Lawman

I am looking for the REAR handrail for an Aristocraft SD-45. Apparently got lost in shipment. I've googled the same with no luck. Any Ideas who may have something like that? I have attached a picture of what I am looking for. The White/Black is what I am looking for but all Black would work. Appreciate your time. Lawman

Manual says nothing about what they are but apparently they are assorted tools to be placed on/near the Loco. The Black Pieces are some sort of "Rerailer" tools. Not sure about the other. No big deal, just curious. Charles

I have a couple of 1-20 Bachmann Shays and they come with a large bag of accessories. Most of them are obvious tools and I've pretty well figured out where (more or less) to put them on the engines. There are a few items that I have no clue to what they are: On the far left, the spring looking thing and the two longer Black wedge looking plastic pieces. They almost look like chocks. Any ideas on what these are? I have looked all over the internet for answers... Thanks for your time. Charles

I am in the process of building my variation of the long wooden bridge mentioned in last months railroad magazine. My version is 10' long and has wooden clapboard sides similiar to the magazine version. My question is: In the cropped picture below... What is/was the purpose of the large beams adjacent to the tracks? In this picture they are parallel to the walkway but in other pics they are on both sides of the track. My guess is that the would help keep the train on the bridge in the event of a derailment... Is there another reason for them? Thanks for your time. Charles

One way to "vaporize" your house! Nice!

Excellent! Sounds like they aren't all that picky! I thinkwe have the megasteam at my local train shop.. Appreciate your time.. Charles

No sound installed yet but will be in the near future. Appreciate the info regarding the switches. I plan to use the smoke if it is running so I won't run it dry. Do you use strictly LGB smoke/cleaner fluid as stated in the manual or is other smoke fluid ok? Thanks again Charles

Rayman: The loco has a switch with three positions but it only moves when it's set to #3! I still need to research it a bit more. Found out that the power issue isn't an issue... Found some plugs that fit and it runs the lights on the following three passenger cars quite nicely without a blink! All those pickup wheels do their job! Bjorn: I appreciate your finding me that reference. Although it's an upgraded model from mine, they are very similar and it's very helpful. Appreciate your efforts. Thanks Charles

I have a couple of questions regarding the LGB 2085D. Bought it in St Louis a while back but afraid to run it without knowing about the switches, plugs etc. It was purchased used but in great shape but without an owners instruction manual. If anyone has one of these, I have a few simple questions: #1 Are the two small plug-ins on the back of the loco for lights (See Below) ? If so, how much is it rated for? I'm not planning on hooking up search lights but interior for the pax cars.. #2 Is it OK to run the loco without Smoke oil? Thanks for your time.... Charles

I'm looking for alternatives to PIKO buildings.... They look too plastic (going to have to dirty em up!) How are yours put together? Charles

I was looking for something along the lines of acrylic boxes that I could just set over them. I don't care for anything draped over them for the same reason. Appreciate the suggestions.

I have a few locomotives as well as several pieces of rolling stock sitting on shelves in my "Man Cave". I've got them covered with plastic sheets but they still get dusty. I know Heartland has a few covers for display complete with wooden bases but I don't need anything that fancy. Just need to try and keep them relatively dust free. Any suggestions? Thanks Charles

After doing a bit of research. I have found anything before 1945 (passenger car wise) are very rare and very expensive! This old engine maybe relegated to pulling some old freight cars!...

Nice job Jim! I've got the barn and farmhouse from PIKO. I also picked up a matching small engine house and train station from POLA which is a lot heavier.... The wife and I actually built them together.. Right now got them sitting all over the basement with engines awaiting upgrades.

Super Information! Never to old to learn... Thanks

Just curious. When they say "Era 5" What years are they referring to? Is their a reference somewhere?

Appreciate the info. Will certainly look into it. I managed to get to East Berlin (past Checkpoint Charlie) just before the wall came down and bought some nice HO equipment. Never did see any real world engines or rolling stock. Charles

Found a nice looking LGB Mallet while visiting Denver this past weekend. I didn't realize when I bought this that it's no longer in production but the car to match it are extremely hard to find. I was wondering what you gentlemen feel would be a good match for this locomotive that is still available. I would like to keep the German theme for this one consist.... Appreciate your looking... Charles P.S. Bought it at Caboose Hobbies .... Nice folks!

I took off the adjusting bar and flipped the switch rails back and forth.. The rails do fit properly when not restricted by the bar. I guess I will have to "modify" the adjusting bar a bit to see if it will allow full travel. Note: In the short time I have been in this hobby, the word "Modify" seems to pop up a LOT! Charles

Neither switch puts the far switch rail up against the far straight rail. (Does that make sense?) The switch rail closest to the actual switch nestles nicely into the main track. I think the moving switch rails were actually installed 1/16th of an inch closer together than they should be. (These are $100.00 plus Stainless Steel switches... You would think they would have better quality than that!) Charles Note: There is a small, plastic adjustment piece connecting the throw switchto the throw bar... The top of which appears to be hitting the side of the trackrather than sliding under 1/16th or so.. Just enough to keep it from closing completely. I may file it down a smidge tomorrow to see if that corrects it. Then again... I may be buying a new switch!

I have two G gauge, Aristo SS Wide Radius Switches that I bought to match up with my oversized SS Track. I was looking at them closely the other day and I noticed that the lower part of the switch does not tuck into the lower rail like the upper ones do. (I'm not sure what the official term for this part of the switch is) I ran a caboose through the switches and when they are merging onto the straight portion of the track... no problem but when they try to make the turnout from the straight portion of the track, the flange on the cars hit the ends of those switch rails (?) (The ones that move! ) Has anyone else had this problem and is there a fix for it? They seem to be screwed to the plastic switch actuator and don't appear to be adjustable. I realize that my request may be humorous due to my limited G-scale vocabulary but please feel free to educate me with their REAL names! Thanks for your time Charles P.S. I have two PICO electric switch motors that I tried to install on the switches but they didn't seem to close as well as the manual ones did.....

I've tried a couple of ideas for partially elevating my track but they haven't worked out as well as I would like. I ran across a pic on Pinterest from a guy named Joseph but the link he provides sets off alarm bells with my antiVirus programs! left him a message but no answers as of yet. All I want to know is if you guys have seen this stuff, Looks like glass edge protection to me. Do you think it would work for the purpose shown? Just curious... Thanks for your time.. Charles

Not sure where you live in Australia but the time difference could be anywhere from 11 - 14 hours! Hmmmmmmmm Could work.... My morning = Your late afternoon.... My late evenings = your late morning (Don't even want to figure out what day it is! (Tomorrow?) Charles

Not sure when our guys are on the TeamSpeak Channel... Does any of our train buffs even use it? Went on their tonight and there were three dorks on there under a heading "Fuck Trains".... My guess is they aren't our folks... Thanks for your help... Charles P.S. After working in the jail system for over 15 years... It kills me how "tough" these guys are on the internet!

Joe, Sounds like a great deal to me! About 1/2 of my layout will be elevated with double tracks, so extended bridges would be ideal. Do you have a link to the auction site you mentioned? Thanks Charles