8.22.08 - Replacement Genesis Headlights On Their Way

A day or so after we got our new LGB Amtrak Genesis locomotive, one of its headlights stopped working. The front lights of the engine are comprised of two center white LEDs and white and red LEDs on either side the front. The one the broke was, when looking at the front of the locomotive, the left light in the center pair. The six LEDs appear to be soldered to a single circuit board, which has wires leading from the locomotive's main circuit board and wires leading to other lights on the front and in the cab. We have contacted LGB customer service and they are sending us a replacement under warranty. We'll post any updates and details of the installation.

8.4.08 - New LGB Amtrak Movie Online

An all new movie is now online, featuring our new LGB Amtrak Genesis, two LGB Amtrak Amfleet Coaches, and LGB Amtrak Amfleet Cafe Car. This new rolling stock arrived in June 2008. Rounding out the train are the four LGB Pennsylvania Railroad coaches, the LGB RhB Cement Car, the LGB State of Maine Boxcar, and the Aristocraft E&A Private Car. The train reaches a top scale speed of 70 miles per hour, or around 2.5 real miles per hour. In this new movie you can easily see our Genesis' broken headlight, the renovated Apple Store, and some recent changes to Eric's Auto.

Watch the movie »

7.21.08 - New Apple Store Interior Mock-ups

We have created a design for the new interior of our Apple Store. Currently, the "interior" is simply a print-out of a picture of a real Apple Store placed on the front of our building. This new interior would be complete and to scale, with LED lighting and made mostly from balsa wood. The mock-ups above show what we would like to accomplish. It turns out that this is quite a small Apple Store, about half the scale size of an average Apple Store.

7.8.08 - Amtrak Decoder Installation Article Online

Our first article is online. It details the installation of a Massoth DCC decoder in our new LGB Amtrak Genesis. It has a number of pictures and thorough, in-depth descriptions of the steps we took to fit our engine with the new decoder.

Read The Article »

6.30.08 - New Eric's Auto Details

We have details on plans for an expanded and improved Eric's Auto, including a computer rendition of a new convenience store. This new Eric's Auto would be built on the upcoming new layout.

Read More »

6.23.08 - Updated Library Entries and Decoder News

Updated Rolling Stock Library entries are now online for our LGB Pennsylvania Mogul, our LGB Stainz, and our Bachmann Shay. They have more information and pictures, along with prototype details. We will eventually update all of the entries in our Rolling Stock Library in this way.

We also have two news items regarding DCC decoders for our locomotives. Over the weekend we replaced the MRC decoder in our LGB Furka-Oberalp Switcher after it had become inoperative. On Friday, we ordered a Massoth decoder and interface cable for our new LGB Amtrak Genesis. We will post details of the installation.

6.17.08 - Mogul Parts Arrive

For a number of years, our LGB Pennsylvania Mogul has been in need of some replacement parts, specifically the smokestack and part of the headlight. The smokestack is not a separate piece. To replace it, the entire front end of the boiler must be replaced. The part of the headlight that needed replacing screws onto the boiler and holds the headlight in place. The headlight currently tilts forward and down. Back in May, we ordered the parts from LGB in Germany, which is currently recovering from a change of ownership from Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk to Marklin. The parts arrived today and we will install them soon. We will post details on the installation process.

Previous News Available in the News Archive