A quick update post. Last year, the reindeer transport stock car I received was having a little bit of a problem that the reindeer didn't seem to want to look out one of the openings. There are four reindeer heads mounted on a swivel so as the car moves and bumps along, the heads poke out of four openings. But one of the sets of antlers seemed to be catching on their opening so the rest of the head wouldn't come out. Made it a little less exciting than it should be. In preparation for the holiday season and so all the reindeer can get to the North Pole in time, I did a quick repair today.  The car is a Bachmann Big Hauler stock car modified for the reindeer. The reindeer transport car I wasn't quite sure what the issue was so first step was to open the car up. I took off the trucks, always a good first step. There were 4 more screws in obvious locations. Those released all of the undercarriage. Undercarriage removed After a little poking around I found that the floor was a...

 As discussed in my recent Santa Transport post, I received a new LGB engine for Christmas. The Christmas point-to-point set up runs on DC power so  I can control it directly with an Arduino. It is nice that the engine plays sounds during DC operations but the real glory is all the capabilities available via DCC. This weekend I finally had the chance to set up a DCC test track for the engine.  Arduino Mega, Motor Driver Shield, wifi Shield,  and power supply for DCC EX Last year I started experimenting with building  DCC EX , a DCC control station running on an Arduino board. Not only is it small and homemade, it would give me a chance to play with some automation without taking the computer into the backyard. I purchased the boards needed for the DCC EX and  built the station up but ran into some challenges and then I got distracted with other activities. Testing the new engine is good motivation to get DCC EX fully working. I found I had not made good no...