Luis, You are right on the Peco switches. The tie spacing is a little different than most North American prototypes. I use some Peco switches just because I like that little spring that holds the points in place. Some of that price difference you may be seeing may be due to the relative strength of the Euro vs. the U.S. dollar. I don't have much experience with European locomotives. Adam
Hi all. Just received mine "Fast tracks Bullfrog Manuel Trunout Control". I decided to give them a try. They look very easy to build, with clear instructions. The people at Fast Tracks also sent me a free DVD with lots of videos and PDF's that one can print. Some day, I'll try handlaying my own track and turnouts. This last Sunday I have been working a bit on my layout: built the benchwork, printed a full size track plan (it was made in Auto CAD). Now I need to get the "roofmate", to build three layers of it. I was thinking about using 10mm balsa for roadbed. What do you folks think? I'll post some pictures later. Cheers.
DO NOT use balsa wood for roadbed! Balsa is a very porous wood, here are many air pockets inside it and soaks up water like a sponge! When you do ballasting, you will obviously have to get it wet, and the roadbed will curl up and warp your trackwork! If you must use wood, use basswood and seal it by painting it. It doesn't absorb as much as balsa and doesn't warp as much.
Just went through all this thread and am looking forward to see the progress on you layout. Sounds like it is going to be great!
Sure is hard to beat the $6 price on those Bullfrogs. They work good and have the option to add a second set of contacts to. I look forward to viewing more progress pix.
From one SP fan to another Hi Luis Like you I am another SP fan. I have a question for you, why have you picked out the Southern Pacific. Did you grow up near it? What is it that attracts you to the Southern Pacific? I am confident that if your layout comes out as good as your drawing it will be spectacular. Your drawing is beautiful!!! Keep up the good work and please post your progress.
JoeW, I am fond of SP mainly because I am fan of Joe Fugate's Siskiyou Line, and Denny Turani's SP Coastline. I live in Portugal, and never been to the USA, but I love the way you guys think about real railroading, and even more about model railroading. I was colleting some US stuff, and I got a RS11 with the bloody nose... I fell in love!!!!
Well, welcome to the "friendly company" Louis ! In Europe there are several Espee fans and you're not alone. By the way, my friend Denny Turani have to take a stop in the Hobby and I'm not sure when we can recover it. Keep the good job you've start and keep us updated too! My best for now from Italy.
Hi Enzo. I know that Denny (I corrected the name) made a pause... What is up with him? Is everything ok? Thanks for replying.
Health is good... I think to much stress all together: job change, home transfer, family discussions, kids growing.... and maybe too much exposure to trains! Nothing irreparable, but we miss him so much! We plan a pizza with other friends next weekend to have news. Cheers
Enzo, send him my regards. I hope he can remeber me!!! We sent a lot of e-mails to each other. He was a great help, when I was planning a diferent kind of layout.
I sure do miss Denny also! Enzo, when you see him, tell him Mike in AZ said hi, and all his freight cars are still being put to good use! Mike
Let me reiterate that!! Denny is one of the greatest inspirations to my current modeling efforts! His absence is a huge loss to the Model Railroading hobby.
Hi all. I have been doing some work. Built the benchwork, printed the plan in full size, glue two layers of foam, and then glue the cork roadbed. I'll plan to lay track tonight, so do you folks have advice for me? I am used to lay, solder and do whatever I want with C55 PECO, but I notice that ATLAS C55 is more fragile. Here are some pictures: Assembled the Fast Tracks Bullfrog. I wroks quite well. Hope tonight I can do some pictures of my trains rolling and a little video... Cheers!
Hi all. Here in Portugal, it was a holiday, so I decided to do some work on my small layout. Things started with two layers of 2,5cm foam and then two layers of cork. Work in progress. Staging tracks were completed. Everything was soldered, and then I cut the rail from the turnout frog. Another view from staging. Tracks are curved so that the lenght would be the same that on the layout viewing side. Work was done. Time to test. I had to do some milling on my GEVO from FVM. The curves are too tight for it. I still need to wire the Bulfrog to change the polarity on the ATLAS turnout frogs, and test, test, test... And then, do more testing! The it will be time for scenery! Cheers!
Hi. Thanks. Yeap you see SF Snoot nose, Unfortunatly, I don't have all my SP units with decoders. Here is my first video experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq5XFOf-2Sg Again, Santa Fé and Union Pacific... Next one, I hope to have my SP and Cotton Belt locos with decoders installed. Thanks again for your kind words. Regards.
Hi all. Yesterday I was running my trains and found out that I have a problem with a turnout and just with a locomotive. A KATO SD70M causes a short when she runs at low speed (something like step 1 or 2 on my digital control) through just one turnout. It is an Atlas C55 #7 left turnout. With the other three turnouts, everything goes OK. When she runs a bit higher speed, It shorts, but doesn't stop. Keeps running. Even stranger: this only happens in one way... Can you guys help me? Thank you so much!
