Car Maintenance

[Marty Cozad]

I know winter is not here yet, but start thinking about checking your rolling stock. I was putting my USAT passenger cars on the shelf and noticed one truck had both side frames about to fall apart. So i went through each car checking and tightening, lubing the axles, checking couplers. Better now than to have the screws fall out somewhere on the line and brake somthing in a derailment.
Basic maintenance is NOT a hard thing, pull up a chair and enjoy your favorite radio station. its really wind today.[;)]

[Anonymous]

Marty
I agree with you , you should check your rolling stock, i picked up a car from the track to put on my cart and the one truck was still on the track, now i have extra , screws ,to replace lost ones, Ben

[Anonymous]

Wise words indeed guys, my maintenance is done very quickly but for you guys with more stock than Union Pacific it must take weeks to check through. For those on battery power, do you keep them charged up over winter or do you let them drain? In fact how long do they last, one season or longer.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Marty Cozad]

Kim, charged over winter????? Battery power runs best in winter. Theres nothing neater than a 1" snow fall with trains going through the country side.
remember, garden RRing is a sport,,,, that runs year round.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Marty,
I'm a bit out of date as far as batteries go. Once upon a time the cold used to zap them, I take it that doesn't apply any more. We don't get snow anymore, our winters are just wet lately, and miserable. The rain has been that bad over the past few days that my back has been waterlogged with natural ponds forming in depressions. It doesn't bother the track but it's awful to wlk on. I'm planning a big flag laying session so I'm busy choosing what I want at the moment, I've already put the drain in to take the water away.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

marty thats great reminder.
i dont do outdoors but my maintence crew and i do it twice a year. dec, june, and my rail road is at eye level because im always in my power chair. if i see any thing that looks funny i check it out rolling stock rocking back and forth or derailing i had a f3 b unit that i purchased used wasn't siting level on the track.
i found that the guy must of took it apart and reasembled it with the wires under the body and base got them back in now its level. i allso bought a used f3 a unit and noticed the nose and front pilot weren't flush same problem wire under body.
yep go to stay on top of the maintenace its like the 1 to1 RR.

[Anonymous]

This is true, not only rolling stock, but locos as well [;)]
Esp. the locos you run the most. I need to come up with a schedule on my loco maintanance. I have many, but only run a portion of them alot. They should be maintained at least twice a year [;)][:)][^]

[Anonymous]

rocky
i got lucky my birthday is in june so thats easy for me to remember and how could i forget Christmas and it falls in that twice a year time frame.

[Gary Crawley]

Kim, talking of rain we had a storm last week and had a branch go through our roof, when the SES (state emergency service) had finished putting a tarp over our roof and cleaning the branches off one of the young volunteers (female) came up to me and said.
"you will have to dipatch the rail gang to make safe the line"
That cracked me up, humor in the middle of a depressing situation.
Gary.

[Anonymous]

I like this program
http://www.tayden.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Return_Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TDHS&Category_Code=MRS&Product_Code=URES
Keeps me very uptodate on all cars etc....

[Anonymous]

Marty

I know you are a great Railway person one of the best really that I have seen but i would remind you that this is an international forum and you should adjust your thinking and be more circumspect in your comments.

Here on Kawana Island it is late spring the temperature is up to 30 degrees nearly every day; the monsoons are here and for the next five months it will never get under 20 degrees.

You probably think that every where has four seasons, because you do, but much of the world has only 2 seasons "The Wet" and "The Dry" and that part of the world is not far from here.

All the best.

Regards Ian.