Yeah, I should have something like that. The puzzle is how to do it with three tracks converging at the bridge and still be able to have the dummy units on the point (or to back across the bridge). I would have to disable quite a lot of track to be safe. I keep coming back to some sort of mechanical barrier that the bridge could push down below the table when it's safe to cross. Suggestions?
Bob Nelson
Sorry about the accident BUT with all your electrical knowledge I can't believe you didn't have the bridge wired to stop the train.. For shame.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
1) No.
2) No.
3) No.
4) Not yet.
lionelsoni The bridge was left up due to absent-mindedness.
The bridge was left up due to absent-mindedness.
Bob, I think you did not understand what the Brain Pills for Absent Mindness were for. They make you absent minded. The pills are called "Healthy" because they are organic.
Well don't worry about it. You have reached the stage where you will forget to take the pills. You might have even forgotten you were taking them.
..........Wayne..........
fifedog Dear Mr. Nelson, in the future, please wait until NTSB team members have conducted a preliminary investigation of the scene, before making any repairs. Please submit all replaced parts for further inspection. Were there any injuries? Was the engine crew able to make any statements? Did anyone from Lionel Soni RR take pictures of the scene? We shall need to check the Signal Maintainer's Log for last inspection of trackside warning devices. Has your management located the bridge operator? Did he give a written statement? He needs to submit to a PBT, SFST, and will need to respond to the neareat Lab Corp for a specimen. Regards, Sheriff Fifedog
Dear Mr. Nelson,
in the future, please wait until NTSB team members have conducted a preliminary investigation of the scene, before making any repairs. Please submit all replaced parts for further inspection. Were there any injuries? Was the engine crew able to make any statements? Did anyone from Lionel Soni RR take pictures of the scene? We shall need to check the Signal Maintainer's Log for last inspection of trackside warning devices.
Has your management located the bridge operator? Did he give a written statement? He needs to submit to a PBT, SFST, and will need to respond to the neareat Lab Corp for a specimen.
Regards,
Sheriff Fifedog
Sheriff Fifedog,
I'm interested in how you gained all the knowledge professed in the email above. Did you:
1. Put the WM on the ground?
2. Did a bridge wash out and you ignored a signal?
3. Were tested by Lab Corp after a high speed run from Frostburg?
4. Cause injuries to a passenger on the WM?
Curious minds want to know before we ride with you again.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
No mention was made of the facts and circumstands behind leaving the bridge up accidently. That would also be useful to know.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
No SFST, but we did administer an ATSF.
All's well now, but yesterday I ran an entire A-B-B-A locomotive off the layout by leaving a bascule bridge up. I hope that an account of the accident and the repairs will be useful to someone.
The locomotive is a combination of a 2383P-2383T Santa Fe A-A set with a couple of 2243C dummy B units (the only B units whose black trucks match the 2383). I run the expanded set with the power unit at the rear, pushing the other units, to reduce the tendency to pull the train off my O27 curves. Of course, it looks like all the units are providing the power, no matter who actually is.
There were three distinct thuds as the 2383P pushed the dummies over the cliff and then a louder thud as it followed them 45 inches to the floor. I have since wondered whether having the heaviest unit at the rear pushing the others is a bad idea. But the B units are just empty plastic boxes and suffered only a few slightly bent corner ladders that were easy to straighten by hand. And the dummy A unit merely lost its empty shell (which I discovered had been held on by a completely inadequate screw.)
The greatest damage was to the front coupler of the 2383P, whose knuckle was bent in so far that it couldn't mate with another coupler. Knowing that the knuckle had probably already exceeded the little ductility that zinc has at room temperature and having nothing to lose, I pried the knuckle out. It did not disappoint me and broke at the pivot.
In my stock of junk trucks, I found a decent-looking knuckle of the same type on an otherwise decayed and rusty truck. Compared to removing a knuckle pin by prying on its head, a much neater way is to drive it, using a slender ice pick put into the recess at the bottom of the pin. The hardest part is supporting the coupler head upside-down over an anvil, but with the head of the pin on the edge to clear the anvil as it comes out. As the pin comes out, the ice pick follows and replaces it, holding everything together, including the very small and delicate knuckle spring.
(An old ice pick is a valued tool, since more modern ones are much too fat to fit through the coupler holes. A slender ice pick is also great for locating studs behind drywall.)
The knuckle spring from the donor truck was not worth salvaging. The pin was fine, but had a black head. The original 2383 head was unpainted but bent. I was successful in completely straightening it. It is a good idea to un-flare the end of any pin that you intend to reuse, so that it fits easily through the coupler head and knuckle. This can be done easily by squeezing the pin with pliers at various rotation angles.
To install a knuckle, assemble the pin and the spring. Holding the coupler upside-down, let the spring slide toward the bottom end of the pin. Then place the knuckle into the coupler, with the tail part inside the coupler cavity where it belongs, and the hole in the knuckle for the pin as close to the pin as possible and above the spring.
Then very carefully withdraw the pin, sliding it along the outside of the knuckle, until it just clears the knuckle but is still within the coil of the spring. Then slide the knuckle fully into place and push the pin back up, through the hole in the knuckle, and all the way through the coupler. Finally, slightly flare the bottom of the pin to keep it in place.
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