Hello from Spokane Washington

Hello from Spokane Washington. My name is Danny McCollim. I’m very happy to be here on TrainBoard and I’m looking forward to chatting with many of you. I’m a newbie to model railroading and have been loving every minute of it. I got started building my layout in January of this year. I’ve been trying to learn as much as my 60 year old brain will absorb.
I’m working in N scale using Peco code 55 streamline flex track and electrofrog turnouts (I made them DCC friendly) with tortoise switching motors. I have a Digitrax Zephyr DCS51 control.
Currently my layout is not prototypical of any place or time but I have been looking for SP&S rolling stock/locos and GN stuff.
Just wanted to say hey and I’ll be posting some questions soon. Looking forward to meeting you all.
Regards

danny

 

Welcome abord Danny, another N Scaler here and a lifetime SP fan; without the other S. As previously stated looks like your off to a grand start. Look forward to seeing your progress and have fun

 

I used to live in Spokane, PM me if you'd like to meet up with other N scalers in Spokane

 

Hi Danny, Welcome. I've used Peco C55 for over twenty years and love it, so you have a good foundation. Looking forward to your progress, hopefully with photos.

 

Thanks for the welcome. I did pick up a Lowell Smith SP&S Atlas GP9. It looks great! It's funny though, the Atlas runs about half the speed of my Kato SD40-2 at full throttle. I ran it DC for a while and then I opened it up to put in a digitrax decoder and I noticed the front truck drive gear was missing. I ordered a gear set from Atlas and put it in but it didn't improve the speed. Is that typical of Atlas locos?
danny

 

Yes, Atlas uses what they call a Scale Speed motor, where Kato does not.

However being you are using DCC, you can alter the speed table of the SD40-2 to match that of the GP9

 

Danny.......it's more a case of the Kato running twice the speed of the Atlas. Meaning that as you get more locos you will find that most brands of locos will run the speed of the Atlas and the Kato will be faster. Most Katos have a speed of around 180-200 scale mph. Luckily they still run nicely at slower speeds. As Ike says, with DCC it's easy to speed match.
I run DC and my Atlas locos, FVM, LifeLike/walthers, Intermountain, and Athearn all run together pretty well.......the Katos only run with other Katos.

I model SP&S in N scale as well......if you don't mind hunting, there's a fair amount of stuff out there. Lots of boxcars, woodchip cars, a few flatcars, some tank cars, some ballast hoppers, a half dozen cabooses And RS1, RS3, GP9,E7,F7, FA1,FA2, and soon F3 locos

 

Welcome aboard, Danny. Looks as though you are receiving helpful info already.

 

Thanks for the info Ike, that's exactly what it is. Now I know! Thanks man
danny

 

Thanks Fitz! I'm glad to be here!

 

Thanks Dave! Great info. I appreciate it!
danny

 

Having some auto-reverse loop issues

Hey if you guys get a chance, I put a post up on the DCC/ Wiring forum about an auto-reversing problem I'm having. Maybe you guys could take a look and see if you can help or possibly recommend someone who maybe has had a similar problem.
Thanks guys

danny

 

Hey Danny, welcome to the forums. I'm kind of new here too. As you may have guessed from my forum name, I'm mostly interested in the area south of Spokane. I'm also a fan of the SP&S though, so it's good to see yet another show up here. I hope you have a good time here and share some shots of your layout as it progresses.

 

Thanks all for making me feel so welcome! I can see why they call this the "Worlds Greatest Hobby". I'm having a blast and have been contemplating a second larger RR in the future after I develop more skills. God I hope my wife doesn't see this!!!
Kindest regards

danny

 

John M, who is a custom painter in Spokane, not on here, he's at the shows, has 2 tables worth of custom painted projects, he paints lots of SP&S stuff.