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Any tips on HO model railroading?

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  • Member since
    January 2019
  • From: The one state that really sucks for railfanning. Clue, its in the midwest
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Posted by ThamasTehTrain on Thursday, February 28, 2019 10:01 PM

It just said bachman on the bottm of the F40PH

One of the only railfans who gives a crap about the MMA, despite not living IN the northeast.

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Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 8:49 PM

Bachmann Spectrum?

Mike.

  • Member since
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  • From: The one state that really sucks for railfanning. Clue, its in the midwest
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Posted by ThamasTehTrain on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 8:48 PM

The f40ph is actually bachman

One of the only railfans who gives a crap about the MMA, despite not living IN the northeast.

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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 6:08 PM

Since you will be doing a lot of searching and people giving you links, organize your bookmarks to track all your links. You will accumulate many. I back up my list every so often but I think FF does that now.

I have been searching for over eight years and still have trouble remembering many of my links.

I use Google and Dogpile for searching, mostly Google.

You can find a lot by searching with the correct words.

Store data on the Cloud or an external hard drive or flash drive. The Cloud is nice because you can access your data from anywhere.

I have a 1 TB external for data. You have no idea what it is like to have a laptop PC hard drive fail.

I use to use Photo Bucket until they wanted to charge so I dumped them. Still have all the photos.

Someone just mentioned a photo hosting site doing something different now. The discussion is nearby. It is imgBB.

Good luck.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
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  • From: SE. WI.
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Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 3:47 PM

Along with all the good advice your getting, may I add that you need to find a photo hosting site that you, like to put pictures in.

Then go read the locked sticky note at the start of the General Discussion forum, on how to post pictures in here.

We all will be able to help you a whole lot more if you post pictures.

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Southern California
  • 1,682 posts
Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 2:00 PM

Athearn P42 also known as AMD-103

http://trainweb.org/lonewolfsantafe/amt32.jpg

Walthers express boxcar

FRED on the back of an Amtrak express box car

Walthers F40PH

http://trainweb.org/lonewolfsantafe/amt272.jpg

Modeling a fictional version of California set in the 1990s Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad
  • Member since
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  • From: Southern California
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Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 1:52 PM

ThamasTehTrain

i recentley started my HO railroad, which consists of 2 amtrak mail cars and 1 F40PH. I also have a p42dc, but the couplers need to be fixed. Any tips on anything? How can i find a certaint model i want? How can i fix ho size couplers If the knuckle fell off? How can i find the creator of a model if idont see there name, etc.

     There are two ways to identify models using the internet. One way is to use a search engine's image search like google images. The other way is to use eBay. Simply search for the item with as much information as possible. Many items are only made by one manufacturer. However sometimes more than one company makes the same item. If so they almost never use the same road numbers.
    Your Amtrak P42 is likely an Athearn model. If so you can replace the broken couplers with Kadee #148 couplers. Your F40PH is most likely to be a Walthers model, but these are only guesses since I can't see them.
    The rail cars I'm not sure if you mean Railroad Post Office (RPO) cars or if you are talking about material handling cars or express boxcars. If they are material handling cars or express boxcars they are probably Walthers also.
    Anyway like I said above the best way to identify your models is to find them on eBay. However sometimes eBay sellers misidentify items so make sure you find more than one reference.

Modeling a fictional version of California set in the 1990s Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Railroad
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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 6:41 AM

mbinsewi
I forget about all the stuff in that banner, all hidden in plane sight! 

There really IS some helpful ideas and information there. Some of it in .pdf formats you can print and read like people used to do before smartphones Whistling

Cheers, Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: SE. WI.
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Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 6:35 AM

gmpullman
Click on the "Get Started" menu and read away. Later move to the "How To" menu and fill in the blanks.

I had to check that out.

I think it is a great place to start, and another good resource.  I forget about all the stuff in that banner, all hidden in plane sight! Laugh

Mike.

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    February 2008
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Posted by kasskaboose on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 6:26 AM

Welcome aboard!  No two people starr in this hobby or approach it the same way.  With many having decades of experience, expect a dizzying amount of information.  You can easily suffer from analysis paralysis!  Of course read but not to the point where you get confused or lose sight of what you want from the hobby.

Techniques people develop over time often requires a lot of learning.  Learning is part of the fun with this hobby.  You also can expect some frustration with every aspect.  I've had plenty of crow; dessert is often a healthy serving of humble pie.

Before jumping in, I suggest finding a local NMRA club or hobby shop.  Those two great resources can provide a lot of suggestions.  You might also find a mentor who can answer questions far faster than online. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, February 25, 2019 8:31 PM

ThamasTehTrain
Any tips on anything?

Move your mouse right over the black banner in the header at the top of this page.

Click on the "Get Started" menu and read away.

Later move to the "How To" menu and fill in the blanks.

Good Luck and Welcome

 

Cheers, Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: Sacramento, California
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Posted by L. Zhou on Monday, February 25, 2019 6:58 PM

snjroy

 

You did the right thing by getting a loco and some track. That's how it starts...

 

 

 

 

Yep. Welcome to the wonderful world of model railroading. 

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -Lin Yutang

-

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Posted by snjroy on Monday, February 25, 2019 4:55 PM

Welcome to the forum!

Model railroaders have an association called the NMRA. It has an excellent Website with info for those who are new to the hobby (https://www.nmra.org/).

Good books are available from Kalmbach publishing, that can be found on this site. For purchasing equipment, apart from your local hobby shop, you can shop online either for new stuff, or through Ebay. If you do searches on this site, you will find some advice on how to do this. Here is one thread about buying on Ebay :

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/248509.aspx

 If you need to replace a coupler, the best is the Kadee coupler. The Kadee website is a good reference to find what you need.

You did the right thing by getting a loco and some track. That's how it starts...

Don't hesitate to ask questions here.

Simon

 

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Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, February 25, 2019 3:52 PM

Welcome to the forum, I suspect you posted somewhere else in the Kalmbach Empire and they moved your post there, possible without telling you.

Any tips is too vague.  Many of us have been modeling for decades, and while we could type pages about what we know, most of us are not going to do that.  Make the title of your post specific as you can.  Give us as many details as you can.

A coupler needs fixed, might mean it uncouples unexpectedly, it's too high, too low, you dropped it and the knuckle spring went flying.

A certain model...current production, out of production?  We need more to go on. 

Eventually you are going to want to show us a picture, either because you have a question, or you want to show us something.  There is a sticky that tells you how to do it, it is not like other forums.

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: AU
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Posted by xdford on Monday, February 25, 2019 3:06 PM

Hello there,

 

A couple of links that might be of use to you...

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=5310&forum_id=149

and

http://xdford.freeasphost.net/stag16.html.

If you care to PM me with your private email, I have a couple of articles that may be of use to you but bear reading anyway. The Your Model Railway Site although mainly British has a lot of input from many modellers and you could learn a lot from just reading the different pages...

Enjoy the Model Railroading Journey and see if you can define your questions a bit better rather than the can of worms you could have opened! The help will be there!

Cheers

Trevor

 

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    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
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Posted by CMStPnP on Saturday, February 23, 2019 10:56 PM

Yeah the Model Railroading Forum is better.   To answer that question would take a little back and forth.   I just got started again after leaving the hobby in 1988.   DCC makes it a little more challenging with setup but also fixes a lot of issues with shorts and reverse loops from the 1980's.   Also, beware, most newer cars choke on 22 in radius back in the 1980's it was only an issue with some cars.

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • 6,199 posts
Posted by Miningman on Saturday, February 23, 2019 2:54 PM

Big Tip-- Go to the Model Railroader Forum !!

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • From: The one state that really sucks for railfanning. Clue, its in the midwest
  • 30 posts
Any tips on HO model railroading?
Posted by ThamasTehTrain on Saturday, February 23, 2019 2:26 PM

i recentley started my HO railroad, which consists of 2 amtrak mail cars and 1 F40PH. I also have a p42dc, but the couplers need to be fixed. Any tips on anything? How can i find a certaint model i want? How can i fix ho size couplers If the knuckle fell off? How can i find the creator of a model if idont see there name, etc.

One of the only railfans who gives a crap about the MMA, despite not living IN the northeast.

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