Author: Bobot
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J&C Studios O-Scale Archive
Are you involved in the O-Scale Model Train hobby? Do you have a model railroad and would you like a place to publish your articles, how-to’s, projects, or to showcase your work to share with others? J&C Studios O-Scale Archive site is a collection of interesting articles, photo essays, tutorials, how-to’s, stories, and showcases of…
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DCS down for a while, Legacy up
A few days ago the Track Interface Unit (TIU) for my MTH DCS system stopped putting out the DCS signal to Fixed 1 Output. As it worked one day and not the next and the DCS system is only about a month old, I am assuming marginal electronics from the initial build. I had to…
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The road less taken
This was my first attempt at making roads for my model railroad. After considerable research and a failed attempt or two, I found a system that works for me. You will need the following supplies: 1/8″ masonite or 1/8″ foam core, Gesso canvas primer, heavy body acrylic paints in yellow and gray, 1/8″ art tape…
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K-Line Smoking Caboose – "Too much voltage, sir!"
A recent acquisition is a K-Line Burlington Northern Smoking Caboose. It is nicely detailed, has interior and exterior lighting, and a smoke unit. Not thinking much about it, I put it on my track and powered it up…in command mode…all 18 volts. The smoke unit smoked really well…REALLY well! And it kinda smelled like burn.…
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Lionel BNSF ES44AC loco in the house!
In my previous blog post, I wrote about my bad experience with a Lionel Norfolk Southern Genset and was an unhappy Vision Line owner for all of a few hours. I returned the Genset and swapped it for the Burlington Northern Sante Fe ES44AC Diesel. This Lionel Legacy locomotive is essentially the same as the…
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Lionel Vision Line "blind" to quality control?
After hearing about how detailed and awesome the Lionel Vision Line Genset Switchers were, and consequently discounting all the noise I’ve heard on the train forum about problems with this unit, I decided to take the plunge and get the Norfolk Southern Genset from my LHS. I was excited because this would be my first…
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Lionel TMCC Engines interfere with MTH DCS signal quality
My Lionel TMCC engines kill my MTH DCS signal quality when they are running. It has been known for some time that the constant voltage lighting boards in the TMCC engines create interference with the DCS signal, and it is suggested to install a 22 uH 5.5-amp choke in-line on the hot lead from the…
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MTH Premier Montana Rail Link SD45 Low Hood Diesel
I saw a review of this and had to have it. It is typical MTH Premier quality…smooth running at 2 scale mph, good puller…but diesel sounds are incredible! It has 8 rpm sound levels with the beefy speaker and loud volume that brings some awesome realism to the pike. I also picked up a couple…
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20-amp dedicated circuit for model railroad installed
I thought for a few days on how I was going to hook my surface mount boxes and conduit to the round lally column (post) in my basement. Tap the pole and screw to it? Shoot nails into it? JB Weld? Nothing sounded right. Then it hit me! A large hose clamp for a dryer…