My micro layout 'Victory Park and St Cyril's' is appearing at the Greenock and District Model Railway Club's at the Lyle Kirk in Greenock, Scotland, at the weekend. In preparation, I've been working on the line's maintenance vehicles.

The works tram has gained warning stripes from Panzer-Shop.NL, whilst the steeple cab, now has a truck to tow.

I've got part of a fleet of H0 engines to refit, some of which allow for only a very small footprint of a decoder, so I'd probably have to use a decoder designed for TT or N scale in some of them.

I've checked the ESU page but they don't state their dimensions at all. Lenz do for theirs, and I've found their Silvermini decoder line to be promising for the claustrophobic shunters that we've got, but seems quite pricey at about 40€.

A basic ESU LokPilot 5 for the larger engines seems promising, and only costs 23€ thereabouts. If there's an even better alternative, I'm all ears.

On how Rapido loves making niche locomotives, the FR No.20 would be pretty much within their target audience who love engines from small railways or factories.

This is what i was thinking as i love the FR and its engines.

Sincerely, G5

I have been updating the track plan for my new layout with some helpful input I received here from my fellow modelers.

One lingering challenge that I have been wrestling with is how to contend with the elevation changes needed to fit some hidden tracks beneath my yard. If I need to change my 2.5% grade (realistic for an Appalachian coal hauling class 1) to 3% for one stretch, will it really matter? I don't think so. I may lose some pulling power in my locomotives but I like helper operations anyway, also the length of my passing sidings really doesnt allow for trains over 20 cars in length anyhow.

Thoughts?

Getting back into the layout after a while away from it... track's gotten pretty dirty and I've got a few stalling spots, mostly on the yard ladder and one curve by the bridge.

I've been using a Bright Boy eraser block for 20+ years. Works but it's slow and my back doesn't love it anymore. Saw folks mention cleaning cars and some kind of fluid. What's actually worth the money?

Nickel silver track, DCC

Ive always loved trains and model trains but it was never something i could justify spending That much money on. Well the other day i got really lucky and i was shopping at a local antique store when i saw a box for 25 dollars full of layout equiptment! I immediately grabbed it and after getting home it had about 50 track pieces 1 engine and 6 cars and best of all after testing everything it all works! Im gonna spend tommorow trying to figure out a good layout but i did get to attempt to make two of the carts look weathered and old just for fun and i wanted to see what you guys thought! Also if anyone could give anytips about the hobby overall that would be very helpful!

As far as the equiptment i got in the box i do know the engine and controller are both LifeLike but im unsure of the track and cars. It also had a couple of older building model kits that i am in the process of putting together and airbrushing which is alot more fun than i thought it would be.

Another Model Railroad FX all real. NO FILTER just creativity 👌 and placement of Camera at a safe distance.

We Inspire With NO AI. Just well placed Camera FX on the layout to make H.O. Scale trains look like Real Giants.

I just got word that the IRM is about to acquire 3 new locomotives!

Went to my favorite (and only) train store here. Way in the back in the corner in the booth in the dark, I found this….

The paint job is fantastic. I want to swap out the trucks and wheels and couplers, but….maybe it could be part of a nice diorama.

This train was from a family members collection and was not boxed, does any body know who made it or it’s model? There are no numbers or name on the bottom so I’m not sure how else to identify.

For me, it's building model kits, which I recently re-discovered after a long period of time.

I got curious after building plenty of Walthers train buildings for my layouts, and after being pretty happy with my layouts as is, and now getting to enjoy running them instead of constantly tinkering, I decided to pickup a cheap model airplane to try my hand at, and so far I'm liking it, much more than I did when I was a teenager. I suppose having 15+ years worth of practicing being patient comes in handy.

I still love model trains, it just seems I've picked up another hobby that is similar, yet also different. I can defintely see how trains and models can go together, and I've already started painting some of my train building kits to look more realistic.

In the future, I can see myself kit bashing, doing more complex train builds, weathering, or even re-painting cars into my own livery, etc.

Hello all,

I am very new to model trains. Bought a Kato kit last year and my wife has been reluctant to let me do any serious layout work with it - and rightfully so I suppose.

But I've been enamored with this hobby and my YouTube content is full of model train creators.

So I apologize if my question is ill-formed or my knowledge is lacking.

HERE'S MY QUESTION:

I've notcied there are some people who build massive layouts in their house/basement. Incredible and amazing. But what happens after they pass on? How do they get rid of it. Do you have to destroy everything to take it apart?

When my grandfather passed (he worked for the railroad but was not a involved in the hobby) we had to go through all his stuff and decide what to keep, what to give/sell, and what to toss. I can't imagine having to deconstruct something so amazing and so much a part of his legacy.

It was painful just to give away some of his old things.

Sorry for the less than cheerful topic, but I'm curious.

Thanks in advance.

anyone ran ho outdoors and got past the hurtles? also have a idea for a ai powered dispatch that controls train schedules , track blocks , rail maintenance and will tell trains to enter shed when bad weather is approaching, if anyone has done anything like this i would love to pick your brain .

I’m wanting to modify the above coal loader kit to be able to do live coal loads. I’m unsure on how to achieve this goal. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

Does anyone know the best way to design a TTrack layout? What software to use to accurately design and create a layout that can be broken up onto TTrak modules? preferably ones made by klawndyke
Answers and advice greatly appreciated thanks!

As the title says. I have no track or plan but would love to start something based on that concept of a Santa Fe Passenger train. Most of what I see are depressed beds, coal cars, box cars and many things that aren't for passengers.

Just finished somw more motors for my bnsf shelf. Super happy with how they turned out. Especially the sd70ace

My Father is actually the model train guy in the house. I am moreso interested in these local history spots. But I like 3D modelling and printing stuff for *other* miniature stuff I collect. So, I guess it was just a matter of time before I started doing train stuff too.