Bonehead Club of Model Railroading

[markpierce]

twhite

Searching and searching for a model of an actual C-30 Southern Pacific wood caboose.  Finally found one, an American Models craftsman kit at my LHS.  Last one in stock (I live in ex-SP country and the kits were waltzing off of the shelves, natch!).  ...  Got it all together. ... Put the roof on upside down.  VERY thin wood, curved any way you formed it.  The CA had set to the inside roof braces.  There was NO WAY I could reverse the roof.  I now have a lovely little caboose with all of the roof details in reverse because it's the only way they would fit. 

Tom, that's a path many have taken.

 

Too bad you couldn't have purchased two of those C-30kits.  I did, and built at least one right.

My latest goof was to put the sides of a Branchline Pullman car on the reverse sides.  This meant the underbody detail was incorrect for the car's new orientation.  Built four others correctly, so I was four out of five.

Mark

[superbe]

Since I'm building my first layout I have a lot of bone head experiences ahead of me but my outstanding problem now is keeping in mind just how fragile HO details are. I've broken quite a few just by picking things up or I move something and that hits something else that gets broken.

I am already reconciled with misplacing things and just keep my cool when I do, so I have tried to carry that attitude over to my MR misfortunes.

Bob

[jwhitten]

 

Okay- fessing up. Here's my biggest bonehead so far:

I've built and rebuilt my benchwork THREE times so far and I'm about to build it again for a FOURTH (and extremely hopefully, last!) time.

The first time might not count. I got a substantial portion built before I decided I didn't like the grade of lumber I was using. What wasn't nailed down was already warping and curling. So I tore it down and chalked it up to "Lumber Lesson #1: There are no 'deals' on lumber. Pay what you gotta pay."

The second time I had it up and was getting ready to move to laying track when I had to re-negotiate with the railroad commission... (sigh)

The third time was almost the charm-- got it up and running, even had some test track laid to play with. (I'll see if I can rustle up some pictures to share). I got to the Go/No-Go point and it just didn't seem quite right. It was everything I had written down that I wanted, but it didn't quite meet my internal "satisfaction meter"-- there was something missing that I couldn't put my finger on. After a bit it started to dawn on me that the run just wasn't quite what I wanted.

So I started thinking about double-decking all or part of it and changing the flow/"shape" of the layout a bit. After checking around and measuring profusely, I realized I had built my deck just a little too high (or low, depending on point-of-view) for double-decking what I had. I convened an "emergency meeting with the Railroad Commission" and over a couple of months hammered out a new deal to include a center peninsula (in return for underwriting some of the Commissioner's quilting projects..  :) ) And then one day, with my eyes tightly shut, I took a deep breath and took a hammer to it all. That was a hard thing to do. But now I'm glad I did it. If I hadn't I would have always wondered "what if". And if I had gone another step, I would have started getting into the real consumables ($$$), which would have been costly if I'd changed my mind later.

So, I'm getting ready to build the new benchwork. I'm still doing last minute wrangling with the plan to figure out the best arrangement of a few areas. I know its generally not the best idea to build benchwork ahead of the track plan, but in my case there's really only one place and one way the benchwork can go, so aside from some last minute 'depth' details here and there, I'm just gonna do it and get it done. And that's the way real railroads are built anyway. The landform is already there. You just gotta go with it and work with what you've got. And if that doesn't work... well... I still have the hammer. :)

 

 

[spidge]

Double "D" snap.

OK, I built a flyswatter version of the static grass applicator that is powered by two double D batteries, and it worked OK but not great. I hadn't used it in a while but thought I would try to add some grass to my layout. I applied the grass and noticed a tiny spot that I really wanted grass in so I cradled the flyswatter across my stomach with my left arm, kind of like holding a baby, which caused the power button to be depressed. We'll obviously not thinking about it I was still holding the wire with clip and nail in my right hand and I reached into the hopper/sifter to get a finger full of grass. Well, I got a good jolt up my left side into my neck and head. I ended up dropping the flyswatter and breaking it. The sad thing is this incident did not deter me from buying 2 new flyswatters at Harbor Freight the next day on the way home.

The family wants to watch the next time I add grass to the layout.

Did the tittle pull you into this post? Come on admit it.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

My layout has 10 AC plug sockets on it for connection of various items (throttle controls, turnout and sound power source, tools. that sort of thing). These plug sockets are spread out over 3 wall socket units. One day, about 5 years ago I had to do some work under the layout. The cord for my Dremel tool wasn't quite long enough to reach, so I unplugged one of the layout cables from the wall so I could plug in the dremel. I got the work done and unplugged the tool and came out from under the layout. A little while later, I noticed my structure lights weren't working. I checked the main fuse for the power supply, then the downline fuses. I even turned off the power supply to let it reset. No joy there. I was just on the verge of pulling my hair out, when I chanced to look under the layout and saw one of the cables lying on the floor. I had left it unplugged when I unplugged my Dremel tool 1 1/2 hours earlier. Boy, did I feel STUPID!

[twhite]

Searching and searching for a model of an actual C-30 Southern Pacific wood caboose.  Finally found one, an American Models craftsman kit at my LHS.  Last one in stock (I live in ex-SP country and the kits were waltzing off of the shelves, natch!).   Took it home, looked at all the little bitty wood parts.  No problem, I grew up on Ambroid kits.  This one was an absolute cinch!   And a lot of it was peel and stick.  And I had the slow-setting CA for the rest of it. 

Got it all together.  Spent careful time on it, as I usually do on craftsman kits. 

Put the roof on upside down.  VERY thin wood, curved any way you formed it.  The CA had set to the inside roof braces.  There was NO WAY I could reverse the roof.  I now have a lovely little caboose with all of the roof details in reverse because it's the only way they would fit. 

Run it?  Of COURSE I run it!  It's my $45 'Conversation Piece." 

Tom   

[blownout cylinder]

Eh---mine is that I just spent an afternoon clobbering my small toes on 2 doorframes, a closet door, basement stairs from kitchen and other set of basement stairs to outside.

My reward for all this is a bag of ice on my foot and the idea that my discussion with wife has now lead me to my own basement empire-----heeheehee

[nik .n]

 Mine was accendently sipping the cup I was useing to hold parts while they were soaking in rubbing alcohol. 

[fwright]

verheyen

Running trains as soon as the loop was closed but forgeting to put the bridge under the track... 

In a similar vein....In the process of designing an around-the-walls layout, realized that one side had an outside aisle.  Hey, I can double the width of that section, and put a divider down the middle, getting 2 scenes on that side instead of one.  Carefully installed lift out section to access center of donut, but forgot one key fact.

When trains start floor diving on a layout section not accessible from the aisle where you are, all gates, liftouts, and drop downs enroute default to duckunders.  And I forgot to duck sufficiently.

Final result on the floor:  original floor diving train with no interference by me despite my efforts, me with notch in scalp, liftout section, and an additional train that chose to floor dive after the magnitude 11.0 earthquake.

Obvious lessons:

- all operations must be accessible from the same aisle/operating pit

- keep track a more reasonable distance from the layout edge; 1.5" isn't good enough

- some day, some how, I will find a reason and a way to destroy any duckunder, liftout, gate, or dropdown section.  Count on having to replace it at some point.

- pad the underside of any section that may become a duckunder in an emergency.

Fred W

[verheyen]

Running trains as soon as the loop was closed but forgeting to put the bridge under the track... Train hits track, track gives way, train hits concrete floor. Damage minimal - thankfully. Expression on SWMO's face as she came down the stairs innocently asking did we forget to put the bridge in place (after having heard scream) - priceless. Saw it all happening, power pack on other side of layout and no way to reach in time...

The other was catching my (hot) soldering iron between my biceps and forearms as I was doing wiring under the layout...

DOH!

[Marc_Magnus]

Hi from belgium,

On my Nscale Maclau river there is an hidden exchanging track to allow train coming from port to go directly to my yard without running trought town but under it. By this track port train are directly managed by the yard next to it. Another  hidden track coming from town reache port and is just used by dooglebug and passenger trains to go to the little port depot. These track are in fact an hidden loop under my steam terminal which allow the trains to be 7 centimeters higher than port level and make the run between town and port longer

When I lay the track for this exchange I make a mistake . I join the track in an other way than I want, the train coming from port going now back to port and the train coming from town going to my yard.

I didnt'notice it directly, I wired all the track, putting the switchmaster motor on the turnouts,and finish all the hidden work.

I put a temporary foam landscape over it and run a first train  from port waiting at my yard to see the coming port train out of the tunnel under town......Today I still wait for it ......

I correctly relay the track and now all is ok and run fine.

Marc

[shayfan84325]

Once I held two parts together in my teeth while the CA cured (my hands were holding the ends of the same assembly).  Did you know that CA bonds to teeth?

[shayfan84325]

My latest was carefully cutting out window and door openings on a wood structure kit, then I realised that I had the clap board siding upside down - no fixing it, had to get new siding and start over.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

 "That paint's gotta be dry by now."

 "Why, no, I don't need a bottle of Un-Cure CA debonder."

"Eh! How much of a mess could this little tiny piece of pink foam make as I rasp & sand it?"

"That CA's gotta be cured by now."

"Time to foliate the scour-pad trees with ground foam! Aw, it's not that windy outside."

"Hey, this bathroom fan works just fine as a fume hood... [THUNK!]"

"Gee, I could just flick that little wisp of solder off the iron tip with my fingernail."

& the #1 bonehead move:

"But, Honey, by building this benchwork, I'm learning how to use new tools & how to woodwork!  I can build anything now!  Um, why, yes, I COULD build you a new dresser... & shelves for the closet? um, yeah, I COULD do that... oh, dear."

[Blue Flamer]

Not train related, but it may put a smile on some of you Klutzes faces. Picture a 14 year old boy at the dinner table. The kettle on the stove comes to a boil and mother says go and make the tea. So being the good lad that I was, I went into the kitchen and turned the burner off under the kettle. I picked up our OLD beat up ALUMINUM teapot, (which was very thin aluminum) and calmly placed the pot on the palm of my left hand. I imediately picked up the boiling kettle and commenced to pour the boiling water into the teapot just as I heard my mothers voice yelling NOOOOOO!!!

Do you realize that Warp Factor 9 comes in a very distant second to the speed at which the heat from boiling water travelled through the base of that teapot onto my bare palm. My younger  brother and sister still give me a little ribbing now and then over that little fiasco. And it happened about 56 years ago.  

But on a more positive note, I never, EVER did that a second time. Yet.

Blue Flamer.

[Frisco Ryan]

Arjay1969

And a couple of times at my local permanent layout club, I've been puzzled as to why the locomotives won't work even after I've turned on the power to our DCC system (Digitrax), only to have someone else remind me to turn the track power on.

Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how many times I've done that one.....

[wholeman]

I have too many to list.  Since I live in a small town, there isn't a LHS unless I have to drive.  That being said, when I was thirteen, I built a Life-Like building kit.  I ran out of plastic cement.  I couldn't just run to Hobby Lobby and get more so I used white glue.  I rebuilt it a week later after the walls come tumbling down.

A more recent mistake was when I was showing someone the many uses of DCC.  This guy was a die hard DC.  I took a loco and hardwired everything.  I got everything soldered and showed him the motor control.  I even ordered special LEDs to fit in the light lenses.  I was in a rush to get the thing done.  I took the loco and was trying show him the lighting effects.  He was impressed by the motor control, but there was no lights.  I played with every CV to get it right.  I got home after an embarrassing evening and realized that I had wired the LEDs backwards.  I fixed it and now they run fine.

[howmus]

Mistakes???  I have never made a mistake.  I thought I made a mistake once but I was wrong.......

Whenever I teach Railroading Merit Badge for the Scouts, I make sure that they have all heard the safety lecture including those parts that I have learned from experience.

1.  If you knock the hot soldering iron off the table, do not try and grab it as it falls!  The part you will have in your hand will not be the cold end!

2.  The same holds true if you accidentally knock a #11 exacto knife off the work bench.  Just let it fall.  There is a 25% chance that it will be dull end that will hit your leg.  If it is the sharp end, grabing at it will just mean that it will stuck in your leg much deeper and will probably require stiches.

3.  You have a 20% chance of wiring any equipment that only uses two wires correctly the first time......

4.  Pliers that you are using to trim wires normally pinch fingers when they snap after the wire is cut. 

[CTValleyRR]

Come on!  There aren't enough terabytes of storage on this server to store all MY boneheaded moves.

Surprisingly enough, I think the only thing I've never done is to glue my fingers together with CA.  Great, now I've cursed myself and will probably do it this weekend!

I think my WORST one (stop reading now if you're squeamish) was about 8 years ago.  I had just finished wiring my track and turnouts and was under the layout with a heavy duty staple gun tacking the wires to the benchwork....  See it coming yet?  My wife yelled something down the stairs to me, and I couldn't hear her, so I stuck my head out and yelled "What?"  THUNK went the staple gun....  "Dinner," she called, then closed the basement door.  Ten nunutes later she sent one of the kids to get me.  You see, a heavy wire staple holds the web of your hand to a 2x2 VERY effectively.

Fortunately, my son brought me the pliers and I was able to extricate myself from the benchwork. Had to prime that leg of the benchwork twice to cover up the stains.  The floor hasn't recovered yet. 

[Packers#1]

 let's see:

once, I was soldering rail joiners and melted a caboose industries ground throw. Fortunately had a couple of replacments.

And then one time I had Testors rattle can paint (bonmeheaded move in and of itself), and held what I was spraying with my hand. had a white hand until I cleaned it off.

[blownout cylinder]

davekelly

Arjay1969

 And a couple of times at my local permanent layout club, I've been puzzled as to why the locomotives won't work even after I've turned on the power to our DCC system (Digitrax), only to have someone else remind me to turn the track power on.

Well at least you remembered to plug the thing in.  It's amazing how much better electric stuff runs when the plug is in the outlet - Don't ask how I know this or how many times I've proven it.

Then there is the problem of pulling said plug out and leaving a wire still connected to the socket---and trying to pull it out with pliers ---with the thumb on the shaft of said pliers

[Graffen]

 I have published this on another Forum:

I have two. The first one is a couple of years old. Roco had just released their big US mallet, and a friend of mine got one very quickly. The only thing was that he wanted to put a Lenz decoder in it (he had bought the DC version ). I decided to help him with the installation one night, and armed with all the tools we set off. Halfway into the job a friend came by to see what we were up to. Then the smell came!! The reason to it? My friends cat had decided to jump on to the workbench flipping the (very hot) soldering-iron, dead-center on the boiler!! And they say that cats are your best friends....

The second isn´t trainrelated but nevertheless funny. Me and a friend were running a display at a Hobby-show and he was to demonstrate one of the new small rc-helis that was new back then. It was so new that we assembled it in the hotel room the night before! Anyhow, my friend test-flew it once and noticed that it was rather "stiff" in all the links and joints. After some swift reading of the poorly translated german instructions, it stated that you should use "special-oil" to lube it. A look in the box revealed a bottle that my friend assumed to be the oil. After applying it with good precision at the helis joints it suddenly dawned on him. It was Super-glue!! He had glued it VERY firmly together. No more flying during that show! The expression on my friends face when he realised what just had happened, it was priceless.

[BATMAN]

 While doing some work on the layout I went to move a 40 car cut by hand a couple of feet, to get it out of the way of what I was doing. I forgot that there was another end some twenty something feet away and I should look to see where it was. I pushed it through a closed turnout and T-boned an Atlas 33000 gal tanker onto the floor. It was my first (accident) on the layout. The car that went to the floor just happened to be the first piece of equipment I had ever bought some three years earlier. A broken coupler was the only damage. Thank goodness for a carpeted floor. Lesson learned. I could just hear my dear old long departed dad saying "it's got two ends remember".

 

                                                                        Brent

[steemtrayn]

peterjenkinson1956

 try modelling in australia    everything is upside down.....

Yeah. but aren't you upside down, too?

 

I was building a model on my girlfriends Ethan Allen dining room table and I knocked over a bottle of liquid plastic weld. Boy, did that one cost me.

[tin can]

When I owned a hobby shop; I did custom work on the side to supplement my income.  One of my customers was an elderly PhD (Dr. B) from the large state university in College Station, TX.  He had a large 20 x 30 portable building in his back yard, with a 10 x 10 "annex" attached to it; this was his research facility and model railroad layout.  The buildings were paneled, and on every wall were three 1 x 12 shelves supported by metal shelf brackets.  The bottom shelves were a foot off the floor; the middle shelf was 3 feet off the floor; and the top shelf was five feet off the floor.  He had previously contracted with a local model railroader to build a large dogbone layout on the middle shelf; one loop was by the front door; the other was in the 10 x 10; he built a nice swinging bridge to cover the door into the 10 x 10 room.  But this layout was never finished to a point where Dr. B could run trains; and the first builder was "fired" because he could not meet all of Dr. B's demands.

Enter me.  I finished the loop; got trains running; fixed several problem areas that were major derailment problems; and acquired a model of a TGV off of ebay for Dr. B.  He ran the TGV, at near prototypical speeds, to his hearts content.  It was a good thing.

 Then Dr. B wanted to expand the layout to the top shelf; a 24" rise.  One of the peculiarities about the shelves that is on each shelf were framed pictures of Dr. B.  Actually, if you started at the bottom on one end, and followed the pictures around the walls, you had a pictoral history of his life.  The pictures were not attached to the wall; they leaned against the wall; taking up about four inches of space on the shelf.  The outer seven inches of the shelf were devoted to the railroad; which was basically two tracks (code 100 flex on cork roadbed).  That is what Dr. B wanted.  The pictures could not be touched; the track could not be sceniced (painted/ballasted).

I figured and figured; and finally determined that I would have to build a helix.  Dr. B would not have that at all.  He showed me a stretch of wall in the 10 x 10 room; basically, I had to gain 24" of rise in 120"; do the math, that is a 20% grade.  Won't work.  Dr. B asked me, "how do you know it won't work?"  No answer I could give him would make him happy.  He insisted that I conduct experiments.  I was to purchase a "20 foot piece of plywood" on which to build an incline..."

Long story short; I didn't do it; and he "fired" me.  That was ok with me, because it was the Christmas season and I needed to be at my shop. Another local modeler was hired; he humored Dr. B; built the 20% grade, and proved that it wouldn't work.  The layout was never taken to the top shelf; although the layout was converted to DCC.  Soon after that, Dr. B. moved to Florida; and he gave all his equipment to the third modeler. 

I did enjoy my time with Dr. B.; he really did enjoy the hobby as he intended; and that was good enough for me...

[chatanuga]

My latest bonehead move was last Sunday, and I'm still suffering for it.

Temps outside were in the low 90s, so I had the AC cranked up to keep my townhouse cool.  The basement, even though I have the vent closed, can still get quite cold (like standing in front of an open freezer door) at times.  So, I was working away at remotoring my older Athearn diesels, ignoring the chill going through me (was in shorts and a tank top), thinking I wouldn't be too much longer and that I'd be OK so why waste time to go upstairs and get a sweatshirt or something warmer on?  So, after about two or three hours of being down there, I head upstairs to dinner, noticing a raw sensation in my throat.  I ignored it since I had two colds already in April and June.  Surely I wasn't sick again.

Monday morning, woke up to go to work and had a sore throat and congestion.  Sore throat went away, but by Tuesday, I was running a fever at work, and everybody was telling me I looked bad.  It's better since with just occasional coughing and congestion now, but I've been hearing my mom's voice in my head all week telling me that I should have put something more on on Sunday.

Kevin

[Geared Steam]

I seem to have issues when I'm bonding one thing to another.

1) Hot glue gun, cardboard strips, bare hands and arms, need I say more?

2) Gorilla glue bubbles and expands quite a bit when it sets, mmm how will I camoflauge that!

3) Super Glue= no more fingerprints

4) Is that soldering iron tip hot? missing only one fingerprint that time.

5) I wonder hot much heat it will take before this ore car body starts to flex? oops, apparently not too much. I wonder if I can hot glue / gorilla glue / super glue that hole back up?

[peterjenkinson1956]

 try modelling in australia    everything is upside down.....

 

the other day i was putting peco switch motors into my new stage yard      to test them i used an old hammet and morgan duo train controller....  two throttle knobs   left and right   ...  got the picture

i installed the switch motor and tested the motor...  result us     so i changed the motor    not easy   had to rip up the switch   still no good     so checked the wires  look ok  check the connections    look ok   even reterminated the crocodile clips   still no good   so swap out the switch again....  THATS WHEN i noticed the CABLE to the test lead was on the L H S throttle  and my HAND  was on the R H S throttle  ......   glad i was alone that day

[locoi1sa]

 I have glued my modules together with the thinned white glue from ballasting and scenery. Its incredible the amount of holding power of the stuff.  I also glued my switch points closed once.  Whats worse is soldering color coded feeders to the wrong buss wires. After finding the mistake I just shut the light off and sat in front of the TV for a while. I can not tell you how many times I soldered an LED in backwards. Do I have to keep going? I can probably fill this thread to its maximum allotment of space.

   Pete