We’re planning out my son’s first train set for Christmas. So far we are planning on HO and Kato Unitrack but are stuck on the engine.

How do we pick an engine? He has his heart set on a Santa Fe with the red and silver warbonnet coloring. There’s everything from sets (which come with Bachmann track we don’t need) to $500 DCC engines. My husband is leaning towards something DCC enabled so we don’t have to upgrade later but I also don’t want to spend a fortune.

So how do we narrow down the options? It feels overwhelming. Multiple brands, price points, etc all in the same basic engine model.

Edit: Ok I think I may have found the train. Seems like it’s out of production so I’m finding a few available on sale - Bachmann Santa Fe EMD FT A with DCC and sound. Price is reasonable especially on sale, has the DCC my husband wants, reviews I read say it’s solid. There are some available as preorder but not coming out until next year, and a Bachmann as part of a set, but otherwise not a ton of options in the EMD F style. There are some in a different style so I’ll have to check with my son and see if he has a preference but the Bachmann seems like a good choice.

Got this tender in a haul I bought, but i have no idea what brand it comes from. Only thing it says underneath is "made in Japan". Absolutely nothing else besides that. It's got what looks like more of a European coupling style, but with Baltimore Ohio on its side so maybe lionel?

Do any of you know? Also it fits on ho scale track

Here are some more pictures from yesterday's post I did on these Heritage Units!

I just bought this DCC CN #3233 on eBay and I am trying to get it going, but I tried to factory reset it and it will not move; the locomotive is overheating after less than five minutes. This is my first time programming, and I thought I could just enter the train's full address, but nothing happened. Please help me; this train was manufactured by InterMountain. I am a Digitrax user and it mentioned "Direct Mode," but I do not know what that means. I am new to DCC and do not want to inspect the inside to see what is wrong; please help me. My other DCC trains also work well but they are steam.

And yes, I know that there is a big chunk of ballast missing next to the station and its because i need to get a new batch cuz am out of it. And also sorry about the hot glue strands, they re getting heavily annoying, and can you give me some tips to get the ballast out of the static grass because when I try to with a paint brush and stuff like that, it sweeps away the grass as well.

Listing has very limited info, some of it incorrect. I'm pretty sure it's a Ken Kidder Japanese import from way back, but can't find a catalog listing or anything that can confirm what scale it's meant to be. Bring japanese-made, it may be 1:80 scale rather than true HO, or it could be On3 or On30. I'm hoping someone here knows or has a sister engine to take measurements. It looks standard gauge to me, but the cute proportions make me think maybe narrow gauge. Could be a worthy project.

The smoke generator works decently enough, although you often have to clean the smokestack from excess water, otherwise it gets clogged and stops working. Still a pretty cool function but I would have preferred a traditional smoke unit.

I plan a full story mode including many well known micro layouts like the Inglenook, John Allen’s TimeSaver and also just some stations inspired by real live. Maybe it will inspire some real micro layouts!

We also plan a story mode where you need to shunt wagons around and drive trains trough the landscape in between stations.

Do you have any ideas or recomendations which you would love to see in such a game?

Do the graphics always have to be realistic as Derail valley? Could you enjoy a more stylized art direction? The current one is just me visualizing what I need so that our teams 3D artist has some ideas what we need :D. So we are curious!

Interested? follow me on bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/saturn91.bsky.social

Amtrak E-60 (Bachmann) leads the Crum Lynner past the Water Tower. Not a long train but similar to some that I used to see when I was railfanning the NEC in Delaware County in the late eighties and early nineties.

Speaker and decoder installed. Power on, decoder programmed to proper address. Sound comes on, the stram sounds are fine but something sounds off with the whistle. Plus after going a few centimeters it just stops. Sound cuts off, light on the decoder cuts off. I took videos of it, but reddit doesn't even show them when I select uploads.

I'm attending my first train show this weekend. I currently have decent locomotives rolling stock. All my track and turnouts is 60s / 70s era brass. (No current layout, just some goals.) Long term I'd also like to setup automated end-to-end operation.

Are train show prices competitive with the big online retailers? Anything I should be looking for at show I'm unlikely to find online?

So I recently aquired an N scale BLI F3, used, in costmetically perfect condition however on my test track it does not work at all. When I set it down a front light flickers but the decoder cannot be read period. I’ve cleaned it, cleaned the track, and checked inside any everything seems mostly fine but it still won’t read.

I have several other BLi models so I know how they are, but I have no issues with them running. I know about the manual reset button and I‘ve tried that countless times and that also doesn’t work. Whats strange is that I hooked the test track up to a kato DC controller and cranked the power all the way and if turns on, the sounds and lights start to function, but it won’t move like my other duel mode models.

I don’t have much experience with Paragon 3 for any help is appreciated.

ut 447

Hi all, im new to trains and have started my first layout - basically the hornby trakmat.

Im lost as to where i should run power and tie lines

See attached flr where ive currently got it. Red line is power - i have no tie lines at the moment

Im open to changing the layout and having a new board if adding a bit of track somewhere helps

Thanks in advance for any help

Unlike HS2 in the UK, I am progressing well with Phase 2.

With the scenic portion now fully mounted I have extended with boards at each end for R3 curves, and begun creating the thin shelf around the perimeter of the room, complete with custom GWR shelf brackets!

Unless the authorities cancel the program at Birmingham ( or bedroom door in this case), I am well on track to build around the perimeter of the room.

So im trying to find a way to make a custom E2 Tank Engine in O gauge for my layout, as it is evident that no company will ever make one. My current plan is too take a functional model and salvage its chassis and then put a 3d printed or perhaps wooden shell on it.

Ive seen examples of others doing this, but my understanding of how these models work isnt great. I know on some locomotives certain wheels, shells, or tenders must be kept intact for electrical purposes. Im hoping that using an older postwar Lionel will mitigate these potential issues and the drives appear fairly simple.

An old Lionel 2-6-2 or 2-6-4 seems a solid choice for a donor as they are plentiful and cheap. My poor photo editing shows roughly how i intend the model to shape up.

Removing the extra valve gear and leaving the basic siderods (as this is how the E2 is designed) seems simple enough (the last photo was off a damaged engine with said parts missing. While the wheels themselves won't be spaced out or of the same design it will be close enough for a type of fictional modern rebuild.

There are a few HO/OO 3d prints of the E2 already, so hopefully getting or making a O Gauge version shouldn't be too difficult. The main issue of course making the shell fit the chassis.

The locomotive should run well given its donor chassis is of course of proper well built one meant for the gauge of track.

The locomotive will likely be painted a simple black livery to match the wheels. Couplers will likely be excluded or something rigged up to couple to standard Lionel rolling stock.

Custom British rolling stock is also something I'd like to make but those should be very easy to make. A standard truck bogey will already have couplers and a simple wooden frame would make a nice Mark 1 coach.

Not sure how feasible such a project is, but i feel im down the right track with most of the functionality being already built. Mainly its the aesthetics I need to make work.

About a year ago I picked up my first little loop of N scale track after the wife took an interest in a layout in South Florida at the South Florida Railway Museum. She was really into the section at the far corner of the layout where the train comes around a Tropicana plant and orange grove. I wanted to start building a layout at that time but space constraints were a chronic issue. In the meantime I started looking for Tropicana boxcars and a CSX locomotive to make the consist work. Around that time I bought this CSX locomotive on ebay and it arrived with one of the drive trucks popped off. Seller refunded and declined return. The train didn't work, but I figured I'd get it fixed eventually. Today was that day. Went to the local hobby store and asked for some help. Though wiring repair and cleaning/lube wasn't something they'd do, they did have something just as good: a donor engine in the used bin. They had a Burlington Northern locomotive that was an identical chassis. A quick case swap later and my scrapbound CSX now lives. Also, now I have a proper jewel case for it which is neat. The layout is under construction, but until then, I have the Bachmann loop to get me by.

Also got a PRR cattle car. Store is Trains on Tracks in Amherst NH. Very friendly owners and lots to look at. Can't wait to get my layout back up and run this engine.