CofGaMike wrote:Don't scratch your head while holding a hot glue gun in your hand... Mike Tennent
Don't scratch your head while holding a hot glue gun in your hand...
Mike Tennent
Or a soldering iron..... (not from expiriance, don't worry!)
Autobus Prime wrote:Do not think that you can paint rolling stock with latex house paint...
Do not think that you can paint rolling stock with latex house paint...
You can weather them though, with thinned latex paint.
EDIT: Spacemouse, I hope for your guests sake that this isn't from expiriance....
concretelackey wrote: Autobus Prime wrote: Folks:Do not use food products such as coffee grounds, dry spaghetti, and papier-mache made with homemade flour-water paste, or your scenery will become a sort of microscale garden railroad...Do not think that you can paint rolling stock with latex house paint...Do not collect ten switches and nine machines, and then install the loose cannon at the point where a branch will eventually leave the open-grid roadbed, and then neglect to install any sort of bumper or cover the open tabletop with any scenery, and then decide you're going to run trains...Do not assume that your Tyco Plymouth is on dead track, just because it isn't moving, even though the plastic wheel centers make very nice smoke effects...Do not buy anything with "Arbour" on the box...On that note, do not assume that "solderable" = "solderable and unmeltable using that monstrous iron you got at a farm sale"...Do not tell any relatives or friends you are into trains, unless you have a lot of room for the inevitable horrors of alarm clocks and desktop gewgaws that will appear on various occasions...Do not waste time reading pointless online lists when you should be building Jack Work pine trees. Slacker!for a moment I thought you were refering to this thread...
Autobus Prime wrote: Folks:Do not use food products such as coffee grounds, dry spaghetti, and papier-mache made with homemade flour-water paste, or your scenery will become a sort of microscale garden railroad...Do not think that you can paint rolling stock with latex house paint...Do not collect ten switches and nine machines, and then install the loose cannon at the point where a branch will eventually leave the open-grid roadbed, and then neglect to install any sort of bumper or cover the open tabletop with any scenery, and then decide you're going to run trains...Do not assume that your Tyco Plymouth is on dead track, just because it isn't moving, even though the plastic wheel centers make very nice smoke effects...Do not buy anything with "Arbour" on the box...On that note, do not assume that "solderable" = "solderable and unmeltable using that monstrous iron you got at a farm sale"...Do not tell any relatives or friends you are into trains, unless you have a lot of room for the inevitable horrors of alarm clocks and desktop gewgaws that will appear on various occasions...Do not waste time reading pointless online lists when you should be building Jack Work pine trees. Slacker!
Folks:
Do not use food products such as coffee grounds, dry spaghetti, and papier-mache made with homemade flour-water paste, or your scenery will become a sort of microscale garden railroad...
Do not collect ten switches and nine machines, and then install the loose cannon at the point where a branch will eventually leave the open-grid roadbed, and then neglect to install any sort of bumper or cover the open tabletop with any scenery, and then decide you're going to run trains...
Do not assume that your Tyco Plymouth is on dead track, just because it isn't moving, even though the plastic wheel centers make very nice smoke effects...
Do not buy anything with "Arbour" on the box...
On that note, do not assume that "solderable" = "solderable and unmeltable using that monstrous iron you got at a farm sale"...
Do not tell any relatives or friends you are into trains, unless you have a lot of room for the inevitable horrors of alarm clocks and desktop gewgaws that will appear on various occasions...
Do not waste time reading pointless online lists when you should be building Jack Work pine trees. Slacker!
for a moment I thought you were refering to this thread...
So did I...
Never follow wiring instructions exatly. There will be something go wrong!
SpaceMouse wrote: Never build a craftsman kit naked at the kitchen table during a tupperware party.
Never build a craftsman kit naked at the kitchen table during a tupperware party.
daveR1193 wrote: Never follow wiring instructions exatly. There will be something go wrong!
Some instructions need to be tossed and a method INVENTED that will work.
For example the walthers tannery kit says cheerfully to install the window to the pane and then to the building.
Actual procedure.
Dremel tool, grind out the molding tabs that prevent the windows from fitting to the building etc.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Whisker 148's will be your future. Try one.
No more springs.
Another no no is shag carpeting.
You can solve this problem by electrifing the powerlines. 220vac ought to do it.
wyomingrailfan wrote:never leave your bedroom open , and then your HUGE cat chews off the tops of the powerline(it happened)
If there are no dogs in heaven,then I want to go where they go.
Don't use the track on the layout as a site for checking coupler height. Something about Kadee coupler height gauges left on the track and power supplies; they just don't play well together.
Attaching more than one wire before testing means you'll spend hours figuring out which one you goofed up.
No short circuit is resolved in less than 3 hours of searching for the source.
Don't run trains after laying track without passing a magnet over the track first. Spikes and other bits do nasty things to speakers, gears, and bearings.
Trying to build a craftsman kit when there is anybody else in the house awake is just tempting Murphy beyond his ability to stay away.
remembering model railroading is fun
Fred W
While working on plastic structure NEVER!! leave a bottle of liquid cement where you can knock it over.Been there,done that.I use a long shelf as a work surface so I can lay on the bed and work and the last time I spilled a bottle of liquid cement it hit the sheets.Darn near welded the sheet to the mattress.I'll never do that again.Bob
BRAKIE wrote:Never ever place your coffee cup next to a cup of mixed glue or paint.
Never ever place your coffee cup next to a cup of mixed glue or paint.
And similarly, don't put the coffee cup (or drink glass) next to the cup of solvent you clean your brush out in (least of all, when in the midst of a painting session!)...
Never decide to nudge the spring in the Kadee coupler 'just a little more' (unless you'd like to play a guessing game called "Where the $%&* is that spring?") to fit it in (Simpler to get another coupler out of the package).
Never forget to make good notes of how much of each color paint you used to make the custom color you used in your RR's paint scheme. (You may need it for your next loco you will get...)
Never pre-order that special kit or loco and forget to write down when it's expected to come in (and do remember to set back the money for it - plus some $$, since there *will* be something else at the LHS that you like when it comes in).
Jim in Cape Girardeau
I use a glass topped workbench to resist those glue spills.
A wad of paper towels quickly clears the mess away and construction continues.
Even so I still tap that bottle a few times a day.
That last sentance did not come out the way it means so I will just leave it there for today.
Falls Valley RR wrote: I use a glass topped workbench to resist those glue spills.A wad of paper towels quickly clears the mess away and construction continues.Even so I still tap that bottle a few times a day.That last sentance did not come out the way it means so I will just leave it there for today.
FVRR:
An admiralable decision.
Heartland Division CBQ wrote: I did not see any super glue war stories. (I'd type faster, but my thumb is connected to my fore finger at the moment.)
I did not see any super glue war stories. (I'd type faster, but my thumb is connected to my fore finger at the moment.)
I almost had one. Recently got contact lenses. The CA bottle and the eye drops bottle were the same size and shape. Got the CA bottle about 4" from my eye before I smelled it and stopped. I don't keep the eye drops on the work bench anymore.
loathar wrote: Heartland Division CBQ wrote: I did not see any super glue war stories. (I'd type faster, but my thumb is connected to my fore finger at the moment.) I almost had one. Recently got contact lenses. The CA bottle and the eye drops bottle were the same size and shape. Got the CA bottle about 4" from my eye before I smelled it and stopped. I don't keep the eye drops on the work bench anymore.
*runs away from computer screaming*
loathar wrote: secondhandmodeler wrote: Definitely, don't fruit the beer! (man law) Man law!Don't forget how bad it felt last time you sliced your hand open with that razor knife before you use it again...
secondhandmodeler wrote: Definitely, don't fruit the beer! (man law)
Definitely, don't fruit the beer! (man law)
Man law!
Don't forget how bad it felt last time you sliced your hand open with that razor knife before you use it again...
My middle finger is still sore from Saturday night at the workbench. New #11 Xcto blade across the top of the finger. Grabbed a shop rag and wrapped it around the finger until bleeding stopped.
So, we have established a few rules looks like:
Don't mix food, drink, medicines (e.g. contact lens fluid) with the hobby workbench. I never do this...Make one or more of those 'open-paint/glue bottle holder' (these are scraps of thick wood, with a cylindrical core drilled out - place open bottle inside, helps prevent knock-over when the bottle is hit (I have only 2 - I really should make more, different sizes, and attach to the workbench w/ velcro strips to really guarantee no splash over). Also, separate any thing which you DON'T wanted painted or extra glue on from the open bottle as far as possible. I do this consistently...Place a 'gutter' at the working edge of your workbench - this way dropped knifes, files, big parts (for springs and fiddly bits see later) fall in this gutter (which I use, BTW, a real piece of plastic roof gutter, cut down to the length of the workbench and secured to it's edge). I have found this beats the 'parts bid' from MicroMark, which one end secures to the workbench edge and the other ties around your neck. I placed styrene plastic at each end of the gutter (and used Gorilla glue to secure that) - make sure your legs/lap clear the bottom of this gutter when securing it to the workbench (I ended up cutting a bit off the front of the gutter sides).Create a portable test track, using a few pieces of flextrack on a wide enough board (1x6?), use this to break-in and test your locos, and to adjust coupler height, truck tracking, etc. Run this on the floor, or on a wide enough table (if furniture, make sure there's plenty of felt or other soft fabric underneath the board to prevent scratches) to prevent engines and rolling stock from falling off a canyon.Fiddly bits - make a small work box, paint the interior white, maybe a half roof on top (half so light gets in), maybe 1-2 in strip in front - increase the chances when the small fiddly bits pop out of the special, locking, hi-grip tweezers (let alone the standard crappy tweezers I usually end up using) they will not be able to achieve escape velocity, but will be locatable in the box after their energy is expended (note - this increase the chances of finding the parts, but as always there's no guarantee.
And after all those freaking tips, I still managed to skewer my foot (barefoot, of course), with a errant needle file a few weeks back...
1. Don't think you've ducked enough for the duck under, try to go through it and wonder how you ended up flat on your back with people laughing at you. (Yep. Me. last Saturday)
2. Be careful when trying to set up a G scale portable with your friend the owner. You never know when one of those huge rails will slip into your covienently located finger. Took 20 minutes to stop the bleeding.
3. Don't set your Dr. Pepper can on the track, turn it on and spend 3 hours looking for your short.
4. The probability of the part flying off to wherever it is that little parts fly off to is inversely proportional to the critical nature of the part.
5. Make sure the Xacto knife handle looks different than the screwdriver handle.OR be careful which end of the screwdriver (or handle that looks like screwdriver) you grab.
6. Try to decal with the hiccups.
Artur wrote:Don't let the cat walk on your unfinished layout, ever. Even if he is gingerly and innocently investigating and smelling everything especially the powered track with his wet nose, now thats not a problem the problem is him rampaging from one end of the layout to the other after getting a shock of his life.
I once solved the problem of the cat on the layout. I made numerous trees by spreading Woodland Scenics foilage over very sharp thorned bush branches. I installed them at various strategic locations. They looked like real trees, and soon the cats stayed away from the layout.
Nothing is worse than a cat who thinks ballast is cat litter.
Scenario one:
1. Don't leave turntable pit holes cut in the top of your upper deck with track leading to them and no bottom in the pit. Especially dont park locos on this track.
2. Don't leave a wireless throttle assigned to this loco in a spot where the loco is not visible to the person picking up the throttle
3. Don't pick up a wireless throttle and turn the throttle knob expecting the loco in front of you to move without confirming the address of the throttle.
4. Don't assume the crash you just heard is a 2 x 4 falling off of the workbench.
Scenario 2:
1. Never assume that your helix trackwork is so good that you can back your new loco and the ten car train down it without watching....The helix trackwork was fine, one of the car trucks was not.....
Scenario 3:
1. Never drill bare wire feeder holes at angles underneath the track where they might intersect...
Scenario 4:
Never put a second coat of concrete sealer on the layout room floor unless the directions specifically call for it...
Always check the plans for your scratchbuilt turntable bridge for the correct loco width before building said bridge.....
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Make sure that stripped screw boss in your loco chassis isn't open at the bottom before you pour CA in to re-form the threads and wonder where it's all going.
Don't ever, under any circumstances, convince yourself that you can straighten that warped plastic pilot beam on your brand new Pacific by heating it with a lighter, unless you want to see the cowcatcher shrivel into a molten blob.
Never spray out a motor with contact cleaner next to your gas stove. Vapor trail + pilot light = flash fire and flaming towel, motor, and hands, and a crash course in fire dancing.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted