The Home Machinist!

Mark,

Thank you for posting the notice. Very sad to hear but not surprising. I had helped proof read all three of his books. I know he was not in the best of health. Still sad to hear.

Terry

I sure understand about using a router jig. If you're going to use 40' or greater radii curves, and you're NOT running any long wheelbase locomotive, you probably will NOT need to expand the gauge in the curves. 40' for standard trucks and small wheel based locos should work just fine at standard ga...

Ryan, Square edges on groovy track have always been a problem. The wear you are worried about is exactly the problem many groovy track enthusiasts have to deal with. The best answer it to round the inside edge, preferably to match your flange to tread radius but anything close will be good enough. N...

Yes, Loctite does have a shelf life. BUT, it stays very usable for many years past the shelf life date. 10yrs, I don't know about. I would spring for a new bottle if the application is important. If it's just an everyday thing, I wouldn't worry about it, go ahead and use what you have. I know that b...

I'm sorry I am not familiar with the Little Mach Shop plans,,,,,BUT if you're building your own, you might like to check out Jeremy Schmidt on You Tube. He has built the absolute best belt grinder I have ever seen. I would like to purchase his plans and build one for myself. It's both a horizontal a...

While I understand the reason for alternating bolt direction on full size railroads, is it necessary on Grand Scale railroads? Full Size: Approx. 1" diameter track bolts with 100 TON rail cars. Grand Scale: Approx. 1/2" diameter track bolts with 1000 POUND cars. Has anyone seen a Grand Scale derailm...

Glenn,

If you can't find it on line, let me know, I have that Live Steam issue. I just have to dig it out and find the article.

Terry

Glenn, I'll do some looking to see if I can locate that paper. If I find it, I'll be sure to let you know. Garry, Your comments are totally accurate. You even used your own experience to illustrate the concept; seating in front or back. You illustrate the CG concept in a direction many people tend t...

Glenn, I have one answer to improve/guarantee car stability: Lower the center of gravity. Many of the smaller railroads weight their cars to lower the center of gravity. I have seen these derail and stay completely up right due to the c of g being so low. Yes, it does add to the train weight being p...

Stuart, When you did your "test" run, I believe you said the rails were NOT on ties. The trucks will quickly push the rails over sideways when they come to a curve. They want to go straight and the rails want to push them in a different direction. Without a solid and secure base to anchor the rails,...

Stuart, After rereading your post, for the fifth time (I'm a little slow sometimes), I figured out what your "yards" question was. Yards of gravel.. No there are no hard and fast rules about how much ballast is needed. In good hard, dry, ground, in moderate weather, the amount of gravel needed is mu...

Stuart, I'm not sure what you mean by; how many yards. There are not many hard and fast "rules" when it comes to track plan. While there are some very nice ideas, such as "S" curves, they may be harder to do than they're worth. It takes more horsepower to pull a train through a curve than on a strai...