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!
-|----|- Peter D. Verheyen-|----|- verheyen@philobiblon.com -|----|- http://www.philobiblon.com/eisenbahn -|----|- http://papphausen.blogspot.com/-|----|- http://www.youtube.com/user/papphausen2
verheyen Running trains as soon as the loop was closed but forgeting to put the bridge under the track...
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
Mine was accendently sipping the cup I was useing to hold parts while they were soaking in rubbing alcohol.
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
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
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
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
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!
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
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.
John
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. :)
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
Don't Ever Give Up
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.
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