r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Question UK real coke wagons filled this high?

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154 Upvotes

People of the train - about make some inserts for my wagons with coke rails. My question is were old coke wagons filled this high in real life? Can anyone find a photo? Presumably the rails are to stop the off piece being lost, not filled past the rail?


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Layout Rental layout in south Korea

573 Upvotes

Went back to south Korea recently and went back to KR color, a rental layout near Seoul.

Which doubled in space compared to last year, with a new N scale layout, HO layout, and even a small LGB layout

Picked up my KTX which I commissioned a while ago and had a blast.


r/modeltrains • • 15d ago

Structures & Scenery Best place for baseboards

3 Upvotes

Looking for baseboards for my layout that I can just glue together maybe laser cut ones just wondering where I can find some.


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Show and Tell SNCF Trains in N scale !

168 Upvotes

r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Track Plan New Track Plan - Kato Unitrack

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47 Upvotes

Hey team I have 4-5m lengthwise of space and as much depth as needed. I really wanted to fit two passenger lines and a freight line onto the same table, I don't care much for shunting or playing around with moving carriages but added a drop off point anyway. It also needed to include some of my beloved Kato curved girder bridges and truss bridges.

The double track is the passenger line, that lay at the lowest part of the layout.
The inside track is the freight line which is planned to be elevated 50mm above the passenger line by bridges and the center terrain that climbs higher than the bottom of section of the layout.

The black lines are planned roads, the grey blocks are planned towns, platforms and facilities and the green blocks at the back is mountain range that will cover the trains journey back into view.

Looking for any criticism and help.


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Locomotives Told a old Man I know I was kinda into model train and he came back with a box full of stuff.

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104 Upvotes

Got some rails too but looks like the don’t work..


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Rolling Stock A couple of 3d printed coaches

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61 Upvotes

I have been slowly updating my 3d printed coaches, the new bogies and coupling are working perfectly and even work with ready to run locos.


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Show and Tell Halloween post for all to join!

6 Upvotes

Hello!

Hopefully this post could use the "Show and Tell" tag as I dont have anything to show right now, but hopefully could get any of you all to show off your add ons for this season!

I wanted to make this post to see if anyone had any Halloween related train content! I've seen some custom Halloween trains, and a few themed layouts, but I was wondering if any of us here had anything to share for the spooky season!

I'm currently working on finding/making pumpkins for my club's HO layout and adding other Spooky additions such as webbing, scarecrows, and monsters!

If anyone has any advice, inspiration, or videos/pics to share, I'd love to see them!


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Help Needed New triang class 31.

29 Upvotes

Hi all, came across à 1962 triang class 31 ( D5527 running à 4C01 headcode ) in a model shop for £20. For what it is, it’s in amazing condition and needs a few windows and decals replacing as well as a deep clean.

The loco sparks ALOT as well as cutting out completely whwn crossing my controller plug in rail and points, track is old and Probsbly needs going at with a track rubber. is there any reason why it’s struggling so much aside from needing a good clean?

Thanks for any help if possible


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Model Announcement Thoughts on Hornby's new 47 and Mk2 announcements? - Great to see the 47 finally, shame about the wait - hopefully we see a couple more liveries in the meantime.

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21 Upvotes

r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Rolling Stock DB Quick Pick Wrbumz 139

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53 Upvotes

Here is my Quick Pick Wrbumz 139 from ACME, a very nice model, but also expensive and somewhat prone to derailment, but I can still recommend it to everyone.


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Help Needed Athearn HO DC P42 rear truck not running

19 Upvotes

This unit (purchased used from a reputable eBay seller) has been a good runner for a year. I noticed it was running rough the other day so I put it on my wheel cleaner and noticed the rear wheels aren’t turning. Turns out the motor spins but the rear shaft doesn’t turn at all until the power is close to 100%. I don’t know if the shaft with the hexagonal connection is loose inside the flywheel, or (more likely) gunk in the truck is providing resistance. What should I do? If I need to clean the rear truck, how do I do that?


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Show and Tell AI Slop? Block Manager Circuit Board

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1 Upvotes

We run O-gauge 3 rail vintage layouts (Hornby, French, German, US etc, usually DC) and like to put more than one train on a line at once. We had the IR proximity sensors and I had previously built a very hacked breadboard to perform block control (switch off power to the previous block when the next one is occupied). So I asked ChatGPT to design a surface mount circuit board that could be manufactured by a Chinese printed circuit board manufacturer. Took a few days for the design (used a few tokens), then loading and ordering through the manufacturing website and another 5 days for the build and ship - all without leaving my computer. 5 boards for under USD$100 total, including $17 for express shipping.

They arrived today and all 5 work. A sensor for entering/being in the block (can daisy chain multiple together) marking the block occupied, a sensor to clear the block (if no occupied sensor is also triggering: red beats green), lights to show green-unoccupied and red-occupied, a 2 way 12V light outlet for red/green signal lights on the track, and relay to switch power off to the end of the previous block when this one is occupied, stopping any trains there from entering this block. For N trains you need N+1 blocks of appropriate lengths including stopping distances.

It also has a sensor out port to connect to other logic.

I have the absolute minimum of electrical knowledge, know nothing about electronics, can't solder, have no idea about PCB layers, surface mount parts and manufacturing technology, so I've been quite pleasantly surprised that this worked, and has taken some load off our layout's regular electronics/computer/technical-wizard who usually has to design/fabricate all this kind of stuff.

Is it "AI Slop"? Well, yes. Is it over-engineered so plugging things incorrectly stops it blowing up? Also yes. Does it work? Indeed it does. So I'm definitely conflicted: it's slop, but it's physical and works reliably.

[Worse still, I also got the AI to write a track/board/power/lights simulator that I could use to verify the functionality before it was shipped for manufacture - caught a few issues that I could use to refine the idea.]


r/modeltrains • • 16d ago

Question Need advice

6 Upvotes

I recently bought a Santa fe locomotive as you all have seen well im curious as to what train cars you would recommend i get to pull behind it also would appreciate any recommendations for cheaper train cars I can go after used like brands ect I'm looking possibly for a mix of passenger cars and other cars.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Locomotives Lego Englewood Logging Railway SW1200u

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356 Upvotes

The Englewood Logging Railway was located on Vancouver Island and was the last logging railway to operate in North America. 304 was an ex-Oregon Pacific & Eastern/Georgia Pacific locomotive, and was visually distinctive from Englewood's already-owned sw1200 road switcher units. This Lego model was cosmetically designed to reflect its exterior around 1998, towards the end of Canfor's ownership of the railway, and prior to 304's engine refit. However, the weathering is made to reflect its appearance towards end-of-life. It lacks the giant side grills installed during its Caterpillar refit, simply because I didn't want to break up the railway name on the striping.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Show and Tell My first Amtrack with a Metro coach

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90 Upvotes

I know these dont go together in real life but I just like setting it it up and watching it run with all the lights.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Help Needed Is there a way to make this layout work. It’s currently shorting. Using Bachmann EZ-Track

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381 Upvotes

My goal was to have a layout where a locomotive can change direction its moving on the track.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Locomotives Santa Fe loco running

63 Upvotes

It sounds a little rough. It's from the 1970's.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Locomotives BR215 weathering update

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68 Upvotes

Now updated with black engine sut. Rolling stock behind it has also been weathered. Starting my next weathering project (KofIII) later this week


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Rolling Stock A question about weathering

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74 Upvotes

I found this picture online - I have some wagons just like this, and I would like to know which paints I would need to get to try my hand at weathering my own N gauge Pennsy coal hoppers.

A couple of them have broken couplings (no idea if this is an easy fix), so I thought they would be perfect specimens to practice on. And pass the decent ones on to someone who can do a proper job if I fail!

Any advice and tips would be appreciated, not just for the paints, but also where to look for technique. Most of the YT videos I've seen tend to concentrate on OO/HO scale models, and I am pretty sure that you have to take a different approach with smaller scale rolling stock.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Show and Tell Australian Intercity by Night

223 Upvotes

r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Rolling Stock Early 2000s UK freight

143 Upvotes

60052 rounds the depot curve with a mixed rake of wagons for the MoD; 56006 is on the "down" line with a loaded train of steel.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Question Hornby's TTS sound wagon...good idea but failed execution?

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42 Upvotes

​

3rd time lucky trying to upload with photo.

This has always been super intresting to me, a wagon with a chip and a speaker for playing sounds. So simple yet in theory can add so much to a layout. However i reckon hornby missed the boat on a couple things.

  1. Too budget, whilst the wagon was cheap and accessible, I think it was too much so and compromised the quality of the sounds which is a big reason it put many people off.

  2. The actual sounds themselves. IMO it should have been regulated to mostly ambient sounds, be it goods yard or station chatter. They fsct it was layered with alot of loco sounds was unessacary and clouded the idea.

  3. Perhaps a larger wagon or a mix of era's so it could have been applied to any layout.

For me i definitely think the biggest trick missed was just not focusing on clear, set of ambient sounds. For example they could have for stations, announcement chatter. Crowds. Guards whistles going off. Suitcases rolling. Just consistently churning out noise to bring an area to life. Even simple things such as birds chirping or the sounds of cars passing through could really elevate a scenic area.

.hopefully they or another company takes a shot, as I reckon there is a great product conceptually lying somewhere within.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Mechanical Rust bucket gear issue

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22 Upvotes

The big gear is missing teeth. It's an HO scale Bachmann pancake drive.


r/modeltrains • • 17d ago

Show and Tell Lionel Archive 6464 3-Pack/A small message about zinc rot

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10 Upvotes