The tradeoffs between AMD’s Phenom and FX CPUs
Micro Center is dangling some dirt, dirt cheap AMD CPUs these days, which has me thinking. I have a couple of pokey machines hanging around that I don’t use very much, so what if I modernized one of...
View ArticleStop blowing into your Nintendo NES cartridges!
Anyone old enough to have played with an original Nintendo NES knows the problem: You plug in the cartridge, turn on the system, and get a blank screen and the power light blinks at you. The schoolyard...
View ArticleHow the previous week’s headlines flow together
Here are some headlines I read this past week: Dell is trying to take itself private. Microsoft is investing in Dell. Intel is pulling out of the motherboard market. AMD is considering ARM CPUs. And...
View ArticleClean your own air conditioner and save a bundle
Last week I had to get an air conditioner serviced. The air conditioner was cooling fairly well, but struggling to keep up on hot days when it had kept up just fine last year. So I bit the bullet and...
View ArticleThe safest way yet to clean your train track
The subject of the best way to clean train track sure does ruffle some feathers. Everyone, it seems, has their favorite elixir to swab down their tracks and some favorite material to wipe it back up...
View ArticleHow to paint model railroad scenery
When it comes to model railroad scenery, you tend to see two extremes–a plywood board painted a solid color of green, or an attempt (with varying success) at detailed scenery using ground foam and...
View ArticleThe Post-Dispatch may be giving the wrong idea about the dollar value of...
Articles like Top 10 collectibles for value, from the Post-Dispatch this week, frequently make me nervous, mostly because of statements like this one: [D]id you know that computer parts can bring home...
View ArticleMy greatest estate find
If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years, you know I kind of like trains. But my favorite way to buy them isn’t to buy them at a train store. I like to buy them from estates. One week, I...
View ArticleWhy you can’t get a $50 replacement sound/control board for your modern...
Every so often, some people start raging on the train forums, or even in the pages of the magazines, about modern electronics in modern O gauge trains. The modern electronics make the model trains...
View ArticleVuescan: A review from a non-photographer’s perspective
Vuescan is a third-party scanning tool for most versions of Windows, OS X, and Linux. It supports hundreds of scanners, including those abandoned by manufacturers. It’s probably better than what came...
View ArticleHow to paint switch and outlet covers
Many years ago, I was helping to renovate a soup kitchen in Belle Glade, Florida. One of the things I did was paint it. I’ve never been a great painter, but I took pains to stay away from the outlet...
View ArticleNot quite a new floor in a bottle, but…
There are several acrylic floor finishes–sometimes mistakenly called wax–that promise they’re like a new floor in a bottle. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but if you have reasonable expectations,...
View ArticleWhy accordion-style flexible drain pipe is against code
From time to time I see accordion-style flexible drain pipes in use, much like the one on the right. St. Louis County inspectors take an exceptionally dim view of these, and I always wondered what the...
View ArticleTouch up American Flyer paint
If you have an A.C. Gilbert-manufactured American Flyer steam locomotive made between 1939 and 1967 that still runs but has seen its better days appearance-wise, there’s an easy way to touch it up to...
View ArticleMarx 999 repair and service
I had a Marx 999 that didn’t run well when I pulled it out of storage. When pushing it along the track a few times didn’t yield any measurable improvement, I decided I’d better take it apart and give...
View ArticleThe low-effort fix for a Marx motor
I had a Marx motor that wouldn’t run, and I fixed it with almost no effort. If you need to get a Marx motor running again but can’t put a lot of time and effort into it, I’ve developed a quick fix....
View ArticleRepair a Marx reverse unit
When it comes to Marx repairs, the reverse unit is the end of the innocence. Motor repairs are rather easy; reverse unit repair can be as hard as you want it to be. I’ll share some things I do that...
View ArticleThe common post on a Marx transformer
When you want to phase transformers, it’s good to know the common (in Lionel terms) or base (in American Flyer terms) post. It’s a shame that Marx didn’t label which of its posts was common. But it’s...
View ArticleCleaning electrical contacts with Everclear
When I was 19 or 20, I paid a visit to my old grade school to do some computer repair. My fifth-grade teacher dropped in, saw me cleaning up the contacts on a circuit board, and asked why I wasn’t...
View ArticleRestoring lithographed train cars
If you have vintage tin lithographed train cars made by American Flyer, Bing, Dorfan, Ives, Lionel, Marx, or another make I’m forgetting and some of them are worse for wear, there are a few things you...
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