The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est. 2004

[tomwatkins]

Good Evening Everybody,
I don't know about anybody else, but I'm sure glad it's Friday. It's been a long and busy week, with not much time for the railroad. I did manage to get the Graham County up and running. The fascia boards aren't installed and I still need to wire in the kill switch for the staging track, but the track is in and operational.

Ed, I've never tried this in N scale, but in HO I trim the numbers close to the sides of the numbers but leave a little tab of the film sheet above and below them. Line the numbers up on the work table and use a small piece of tape across the top tabs to hold them together. Position them on the car side and put another piece of tape across the bottom tab. The tapes will hold them in place and alignment while you rub them into position. Most of the time it works in HO, and if you haven't tried it, it might be worth a try.

Big Girl, I saw that on CNN tonight. It is truly disgusting. I can't imagine anyone, other than the members of a few organizations around the world, who wouldn't find it terribly offensive.

Dgoodlander, congrats on finding the LEDs you were looking for. Sorry I couldn't help, but I didn't have a clue of who might have them, other than the normal retail outlets. Let us know how you like them once you get a few of them installed.

I'm going to sign off for now. Tomorrow morning, fairly early, we've got to take some stuff down to Shawna at school. It will be good to spend the day with her, but it's going to require an early start.

Have a good evening everybody,
Tom

[Anonymous]

9-11 toy recall


A toy "surprise" in a bag of candy has some stores pulling the candy off their shelves.



One Florida mother noticed that the toy shows twin skyscrapers, with a plane that appears to be crashing into one of them. A product number is also printed on each toy. The number is 9011.

The company that distributes the candy bags says it will recall them. Another company that actually makes the toys says they don't have a problem with it, and don't consider it offensive.




Of all the stupid crap people come up with

http://kstp.com/.

The picture is about half way down the page.

[fec153]

SRVfan- Hope you have access to direct t.v.. Every weekend in Sept. on chan.103
Stevie Ray and his band Double Trouble in a 1985 performance at the Montreux
Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Never on tv before.
Goodluck!
Phil.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Chris, it depends on how tired I am when you catch me. And it also depends what I'm doing in the model railroad related business, like haveing a major project on the layout come up and not having any time to do it because of school. Watch me bounce back and forth all school year now.[:D][:D]

dgoodlander, don't worry, you don't have to feel sorry for me. I just enjoy making count downs!!

Ed, that's why I'm a HO scale modeler, I'd never stand building or decalling something in that scale with my shaky hands. Even in HO scale I have a hard time holding small parts sometimes as I can start shaking to much, especially when I have to hold the small item with my left hand (I'm right handed).

Noah

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dgoodlander

Well after a few back and forth posts and few cheap shots at my fellow modelers, I was finally able to locate inexpensive LEDs. I picked up a bag of 50 for $19.95 with a $5 off coupon on my next order. Sounded good to me. As soon as the arrive, the fleet will be in for an upgrade.

Back to school huh. Around my house, its 7 days and counting to our freedom! Sorry Noah, can't say I feel sorry for you. When you get to my age and have kids of your own, you'll understand the meeting of a long summer.

That sounds like quite a bargain. I guess the squeeky wheel does get the grease. Your comments definately challenged the guys around here to step up with some information. In the end it worked out well. For EVERYONE.[;)]

I saw that the redundancy topic vanished, just as well that it did too. Bergie's eye is getting sharper and his hand swifter, to remove the heat before things boil over.[^]

[Anonymous]

I would think you should have better luck with water slide decals. They are more forgiving when it comes to placement.

I have pretty steady hands and still can't get dry transfer to work HA!

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Back to school huh. Around my house, its 7 days and counting to our freedom!

Down here they went back a week and a half ago. Of course, today's news was that there's a teacher's union meeting Monday, so no school. Jeez, the schools are bad enough down here without taking a day off a week and a half into the semester. And they'll probably declare Wednesday (Sept 1st) another 'no school' day as it's the day for the president's State of the Union (Mexican equivalent) message day. Even though I doubt any of the kids will be listening in. [/rant]

While I'm in a complaining mood I thought I'd mention my eyes, the shakes, and dry transfer letters. I'm trying to put some simple road letters and car numbers on a couple of cars I painted. Man did I either pick the wrong scale to do this in or else I aged a lot faster than i was expecting to. Let's see, I'm in N scale, so nope, can't be the scale. Guess it's the aging. [:O]

I can hardly keep the sheet steady, I seem to press off adjacent letters with my fingers, I can barely tell where I'm lining up the letter, and the results are less than spectacular. Ah, but don't worry, when I put up some photos I'll be sure to have them a bit out of focus. Either that or I'll mask the letters with sufficient weathering. [:D]

I suppose I could try to go for custom decals, but when you're only planing to customize 10-20 cars total (of various types) I'm not sure it's worthwhile. And I'm not sure decals would be any easier to apply.

The photos of cars of the prototype road that I'm very loosely using as a base show them to generally be faded and illegible. Maybe I'll just go for that look. [swg]

Later

Ed

[Anonymous]

Well after a few back and forth posts and few cheap shots at my fellow modelers, I was finally able to locate inexpensive LEDs. I picked up a bag of 50 for $19.95 with a $5 off coupon on my next order. Sounded good to me. As soon as the arrive, the fleet will be in for an upgrade.

Back to school huh. Around my house, its 7 days and counting to our freedom! Sorry Noah, can't say I feel sorry for you. When you get to my age and have kids of your own, you'll understand the meeting of a long summer.

[Big_Boy_4005]

I thought I read over on the Trains Magazine forum that the early SD's only had 4 powered axels. That would have made them A-1-A's instead of C's. That makes sense about the weight distribution, but it also cuts down on the sharpness of the curves they could handle.

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

If I'm not mistaken the original six axle engines were designed to distribute the same weight (SD were roughly thesame weight as a GP of the same HP) over a larger area. This was a requirement for branchlines that had poor or light rail or bridges with load restrictions. Prince Edward Island had six axle engines for this very purpose.

Regards
Fergie

You're right. Years back I read an article about the Milwaukee Road. They had the SD9 and SDL39 locomotives for this very reason. Apparently there were many miles of light branch lines and bridges built in the early 20th century. Until I read the info, my assumption was that these huge engines would be dangerous on light rail lines, when in fact the weight distribution principal made them desirable for service.

[Anonymous]

Well this is going to be short since I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard. I'm back home with 150+ pictures to go through and 5 blue boxes to put together tomorrow. overall great tripbut glad to be back, Not really come on I was in altonna I want to still be there.
Andrew

[Fergmiester]

If I'm not mistaken the original six axle engines were designed to distribute the same weight (SD were roughly thesame weight as a GP of the same HP) over a larger area. This was a requirement for branchlines that had poor or light rail or bridges with load restrictions. Prince Edward Island had six axle engines for this very purpose.

Regards

Fergie

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter

Fergie, I'm a desiel guy and I still can't tell an SD70mac from an SD50MAC or whatever ti is, you're not alone. The only ones I know are the types the WSOR owns.

Just have to quickly stop in and let you all know the most recent progress.
Fake happenings:
The right of way has been graded, and I'll be laying track tommarrow. We'll be laying two spurs for builds that aren't there yet, but there being built on these sites this fall.

Reality:
I got that hole filled in with my Dad's help. Next comes track laying. In one spot I'm going to scratchbuild two industry buildings, so the building won't be there for a while, but I'm going to serve it like it is.

Noah

Noah, there never was an SD50MAC, I'm afraid. I can tell you what all the letters stand for. M means the the locomotive is a wide cab, AC means the locomotive uses alternating current motors. So if you see an SD90MAC, it means it's a wide cab and usues alternating currents motors. And now they're coming out with SD70ACes, which use straight AC current.

Whoa, I knew all that, and I'm a steam guy![:p][8D]

I know GP stands for General Purpose and SD stands for Special Duty (Although 6-axle locomotives are common today, they were rare when the SD series first came out, so that's why they're called that.)

Noah:
I thought you said you enjoyed school once, now you're complaining again! But is there really anyone in their right mind that truly enjoys school??

Well now I have a layout plan.[:D] It just four modules put together into a 6x8 footer, you can think Orsonroy, aka Ray Breyer for teh design, sometime soon I'm going to put it on rail images.com as soon as I have an account for the photos.

Jon:
Well I'm a steamer fan too, but I enjoy fisrt generation diesels, which are about the only ones I can correctly identify save for the occasional modern diesel.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Hi gang. Just a reminder , channel 379 2 half hour train shows. Pullman story.
Lionel and Flyer. Enjoy.
Phil.

Dang, it must be that RFD TV which I cant get.[:(]

[fec153]

Hi gang. Just a reminder , channel 379 2 half hour train shows. Pullman story.
Lionel and Flyer. Enjoy.
Phil.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Thanks Jon. I kind of wondered if I wasn't wrong there when I was posting about that. I knew the AC thing, as the WSOR has a few GP38AC's at least that's waht they tell me, but I didn't know what the M stood for. I had always thought when it had a letter on it like that it was a re-build, and the letter identified which company rebuilt it. I say this because the WSOR had a few GP9M's and I think the M meant a Morisen Kundunson (SP??) Rebuild. 'Scuse me I Have to rest my brain now, I just thought to ahrd again, blew another fuse.

I am offically anouncing a new count down, whose number is

7

That's right folks, seven days till I return to the old salt mines for another nine months of stuffing more non railroad related stuff (thus non useful) into the nooks that aren't already full. [sigh][sigh]

Noah

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter

Fergie, I'm a desiel guy and I still can't tell an SD70mac from an SD50MAC or whatever ti is, you're not alone. The only ones I know are the types the WSOR owns.

Just have to quickly stop in and let you all know the most recent progress.
Fake happenings:
The right of way has been graded, and I'll be laying track tommarrow. We'll be laying two spurs for builds that aren't there yet, but there being built on these sites this fall.

Reality:
I got that hole filled in with my Dad's help. Next comes track laying. In one spot I'm going to scratchbuild two industry buildings, so the building won't be there for a while, but I'm going to serve it like it is.

Noah

Noah, there never was an SD50MAC, I'm afraid. I can tell you what all the letters stand for. M means the the locomotive is a wide cab, AC means the locomotive uses alternating current motors. So if you see an SD90MAC, it means it's a wide cab and usues alternating currents motors. And now they're coming out with SD70ACes, which use straight AC current.

Whoa, I knew all that, and I'm a steam guy![:p][8D]

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Hey, I got you both beat, I'm still in electronics 100 (HA!!, no wait, let me think a second..........)

Well, actually I stretched the truth about my level a bit........I still haven't actually mastered tinning the wire.. [swg]

Ed

[Fergmiester]

LED's now there's frustration ! I've been to several well stocked and reputable electronic component suppliers looking for these "jems". Went through catalogues looking for the really small bright white LED's and NADA. what I land up with is generic, one-step-up from Radio Shack.

I'm hoping that with the recent "boom" in LED technology this product will be more readily available, bcause for me LED's are the way to go.

Oh BTW Hello everyone. I'm still around.

Regards
Fergie

[Noah Hofrichter]

QUOTE: You said you are in electronics 101, well, I'm in electonics 102 (HA!)

Hey, I got you both beat, I'm still in electronics 100 (HA!!, no wait, let me think a second..........)

Noah

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the voice of reason Ed. I much calmer now.

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: I'm quite sure some one has bought LEDs in bulk from electronics supplier, I just want to copy them.

Probably someone has. However the odds that that person is hanging out on the MR "General" forum may be much lower. Despite the fact that I like this forum, and will hang around after the Atlas forum is back up, the fact is that no other forum had the traffic and sheer number of participants that the Atlas forum had. When they went down the participants tended to scatter to various other forums, with the result that each one has only a fraction of the traffic due to smaller amount of posters. The person who knows the answer to your question could be hanging out at Railwire or The Gauge or TrainWeb. I expect the Atlas forum to be back up soon (next week?), most usual posters will drift back, and you might consider posting the question over there when it is up. Actually, you might consider cross posting it to a couple of other places now, including the MR forum on "Layouts and Layout Building" or TrainBoard's "DCC and Electronics" forum.

When it gets too frustrating trying to get a specific response on the forums, try to remember back to when there was no internet to even ask the question!! [:O] No, it ain't perfect now, but we've come a long way.

Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

Thanks for letting me vent. I did follow up a couple of times trying to refine my question in an effort to get a better answer, but to no avail. I was truly glad that everyone pointed me to various web sites, but once there it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There are roughly 300 different LEDs on one web site alone. That is enough to make my head explode.

You said you are in electronics 101, well, I'm in electonics 102 (HA!)

I was looking for help from our experts and feel I got mostly opinion and hot air. I think the responses I got plays into the thread some one posted on what is wrong with our hobby. A few forum memebers mentioned that some of us tend to be above it all and it is up to the new guys to figure it out on their own. I'm all about learning, I just like to cut to the chase some times. I'm quite sure some one has bought LEDs in bulk from electronics supplier, I just want to copy them. Maybe they think I'll learn their little secret and tell everybody so there will be no more LEDs around (HA!)

Thanks again.
DG

[egmurphy]

[#welcome] Welcome to the Coffee Shop, DG (if I may call you DG). Always nice to have new faces stop by and join in this relatively low key thread.

I realize you were venting and probably just asking a rhetorical question with your post, but since you asked I'll at least take a stab at a response. Keep in mind it's only my very humble opinion. I did go back and read the thread after your post. I skipped it originally as I'm still stuck back in Wiring 101, and anything more technical than tinning wire for soldering kind of goes over my head.

I was actually surprised at the amount of responses you got. I've seen many questions asked with a lot less response. I realize you're frustrated because no one actually came up with a part number for you. My guess (as a disinterested outsider) is that no one actually knew the part number. But they were trying to be as helpful as possible by suggesting links where they (might have) thought you could find the info. After all, part of your original request was

QUOTE: Does anyone know of a source for LEDs that match the Minitronics models that I could buy direct from?

Plus, there were a few suggestions offering other possible approaches. This is kind of typical response, and I think you might have taken it that way on another occasion. This time you were frustrated at not getting the part number and may have just taken the suggestions the wrong way from how they were intended.

I've seen some people posting for the sake of post count/stars, and the responses you got didn't seem to me to be that type. But hey, what do I know.

Anyway, hope you continue to drop by the Coffee Shop. I also hope you eventually find the answer to your search for LED's.

Best Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon all. This is my first time in the coffee shop, and I stopped in to vent a little. Is just me, or do people post for the sake of positing? I asked a specific question concerning LEDs (part numbers and specs) and got a few response, but none of them answered the question. The response went in wild directions but never addressed the question posted. I scan a lot of questions on this forum, but only respond to the ones that I have knowledge about. Am I wrong for expecting an exact answer?

I like the topics posted in this thread, I read it often. I ask, is it just me?

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's going to be a wonderful day in the mountains today. The coffee is excellent and today is going to be a light duty day. The base coat on the walls of Shawna's room is finally done. It only took 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of color to get a good even finish on it. We'll start ragging on the top glaze coat this evening after Louise gets home. She's in charge of that part, and I'm just the helper. Today will just be running errands this morning and then I'll work on the railroad this afternoon. I'm going to try to get the Graham County wired, get the railgaps cut and the fascia installed on the staging track.

Teffy, I run Digitrax with Soundtraxx decoders also. I started with a Big Boy system and upgraded to a Chief years ago. I think it's a great system and they are really good people to deal with. I'd recommend them to anybody that's going to go DCC.

I've heard of other people visiting Canada and being gifted by the toliet fairy. Since we have the world famous and highly regarded low flow jobs, it's sounds like a good thing to me.

It's time to get the day started, so I'd better go for now.
Have a great day everybody,

Tom

[Anonymous]

Jim, I didn't get to sleep till 3 woke up at five and drove the four hours by myself then spent the whole day out railfanning. What a day! 40+ pictures and I only liked seven. So go to http://community.webshots.com/user/george745/ to see what I did today
Andrew

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

QUOTE: The funny thing about docks it's like stations, bridges, structures etc. there are so many different designs and facia you could build one any old way and chances someone will say "hey I've seen that dock before".

Right you are. With the exception of those among us who are trying to model a specific prototype or reproduce an existing scene, we normally have a lot of 'artistic license' to play with. It's more the idea of going for a certain look or simply providing something that looks plausible.

By the way Ferg, is it just my imagination or are you finding more opportunities to log in that you normally do on cruise?

QUOTE: ...what would the South American countries have been growing instead of coffee...

Don't know, but I'm glad they grow coffee down here. And some pretty decent stuff, if I do say so. Yeah, I know we're not really 'South America', but I assume you were including Mexico and Central America.

Later

Ed

No we're in between programs right now. Loading buoys over the next day or two then heading out. We have a broad band Tx on base to down load business and have internet availability. I've just been so distracted today that I forget to log off. Oops!

Presently I'm preparing a trestle bridge jig and will start the trusses tomorrow.

Regards
Fergie

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: The funny thing about docks it's like stations, bridges, structures etc. there are so many different designs and facia you could build one any old way and chances someone will say "hey I've seen that dock before".

Right you are. With the exception of those among us who are trying to model a specific prototype or reproduce an existing scene, we normally have a lot of 'artistic license' to play with. It's more the idea of going for a certain look or simply providing something that looks plausible.

By the way Ferg, is it just my imagination or are you finding more opportunities to log in that you normally do on cruise?

For the food addicts, you'll be happy to hear (well, maybe you won't be as excited as I was) that I finally found someplace down here where I could buy some of those long Poli***ype sausage links that are so common NOB. Ran home yesterday afternoon and slapped one on the grille just to cut up for appetizers. Yum. [dinner]

QUOTE: ...what would the South American countries have been growing instead of coffee...

Don't know, but I'm glad they grow coffee down here. And some pretty decent stuff, if I do say so. Yeah, I know we're not really 'South America', but I assume you were including Mexico and Central America.

Later

Ed

[Fergmiester]

Speaking of the BIG FLUSH! I just went to the LHS in Charlottetown and bought a new spray gun and other odds and ends. It's a good thing they got out of the train business as I would have to be carried out in a straight jacket!

However I believe I now have the missing linkage for the trurntable drive and believe it or not the gears are from a Monster truck transmission

So life is good.

This thing about docks. Does this mean youze guys wants pics of docks wherever I go?
The funny thing about docks it's like stations, bridges, structures etc. there are so many different designs and facia you could build one any old way and chances someone will say "hey I've seen that dock before". A lot of the medium size docks in Nova scotia are either cement faced, Woolmanized 10 x 10 facia, mish mash of creozote timbers and spars or cement capped with either steel pylons or creozote poles going down in straight.

Regards
Fergie