Obviously spray paintinging is out of the question but there is few tasks i could do while watching tv.
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