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Must have been "fun" inside a tank in Death Valley in July, probably about like climbing into an oven and turning it on?

I have that series bookmarked on my dvr to record the entire series when it comes on. I'm a bit disappointed that they only did 3 shows. Surely there is more to railroading than a coal drag, a container land bridge from LA to Houston, and the Acela.

It probably has to do with volume sales/production. I suspect that there is a bigger market for 19 inch color tvs than there is for sound decoders.

Depending on how many houses you have in each location, you might not have a switch dedicated for each house. The idea is that house lights should go on and off at different times, but if two houses 10 feet apart on the layout go on or off together, it is not likely that it will be noticed...

I'm not sure where Ft Irwin is, but I think any shipment to Texas would go on the UP over the old SP main line through San Timateo Canyon roughly paralleling I-10. If Ft Irwin is at 29 Palms, the shipment would also go on the Southern route rather than Cajon. There is a Marine Corps Supply...

1. As long as your curves are eased, most equipment that will work on 24 inch radius will also work on a 23. You may have difficulty if you try to run full length passenger equipment or 89 foot freight cars through the 23 inch radius, but they will probably have problems with the 24 as well...

Back in the day when there were more local distributors, and Athearn (before Horizon) Atlas, Kato, etc sold through distributors, my local hobby shop used to get a lot of "deals" on locomotives painted in East Coast and midwest paint schemes. I bought a brand new Atlas Rs-1 for $39.95 when the...

I like both brands. The Pico has a built in over center spring that is nice if you are flipping your switches by hand without switch machines or ground throws. If you are using a switch machine or ground throw, then I would say the choice is up to your personal preference.

I recently saw a train moving through Cajon Pass that was solid flats loaded with various pieces of military armor. I don't remember if it was a BNSF or U.P. train, but I think it was U.P. I'm not sure if it was heading to a base in the desert, to Mojave to go over Tehachapie, or if it was...

The main thing with dcc is that the motor hook-ups as well as lights need to be isolated from the wheel pick ups. I haven't done Bowser, but I don't think it would be particularly difficult to isolate the motor and lights. Once the motor and lights are isolated, just follow the decoder...

Josh, I don't think making the stands would be too difficult. Have you ever seen an old fashioned hat & coat rack? They are basically a pole set on a tripod about 5 feet tall with hat and coat holders at the top. You do something similar with a board mounted cross wise to the top of the pole...

I'm not going to be building enough turnouts to justify the cost of Fast Tracks jigs, but I don't want commercial turnouts. Also I'm building a switching layout with code 55 rail and no one makes a commercial code 55 turnout. I'm going to use Central Valley turnout tie strips, proto87 frog...

Thanks Wayne. That was the reason that I keep harping on using incandescent daylight spectrum bulbs for photography. Also the daylight spectrum is not needed for normal layout viewing. As you have noted the human eye compensates to see what it thinks the scene should look like rather than...

Actually wiring for dcc is easier than dc cab control. The only reason to have gaps on a dcc layout is to avoid short circuits like reversing sections or to divide districts on a large layout to facilitate trouble shooting.

Josh, Your layout lighting should be part of the room's decor. You really should have your layout design, lighting, etc look like a planned decorating theme for the room, not like a store room. As such your lighting won't be portable. Your photography lights should be completely portable...

I think it makes a lot of sense to have high speed trains, but the cost is such that I think what needs to be done is to expand what is already there. Perhaps build a high speed corridor off the Northeast corridor connecting Chicago to NYC & Boston at Albany with stops in Detroit & Pittsburgh...

Josh, When I mentioned bulbs with a "daylight spectrum" that is the same thing as Dave mentions here. You can also find incandescent bulbs with a 6500 kelvin rating and 85 cri, what you need to be careful of is some manufacturers will give you a 85 cri but it is at a 3500 kelvin rating. That...

Mike, At one time Lionel was a popular gift for a first train for children. Last year Target Stores were still offering a Lionel set at Christmas. I don't know about this year. I don't think train sets are nearly as popular wiith experienced model railroaders as with the general public...

Rob, I don't know what type of flex track you are using, but in the modular club we discovered that Peco turnouts use a thicker tie plate cross section than Atlas flex track. It ends up being necessary to either shim the Atlas flex track or sand off the bottom of the Peco turnout tie strip, or...

Welcome to the Gauge, Dan. Nice modeling.