mrhsmith8

Rayman4449: You have done me a great service and cleared up so many questions in my mind. I am so very grateful for you taking the time (and the photos) to tutor me. With appreciation, Hilary

Thank you Sean for the good tip! Didn't even know those guys existed!

I'm very grateful for your taking the time to help me.

Hello All: I am interested in modeling the FM C-truck Trainmaster and the FM B-truck H16-44. I figure I'll use the USA Trains PA and F unit motor blocks with the associated truck mounting blocks. Since I don't either full model on hand, I'm curious about what the chassis looks like in general and how the truck mounting blocks attach to it. I'm hoping one of more of you out there, if you have these models, will pop the shell off and take some photos of the chassis and the attachment of the motor truck/truck mounting blocks and post them. It would be very helpful. I also don't know the make of the female pin connector that goes into each motor truck. Any identifying info on that connector would be super. If that ID isn't available, a photo or two and measurements of the female pin connector into the motor truck would also be a Big Help. Thanks for any assistance, Hilary Smith In the Pacific Northwest, USA

More good replies! Many thanks guys! Hilary Smith

I very much appreciate the comments so far! Very helpful. Hilary Smith

Hello All: As someone who is considering a outside railway in 1:32 scale, I am enamored with the idea of using actual coal in my PIKO two-bay hoppers. But it looks like it might take 3 pounds of coal to fill up the hopper! And if you are running a string of 15-20 hoppers, that's a lot of weight before you even think about ascending a grade. Now I could still use a live load but use, say, ground black rubber as the coal. The reason for the interest in live loads is I also want to do some animation. Coal tipples that actually load coal cars and coal piers that discharge those coal loads into a ship. My guess is that if I do run live real coal loads I would have to repower the locomotives, weight them and use brass/steel gears. I would like to especially hear from those who have actually wrestled with/have experience with this issue. Hilary Smith Pacific Northwest