I have a number of #5 turnouts to build for my layout. I bought the Fast Tracks PointForm tool. Excellent piece of gear. I tried doing the stock rails on my own and had difficulty. I looked at the Stock Aid tool from Fast Tracks but at $75 USD it was too pricey for me.…
Despite the fact there are many UNO clones on the market and many have been used successfully for DCC++, there can be issues. Recently over at the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum, one user started to dig into why his DCC++ setup was having problems. I’m linking part way into the conversation here but it shows…
Du Reel Au Miniature or “From Real to Miniature” is a hidden gem in New Brunswick, Canada. My wife suggested we go on a little shopping trip and to sweeten the deal she suggested a stop at a spectacular train bridge. I did a quick search on the Internet for “edmundston, nb trains” and the…
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders (MFMR) convention. The federation is an independent organization for the maritimes only. I went as an ambassador for the Eastern Canada Division (ECD) of the National Model Railroaders Association (NMRA). A fellow NMRA member came up from Staten Island, NY…
Over the course of 27 issues, Omer Lavallee, CPR’s historian, presented historic locomotives in The Spanner. The Spanner was CP’s employee magazine. I have collected all 27 and scanned them. They are presented here in fairly high resolution, suitable for printing. Click on each thumbnail to get the full size image.
The July-August 1968 issue of Canadian Pacific’s employee magazine, The Spanner (Vol. 7 No. 5) sported a new look for the magazine and the company. With this issue they renumbered the Spanner as 1 Spanner with the next issue to be 2 Spanner. They also introduced the fresh look for the company, the “multimark” or…
A couple of years ago at a clinic, I was taught how to hand lay turnouts using PC board ties, a Fast Tracks point/frog tool and their paper templates. I was successful at the hands on clinic and decided this was the way to go for me. Taking the best of the Fast Tracks tools…
As I posted previously I have entered the NMRA’s online social media contest. Each entrant was to procure and build the same kit. There were no limitations placed on what the individual could do with the kit. Following is my entry. This is the basic kit as per the manufacturer’s instructions. The kit is Dannen…
The NMRA is having a social media contest. The idea is for everyone to have the same starting point with a simple kit and bash and bang it into something you are proud of. You can of course build it as per the kit instructions as well. A well built kit is miles ahead of…
I have finalized my DCC system. As previously mentioned I have built a DCC++ Base Station per the instructions found on the DCC++ YouTube site and other resources on the web. On my blog I have lots of links and how to’s for that. To run DCC++ you either have to use the software that…
I finally got around to building my MERG booster. The booster is a kit available from MERG. merg.org.uk You need to be a member to buy their kits but it is well worth the price for the information available to you and the other kits they have in their kit locker. The assembly went very smoothly…
Living in Montreal near the Montreal West train station when I was a kid, I got to see many commuter trains. I saw a lot of F units pulling double decked cars and of course, RDCs! Many many RDCs. When Proto 1000 brought theirs out I wanted one. I never did buy one. Fast forward…
