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A big loss. As a kid in the 70s I grew up on AHM stuff, including those HOn30 Minitrains which they sold as a special offer for a crazy low price. The Rivarossi engines and rolling stock varied in quality and had those big flanges but were a great bargain. Now that I'm in N scale I still look for th...

I've just gotten interested in collecting transit tokens and scored a Q'boro bridge token the other day off Ebay. Nice big brass one with a picture of a trolley on it. Most people are familiar with the subway tokens but B & QT also used tokens and it seems like every podunk trolley or bus line h...

Hey Desertdweller and CNJ999...nice work with big stations! It's something most of us can't justify or squeeze into our layouts. Good use of selective compression and kitbashing. I lived in Denver for a while and many times looked across the South Platte at the station. You really nailed it! I was j...

What neighborhood in Brooklyn did Otto Wassweiller live in? I'm guessing Williamsburg or Bushwick as these were the center of German population in Brooklyn. Many of the big mainline railroads had isolated waterfront terminals in this area but apart from the LIRR, no big railroads reached Long Island...

Today in lower Manhattan I saw the LV tug Cornell heading south on the Hudson, pushing a small barge named Black Diamond, with a yellow schoolbus on the barge deck. What a sight! Where's the Cornell going?

This thread seems to be veering away from What's Up With Kids Today? to Where's the Passenger Train Model I Want? so I'll try and address the first question. It's become such a cliche to complain the hobby is aging/dying out but I have to admit it's a little weird to go to model events and find myse...

A couple of exceptions to some tips posted above...sometimes it's easier to spray a lot of detail parts when they're still on a plastic sprue or brass etching gate. It can be so much easier than handling and brush painting a lot of individual small parts. I wouldn't do it if there's a lot of fine de...

I've been too busy to post in the last few days but wanted to get back to the Dallas DART light rail topic I threw out there. Thanks to some posts and a little more research, I've learned that things are not as great as they seem. Ridership is not up to expectations and no current major expansion is...

So instead of mouthing off my almighty opinions, I'd like to throw out a puzzler that I briefly touched on above and see if anyone can enlighten me with information or answers. Dallas, Texas, the heart of red state America, has been steadily expanding a regional light rail/commuter rail network. Fro...

I've seen the Blackstone stuff, and Micro-Trains also makes some RTR HOn3. My thought is that RTR HOn30 would find a niche like On30 due to the ease of using smaller scale sectional track, HO for On30, N for HOn30 thereby making it easier for novices to get into narrow gauge, while also finding a ma...

Got it. No namecalling, and keep the focus on commuter/light rail, congestion pricing and alternatives to all cars/all the time...

Since this thread seems to have died down, I'll kick the embers a bit. Every day I'm more amazed at how opposition to passenger rail has become such a litmus test issue among, and I'll phrase this carefully, certain self-proclaimed conservatives in the United States. Years ago when I lived in Texas,...

Now that I've preached the virtues of self reliance, it's my turn to dream... An 0-6-0T or other small steam switcher in N scale. Anything ever made before is crude and runs poorly. A line of HOn30 similar to Bachmann On30 (guess I'm imagining Bachmann doing this) I don't think there was a huge cry ...

Of course, the surest way to get a big manufacturer to make your dream model is this, based on my experience in narrow gauge years ago: dig up some blueprints and photos, spend months and months scratchbuilding your model, then just as the final coat of Dullcote is drying, pick up your favorite mode...

Since my current interest is N scale traction, a microniche within a niche, I can't expect much from the mass market. Where's that Brooklyn open car with sound, DCC and working trolley poles, at a reasonable price? Not happening. So where do I start? There's the cheap Bachmann PCC and Brill cars and...