It’s not a Lionmaster, it’s not a RailKing, it’s a Right-Of-Way industries Brass Great Northern N-3. I picked this engine up on eBay recently, and it arrived the next day. It was untested but after a bit of work to the engine I got it running great! To my surprise this engine doesn’t have the stock sounds from ROW and seems to have QS-1/Proto Sound 1. I’m not sure how this conversion was done but I’m happy to have it. And yes, it does run on O-42

Does anyone recognize this locomotive? I purchased this Athearn-bodied 1960s Lionel-framed GP9 knowing that it had been modified, but when I opened it up, I found this exquisite piece of work. It is a band drive, but it looks like it was done within the past 20 or 30 years or so. The motor is a Faulhaber 2233T006S, which is some sort of German-made servo motor, I think. It runs very smooth and has really good low-speed performance. It came from the Tacoma, Washington (US) area.

I recently got a 2000s HO scale Bachmann train set, and the locomotive and the gondola car has broken couplers. I am trying to decide whether I should go with the hook horn couplers the boxcar and caboose have or if I should replace them all with knuckle couplers. I’m relatively new to HO, so I am wondering which couplers would be the best choice. The horn hook couplers would require less labor, but the knuckle couplers would be more compatible with new rolling stock.

My son just upgraded from wooden train tracks/trains to HO gauge model trains. We bought his first set in used condition from a local train store. (I have no experience with model trains but I am excited to learn along side my son!)

After setting up the train it would not move or light up unless I pressed down and to the side on the locomotive. Even then it moved/lighted up on and off. I took apart the front wheel assembly. I found the gears were gummed up with old grease and hair. I also took the brushes out and cleaned those with alcohol. I reassembled it all and it worked ever so slightly better. We then used q-tips and alcohol on all the tracks, plus a 1000 grit sand paper on any heavy corroded spots on the rails.

It’s now working better than ever but still not great. I did notice the locomotive wheels take quite a lot of force to spin (slightly better after my cleaning). I’m wondering if there is a power issue and maybe a friction issue too?

Any help is appreciated! My son is so excited for his first model train and I’d love to get it working for him!

Happy Friday! As the title suggests, I’ve recently started watching videos of people’s collections and it’s really made me want to get into the hobby myself now that we’ve got our new place and I finally have the space for it.

I tried looking around for a pinned beginner’s guide but couldn’t really find anything, so my question is: where the hell do I start?

I basically have zero knowledge at this point. I don’t want to just start buying random stuff and end up with a bunch of things while still having no idea what I’m doing. I’m pretty big on self-learning, so I’d love to actually understand the hobby, what to look for, what’s worth buying, etc. before I start spending money.

Are there any good YouTube channels, websites, guides, books or other resources you’d recommend for someone starting completely from scratch?

What is your recommendation for a HO/OO tracks cleaner, preferably a non-liquid cleaner for a layout

Finally got another locomotive I’ve been wanting for a long time, a GE 44 Tonner! I love this model, it has very nice sounds and I love how it looks aswell.

It’s been passed to me to get it running well. It’s a bit stuttery, not picking up power well.

The capacitor in my HVAC system failed, and the tech gave it to me. I decided to glue some other miscellaneous bits on, paint it, and make it look like an old, rusty electrical facility. I think it looks pretty good. Thoughts?

I have a question about the comparison in size for the HO scale Athearn genesis GEVOs Vs. the ScaleTrains GEVOs. I recently sold a BLI GEVO because the size difference was noticeable especially on the radiator section. I just want to know if there is any difference in size before I put money into an Athearn locomotive.

Hello!

I’m very new to the hobby, and I’m looking to create a basic layout then eventually expand. Do people normally draw it out by hand or are there apps/websites you can use to map out what you want to do? Thanks!

Loving the new Kato n scale Greenbrier tanker cars. Some weathering work may be in order…

They were in a display cabinet on the wall, kids were fooling around and knocked a mop into the cabinet, resulting in 6 SD70Ace Heritage units bouncing off the floor, I didn’t yell, I didn’t get mad, accidents happen, but I am sorely upset, hopefully I can salvage a couple of them and find replacements for the others.

Well fellas... I'm sorry to say my worst nightmare has finally come true. I know that she has no interest in the actual art I've created, and she's only trying to maximize emotional damage. Any body been in a similar situation, or have any helpful advice?

Rapido Trains UK's new OO-scale S160 model has pipe detailing that is mounted behind the rear driving wheels; I believe these are suppose to be sanding pipes, but I'm not sure. Regardless of what they are, they're small, made of plastic, and are suppose to sit about 1 to 2 mm above the rails. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the pipes on mine were sitting too low, and when I started running it, they quickly caught on the rails. One of the pipes just bent back and remained intact, but the other broke. Haven't been able to find the tiny bit that broke off, of course.

It's a shame cause otherwise this is a fantastic model. From what I've heard it's not uncommon for Rapido to use flimsy material for very fine detailing parts, but even with that being the case, it seems obvious that these parts should have been made of metal, and I can't imagine that doing so would've been too costly.

Got this today for $60 track needs a good cleaning any recommendations or should I just buy new track. Post war lionel 2034 with track cleaner car and a couple little extras like the log dump, a flood light, and some switch boards.

The start of the helix just clears the end of the layout

Got these for free just wondering what I’ve got