Rolling Stock

A simple way to lubricate Kadee couplers is to rub a soft pencil (#4 or #5) across the coupler shank and the brass spring box used for #5 couplers before assembly.  With other model couplers the pencil may be rubbed across the inside of the coupler pocket.   FR

After removing the contents from Kadee coupler packages cut the printed side off and save the blank side of the package to use as window shades, these work well for cars or structures. TW

One ounce fishing sinkers held down with duct tape, electrical tape, or a dab of bathtub caulk do the trick. For an HO boxcar or other covered car, or an intermodal container, it'll be tough to spend more than a dime a car to get it right. Twenty year old weight jobs are still running fine. No style points, but nobody will ever know ... DS

The majority of passenger cars that are being retailed don't have interiors. As a result when you look inside them it looks like a toy train. So I went to the hardware store and bought some commercial window tinting, the dark green type. By cutting a one and one half inch strip of the stuff I attached it to the inside of the clear plastic that makes up the windows of most passenger cars. Now it looks like polarized glass which is very difficult to look through. Doesn't work very well on older Athearn cars with the individual windows though. And it is hard to cover the dome in cars that Rivarossi makes.- ELP