How to get realistic slow trains

“Hi Al.

These are made from the used up instant glue tube’s.

Cut the end off and stuff some plastic plants in them.

good for centre island road’s front of homes and such. and more bikes.

Kim”


“I take old foam pillows, and take pieces from it and add to a blender.

ThenI add a little water, I add my color and a little elmers glue. blend it up good, strain it then put it on parchment paper you know the kind they use for baking.

Tthen I squish it together and let it dry.

It will be formed so you can tear of pieces of clumped material.

Dave”.


“Hi

A very good material to make rushes and very cors grass around pond/lakes is deer hair.

It comes in slighley diffrent shades fron dark brown to very light brown and for a 5′ x 5′ peice from a fly fishing / tyeing shop will set you back about £3.00 (one of my friends is a game keeper at a country house, so we split the entire hid between the two of use, thats a LOT of dear hair)

Simon”


“Thought I would share this with you.

The old Tri-ang trains were notorious for poor running especially scale speed until a guy on youtube (chambs123) came up with the idea of upgrading the old Tri-ang controller.

I just completed the project myself and thought I woudl share it with you.

Hav eyou ever seen a Tri-ang or Hornby run this slow or smoothly? Who needs DCC?

And you can run about 12 locos off the one controller.

Charlie”

A big thanks to everyone.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here if today is the day your day dreams start to take shape.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

14 Responses to How to get realistic slow trains

  1. Denny says:

    Uhhh what is “Tri-ang” and “Hornby” controllers? Here in USA I’ve never heard of it. Great idea though, need more details…. will this work on other brands??

  2. Tom says:

    Kim David Simon and Charley thank you for those great tips.
    There for a moment: I saw David and Simon thought we were going to hear from Theodore and Alvin too?

    Have fun railroading and keep laughing!

    regards

    PS Cannot forget to thank Al, not for him this would not be possible.
    Thank you Al

  3. Tom says:

    Good Job Charlie on that modification … I likened the slow speed. Realistic indeed. You made the comment who needs DCC? Yep I have DCC my trains does not run that slow.

  4. Adam Bussey says:

    hi Denny Hornby and triang are a british company!

  5. Ray Suckling says:

    Is there any chance of getting a circuit diagram of the modification as I would think that it should work on any brand of 12v DC controller.

  6. paul Otway says:

    I might try this.

  7. don says:

    give us some more info, or how about the wire digram, parts and so on

  8. denis says:

    Great. Thank You

    Denis

  9. jesse cairns says:

    with this slow of a rotation of the motor(visible), at a hi current (runs multi-locos), doesn’t your loco overheat or burst into flames?? your holding a fine-wired rotor at long current-bearing angles in the stator with a low DC voltage . A DCC would pulse the power, giving the torque, but without the heat, yes? so your mod seems interesting, but may be fatal to the engine? if I had more info, we could break-out the math for current calculations a little better…

  10. Craig Burton says:

    Thank you Al for what you do, people of your calling are God sent especially now a days!!!!!!!

  11. B Tonak says:

    Running HO engines, I re-gear them to a lower gear ratio. Don’t have to rewire a thing. Local hobby shops SHOULD have matched gear sets. Or, mail order. Half hour worth of work and a chance to do engine service.

  12. Brad Squires says:

    One foot per second is 60 miles per Hour in HO scale.. On a standard four foot module. No more that 4 seconds to pass the length!!

  13. Ronald Shown says:

    I ran a Y6b, N gauge, on pulse power. WOW!! talk about slow and really neat!! That big mallet crept forward with 20 coal hoppers, and it looked amazing!! I did the same thing with a PRR Hippo, too!!

  14. John Keech says:

    Hi to Al and all, I felt I had to add a to the story. I build my own controllers, it is a very simple curcuirt and works very well at slow and ultra slow speeds, in fact I would put it up against any other controller. I am confedent it would be equal or better than any other controller at slow speed. As I don’t like to see trains racing around at unrealistic speeds, my suits me. One advantage that any power supply. I use old tri-ang p/s’s, one for a CB radio and I built for my son about 30 years ago. Any supply will work, all you need is 12 volts at about 1 amp. I use a light cable and 4 pin plug to connect to the layout.
    If Anyone is interested, I am happy to forward the circuit diaagram with pictures and instructions. John Aus

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