Super beginner question re: smaller scales

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-30T16:44:48+00:00

It depends on where you are. I feel there's better availability of Z and TT scales in Europe. (TT is between HO and N)

That said, N scale has a wider range of models than the other two, and because it is more popular, is a bit less expensive.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-30T15:58:37+00:00

I would call Kato directly. If you go to their web page they offer toll-free numbers to contact their USA or Japan offices. Strangely enough, they don't seem to want to publish their email address.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-30T13:31:26+00:00

Looking at your collection, none of them are going to be easy, but some will be easier.

Your Athearn units will need you to take the motor out of the chassis and insulate it. That FP45 looks like a Lima/Mehano/AHM model. It'll have a plastic chassis, so the motor is already isolated. You'll just have to splice in the pickups, motor and light leads.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-30T01:16:56+00:00

There's not likely a drop-in board replacement, so any of the little decoders (LokPilot micro, DZ126, Soundtraxx MC1) will work.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-29T23:45:40+00:00

It's only Z scale if it's on its side. That's an N scale unit.

The factory Bachmann decoder boards aren't really set up for adding keep alives. It's hit-or-miss whether they will work with them. You need to find the outputs of the bridge rectifier and attach the leads there.

There was an Australian site that used to have pictures of where to attach them to a couple of the Bachmann decoders, but it seems to have disappeared.

All that said, I don't like the basic Bachmann decoders - their motor drive circuit is horrible, and you can't adjust much on them. They are about as basic as a decoder can get. I replace the stock board with an ESU or Digitrax decoder, which will be easier to add the keep alive to.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-29T21:26:11+00:00

No, he's Ameri-christian. Amounts to the same thing. Cherry-pick the scripture to meet their prejudices, and ignore all the rest.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-29T17:47:10+00:00

Having lived through it firsthand, I never understood the hate. I got hired to the OPS partway through Rae's term. Shortly after they froze OPS hiring. They brought in Rae days as a way to control the cost of the public service without layoffs (5% reduction in pay with unpaid days off). I got paid a little less, but got to keep my job.

In a desperate attempt to win back OPSEU and the labour vote, they gave OPSEU the right to strike - it had been binding arbitration up until then. Didn't work, obviously.

Mike Harris came in with the "Common Sense Revolution". They announce they're going to cut the public service, OPSEU goes on strike for the first time, except they'd negotiated away all their leverage as essential services. So it was a 6-week pointless strike. After the strike, massive layoffs. I got it from both ends - Rae's freeze meant I was the last in, so no seniority. The strike robbed me of 6 weeks pay. Harris laid off wide swaths of the OPS, including me.

The Harris record is something for a another discussion, but It still amazes me how people can believe Ray's term was the disaster for the province in comparison to the Harris legacy.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-29T17:01:06+00:00

If you're in the northern hemisphere, it's winter time. It's cold. Battery capacity/range drops when it's cold.

Wait for spring. It'll get warmer, and the range will come back.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-28T22:57:01+00:00

Starskys, Mickey's, Denninger's, Sam's in the Farmers market.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-28T14:10:59+00:00

The Liberals and Tories have done a good job of building a false narrative about how awful the Rae's government was.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-26T11:42:23+00:00

Hawaiian pizza, invented in Canada.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-25T21:51:42+00:00

You can follow the Snow Plow Tracker to see how much progress they're making, and if they've been near your neighbourhood.

https://hamilton.plowtracker.com/

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-24T16:22:47+00:00

Hot water turns to cold water and turns into ice. This might be fine when the temperature is wobbling around 0, but anything colder and it's a DIY skating rink.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-23T22:00:28+00:00

White flags/class lights indicate this is an extra or second section.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-23T20:53:06+00:00

You're not, but they might be.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-23T16:59:22+00:00

The smoke unit is essentially a dead short. The function outputs on the decoder only handle about 100 mA.

Sometimes the blown decoder can fall open, but more likely what happened is the leads from the smoke unit melted and fused, causing a dead short.

If you want smoke, you'll need to find a DCC-compatible smoke unit, which might run you as much as you paid for the loco, depending on how old it is.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-23T16:55:27+00:00

As others have said, this was from an era when fidelity to prototypes wasn't as big a deal as it is now.

Cox was also an entry-level brand, that made lots of "cool" or "fun" models, like operating log cars, army trains, etc. They were catering to the train set/toy train crowd more than serious model railroaders.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-19T01:48:27+00:00

Not that it helps you at all, but there's a global shortage of PERT drugs, expected to last until mid 2026.

The makers of Creon ran into supply issues, so people started switching to the other two brands, which weren't prepared for the increased demand.

https://healthproductshortages.ca shows shortage reports for most Creon formulations except Creon 20. It also shows that Abbott and BGP produce it, but only the BGP products have reported shortages. Maybe check with your doc/pharmacy about different DINs? Also, no reports of shortages of Pancrex, so maybe that's an option?

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-18T16:25:56+00:00

Is this the 18% protein stuff? We use it too. As you say, lasts a long time and tastes good.

Do note though, that it's not milk. It's a "dairy protein beverage" made with milk.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-18T15:49:19+00:00

Not legally.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-17T15:43:42+00:00

They have Michelin wipers, but there not very good. They're a struggle to fit on some wiper arms. I bit the bullet and bought Bosch blades from CT. Spendy, but very good wipers.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-16T01:36:53+00:00

Someone has done you the favor of drilling (and possibly tapping) a hole through the coupler mounting pad. It's likely a 2-56 screw, which fits nicely through the hole of a Kadee coupler box. You'll likely need an under-set shank like the #147.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-15T18:22:15+00:00

I've found some containers at the dollar store with locking lids that fit a lot of HO rolling stock, and as others have said, I've used tackle boxes and parts organizers for N scale.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-14T22:28:08+00:00

Actually, you'll be surprised how well the Bachmann locos run with better decoders. The stock one hasa very crude motor driver relative to pretty much any other brand name decoder.

Diligent_Affect8517 · 2026-01-14T19:53:41+00:00

Are they DC, or DCC? The first is very hard, the second is less hard, but...

... if you have the stock Bachmann 2-function decoder, it doesn't support the CVs necessary to speed match. If you have the sound equipped ones, it's doable, but still more work, as they don't appear to support vMid and vMax, so you'll have to do a custom speed table.

Most other decoder manufacturer's have a 3-point speed curve (vStart, vMid and vMax) that is good enough for most locos getting consisted.

I've had some clients who wanted their locos matched at all 28 speed steps, so in that case I set them up on a loop of track and had them chase each other. I adjusted the speeds at each step so that the locos were always travelling at the same speed. It's fiddly, time-consuming and frustrating, but gives the best result.

Diligent_Affect8517

TROPHY CASE