thanks! i used gloss mod podge on a sheet of wax paper and sprinkled snow flakes onto it while it was wet. when it was almost dried, but still flexible, fit it to the layout/plow to get the curl off the plow blade, snow side out. don't wait too long because once it fully tries it's not as flexible and won't bend as nice.

thanks!

I don't know what that is... but it sounds dangerous and potentially illegal LOL

@@AlleghenyNorthern LOL

I just googled those cars - they look beautiful.

@@AlleghenyNorthern I’m very happy with them. Now I can model a paper mill and a lumber mill. Got to start planning the expansion. 😎😎 👍

Thanks! I enjoy tinkering with the winter scenes a lot - there's always a little be more improvement to make them look correct.

i'm going to try and do more train watching vids. these actually take the most time to film.

@@AlleghenyNorthern will you be at the Altoona club on the 29 for scale trains?

couldn't agree more - the layout makes trains go from toy to hobby. i'm going back and taking some time to do additional details now so the update videos aren't going to be exciting or lengthy because details take time. I just need to stop buying locomotives for a bit LOL!

since that was my first ever custom job, i did not make a video of it but i do plan to expand the AN fleet as my skills get better in that department and i will do a vid on the next one.

that's a lot for a club i feel though i really haven't tried to join any so maybe that's the going rate. Kato and Atlas are great reliable locos and great pullers. the details vary but that can always be fixed. I would say the majority of my fleet is Atlas and Kato units. welcome back to the hobby - there's a lot of boomerang modelers that leave for whatever reason - and a lot that come back!

@@AlleghenyNorthern Must have 30 Kato and Atlas engines that going to test to check if they run. Every I buy engine is always Santa Fe mostly bookends because that is the period I'm modeling. But I this have a few later paint schemes and earlier too.

it works alright - but there's an art to putting it on and not having it mess with the flanges or so thick it causes derails. the artist's brush is what i've found to be the best as well. it's amazing the pulling difference.

thanks - glad you're benefiting!

i am very much pro-dcc and dcc/sound. as such, i would always recommend going dcc over dc if funds and time for learning new tech allows. wiring is relatively simple for dcc - but if you have wiring in place for dc, it's very easy to convert it over without having to do much re-wiring if you don't want to. as far as installed decoders, the ease is completely based on the age of your locos. if you have locos that are dcc ready, it's a simple as finding the replacement dcc board and swapping out the light board for the digital board. i went with digitrax because their website is the only one that allows you to select the manufacturer and the loco model to tell you exactly which of their decoders to buy. if you want sound, that's a totally different process that i'll be for sure doing a video on.

more like out of storage track space already LOL

i will not buy more coal cars, i will not buy more coal cars... shit, i bought more coal cars.

@@AlleghenyNorthern 😂 oops

I had a sneaky suspicion i wouldn't get a good run with those cars because 1 i didn't speed match and 2 they're truck-mount couplers. Distributed power first and foremost needs decent speed matching and secondly, for almost flawless operation, the forces on the train really need to go through the body and not the trucks. BUT i know, i've been on a loco frenzy since Feb and before i get sent to Locomotive Purchasers Anonymous, I need to get back to some of the projects i've been neglecting!

Those DPUs were running just a hair faster than the dash 9s and that last car before the DPUs was taking a pounding - plus the couplers were all truck mounted which wasn't great for DPUs. All things considered, the train went pretty well for not being speed matched and having troublesome wheel sets. wouldn't run that train for guests unless i body-mounted the couplers and speed matched the locos. I have so many weathering projects to do - it's out of control. my rolling stock is way behind and my locos are further. Ak does some nice stuff and their weathering products are real nice. I'm going to have to check out this book - probably on Amazon. I'm a fan of the pastels and the oils but airbrushing leads to some solid results. I love the sound. was always against it until i got that silly bachmann CSX SD45 with the basic sound functions and then i caught the bug. i am a bit hesitant on the move to do my own sound installs, however. but the ESU library of sounds is really impressive.

the cars also have a nice long shank on the couplers - but they really don't like tight curves. the wheels are low profile flanges and like to jump if they're pulled a little too much. you can fix that by adding MTL wheels on them if broadening curves isn't an option. i wouldn't try them on 9 3/4" radius track, however.

thanks!

ScaleTrains for detail and sound, Kato and Atlas for best pulling power. Bachmann (select models) are ok - their newer stuff is very nice and nothing of the toy-store models they're typically associated with.

@@AlleghenyNorthern alr appreciate it brother thank you.

@@AlleghenyNorthern now what do you recommend that are detailed and sound but there a decent price

i can't imagine traveling with all the stuff needed to model - and not every city has a decent hobby shop to get something if you forget it. that's dedication to a hobby!

@@AlleghenyNorthern The best way for me to explain this is a case that's on wheels that's 30"wide 48" long and 60" high now open it up so you now have 14" deep by 96" wide and 60" high work area that's bigger then most people have by a lot. he had almost everything with him and if need he'll have it the next day at the next stop.

ah, good story! surprised you didn't try to replicate the n scale plan in HO rather than switching scales. i mean, i think you made the right call but i'm just a little biased.

@@AlleghenyNorthern Yes, always the first option to consider, but space for the layout was limited, (isn't it always!). A little background if you will permit. Plan from the 14th printing of Linn Westcott's, "101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders", 1982, the plan name, "New York, New Haven & Hollywood page 35. A bent dog bone with an up and over branch line. In N it was 6' X 6' with a center operator/maintenance pop-up. Verged on being a spaghetti bowl, but had a, "good main line". I built it as grid bench-work, (3/4" laminated cabinet grade ply, (I worked at a door plant at the time, free-bee lumber.), ripped to 3" grid members, 1/4" ply under 1/2" homasote, cookie cutter style for the elevations. No room in the house, so it hung on the wall in the garage like a Murphy Bed pull down using pulleys and cement wall blocks as counterweights, and fold down legs for support. Had finished the "cookie cutting" and laid much of the code 80 flex and some turnouts and had to abandon it and leave it behind for the new house owner. Wife and I were deeply involved in building a house in another part of the county. Apologies for the bandwidth, but we all love to talk about the layout that, "got away".

I did not know G scale offered live steam; very cool!

​accucraft, and aster are the 2 buggest manufacturers. LGB also offered a engine (made by aster) and Aristocraft also had engines (theses used alot of plastic parts and are not the best)

Ah! now that's a find at a good price - no way you could turn it down.

some good ol' German engineering. they haven't produced much in US models so i don't have anything of theirs i think except for two pieces of rolling stock i picked up at a train show years ago. how's performance been compared to what's available now?

may regulations indeed! and space... space is actually a huge problem with 1:1 gauge and probably the reason most people don't select it followed closely by cost! definitely the most expensive gauge BUT the details are absolutely phenomenal and you really do get what you pay for! LOL!

Well, if you picked your scale based off of research you did to determine how much space you had for it, then i'd say that would be the "i did research" option. Not sure why anyone that did research to determine what scale fit their space best, doesn't think the research option is what they should have picked.

@monarchco . Lighten up it's a hobby not an end of the world crisis.

bingo - that's where that vote belonged!

i think you need to go back to the video, start at time code 5:02 or so and listen to the end again where i discuss the write-in options. (i can list 5 options for votes, that's it. that's why comments are turned on so people can share other information or opinions.) i discuss including those write-ins in the "i did my research' at time code 5:22 - so they were not neglected or not included. you incorrectly state the video is making unfair assessments and you clearly missed the entire point of that segment, so i'll break it down in writing for you. the people i was criticizing where those who had no scale selected and weren't modeling because they blamed space. The argument was with available scale and layout design options, you absolutely can fit a railroad in whatever space you have and to not make excuses - literally the exact opposite of what you're stating above. as far as price goes, in previous polls and videos pricing was listed as a top concern in the hobby - not just in my channel but others as well. i've discussed this at length and why it's not a valid excuse to stay out of the hobby with some of the value-conscious items available. it's not a surprise this highly technical hobby has a high price tag - it's a limiting factor for some - but there are well-priced options and budget-builds available and it's not an excuse to sit on the sidelines.

@@jasonedwards2842 So what about everyone who didn't do research? Like I was gifted HO, and I couldn't fit as much sprawl as I wanted, so I switched to N. I didn't do research. I just knew that HO was too big for my space available due to experience. The poll needed an option for "I picked scale because of space" no matter how much both of you try to gaslight people otherwise.

ah yes, one of the classic starters! Bachmann got so many people into the hobby - they're underrated in what they did for model railroading.

Never had this issue. I have over 150 engines and well over 650 pieces if rolling stock in G scale which takes up a lot of room

now that is an impressive collection of G scale items - fantastic! does the wife/gf participate in the hobby?

True story - before i finished the basement for the layout, i had it in a spare 1st floor addition room. a girl i was dating at the time came to the house for the first time and said something to the effect of "cool, but what else could this room be". that was pretty much the end of the line - for her, not the railroad. subsequently, the railroad moved to its proper home and the room became a bar room BUT the principal was, date #2 and already there was a problem with the hobby. as i state, remember this is the train's home and you are a guest here LOL!

@@AlleghenyNorthern yes. She has a mallet, a climax and a Halloween train that we use to pass candy out of at 2 different campgrounds and my grandma's house for trick or treat every year. The kids love it.

@@Mikey45013 that's awesome!

i love seeing what others have done in n scale at shows. i draw a lot of inspiration from those modules! it's impressive how far n scale has come since the 90s, which is when i technically got started. it's been hot and humid up here, too. look like it's going to continue for a bit so that means the grass isn't growing so it doesn't need cut and that equals train time!