This isn’t so much a “how I did it post” so much as an answer to a common question post. A regular question on all the various places that N scalers gather to discuss the hobby centers around Kato’s double track curves. Actually, it’s usually less of a question and more of an exclamation –…
All posts by michaelb
Programing Kato FL-12 Decoders
Part of Kato’s selection of rolling stock are a collection of bi-level commuter passenger cars that include cab cars. The cab cars have working marker lights for when they’re at the rear of the train and the locomotive at the front of the train is pulling them. And for when the cab car is at…
New on the Layout – Bachman GG-1
I’ve mentioned in an earlier post that the first DCC engine I purchased was a Kato GG-1. Back in 2001, if you were going to find a GG-1 in N Scale it was going to be brass and it was going to cost you A LOT of money. In 2008 though, things changed, Kato released…
Trinity Reefer Reliability Fix
Six months ago I picked up the run of Atlas Tropicana and Naked Juice modern Trinity Reefers. Tracking down the entire run of road numbers wasn’t easy but as mentioned here, ultimately I managed to get them through a few sources. When it comes to looks – they’re fantastic. Atlas did a great job with…
Buying At Auction
Let’s be honest, while it’s great to support your local hobby shop, sometimes what you need (or want) is only available online, and if it’s been out of production for a while your only option might be to go to one of the online auctions either through eBay, or to one of the newer trends,…
Wreck Flatcar Build
Even though I let my subscription lapse this year, I keep old copies of Model Railroader magazine around, and if you can get your hands on a stack of old issues I’d recommend grabbing them. One of the timeless things about Model Railroader is that it’s a great source of inspiration for small (or some…
Done And to be Done – November 26
Finally getting back into the swing of things with the layout, which is good because I came back from Trainfest with a few things to start work on. Done I’ve been staring at the area around the West Yard/Museum Yard for ages now trying to decide how to finish it out. The first thing I…
Trainfest 2022
I just returned from Trainfest 2022 in Milwaukee WI. This was my first Trainfest, and it probably won’t be my last. Around 1999/2000 I went to the York PA train show, and with its combination of hobby shops and manufacturers, Trainfest reminded me a lot of that York show I went to. What’s great about…
Layout Update – Nov 10, 2022
I haven’t made an update post in a few weeks… Not because I’ve neglected the site, but because there really hasn’t been any updates. The closest thing I have to an update is that the P42s seem to be multiplying on the layout… When I built the first layout, finding anything Amtrak in N Scale…
Bullfrog Snot
There were three projects I checked off this weekend – two were DCC conversions. As with the last post these were old Kato Shinkansen sets, a 500 Series and a 700 Series. Both went well, but unfortunately the 500 series had to be kicked off the layout. Turns out that it can’t handle the curves…