I visited the site because the link promised billboards. I got so much more. Now the fine Scot in me really wants to build this box car.
Since my trains are O27, not HO, I can't use his artwork directly. But his HO scale decals might be suitable for a tinplate 6-inch car like those American Flyer and Marx used to sell, since those 6-inch Marxes basically look like double-height HO cars.
If you ever need to etch something out of metal--building lettering for your model railroad, funky lettering or a custom fan grill guard for your l337 modded-up computer case, or anything else that floats your boat, here's a link you'll want to bookmark:
I haven't had a lot of free time the past couple of weeks, and as you've probably gathered, I haven't been spending a lot of it in front of a computer. I've been in the basement, learning how to make stuff for the train.
Along the way, I've learned a few things, mostly from experience rather than from books. I still have a long way to go.
I fixed my Marx 490 locomotive this weekend. I used the tips in The All Gauge Model Railroading Marx Trains guide. Scroll down to the heading titled, "The Marx motor."
I was skeptical because these instructions call for WD-40, and it seems I've read a hundred other places never to use WD-40 on any model train. But my Marx 490 wasn't running well, and it would cost more to have it professionally repaired than it's worth.
In the early 1950s, Lionel had two different standards for the couplers on its train cars. "Serious" sets used its knuckle couplers. Entry-level, or "Scout" sets, used one-piece couplers that came to be known as "Scout" couplers. My Dad had cars with both types of couplers in his collection.
Once I got Dad's set running, I found a Marx car on eBay that I absolutely had to have--an operating Missouri Pacific cattle car. Marx used its own couplers. So how to get both types of Dad's cars, plus my new Marx car operating together on the same train?
Gatermann and I spent the afternoon building a train table. I started building one about a month ago but got too busy to finish it. Today was the day I'd set aside to get some work done on it.
Rob Paisley has a page of model railroad circuitry, including, most interestingly to me, a driver for stepper motors. You'd use stuff like this if you wanted to have people moving around inside your buildings, or if you wanted other moving parts on your layout.
