Experimenting with different ballast types for Fastrack. Woodland Scenics HO fine gray ballast looks like the clear winner here.

The newest acquisition of the XBRR (Xavier's basement railroad) is somewhat of a mystery. I can't find a 631 ever being made, but I don't know much about older Lionel. All I know is it runs fairly well and Xavier likes it, so home it came. :)

MTH HO Mikado

Fantastic HO steamer! 1 scale mph operation is smooth as can be. Can't recommend these highly enough.

New book- EL Mahoning Division in color: Morning Sun

Really enjoying my new Erie Lackawanna book. I grew up in Warren, OH with the EL Mahoning Division mainline literally in my backyard. Awesome photography. I highly recommend this book to any EL fan.

American Flyer 2012 catalog

Lionel to reveal new American Flyer 28 page catalog on 3/2/12 at 9:30AM EST

Dealers already have print copies in hand and details have been leaked. I am excited to see the new scale products. Lionel has a real chance to pickup a sizeable portion of the S scale market. I for one hope they really turn up the volume on new S scale offerings. My fingers are crossed for fixed pilots... we'll see on Friday. Here is the leaked info:

On Friday, March 2, the new 28-page “American Flyer” stand-alone catalog will be released, and available on-line, from Lionel. Here’s your advanced look at the contents---
a) A new 2-8-8-2 Mallet steam engine, available in 5 road names (N&W, PRR, Santa Fe, UP, and Virginian). MSRP: $1000
b) The U33c in 5 new road names: Santa Fe, D&H, IC, Milwaukee, PRR. $479
c) The U33c “Heritage” line: UP, MP/UP, SP/UP, Rio Grande, and CNW. Each will be available individually in two different road numbers, as well as a dummy unit.
d) A newly-tooled SD70ACe diesel; available in either highrail or scale; five versions: BNSF; CSX; NS; KCS (2 different paint schemes).
e) A newly-tooled Cylindrical Hopper in 8 road names: CN, BN, SP, Saskatchewan, and four different UP schemes. $80
f) Set: Legacy-equipped Pacific, with four Heavyweights. $899
g) MStL Baldwin; $290
h) “Clear Plastic” undecorated Docksider ($110) and caboose ($80)
i) ERIE full baggage car; $80
j) 4 full VistaDome cars: Erie, Rio Grande, Santa Fe, PRR ($80)
k) 10 new freight cars @ $70:
Schlitz reefer
Pepsi reefer
MStL boxcar
1958 Catalog Art boxcar
AF Smoke Fluid tank car
Cities Service tank car
PRR gondola with coil cover load
WP 3-bay hopper
Hershey’s hopper
Mr Goodbar reefer

l) Re-listings:
TX Special A-A; $490
TX Special 3-pack; $250
TX Special full VistaDome; $80
TX Special full Baggage; $80
Coca-Cola boxcar; $70
Coca-Cola tank car; $70
SUNOCO Oil Derrick; $79
774 Floodlight Tower; $120
Truss Bridge; $29
m) Billboard set, 4-piece; $13
n) FasTrack Turnouts, Powered, L and R; $89 each
o) FasTrack Transition section; $9

 

Bachmann HO CN FA-2 with MRC 16bit decoder

Just a quick video. The first in a series where I will compare speakers and decoders. This setup uses an MRC 16bit universal Alco 244 sound decoder. The prototype FA-2 used a 251 prime mover, but MRC doesn't offer a 251 sound set. No big deal as this is mostly a test. If it bothers you, then jsut pretend that this is a repainted rebuilt FA-2 running on my Ohio Northern excusion line. We used a 244 prime mover from a wrecked RS-1. Feel better now ? :)

While I am at it I should say that for the price, I am impressed with these new Bachmann HO diesels. They are lacking in certain details, but they do include add on details like windshield wipers, hand rails, horns, etc... I don't have it fully broken in yet, but it appears to have a nice smooth driveline. For the price they really are hard to beat. My favorite feature is that they are setup for DCC/Sound from the factory. The included speaker for the MRC decoder is a little smaller than the 27mm high bass that I will install next. The 27mm fits perfectly in the molded spot on the frame. Very nice.

Tam Valley Depot is at it again...Cutting edge technology

Really looking forward to seeing more of this new battery powered technology.  Feel free to send me a test unit for review Duncan ;-)

A new venture into Canadian railroading in HO

Probably the main reason that I decided to expand and include HO scale in our model railroading is the vast availability of Canadian Model Railroad products in HO. I have always had a real soft spot for the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railroads. The beautiful scenery which they call home and the colorful trains rolling through snowy mountain, prairie, or costal terrain has always been something that I wanted to model. I wanted to try to do Canadian modeling in S scale, however that was just not to be. There is such a lack of product in general in S scale that Canadian modeling is basically out of the question. HO however has a wealth of products from fine companies such as Rapido, Bowser, Intermountain, and Trueline Trains just to name a few. Here are a few quick pics on our old diorama of some recent acquisitions: