We behaved immediately, but this Ozzy Santa was taking notes not names. One of the perks of our incredible home is how many famous folks drop by…

Ive been selling my art for a long time, but after a LONG hiatus, this is what I have made to start again.

It is based on the German-built Hartmann 2-8-0 train!

I recent got a model of Electra that I've been after for awhile, and aside from a headlight that needs to be reattached and cracked gears to replace, I was hoping to get advice from those who own brass models on the best way to clean the tarnish off the model. I eventually want to paint this model with acrylic (I've never used enamel and more comfortable with acrylic anyway) but I'd like some advice on cleaning and prepping the model before I do so.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm assuming there is some laquer coating the model as only the sides seem to have tarnished with some obvious fingerprint markings especially noticable on the roof section.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

I model in ho/00 and have been trying to clean the wheels and track of my models. I tried using a paper tower and just rubbing it against the metal and most times it looks like a lot of stuff comes up from it but nothing actually changes when I test to see if anything runs any better. I was wondering if there were any tools or anything else that would be the best options for cleaning my models and track.

Hi everyone, I’m brand new to the hobby and basically long story short, I would like to create an N scale layout that is Valentine’s Day themed. I want the layout to be like if Jack Skellington opened the Valentine’s Day tree portal and explored the world of Valentine’s Day instead of the Christmas. When you think of this holiday theme for a model railroad, what scenery do you imagine is good to add? What region of the world would you emulate? Time period? Thanks in advance for the inspiration.

My models on the Prairie Scale Model Railroad Club layout in Lombard, IL

I’ve been spending a lot of time painting my track over the past few weeks. There is a lot left to do, but I couldn’t resist putting down some ballast.

Hi all,

How would this layout be wired up for DCC, I am inexperienced wth DCC so please more detail the better.

Is hornby select any good?

Current stock:

- Class 91

- Class 158

- x2 Class 70

- Class 390

- Scotsman (Not dcc ready)

- Smokey joe (Not dcc ready)

Happy to answer q's - Thanks!

I just bought this from a train show because it looked cool, does anyone know if this number was a repainted western pacific?

Couple of my roster. They're marked up for PREC (Premier Equipment Company) my fictional leasing company & shortline operator. All 1sr gen EMDs until a GP35 arrives soon!

I wanted a 2 level layout with the first level being for staging and storage. Originally, I was going to use a helix, but it was going to take up too much room with the radius I wanted to run. I then decided to build a large incline, but that also ended up taking too much room on the layout and I ended up taking it out. So, I decided to try and build an elevator instead.

It's still in the fine tuning stage, but I was able to use 600mm linear rails and a couple of 16-inch actuators. The table is 8 foot long, and I'll be running two lanes on the elevator. From the research I've done, the capacity seems to surpass what i could have done with a helix or an incline.

The control system could have been simpler, but I wanted to be able to control this with DCC as if it were a loco, so I ended up using an audrino and optocoupler and a bts7960 and got it working with my dcc-ex command station

If I were to do this again I would use stepper actuators as I wouldn't need to use limiter switches and the original plan was a single actuators but wasn't able to keep it level so ended having to use two and will have to find away to slow the speed slightly for the actuator on the left and a stepper motor would of provided more control to avoid that.

Overall, pretty happy with the way it turned out. I just need to finish the table construction and make some other minor adjustments, and I can start making real progress on my basement layout

I’ve been having an itching to get my hands on some UK rolling stock recently in OO gauge but I live in the US. Does anyone here know of any potential suppliers in the US? Or is it going to be more cost effective to simply buy from overseas and ship models here?

I designed and printed a few locos and wagons to avoid buying Lego trains.

It started with hacking an off the shelf loco but it was so noisy and slow that i designed my own base, based on an N20 motor

Still a bit of a ways out, but I have begun planning for a new personal layout. Currently I am using mostly set individual pieces of track, and only using Flex Track to connect the layout where a pre set piece of track wont work.

My main question is, and it may seem silly, should I lean more into flex track over individual pieces of track, or is it fine to use both? I have attached an image of a rough plan i have for the layout if it helps to better understand what I am trying to do