N Scale Limited Blog
The Hacking Issues Continue
Nothing much to report here. We are still plagued by problems related to the recent automated hack of the NSL site.
This post is simply to trigger a reindexing by Google to hopefully reset our Google page descriptions and link destinations.
Boy…nothing like pouring though PHP code two Saturday nights in a row.
N Scale Limited, Hacked
For those of you that have tried to view the N Scale Limited site or forum over the last day or so and found them to be unavailable, I apologize for the inconvenience. Our site and forum were hacked after our content management system was compromised by a “backdoor” in one of the software plugins I have running.
Working closely with our hosting facility’s security team over the last 24 hours, I have taken several measures to ensure that all issues with the site are resolved. Immediate danger of hacker exploitation should hopefully be remedied for the time being.
However, if any of your should notice anything irregular about the site — anything from major issues like an error message, to something minor like odd text appearing in a strange location — please help by e-mailing me at frank@nscalelimited.com.
Thanks everyone.
Micro-Trains June 2011
It’s that time again. Micro Train Line’s June 2011 releases include:
- Presidental Series: Grover Cleveland
40′ Standard Box Car, Single Plug Door without Roofwalk
Rd # 1893-1897 - Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Traveling Big Top Extravaganza Series:Â Hippo Car
- B&O / Chessie
PS-2 3-bay covered hopper with high sides
Rd # B&O 602903 - Canadian National
89′ Tri-Level Closed Auto Rack
Rd # CN 704367 - New Haven
40′ Double-Sheathed Wood Box Car with Single DoorÂ
Rd # NH 172050 - Swift Refrigerator Line
36′ Wood Sheathed Ice Reefer with Modern Steel Underframes
Rd # SRLX 4011 - Missouri-Kansas-Texas
50′ Standard Box Car, Single Door, w/o Roofwalk
Rd # MKT 2366 - Missouri-Kansas-Texas
50′ Standard Box Car, Single Door, w/o Roofwalk
Rd # MKT 2370 - Northern Pacific
51′ 3-3/4″ Rivet Side Mechanical Reefer
Rd # NPMX 155 - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
100 Ton 3-Bay Rib-side HopperÂ
Rd # ATSF 179551 - Southern Pacific 2-Pack
Weathered Car - Grand Trunk Western
Weathered Car - Ringling Bros.
3-Car Sleeper Pack
Runner Pack - U.S. Dept. of Defense Troop Sleeper
Runner Pack - Veteran’s Tribute Set
Runner Pack
Micro-Trains May 2011
The May 2011 releases from Micro-Trains Line have arrived, including:
- Rock Island
PS-2 3-bay covered hopper with high sides
#131494 - Farmrail
PS-2 3-bay covered hopper with high sides
#1087 - St. Louis-San Francisco
39′ single dome tank car
#191096/191100 - Canadian National
50′ standard box car with double doors, no roofwalk and stacked box load
#796060 - Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Traveling Big Top Extravaganza
60′ heavyweight RPO car
Miss Leitzel Car - Milwaukee Road
50′ standard box car with single sliding door
#16606 - Presidential Car
40′ standard box car with plug door, no roofwalk
Bill Clinton - Great Northern
50′ 15 panel steel side gondola, fixed ends
#73813 - Western Pacific
60′ excess height box car with double plug doors, rivet sides
#3766
The Keystone Modeler: Issue 76
The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society has released the latest issue of their online PDF publication, The Keystone Modeler. As I mentioned when I announced their last issue, you don’t need to model the PRR. The modeling they feature is well done and their articles very informative.
Their latest issue, The Keystone Modeler No. 76, seems really small for them, with less content than what is typical. It features three HO scale articles:
- Walthers 21-Roomette Review
- PRR GLa and GLca Hoppers, Part 2
- Walthers E7 Review
If you like the Keystone Modeler, be sure to download and save the issues because old issues are periodically removed, but may be purchased from the Society on CD. See their website for more information.
Kibri Church #37025
For some of you that are looking for an N scale church, Kibri’s kit #37025, which I believe was previously discontinued, is now showing up as in stock at some online retailers:
If you’re in the market for a church like this, it might be easier to order direct rather than waiting for an older one to show up on eBay.
For more photos of this structure, see Jimmi’s version in our forum.
Micro-Trains April 2011
I’m a bit behind with my usual announcement of Micro-Trains Line monthly releases. But, since it’s still early in the month, I’ll put these up anyway. April’s releases include:
- Presidentual Series
William Taft
40′ Standard Box Car, Single Plug Door - Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Traveling Big Top Extravaganze Series
Polar Bear Car - Union Pacific
12-1 Heavyweight Sleeper Passenger Car
Multnomah - Union Pacific
New Railway Post Office Heavyweight Passenger Care
#2062 - IMC
PS-2 3-bay covered hopper with high sides
#11312 - CSX Transportation
3-bay Ortner Rapid Discharge Hopper
#291847 - Canadian National
50′ Rib Side Box Car, Plug Door
#413028 - Burlington Northern
50′ Standard Box Car, Double Door
#239820 - Denver & Rio Grande Western
50′ Standard Box Car, Double Door (Reprint)
#63779 - New York Central
Heavyweight Depressed Center Flat Car w/Load (Reprint)
#498995
Micro-Trains March 2011
The new Micro-Trains Line March releases include:
- Franklin Roosevelt
Presidental Series
40′ Standard Box Car, Single Plug Door (without Roofwalk)
Road #: 1933-1945 - Elephant Car
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Traveling Big Top Extravaganza Series - Union Pacific
10-1-2 Heavyweight Sleeper Passenger Car
Road #: Lake Livingston - Union Pacific
28-1 Palor Car Passenger Car
Road #: 1262 - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
PS-2 3-bay covered hopper with high sidesÂ
Road #:Â 308694 - Great Northern
50′ Standard Box Car, Double Door w/o RoofwalkÂ
Road #:Â 35705 - Sid Richardson Carbon Co.
3 Bay ACF Center Flow® Covered Hopper with Round HatchesÂ
Road #:Â SRCX 4010 - Canadian Pacific
60′ 8″ Thrall® Centerbeam Flat CarÂ
Road #: 319178 - Boston & Maine / Guilford
50′ Rib Side Box Car w/Single DoorÂ
Road #:Â 3278 - Delaware & Hudson
50′ Standard Box Car, Double Plug Door w/o RoofwalkÂ
Roat #:Â 24292 - Pullman
10-1-2 Heavyweight Sleeper
Runner Pack - Pennsylvania Railroad
12-1 Sleeper Heavyweight SleeperÂ
Runner PackÂ
Learn more by visiting the Micro-Trains Line website.
Happy Anniversary, Jimmi
Most of you know James “Jimmi” Boyer. He’s a fixture here at N Scale Limited and our only forum moderator. He’s always ready to jump in, lend advice, share his work, or generally spread the word about this site. And, I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would have anything negative to say about the guy. He just has a way of making everyone feel welcome and included.
So, I just want to take the time to wish Jimmi a happy anniversary! It was one year ago today that Jimmi accepted the role of moderator and we announced it on the forum. Jimmi, you’re really an asset to this site and a great guy. I think I speak for everyone when I say, thank you for everything that you do.
Forum and Blog Posts
I have made some changes to the way content is listed in the N Scale Limited site (finally).
Blog Posts
First, blog posts are no longer separated at the bottom of the homepage and towards the bottom of the inner page sidebar. Instead, blog posts will be listed with the main article updates in a consistent location. The most recent articles and blog posts will always be available in the “Recent Articles and Updates” box at the top of the right column.
This was originally segmented because the blog posts are usually shorter updates that don’t include how-to or downloadable information. But this approach just left blog updates feeling like an after thought. Hopefully, this will make all of the NSL updates easily accessible.
Recent Forum Posts
For some of you (read: Jimmi — hehe), this is a big one. For a long, long time, we’ve discussed listing recent forum posts in the main site so that users could easily see the forum activity from any page, and easily jump from the site to the forum when something interesting pops up.
This was always a great idea, but we had a large technological hurdle to overcome. When trying to hook this up in the past, the forum was publishing unapproved (spam) content to the recent activity listings. This was a big problem, because like most forums, we get our fair share of spam.
Finally, this problem has been resolved and all forum posts will now be listed in real time at the bottom of the homepage and in the sidebar of all inner pages.
