Kevin M

Michael, I have had excellent service from Eurorailhobbies.com in British Columbia. They drive their US orders to a Post Office on the Washington side of the border. No customs problems to deal with. Although I'm sure the virus shutdown is causing them problems getting supplies from Europe.

I received my UWT-100 today. It took me longer to get my computer started than it did to get started using the throttle. I'm using it with Digitrax DSC50, Locobuffer-USB and JMRI. So far I am impressed. It feels nice in hand and I don't have to worry about accidentally touching the screen (smart phone). I agree that it is a bit expensive but I think it is well worth the price. It has a very intuitive interface. I never looked at the manual. Of course I had already watched the videos.

TCS has several videos on YouTube about the UWT 100 throttle. Just search TCS DCC on YouTube. I have been waiting for something like this. I will probably purchase one soon. Right now my dt400r is in to digitrax for repair. Its not the first time I have had to use their repair service. I have used my smart phone but its too easy to accidentally touch the wrong spot on it. DT500D throttles are $199.95 at Micro-Mark here in the US.

Enjoyed the photo trip Paul. Thank you.

I used a Faller 180516 Oberstdorf background for my small HOm layout. Kevin

I had a feeling that would be the case. I bought this used on ebay and have now converted it to a track cleaning car using a block of Masonite (hardboard) and two nails.

The Kibri Surava station is 245mm x 140mm not including the ramp to the platform. The platform ramp is 65mm making the overall foot print 310mm long.

The Sommerfeldt instructions show 67mm from top of rail. That is what I used.

More photos at the train show. I have found that it is very easy to overdo it when applying static grass. I need to get some cows and sheep to eat some of it down.

I managed to get my layout presentable in time for our local train show. It still lacks more details but I will add them in the next few months until our next show. It will probably never be as detailed as well as those I've seen from the UK and Europe. That is beyond my abilities. I was surprised at how well it was received. The youngsters really liked it. They were excited to see which tunnel the train would appear from next. The lower loop kept them guessing.

Where can I find a replacement bogie, preferably here in the US? My Sliding wall wagon took a dive to the floor and managed to break the pins holding the coupling loop. And the loop decided to fly to unknown parts in my garage. Of course this is no great loss because like most modelers I now have more wagons than will fit on the layout. Kevin

It has caused more of what little hair I have left to fall out. I should have started with a simple loop to experiment with. Although overall I am pleased with this layout.

I mixed some paint to get a dark grey. I won't know for sure how it will look until I get the layout into a room with better lighting. I have the layout in a spare bedroom for the winter so I can work with some heat. It does not have the best lighting though. Sometime in the next week or so I'll have a friend help me move it into my garage/shop where I have much better lighting. I am trying to get it ready for our local train show next month. A few lessons I have learned building my first layout with catenary: Make the baseboard a little bit wider to accommodate the mast mounting. I had to cut some scenery out so I could add some wood pieces to mount the mast to. Don't space the masts out to far on curves. If I had wanted to run with the pantographs up I would probably have some problems. Have all masts located (but not installed permanently) before starting scenery. Its really hard to get static grass close to the masts. Plus I used foam board for the scenery contours and I had to carve out underneath to get the nuts on the mast stud. Paint the overhead wire before mounting. (except the very ends that will be soldered) I had 3/4 for the wire installed before I thought of that. When I started this I did not plan on having overhead wire. I was just going to mount some wooden poles around the track to represent catenary. Maybe mount a horizontal arm and string a single wire. That plan didn't last long. Here is a quick cell phone picture. It gives you an idea of the poor lighting I am dealing with. I still have a lot of scenic material to add and the trees of course. I see I need to lighten the tunnel portal to closer match the color of the viaduct. Kevin

I'm still puttering away at my little layout. I am installing overheard wire now. It has been a new learning experience for me. It is probably a good thing that I was not planning on running with the pantographs up. Question: I want to paint the wire but am unsure what color it should be. From photos it appears to be a dark grey or black. Opinions please! Thank you, Kevin

Paul, what mast did you use to mount to the viaduct? And how did you mount it? I have pictures of the prototype but sommerfeldt doesn't seem to offer a bridge mast.