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Thanks for this. I remember having those trips back in the late 1980s, but I have never had the semaphore. I did build one layout which had a reverse loop and I think I used the trips to operate the switch.

I never thought about using the trips to operate switches!

Great demonstration of the #697 track trip and #761 semaphore. The later electronic track trips work well and eliminate the problem of a train sitting on a #697 and burning out solenoids in accessories. They only work when electricity is passing through a locomotive motor. Hope that’s helpful. Can’t wait to see your next video on it! I’m going to try the crossing setup myself. Thanks and Merry Christmas!

A nice informative video. Merry Christmas to you.

Great Video. 👍👍👍👍 The 761 semaphore does not provide a trickle of power to the control section when red (stopped train) so you need to lock the reverse unit in the forward direction. According to Gilbert instructions you need to add/install the 709 lockout eliminator (has a 10 Ohm resistor) to trickle enough voltage in the control section to keep the reverse unit from shifting if you want the ability to operate the non stopped train in sections in between the track trips for switching a siding etc. then commencing the trains chasing each other. Yes the 670 electric track trips can be used and you don't have to worry about stopping your train on top of the 697 and the weight damaging the trip. You can use the 670 to operate the diesel horn billboard automatically, the locomotive completes the circuit and the horn billboard will blow the entire time the locomotive is in the control section. You can use it with the whistling billboard, but I think it best to have a longer control section to get to full volume. You can also protect a train from running over a thrown against switch with the 670 just like you demonstrated with the 697. I also found that the steam locomotives seem to have more momentum when they stop and the diesels seem to stop on a proverbial dime.

That's terrific. You're a dedicated AF fan, who knows how to innovate novel ideas to make everything come together! Congrats!

That is a great layout. And a great idea for sound. I would like to see a drawing of your layout great job thanks for posting.

EXCELLENT VIDEO, ROGER! Great, knowing your AF acquisitions are in capable, caring hands! Keep up the fine work, and keep them coming! 🚂🇺🇸

Very cool

Everything looks so nice Roger! You did a beautiful job on the farm scene! I love it!😊

Hello Roger, I'm a new train enthusiast and have a layout similar to yours. However, I have not figured out how to get my trains to stop automatically, with the switches able to stop a train while another passes through. Could you explain how you accomplished that with your layout?

I just bought one of these, it should arrive next week. It was sold for parts or restoration, and m offer of next to nothing was accepted. It looks like it is in better shape than most I have seen for sale. I will have to replace then end of the sheet metal on the outside of the tray on which the track sits, as well as the metal piece the tab on the car contacts, as someone removed that section. I have had the car for some time and it works (and now has silhouettes of passengers in the windows). I still need the people and the controller. There is absolutely no way I can fit it on my layout but I couldn't turn down the change to get it. I will eventually get al the parts and get it working and it will appear in future videos as travelers move from one location to another.

Oooh I like that! Just the right amount of detail painted on!

Looks swell. 👍👍👍👍

Well done. The farm scene looks great. The front side action is fantastic.

Looks great! Thank you. 😊

WOW! You have really got that Silver Flash set running and looking great. I have the set made by Lionel which have chestnut striped passenger cars. I think that the Silver Flash set was the best "Fastasy" railroad scheme made by Gilbert. Your horn sounds really good and better than many horns used in model trains in the 90's. It is always a pleasure watching trains operating on your layout. Thank you for sharing.

maybe the previous shortened the truck so that the cars were closer together...???

Bolting the couplers on seems to have worked pretty good, and does appear to make it close couple. Custom paint work is always neat, if done well. I have some plastic coaches painted with red stripes for Frisco. I'm still working on finding some aluminum coaches. I want to learn how to replace bushings, I don't have a lathe but may have access to one then I could also re-bush motors. Your air chime horn is the nicer one, in my opinion- I'm a bit of an audio guru; that one is actually self amplified using a field coil magnet inside which makes it louder and sound better. Great to see your layout operating again!

Wow Roger! They really turned out nice. I love the addition you added on the side. 👍

Wonderful looking train. Great layout! Thank you for sharing. 😊

Very Nice Looking Set that runs very well.. 👍👍👍👍 If you happen to remember the screw and nut size let me know because I may have to go that route to repair a coupler on a Lionel American Flyer Caboose which is riveted on which uses the newer knuckle couplers with the spring between the coupler and the weight. Thanks.

The Silver Flash set is very desirable and very hard to find. Enjoy!

That is one of The most beautiful Flyer diesel engines. I think you are being a bit too harsh on the diesel horn. I don't think it's that bad.

Funny, I've never had a problem with the prewar Gilbert 3/16 0 gauge link couplers. They are all metal and never fail.

Gee, a carpet layout. We did those a lot when I was a kid, including the layout you set up here. I'm sure this is how the great majority of toy train owners used their stuff. My brother and I would spend hours pouring over the layout configurations in the brochure you showed. Thanks for a little trip down memory lane.

Great work Roger! Thank u

What a remarkable idea. A real addition to the hobby.

I, too, have a 290 which probably has the mileage from New Haven to my house in Atlanta. Does yours have traction tires or are they all metal? Mine rocks back and forth on the center driver. Love your track plan.

10:30 Wonder if the weight is not fully pushed onto the stem? Place weight on something solid and using a drift tap top of stem down towards the weight. Be careful not to slip off the top of the stem and hit the coupler body. Will need to support the car or train to free up hands.

Nice sound, nice layout track plan, and lots of interesting old Lionel and Flyer accessories not to mention excellent Flyer trains,

I haven’t had the pleasure of having one of these cow accessories but just a thought try putting some painters tape on it and see how they move and if it’s work right remove it and use black electric tape it has a slick finish

Nice job Roger, I am gradually making some changes on my layout to and I think you just gave me a little more inspiration. Keep up the good work and have Big fun in the process. "God Bless and Happy Rails". GMan

Thats neat! I have thought about adding an upper loop to my layout for the same purpose to run prewar flyer.

I like it. Look forward to seeing more as it progresses.

I will look forward to you backdrop painting, as I am deep into a similar process on my layout.I figure that as long as I have more paint to throw at it, I can keep trying to make it better.

Looks great, thank you!😊

Looking good. I like the combination of 3 rail and 2 rail. You can easily compare prewar and postwar steamers.

Looks great.Good job

Thank you so much Roger for taking the time to make this video. As a long time O gauge 3 railer who is just dabbling in AF for the first time, it was very useful for me.

Love these types of layouts. They just take you back to your childhood. Great job!

Great idea for sound. You mentioned using more than 1 speaker on the layout. Can you connect to more than 1 speaker at a time? Or do you need more than 1 device for each speaker! Great layout plan! Thanks for sharing! @Cbtrainnut

Thanks for all of the responses. Later today I’ll try the brown cows on that side but, since the nap on them is different because they go the opposite direction, they’ll run backwards on that side. But that might also be informative so I’ll give it a try. I didn’t mention in the video that I run the stockyard from the variable post instead of the 15v constant post to give me more control over the cattle. That works well on the brown side but not as well on the black side. I’ll keep at it and, for now, still enjoy it as it is. Thanks again for all of the suggestions.

It looks to me like there might be a very slight stain or watermark in the area where the cattle detour. If so, the nap of the mat might be slightly different from the rest of the mat. I also wonder if the metal floor on that side might be slightly dented or otherwise deformed. I actually like that the cattle don't hug the fence all the way around.

They work like the old electric football games. Have you tried the brown cows on the black side? If so did they behave like the black cows? If they did, there might be a slight uneveness in the metal plate.

Is there any adjustment on the vibrator?

Marx guy here, if it`s possible, remove the stockyard bottom plate and inspect for damage to the magnet track. It`s not in the proper location as manufactured

Have you tried swapping the cows from their proper sides to see what happens? That may clue you in on whether the problem lies with the cows or the stockyard. I am suspecting that there is a problem with the mat or the floor of the stockyard. I think a slightly raised corner on the mat or a slightly depressed center of the floor would cause the cows to behave as you have shown. You could also try adjusting the vibrator inside of the building to see if that helps.Possibly others have a fix for this problem. Good luck.

Nice Roger, thank you for sharing. Just a suggestion for future videos that leverage online resources like products found on eBay, TH-cam, etc. Consider placing links to these in your video description (a.k.a. “Description below”) or in a card above during the video replay (a.k.a. “Card above”), thanks for considering this, DavesAFTrains

Really nice layout! Thank you. 👍