Mornin' guys and gals. Crisp and clear in the Potomac Highlands. Bachelor in Fifedom coming to an end, as my lovely wife comes home today.
Mornin Fife! Chilly out here in Western MA. I have to make sure the wood stove stays-a-roaring, we need it today.Planning to finish up taking pictures of the 'goodies' from the Springfield show, and give the 'new' 8659/2329 a test run. (See January Coffee Pot for my post on that)-Ellie
Good afternoon ---
House still not sold - may have to make some repairs on the back bedroom to satify the borough and the buyer - cost remains to be seen - something will be put in escrow.
99.9% of train related things are safely in storage, I saved the bases and modules for Spooky Town and the Christmas Village. Very tore up as I did most of the move by myself. Worst part is that I have more furniture than I need and the house is packed to the gills - even Mom's Mustang is in the driveway rather than in the garage - it is that full. But the trains are very safe.
Had a dusting of snow overnight and that has melted - supposed to hit 39F today - yeah, good luck.
Fife - Welcome back Miss Kelly
El - Nice work bench - I hope to have something like that once this dust settles.
Off to work - and a couple more Ibuprofen, lol
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
I am continuing my track cleaning project. After 15 years, I had an attack of rust on half of the layout. I am using fine grit sandpaper, followed by mineral spirits, followed by that slick stuff in the small jar whose name escapes me. It is going to be quite a project and I have completed about one quarter of it and as I test the track the trains run beautifully.
POTRZBE I am using fine grit sandpaper
Just a suggestion, but have you tried using a coarse Scotchbrite pad? I've found that works just as well and isn't abrasive like sandpaper.
Mid 30's and sunny here in mid Mo. No mention of grits in the thread title? Times, they must be a changin'.
Only train related activity here was a recent trip to Menards where I picked up a NYC box car.
Portrzbe - Lionel tubular track is plated. Sanding is likely to remove that plating, which will make rusting a continuing problem. Scotchbrite is an excellent suggestion.
A big thank you to those who responded about my rusty track problem. I shall seek out the heavy duty Scotch-Brite pads. In the past I have tried regular Scotch-Brite pads in addition to various chemical rust away products to no avail.
Good Morning folks,
We had our high for the day sometime during the night at 6 degrees. The temps will be dropping throughout the day with the winds picking up out of the Northwest. Its currently sunny and -2 according to my computer. The forecast for tomorrow morning is for a wind chill of -50 degrees.
I have several things arriving today that should keep me busy in the train room and my mind off of the figid temps. Our grandson is coming to spend the night after daycare so that is a good excuse to throw down some track and run some trains with him.
Have a great day
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Worked on the Rectifier last night... I was told by the seller I bought it from at the show that everything he sells is guaranteed. I wasn't too surprised to find that it didn't want to run when I put it on the track... this kind of thing has happened to me before. I figured if it had any issues, it would be simpler and more pleasant to fix them myself, unless it was something truly serious.Long story short... she runs now! I noticed that there's very little wear on the wheels, I get the feeling that this loco hasn't been run very much. I did also notice that there were a lot of broken wire ends at the two solder points I fixed- clearly these wires have broken before. Eventually I'll probably do well to replace the wiring with something less stiff, so I don't suffer the same issue over and over again.Will make a followup video when I go through the cleaning and lubricating phase.-Ellie
Evening, just waiting for the Piedmont Model Train Show in Carertsville, GA. One month away!
I had such a great time last year, that I can't wait for this year!
El Fixes ThingsLong story short... she runs now!
Great job Ellie!
(And I'll bet you know just how Doctor Frankenstein must have felt!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuoKNZjr8_U
Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and raw along the Allegheny front-range, with a real feel of 14. Got the pellet stove started, and will hunker in the bunker. Trying to stave off a cold as well;gift from the grandsons...
fifedog Trying to stave off a cold as well;gift from the grandsons...
Trying to stave off a cold as well;gift from the grandsons...
Yep, got to love those kids. I am also fighting a two day low grade fever thanks Kids.
Same here, just plain raw at the big 0 will be high 30s tomorrow, that will add to the sickness count.
Got to take the truck in for an oil change and that is about it for the day.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Evening, not much went on today, just taking it easy and resting up for work this weekend.
It has been extremely blustery and fridgid today... 10 below tonight! Spent the afternoon on projects, I think it's reasonable to call the Virginian recitifer project "complete"! The loco itself is done, but my work won't truly be finished until I edit the videos I did my best to take, to document the process.After the rectifier, I moved on to another one of my finds from the Springfield show- a Lionel 0101 powerpack. I had an 0103 (which quit on me at some point), the downgraded equivilent. I figured I could swap the handle and good cord from my 0103 to the 0101, and while I was at it I'd make the thing look as clean and shiny as I could get it. As of yet, I haven't been able to test it proper, but it didn't explode or catch fire when I plugged it in, so I'm feeling pretty good.And when I took apart the 0103 to steal the cord, I think I figured out why it stopped working... bad solder joint failed. I think it was one of mine too, I feel a little ashamed of myself always sweat those joints!I decided to document my work on the 0101 since I haven't seen any videos on the web that cover working on Lionel HO power packs of any kind. Maybe it'll be useful to someone, someday!-Ellie
KRM I am also fighting a two day low grade fever thanks Kids.
I am also fighting a two day low grade fever thanks Kids.
Hi all, well found out last night my low grade fever tested positive for Breakthrough COVID. Go figure.
So on lock down and pending doctor orders.
Sorry to hear that KRM... get well soon.went through my house in 2021, my brother got it from school, I got it from him, then my parents got it. Not fun! Worst part was I discovered "stomach covid" is a thing... not fun!iirc each of us only were hit with symptoms for a couple days, and slowly recovered... but one of us would come down with it just as someone else was starting to get better. Stay warm, take care of yourself, and again... get well soon.-Ellie
Greetings from Frigid Central Jersey
9F when I fed my 2 feral cats this morning now 24F. It will hit 47F tomorrow.
House sale has been completed, they got a temporary certificate of occupancy, I put $10K in escrow to "repair" a ceiling beam (on a 132 year old house) that really doesn't need to be repaired. And the bank is holding my check, my lawyer is checking into that so they will release the funds to me, hopefully by Monday. Gotta love these banks .
I have a house full, so we are trying to rearrange everything and redoing a bedroom with our bed stuff. Some furniture is going to get tossed in the mean time.
In the midst of all this, I picked up some PostWar rolling stock and some K Line and a NASCAR #8 GP38 which will be repainted. I'll have to test it out before hand. Picked up some RMT Texaco tankers as well in honor of my Grandfather who ran a Texaco station before he retired.
KRM - get well soon!!
Ellie - Nice repairs on the recitfier
During the move, I did complete the inventory of all my boxed items as the loose stuff would have taken too much time. So I'll get that on the spreadsheet and I'll see about collectors insurance on it all.
Gotta get back to work - stay well, all
Evenin' guys and gals. Sunny & 49 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. I've been working on an old Walthers station that I picked up a decade ago, repainting it to look at home on the layout. Lemon yellow with fawn tan trim may be a bit "vivid" on most railroads, but it's initially looking good in the train room. We'll see.
Will be watching first Nascar action tonight. Daytona in 2 weeks.
Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and 36 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. We're still trying to get over our colds. It was sunny and 62 yesterday, so I got out in the sun and washed the truck, wiped it down and vacuumed the mats.
Now in said truck has been a box of trains (HO, don't get excited) that has been there since I helped my Aunt move. They were my uncle's, a pastor, who was known for his woodworking. I actually wound up with some of his tools from his estate. But I wasn't aware of any interest in trains. Yet in this box was everything would need, sans engine and power pack, to make a modest 4x6 pike. The rolling stock was like new in like new boxes. He must have purchased them around '76, as there was a bicentennial boxcar, and the average price on the stickers was $2.25. I examined each item as I emptied the container, and at the bottom was a track diagram. Hand drawn in pencil, for a twice around with two sidings, and a half dozen switches, and just as many isolated blocks. He had obviously given this some thought. Yet, I never knew.
My Aunt had placed some old pics of me as a child in the box as well. Ms Kelly looked at them and said, "You were such a cute kid. What happened?" Anyways...there were two color pics of me in front of a friend's Lionel layout. I appeared to be around 5, and the layout was much smaller than I remembered it. These pics I was unaware of. THIS was the moment...
Good Morning
Replaced the battery in Mom's Mustang, with minimal hassel from Walmart, and it runs just like before. And ZERO dollars is a good thing.
More items from my house have found their way to Jenni's. We'll be putting up pictures and shelving at some point. My collection of ceramic firehouses will go on those shelves and we'll get some pictures up in the bedroom and some in the stairwell going upstairs.
Dinner was seasoned chopped meat with beef gravy and noodles.
I'll need to move more items in the house for sorting and try to make room to move the Mustang back in the garage.
Fife - Do we need to do an intervention? We uncovered 2 full sets and 4 boxes full of HO trains during the move. No, I'm not setting up an HO layout.....
Cloudy and 60 later, 35F now.
anjdevil - Uh, negatory good buddy. S, is as low as I go!
We all know I do HO, but I have some hard rules for what I will and won't collect. Bottom line, is that it has to be what I'd consider a toy train, something so interesting I don't care what scale it is, or a model of something from a favorite railroad. I've started to get ideas about someday having a combined Super O/HO Lionel layout, we'll see how far that idea gets.If I see HO that doesn't fall into the above categories, it only comes with me if it'sfree or dirt cheap, so I can fix & sell/trade for something I do want. Or if it's a gift from someone, with sentimental value.If anyone needs an intervention... well, you guys are safe... for now! Looks like I'm not the only one who needs to be watched carefully.Weather was bitterly cold, but the past couple days have been better- yesterday was very wet. Working on an HO project again... a Lionel geep I got at the show in Springfield. Taking video of my progress as best I can, to eventually edit. This one's a "helic drive", seems like Lionel learned their lesson with the rubber bands and switched to a coil-spring drive belt. I'm actually fairly impressed with the design, it's simple but effective.There's a very exciting O gauge project in the wings, I've been putting it off because it's a BIG one. Both figuratively... and literally. I think I'll square away a couple mroe easy ones first, to build my confidence up.-Ellie
Well, I got a bit of a thrill yesterday. At Thursday night's club board meeting one of the members asked me to take a look at a Lionel engine that's been in a friend's family since it was new. The usual as in "Does it still work? Can it be made to work if it doesn't?" And it turns out it was one of these:
https://historytoy.com/lionel-1911-special-railway-toy-engine-electric-locomotive-standard-gauge
Wow! In actual fact what I was handed was a Lionel Model 53 from 1912, same as the 1911 but marked New York Central and with a different number. It certainly was played with, maybe 75% of the original paint remains.
OK, I took it out to the Chugger Barn, hooked up an AC tranformer to the pick-up shoe and the frame and powered it up. The motor was a bit sluggish so I lubed all 'round, cleaned the motor armature shaft and brushes with some electrical contact cleaner, cleaned the drivers and pick-up shoe, then tried it again. MUCH better, in fact this old soldier's got quite a bit of life left in it! I did have to replace the headlight bulb, no big deal. Handed it back to the contact this morning to return to his friend who I'm sure is going to be thrilled.
Yeah, it was a kick working on a Lionel as old as the "Titanic" but in a lot better shape than the ship is! It got me thinking, should I look for something like this for myself? No, not quite yet, I just don't have the room for Standard Gauge. Maybe someday...
Flintlock Standard gauge can take as little as 44" wide and as long as you wish. I just got a set from 1925/26 Made those two years in original set box and original boxes inside, I had to add correct curve track to make it complete. I'll take pics later and add them, it's a #8 electric and a 35 passenger car and a 36 Observation car.
Evening,
Today I talked to a friend in the hobby (Who does HO and N scales) about going to the Piedmont Divison NMRA train show this March. He's heard of the show, but has never been to it. Hopefully, I'll change that for him. After all, that is how I started going to train shows, a fellow hobbyist (in HO) took me to one and I was hooked.
smokey1Flintlock Standard gauge can take as little as 44" wide and as long as you wish.
Yeah, where there's a will there's a way to make it work but I don't have 44" anywhere to play with. If I went Standard Gauge now it'd be a once a year under the Christmas tree thing. Do-able of course if that's the case. MAYBE if I see a good deal somewhere I'll go for it but it's not that important right now.
Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and 31 in the Potomac Highlands. Wifey is going over to babysit, as middle princess under the weather. No SB party;if she watches, I might. Could care less.
Travelled to Hagerstown yesterday for the train show at the Ag Center. Made three tours before buying a PRR Rugged Rails livestock car, and a 3-pack of K-Line C&O 2-bay hoppers. All were brand new in the box. Then accompanied my buddy, Tom, to Cracker Barrel for eat-'em-ups. Also stopped by the Nautical outlet (50% off sale) for some pants and smelly spray.
Afternoon, everyone.
Looking forward to the Piedmont Division Model Train Show in March, in Cartersville, GA.
(Just waiting to hear from my friend who might be going with me, who models in HO and N scale)
Not much else to report now.
Hi Gang,
Running at about 70% still but better every day. Boy it has been nice here on The North Bluff, 50s yesterday and today with full sun. Sat in front of the shed and got a sun tan on my face while I played catch with the dog. Been working with the dog every day and she is getting better every day. No problems in the house for a week so now just to get her to alert you when she needs to go out. She is sleeping in a crate at night but the door is open and she will hold it from 9:00PM till 7:00AM so not bad! Her and George the cat are figuring it out as well.
Ellie, Get some SuperFlex wire from The Train Tender. That stuff is great for replacing old stiff wire.(Jeff Kane) He has it in many gauges.
Bout it
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