Remember when they use to call the ones with metal wheels, Dollies? Not to be confused with "Converter Dollies" One of the companies I worked for had some old Fruehauf 40' flatbed trailers with those metal wheel landing gear. The worse part was they didn't have spring brakes on the trailer axles. You always had to hookup the service line and pull down on your trolley brake valve to keep the trailer from rolling away so you could back under the trailer. Oh the good old days
On Saturday I had two orders arrive. Got a new soldering station. Had the old one for over 20 years and it still worked but the design had changed and I could not find replacement tips for it anymore. I'll be sure to order plenty of tips for this one. Also got 3 more of the MTB Models MP5 turnout motors. These will be replacing some Tortoises in some awkward locations in the rebuilding of one of my layout's staging yards.
That's nice -- I like the wattage range, just perfect for model railroad needs and there's a holder and tip cleaning sponge to boot. I'll have to look into one.
I have the same soldering station as nscalestation and in my opinion it is perfect soldering station for modeling railroading. Along with the standard tip, I also picked up a 1/32" Micro Tip (pencil point tip) for DCC decoder work. According to my instruction manual, there are 8 different tip styles available for this soldering iron.
The new solder iron just finished it's first assignment and I am quite happy with the results. These are my home made track gaps for a reverse loop in my staging yard. I am in agreement with what Rich said, this is a great iron for any model railroading work as well as electronic projects.
It is and I am quite excited to get some track down and try it out. Of all the research I did, it seemed to be the best choice for me.
That is one of the most important decisions when purchasing a DCC system, what system do you feel comfortable using and fits your needs. That is why trying to answer the age old question, which DCC system is the best, actually depends on which one you think is the best for your needs. I could tell you Digitrax is the greatest system ever created, but if you're not comfortable with the hand held throttle and if in your opinion the instructions are like reading a DOS manual, you'll soon become frustrated with the system. Personally I chose a Digitrax system because I had a couple of friends using Digitrax and could rely on them for help. It's good to see you've done some research and decided the NCE DCC system fits your needs and it's something you feel comfortable using. Welcome to the world of DCC
My newest, arriving today: The new Rail Smith Rio Grande baggage car set. Baggage car 1210, in 4 stripe paint Baggage car 1211, in single stripe paint Only thing I find interesting, is I have NO idea who made the cars. There's no name on them anywhere! Aside from that, very nice looking cars!
Alright! That means my Rail Smith DRGW baggage car is on the way too! Now I can get rid of the old ConCor 80' baggage cars which did not look right. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
I have lots of Tru Color paint , I really like it. They are the only ones of know of in the history of model railroading that makes all of the Pullman ACF etc. interior passenger car colors, the only ones that ever made Illinois Terminal Mandarin Orange and Terra Cotta, and of course the only ones that make a collection of North Shore Line colors. This collection of 130 ore cars was painted with Tru Color Milwaukee freight car red. I just bought a whole bunch of yellows for reefers and to find a match for Milwaukee Electric interurban colors. Get a bottle of nail polish remover (acetone) to thin with, the paint goes on very well with thinning and there are less clogs in the airbrush, keep the tip clean every few minutes. The paint is tough, resists chipping, lays on flat and glossy. You should enjoy it !
I am mostly staying at home safe and building projects that have stacked up in the unbuilt-kit stash. But I still need unexciting supplies. Paint dried-up or not quite the right color, and I don't want a $5 or more delivery charge for a $2 bottle of paint. My only local "hobby" suppliers are two "ladies' crafts" stores, and a check of their online pages showed neither one had what I wanted in one place, so out I went to TWO craft stores to get supplies for completing a baggage-express office kitbash. I "scored" an 8 oz. tin of thinner, I haven't seen that size locally in I think 2 years. Also got 6 little bottles of Testor's lacquer- it seems to be dwindling on shelves, and as always, pack of #11 blades. My most exciting purchases were NON-purchases. I was wondering about an REA truck to go with my express office. Vaguely remember buying a kit years ago. Hunted through the garage and found it. The kit didn't look much like any of the REA truck pictures in Kalmbach's "Express. Mail and Merchandise Service" book. I googled REA trucks, saw over a hundred photos and consulted an REA fan group. Conclusion: this was not a "signature" REA-type truck, but REA used many trucks and this COULD have been one of them. Then I looked through available N models so I could have more than one REA truck at my agency. Only found one model, more than I wanted to pay, not quite right period and none of the special REA characteristics. I might as well decorate a plain generic box truck. I thought I had some. Back to the garage and I found them. Guess I've had these two for 30 years. The flat sides look right for displaying REA locos AND the advertising poster usually added to trucks for extra revenue. And I found what looks like the right paint in my existing paint box. So that is my NON-PURCHASE. I hope the Trainboard on not discussing retailers doesn't preclude my plug for one of my favorite retails- - - my garage storage boxes.