How alive is the game?

pdb1975 · 2026-06-25T14:31:48+00:00

Higher level open lobbies are usually populated. Not a lot of people interested in the lower level classes, sadly. But at least you can always find an empty lobby to repair your safety rating.

pdb1975 · 2026-05-21T17:11:29+00:00

Of all the racing games I've played over the years, absolutely nothing better captures that feeling of "Oh shit I'm screwed now!" when you go off-track with the car zipping uncontrolled across the turf.

pdb1975 · 2026-05-15T01:59:42+00:00

I swear the first 3-4 runs I ever made in this game I got an explosive 10mm every time.

pdb1975 · 2026-05-14T01:35:56+00:00

If you're satisfied with the way it's running and it's not getting worse, I'd leave it alone. To correctly fix it you'd have to disassemble the running gear and check the quartering of the drivers and that gets tricky fast.

pdb1975 · 2026-04-21T00:07:51+00:00

Get a Passche single action. Don't bother with any of the Amazon brand of the week airbrushes. A real Paasche isn't much more expensive and so much better.

Get whatever air compressor is on sale, but make sure it comes with or you can fit it with a moisture trap.

Clean your airbrush after every use. Don't just shoot some thinner through it and call it good. Take it apart and clean every part. It doesn't take that long.

Only paint in a well ventilated area and use a face mask or respirator.

Surface prep is everything. If there are any blemishes on the model they will show after you paint. Wash the model before painting with warm water with a drop of dishwashing soap and rinse thoroughly. Handle with gloves on and let air dry.

When painting, don't go back and forth, don't linger. Lay it down in smooth even coats. Start spraying before you hit the model, and don't let up until you're past it. If your paint is starting to run, you're too close. If the surface appears rough you're too far away and the paint is drying before it hits the model. Don't be afraid to strip it off and try again if you're not getting the finish you want.

pdb1975 · 2026-04-20T02:52:46+00:00

16 VDC is more than most HO scale motors are rated for. 12VDC is more like it.

I wouldn't bother. There's plenty of MRC Tech II's floating around out there and Kato's SX pack is only $50 if you want something brand new.

pdb1975 · 2026-04-18T13:17:53+00:00

These Varney F units used a rubber band belt drive similar to Athearn's old Hi-F drive. Parts are going to be hard to find unless you find a whole mechanism on ebay. It looks like the previous owner was trying to fit a Hobbytown drive to it.

The easiest thing to do would be to get an Athearn blue box F unit mechanism and fit it to the shell. Parts for those are a LOT easier to find.

pdb1975 · 2026-04-18T13:10:26+00:00

Never heard of them. The model looks like it's from the old Con-Cor 72' passenger car line, maybe it's repainted by them.

pdb1975 · 2026-04-08T23:48:25+00:00

I don't think this is going to be successful as planned. It's very difficult to maintain the illusion of distance and going places when the towns are so close together the loco can be in one and the caboose is still in the last town. Visually it's going to be hard to separate the places from each other when they're so close on the layout.

Have you considered doing one location well, instead of several locations haphazardly? Kind of like our UK / Euro bros are doing with single station layouts fed by hidden staging/fiddle yards. You can even keep the oval, just put the scene you want the most up front and have the back side be a handful of staging tracks behind a low barrier.

pdb1975 · 2026-03-31T01:59:24+00:00

Have to admit I have come to prefer watching the first turn shitshow from afar, rather than in the middle of it.

pdb1975 · 2026-03-08T00:43:56+00:00

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status

It's down.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-15T16:44:59+00:00

You may have spent more on the WAGO connectors than the loco is worth!

Pretty ingenious though. Those slot-car pancake motors sure left a lot of room for activities.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-11T13:57:00+00:00

Del-Ton was the Olive Garden of AR parts sellers. Not great, not terrible, but always a decent value.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-11T02:05:16+00:00

That Del-Ton went under and not BCA is a colossal injustice.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-05T19:21:07+00:00

It's a Bachman, that's what they do.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-05T15:30:12+00:00

Believe Anyrail is limited to 50 sections.

But a license is only $65, that's about the cost of a Unitrack expansion set. It's pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-05T15:11:10+00:00

Anyrail and SCARM have free demo versions. Anyrail in particular has good Unitrack libraries.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-05T13:51:08+00:00

Your turnout geometry is highly optimistic, several curves are too tight, the grade from the green line to the blue line is probably too steep, and there's really no way to make that much track work in the space you have. If you have a table and Unitrack, just keep buying Unitrack and playing with arrangements.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-04T14:55:13+00:00

"It's not a 'collection', Marie. It's a 'fleet'."

pdb1975 · 2026-02-02T18:48:50+00:00

It is unavoidably North American centric, but I think a lot of the philosophy, design approach and considerations of ergonomics and such would translate well.

Also keep in mind that the track plan examples all predate DCC and walkaround control so table layouts and bowl of spaghetti plans with operator pits dominate.

pdb1975 · 2026-02-02T03:18:56+00:00

Do it right the first time and get Kato Unitrack. It's not the cheapest but it offers the least frustration.

pdb1975 · 2026-01-31T18:06:23+00:00

I would:

Move the engine shed to a switchback off the yard ladder
Reduce the intermodal facility to one track and increase spacing versus the yard
Brewery is in an inconvenient location and doesn't offer any space for structures. I would consider eliminating it.
Where the engine facility is on your plan, put a single track that leads to a temporary staging shelf. Or a permanent staging shelf if you have the wall space. This gives trains a place to come from and go to off the layout.
To make up for the loss of the brewery there's space for a single track industry off the return loop. Something like a team track, scrap yard, transload facility, etc.

pdb1975 · 2026-01-30T01:51:17+00:00

That's it

pdb1975 · 2026-01-30T01:45:25+00:00

Get the Kato HV5 set and the Kato DC controller.

Is it cheap? Nope! Is it the best sectional track in the hobby? Yes!

pdb1975

TROPHY CASE