[mog]

I would just get on and write 'em myself if I thought I had the knowledge!


What might be really useful and interesting to people like me who are still fairly new and not in a club or anything...is some 'a bit more than basic' instructional stuff.. eg..

How to bend and lay track for tight radius curves..
Building a pizza layout.
How to make your own turnouts.
How to wire a turnout for polarity switching..
How to make your own turnouts and track (handlay track)..
Soldering. Basic How to's...
Smoke units - why most people don't use them ?!
Couplings - some alternatives to tension locks etc
That kind of thing.

Being drawn to the tweaking and bodging side of the hobby, this is the kind of info I have found hardest to get hold of.. although with much internet trailing and asking of questions.. I'm getting there.

MTI is choccafull of this kind of thing so the chances are they have already been done - I just haven't subscribed for long enough?
_________________
Martin Hogg

Mogtrains2 at:
http://mogtrains.blogspot.com/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKcRvdN719g66eDzc2iUN1w

[Jordan]

Just a few quick comments on your requests;
Couplings- there's been plenty in MTI about alternatives to the Dreadful British Tension Lock... best are Kadees, but recent issues have looked at etched brass types too.
Pizza layouts- just eat the Pizza and visit Carl Arendt's site carendt.com for all you need to know about these layouts...
Smoke units- I'd guess why they aren't popular for these reasons- 1) They aren't very realistic (it's difficult to reduce the 'scale' of smoke, like water) 2) They take a while to warm up so are best on Tail-chase layouts 3) Any oil left after will drip out of the loco & spoil the model if it's laid on it's side after running.
Soldering track- I've done a bit of plain straight track- clean the PCB sleepers well (wire brush in a motor tool is good), use flux paste, and two track gauges, one as close to the sleeper being soldered as poss. Points?? lie down in a dark room till the desire wears off....
Happy Bodging & welcome to the MTI way of modelling!! Jordan

[steve]

Mog - It might be worth your while to seek out a copy of Chris Ellis' book "Next Steps In Railway Modelling" published by Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-171-7 at ?14.99 (new). The book covers a number of the subjects you mention as well as other extremely useful stuff.

steve