JimRCGMOUh, Jeff, I'm surprised that Ray didn't suggest a Mac XServe for you - with one of those, you could build it into a cabinet and just have the monitor, keyboard and mouse out in view... and then network a laptop back in your bedroom. Heck, I like Macs and I don't think I could find justification for an XServe!
Nah, he doesn't want an x-serve. Only comes with a paltry little 160 Gb HD. He should go for a Dual Quad Core Pro with 32 Gb of RAM, 8Tb built in HD, MacPro RAID card, 4x NVIDIA GForce GT 120 graphics card, 2 Superdrive Optical Drives, and a pair of 30" Apple Cinema HD Displays. Only set him back around $16,500. That's the one I want..............
JimRCGMORay, you'll have room enough for the next Diner party, with all that space you're clearing out!
Maybe but only if we hold it outside. The space I'm clearing out will get filled with equipment now sitting out in the sn*w.....
OK! I am going to leave the computer here and go turn on the heat down cellar and see if the layout is still there....... Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Evenin' Guys
I'll have a blue plate special of fried chicken with two sides of slaw and ice water with lemon please.
Jeffrey W please check your PM's when your computer is working!
Robby P. Congrats and Happy Anniversary, celebrate well
JimRCGMO I will start thinking on your present for next year!
Had PT today for my back. Not working well after a few weeks of working on it. Next week I go back to my regular DR. to ask for more anti-inflamatory pain killers and muscle relaxers. I have to wait as he's on vacation, and I don't wnat to deal with a fill-in. ANy chore or anything other than sitting or laying is a pain in a back.
Have a swell night guys
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Hello ..
Jerry, Ulrich, Jim and others. Thanks for the kind remarks. Looks like I'm OK for the foreseeable future, and so here I am in the diner to razz other diners. ... (Don't wake up Duke and tell him.)
Jim, ... Nice private road paint scheme on that switcher. It has that NP look to it. What does CAW stand for? Crooked And Wobbly?
Jerry ... I like the Monon F3. .. I do recall seeing Monon trains in operation before L&N aquired Monon.
JR ... How are thing going with the repaired house? Are you settled into the place OK?
I worked a little more on my FT project today. Had a model railroader gathering at the local lunch place in town. When I got home, I placed an order with Walthers.
Cheers.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hey guys, coffee for me.
I got baces in and I hate them. being on Christmas break, not very joyous. Anyone have advice to keep a little feline off of my layout? And no, I cannot partition the area off oand no I cannot get rid if her
If you can read this... thank a teacher. If you are reading this in english... thank a veteran
When in doubt. grab a hammer.
If it moves and isn't supposed to, get a hammer
If it doesn't move and is supposed to, get a hammer
If it's broken, get a hammer
If it can't be fixed with a hammer... DUCK TAPE!
It has been my experience that once they get up there a time or two and find little to interest them, that they will leave it alone.
Others have cats that will disagree with my theory on purpose.
Of course IF they find something interesting that is another matter! Or if they like to give chase as you run them thinking they are mice to chase.
I have a friend who has no problems with the cats, but the dogs now...that is a different story! They seem to not like the noises trains make as they go round and round!
LOL... "I got braces in and I hate them. being on Christmas break, not very joyous. Anyone have advice to keep a little feline off of my layout? And no, I cannot partition the area off oand no I cannot get rid if her"
Training cats is easy. Several things to take into consideration. Never hit a cat on the head.. even if its lightly. Cats say 'Hello' with their head. You have to train your cat... before they train you. I have 6 cats right now and have had cats all my life.
To train a cat... so you never have to get up out of your chair... and what to do if you have to get up. First of all, cats remember quite well... so I recommend... just one time.. hit the cat with a newspaper. Hit them on the lower adomen.. not the chest or the head. Hit them once with a newpaper. But before you hit them.. you have to make a schwooshing sound.... like "SSSSSSSSSSHH" like your trying to quiet someone down. Then hit them once.. and only once. Next time the cat does something.. that you don't want .. all you have to do is.. 'Ssssssh' them.. and clap your hands. I guarantee most cats remember the one time swat. Now it could take time to train them.. but a simple 'Ssssh' and single loud pop of clapping hands.. does a great job. If you get good at it.. you don't even have to get out of your chair. '
Now if you do have to get out of your chair.. I put them outside. If they didn't want outside, they remember that. And that worked with my oldest supervisor.. he no longer get up on the layout .. cuz he knows.. he's going outside. And its a bit cold too. Although you might live in snow country.. so the garage is / might be a solution. The whole process.. is just of 'Association' with the one time hit... converted into a clap. The 'SSSsh' is a must though... maybe they see you as hissing at them. But they do understand.. and do remember and learn. Good luck. Keith
Robby .... I intended to say "Happy Anniversary" in my earlier post. Cheers to both of you!
Good evening Diners: The layout died this evening! Not the sort of thing one expects on one's natal day. I was cleaning track - not too much left to do. I'd moved an RDC from a station to get at the track under and beyond it, cleaned that bit, did some more up by the upper yard, went to move the next "blocking " loco, and it wouldn't respond. Tried another - Nada, nothing. So on through the roster across the layout. No lights flashing a short, no trouble lights indicating any problem whatsoever. Just no power to the tracks anymore. This happened once before, back in the summer. Then it was loose connections from the DCC PowerHouse Pro to the track power bus at the layout. Checked and tightened those - still nothing. Unplugged the layout from the PowerHouse Pro, and got out my fiddle yard, plugged it in - my GP15 started right up - so it's not the PowerHouse Pro in any way. Checked the power bus wires along to where the power is split for the upper levels. Back when the layout was DC, I had designed it for DCC, and compromised a bit for the DC arrangements. One part of the compromise involved an Atlas Twin electrical routing switch. It's in the right hand side of this shot Lo and behold, one side of that had its slider just a tiny bit out of "fully deployed". I must have snagged it when reaching for that "blocking" loco which was on one of the turntable tracks. I picked it up to see if the wheels were not passing power because of crud. That's when i must have done the snagging. Corrected THAT and Presto! Back in business! It's a good feeling, as I'm a klutz when it comes to real electrical problems, not just mechanical misalignment or simple polarity miss-matches.
PATom:
Okay all you VW Bug lovers, are you sure you haven't forgotten some of the downsides to those rascals?
CapeJim:
I'm just not wild about stick shifts,
and haven't heard from Ed for many weeks.
AztecEagle: to the Diner...you don't by any chance model western RRs in the late 1800s in N Scale? Just a shot in the dark bouncing off your username.
Ray:
and find the gas pedal frozen to the floor......
Keith: Sorry, you're now way above my head on the electro-frog thing. All I know is that in order to have them work in DCC I had to physically cut the under turnout connections, and then separate the frog rails, inserting a thin plastic insulator strip between them and re-slide them into position. That made them insulfrogs...the only solution I could find that worked.
Jerry: Like that F3 score...I love it when a plan comes together too!
RobbyP: Happy Anniversary! Hope it's been all you hoped for!
Galaxy: That back sounds bad. Here's hoping the Dr. can sort it sooner rather than later. Please know you are included in my sign off On the subject of layout cats, our Pampas George of blessed memory liked a particular spot on the layout in Spruce Grove Alberta, and didn't roam far from it if he got up there. Here in Nova Scotia, he didn't even bother. He showed his distain and annoyance at he disruption of taking the Alberta layout down by peeing in a shoe box lid full of screws that was on the floor!
Time to call it a day. Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers continuing for all in need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace.
"There are always alternatives, Captain" - Spock.
der5997PATom: Okay all you VW Bug lovers, are you sure you haven't forgotten some of the downsides to those rascals?...as in the condensation inside the handbrake cable tube between the seats freezing, thus making releasing the handbrake impossible until an outside heat source is applied? - no, I haven't forgotten! I don't remember the year of that model - old enough to have the heater fueled by gas, and right behind the dash - if that helps identify it. We had it repainted once locally by an amateur outfit. They left it outside in the summer to dry. It gave a whole new meaning to the VW "Bug"!
I remember how slow they were when it came to taking off from an intersection! It had difficulties getting out of its own way---let alone anyone else's!! Or the pedals---mind, I was lucky in that by the time I got my own VDub I was WELL aware of the dang cables---it gives definition to the phrase---"Drive-By-Wire" And I'm not going to mention the heaters----
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/
Good Evening, a RBF and a plate of fries please 'n thank-you...
JIM, I'll try to clarify a bit for you...don't worry about your head, it's perfectly safe. I love being a news photographer again. I guess the techy-nickel name is "photojournalist." I don't love writing the articles. I would prefer to JUST do the photography, but THAT just isn't possible in this position, or the current market. Overall, I like what I do.
So far: he likes what he does...oh, and he's good at it, allegedly.
BUT, it is permanantly part-time, with irregularly irregular hours. THAT means, taking a second job is all but impossible. It also means I make roughly half what I used to in the crappy, hated every minute of it job I had before this one.
OK: he likes what he does, he's good at it, but it don't pay squat.
SO, I have a job I mostly like, that I'm pretty damned good at...but I don't make enough to pay the bills like I used to. Now Loving Wife is paying pretty much everything, making things really really really tight.
To sum it up: Like job + good at it + can't pay the bills + maybe I should take some other/any other job that WILL pay the bills + Loving Wife loves having me in a job I'm "happy" at + extra expenses = STRESS.
Heck, I shoulda never said nothing about it.
Uh Vinnie? I think I got THAT hole patched, I'll paint it in the morning after it's set up nice.
ULRICH: Glad yer back home... thanks for the advice.
ROBBY: Happy Anniversery. Mine has kept me for a little over 6 years now (some days I really wonder why...) I hope yours keeps you too. Be good to her.
JIM: FWIW, I'd put the CAW herald on the right side of the boxcar, and I think the red/white looks fine.
LEE (I think): love the layout pics, and WHAT did you say the deer were consuming out of those barrels??? Maybe in a couple of years, you could have a two-headed deer or something in the same spot...
SAM: How ya comin' on THAT sketch?
Well, tomorrow is an early-rise to get the truck to the truck hospital for her surgeries. It'll take every dime I've got, and probably some of Loving Wife's as well. Yes...we still have seperate accounts, I just figure its easier that way. The most critical needs will be taken care of. Triage. After we drop off the truck, Loving Wife will motate me to THAT's office in Solon so I can grab 14 back issues to complete a full year of The Solon Economist. I am to compile a "year in review" article for THAT. What fun. At least it will keep me occupied. Monday night, instead of going to the monthly fire dept. meeting I'll be attending a special meeting of the Iowa City school board. Their superintendent has escaped to greener pastures...so a public forum is being held to figure out how to replace the guy.
THAT part of the job, I don't care for much. I'd rather just get the requisite head-shots of the muckety-mucks, some "muckety-mucks sitting at the big table" shots, some "John Q. Public talks to the muckety mucks" shots...and call it a night. But, it's badly needed hours toward the next paycheck.
Oh....(COX 47) JERRY: THAT Monon F-unit, looks pretty darn good to me. A Don Ball Jr. book, "America's Colorful Railroads" introduced me to the black and gold...sharp looking to be sure!
Good Eve'nin....
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Bugs are really well built though. Hell to take off the front bumper, the entire front end has to come off.Nice change than pop can tin on alot of cars these days.
AmanaMedicSAM: How ya comin' on THAT sketch?
Well THAT sketch quickly became THOSE sketches...
Here they are in all their overly simple glory... lol
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The first one has the tie in on the far side of the "main" layout, I would "hide" the tunnel with trees, since the NH&I doesn't have any tunnels or large hills near it... however, I could aslo use the track as a "siding" for one of the freight customers that actually exist on the prototype... could be interesting...
The second one had it tie in just like almost every other layout I've seen, just hid the fact that the tracks come in on the prototypes tail track that just leads into the woods and dies ( how convenient that the trees will be prototypical in hiding the track to begin with!!!)
Please let me know what you think!?!
EDIT: Grrr... I keep getting doubles of the photos I post here... I'm copying the IMG address from Photobucket by highlighting and copying exactly what is there!!! Can anyone explain why they keep duplicating on me?
Sam
May He bless you, guide you, and keep you safe on your journey through life!
I Model the New Hope & Ivyland RR (Bucks County, PA)
Hey, guess who! Yeah, it's me again. I got the parts for my computer today and got it up and running. I'm in the process of installing software now. That should take another hour or so. This thing flies once it gets started but the startup takes about 5 minutes. Gotta find the reason for that. The bill for the parts came to $147. I told my parents what had happened with the old mainboard and that I was going to be out of contact by phone until I got the computer fixed which looked like maybe a month or two. Well, my father cornered me this morning (the 30th) and told me there was no way he was going to be carrying messages back and forth from my doctors and whatnot and shoved a blank check in my hand and said 'Get it fixed NOW'. Hey, I don't argue when somebody puts a blank check in my hand like that as long as it's for something reasonable. And yes, I do have to pay him back at $40 or $50 a month until it's paid back. One thing I have to get are some new memory sticks. The ones I have are from the old board and are DDR2 667 which is the bottom of the basement for this board. I need to get some DDR2 800's. It's expandable up to 8 gigs RAM. It also has an IDE port so my old 80 gig hard drive and my DVD burner are right at home. Later I'll look at putting in some SATA drives but that's not an immediate thing. The board is an MSI G31TM-P31 with an Intel E5300 dual-core processor. Comparing it to the old one is like comparing a VW Beetle to a Cadillac with the new board being the VW Beetle. The main point is, it works.
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
Good Morning Everyone,
Hey, Zoe, the place looks nice! Getting ready for this evening´s party? Wonderful job you and the other girls have done here! Vinnie? Vinnie helped? OMG!
The last day of a year which turned out to be the most difficult and challenging one in my life. Many a dream was put to an end, and even just barely staying alive was and still is a challenge. But it was not all bad - I found new friends here in the forum, people, although I have never met them in person (and probably will never meet), have become very dear to me. I always get a little sentimental on Dec. 31st, so please bear with me, when I just want to say thank you for your friendship, your support and comfort you have given me in the past months.
Jeff - I am glad your PC is up and running again, even as a VW Beetle.
My notebook is my lifeline to the world outside, my escape route out of days of misery. It is a cheap Acer Extensa 5235 without any frills other than WLAN and a well sized display, but it does the job for me.
Robby P. - a belated Happy 3rd Anniversary! May there are many more to come! My parents will be celebrating their 60th anniversary coming year...
I just heard, that 8 US boys were killed in an attack in Afghanistan, and 5 more Canadians in a second attack - makes me very, very sad.
My go to the victims of terrorism and their beloved ones!
Good morning,
Chris, the scientific terminology is: methylethyleatyourfaceoff, this was a highly technical name we used in the Haz-Mat world during training exercises. I was thinking of a Cyclops deer or a two headed rabbit. Thanks, that area only took 6 hours to complete. I’m sure I’ll tinker with it as time passes.
Can anyone use two 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 533 MHz RAM Simms?
Keith, I had problems with the cats on the layout until I switched to the Digitrax Super Chief 8 Amp system. Poor kitty was sleeping on the tracks behind a box and I didn’t see her. I fired up the layout and started to move a DC locomotive, next thing I knew there was a cat departing the train room at high speed. Neither cat has been on the layout since.
Robby, Happy Anniversary!
Jim, the deer is glued to the top of the shrubbery. I thought about a pin or a finishing nail, but this worked well. The rubble is ballast I bought from Smith and Son Ballast in Chardon, OH. They use real stone, dry and sift it down to various grades. If you call him you can buy a sample assortment of everything he sells. I used the river stone for the rubble effect.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
LSWrrCan anyone use two 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 533 MHz RAM Simms?
Wow! Those are old enough to settle down and have kids. I can't use them. The lowest my computer goes on memory is DDR2 667 and their obsolete. Now, if you had a couple of DDR2 800's ... ...
Good Morning All,
Back in the shop at least until the fire system repair guy is done. Sprung a couple of minor leaks that were found at the last inspection in the area of the controls and it looks like the one way valve between the sprinklers and water main is feeding back into the main which is a no no for potable water. Ah the joys of running your own business. All this and more pictures at 11 - not.
Chris - Any chance you can freelance some photos to the greater world out there or is THAT avenue not available? If you don't do anything that conflicts with THATs' universe in the metropolis of Solon (close to felon, no?) your part time gig wouldn't be at risk. I know full well how hard it is to get by as a photographer as several friends and my brother made a go of it and came up short (or at least very hungry). My brother had lots of talent, good ideas and degrees from Cooper Union, Kodak Rochester and Cal Poly but still couldn't make a living as a pitcher taker. He did end up editing film for TV stations but that took years to develop (pun intended).
Sam - I like the first sketch best. I think the ones where the diverging line comes off the outside of the curve is too tight for what you already have and makes a doubleS into the yard which will be a problem. If you do the tree portal further up and raise the main loop or lower the lead to the yard under the main it will add interest and it looks possible to add another branch off the yard lead for a siding inside the main loop (it would be a trailing siding but what the heck, right?).
Ulrich - Good to see you back. I assume you got sprung from the "joint" all right?
Jeff - your dad is a man oafter my own heart. After driving middle son around because he messed up an eye leaving his contacts in too long (typical college kid stunt), we marched him down to lens crafters gave him the credit card and said drive home when your new glasses are ready.
Lots to do today before the snows start. Catch ya'll later, J.R.
Good Morning--
Kinda snowdribbly today and really DULL. We're at the mighty 0C as well--nice and damp---with a wind to boot
Jeff: Good to see you back on track here!! I'm kinda lucky that I've got a friend that has connections and can get parts if I need them---which I have not yet needed-----yet
'Spring' does not really bother with the layout especially after I accidently pushed a button on the DCC controller---wanted to do something else---got horn instead. Once the cat heard the horn the little one leaped off the layout and tore out of the room. Now he just sits BY the door to the room!!
Chloe--I'll have a coffee please---I'll be at the RC
"Morning Chloe"
Hi all~ Well reading the previous post, it certainly does give some creedance to what I said. Cats do remember.. quite well. On a side note concerning my 6 cats, I won't feed 6 cats all around my feet. I have trained all of them to go to their stations to be fed. If you don't, you get fed last. And if you go to another cats plate.. you might be heading out the door. I have one that runs to an old work table, one that runs to the extra bathroom, my blind one runs under the layout table, one sits by the cabinet, another on top of a storage/sitting chest.. each one is according to where they sleep. It works well and I'm not triping over some cat.
Now yesterday, well it was suppose to rain in the evening. And I was suppose to fix the garage door opener. It was still morning yesterday when I looked out the window, and the streets were a little wet. So I said.. I'd wait a bit. Well it got worse and then it started raining.. so~ eh.. I'll go to the hobby store instead...lol. Why not. If there is anything I really can't stand to look at.. is a layout in the living room with all sorts of stuff on it. I try to work on this every day. Even if its only 10 mins worth.
So anyways.. I bought some more Electrofrogs. Five total, and I really hate to spend the money.. I really do. To think I have thought I have bought just about everything you could possibly buy.. only to have to go out and buy more. Gheez.
Now JR.. and Der John.. and a few others.. I have a DCC Prodigy. So my question is...
Doesn't DCC cut the power down on a regular DC engine.. it would seem like there is a 'load' there or should I say some 'resistance' building up in a DC engine running on DCC tracks? It just doesn't seem healthy to me. One of many things I will be thinking about as I lay track today.
Jim, I hear ya on the force air gas furnace. Its blown out .. oh.. several times... in the past 20 years. I'm not too worried, but I do hear ya. And you're right we really only use the heater for a very short time. Keith
Keith, The prodigy won't run DC locomotives. The power supplied is AC "square wave" usually 15 volts that the throttle sends a carrier through. The decoder receives the carrier intended for it and converts the signal into action. The 15V AC is converted in the decoder back to dc voltage and supplied as directed to the motor through those two teeny tiny wires run between the decoder and the motor. The other functions (lights, etc) are controlled the same way with the common wire carrying power and the individual wires from the front, rear or ditch lights working like the horn button on your car (at least in the old days of the empire) by grounding the circuit. This makes everything sensitive to dirt in the circuit between the track and engine and explains why we spend years slavishly adding drops and buss wires and polishing the rails. Makes a big difference when running sound equipped locomotives and permits the sounds to run uninterupted. Some day some smart*ss electrical engineer will reinvent this mess with a real transmitter sending to a receiver in each locomotive and a capacitor in each unit to keep the electrons flowing over the dirty spots. I'm pretty sure some of the large scale stuff is already done this way at least the r/c part. Despite all the agita, IMHO, I still find this better than miles of wiring for block control DC and having to endlessly hit switches in order to run more than one locomotive at a time. If you find the electrofrogs a problem, Der knows how to neuter them by the way. 10-4 btk J.R.
BTW watching those of us with short term memory loss try to run multiple locos on a DC system is probably more amusing than any number of other politcally incorrect things you could think of (dwarf bowling, cow tipping - you know.....)
Good morning all, and Let's keep it a safe celebration folks - none of this this or this
May not get back in today - but I Ditto Ulrich's appreciation of your friendship and helpful advice.
Sam: Uncanny! When there was talk yesterday about coming off the 4x8 at the corners I thought, "I wonder if Sam would look at fixing up a curved crossing, because it offers a good deal more scope in planning." - and here you are thinking of just that.
Ulrich:
Vinnie helped?
On a more serious note:
Canadian authorities had not released the names of the four Canadian soldiers killed Wednesday because one family, while aware of the death of their relative, had not been officially notified in person. Calgary-based journalist, Michelle Lang, was the fifth person killed in the strike on the edge of Kandahar city. All died when their armoured vehicle hit a powerful improvised explosive device that left a massive crater in the road. Several soldiers were injured, as was another civilian, although all were expected to survive. The loss of life was the third worst single incident for the eight-year Canadian mission in Afghanistan and the worst in two-and-a-half years. Lang, 34, was also the first Canadian journalist to die covering the war.
Calgary-based journalist, Michelle Lang, was the fifth person killed in the strike on the edge of Kandahar city.
All died when their armoured vehicle hit a powerful improvised explosive device that left a massive crater in the road.
Several soldiers were injured, as was another civilian, although all were expected to survive.
The loss of life was the third worst single incident for the eight-year Canadian mission in Afghanistan and the worst in two-and-a-half years.
Lang, 34, was also the first Canadian journalist to die covering the war.
TTFN
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
JR.. Well maybe I got them reversed.... DCC can run on DC but places a load on the DCC engine? Whatever the case, I still will strive for the KISS approach. Keep it simple with DC. DCC sounds more like a headache and an more money. I think I'll be having more fun with DC. I would rather have hands on approach when running engines.
Ok.. ok.. so ppl try to run multiple trains on DC.. lol. Yep thats me~ .. I'm a 'hardhead' I'm not planning on having two DC engines running on the same track at the same time... but I do believe I can selectively choose different lines/mains and have even the mains, the Arrrival/Departure area and the yard mostly separate... with a transformer for each. IN that way I might be able to run one train per track... and still be able to work the yard while other trains are running. ... and even have one sitting on the A/D line ready to headout on the long yard lead.. only to jump onto the other main.. lol. yeah~ The run on this layout is so long... I really think I can do it. If nothing more.. end up with basically a 3rd main (long yard lead) running half way up the mountain... then using a cut insulfrog (Dremel) to separate the power and have it jump on to the main#2. I can already see.. when one train passes on the main..at a certain curve.. the main is open.. and hot. Should be a fun one for me.
Ok.. JR.. and Der John and a few others. Here's my next question. My layout is almost flat. Its a 1 percent grade.. 2 percent if you count in the 19 inch radius on the turns.
What is the length you can run power down the line. I know there are many factors to consider. And what I am about to say .. may make a few shudder with chills of disbelief. But I'm not planning on running wires to every piece of track. My back couldn't take it besides. So if I do a good job in soldering, a well placed transformer could cover what/how much distance. And then, will I need some sort of booster to keep the power up. I know 25 years ago.. when my son and I built one.. I placed the transformer leads to the hardest steepest grade.. cuz the power right there seem to be needed the most.. while further down the tracks.. where there were no turns or grades.. the power seemed ok... but seem to drop off the further you went away from the power. The length of the backside.. is 11 feet.. then turning and going another 8 feet. The complete one loop.. just going around one time is approx. 30 feet. Its a long one. Ok.. enough of me.. and my corney questions and ideas. I'm off to lay track. I do thank you guys for the advice. Keith
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe just a cup of dark roast coffee please. Too close to lunch and not far enough from breakfast to have anything else. I'll go to my seat at the Rivet Counter for a bit.
GMTRacingKeith, The prodigy won't run DC locomotives. The power supplied is AC "square wave" usually 15 volts that the throttle sends a carrier through. The decoder receives the carrier intended for it and converts the signal into action. The 15V AC is converted in the decoder back to dc voltage and supplied as directed to the motor through those two teeny tiny wires run between the decoder and the motor.
Keith, what he said....... The only thing I would add is that the frequency is much, much higher than the 50/60Hz house current. We are talking thousands of Hz here. On the units (digitrax, NCE, and some others that do allow the use of a single DC loco, it is accomplished by something called "Zero Strectching". The signal to control the decoder is similar to the type of hexadecimal packet that is used for MIDI in music equipment and the packets of info that are used to send data on the web. Zero Stretching can be explained by thinking of binary. The top of the square wave is "on" and is called a 1, the bottom of the square wave is off, the zero. With zero stretching the 0 is on longer than the 1 therefore providing DC current to the loco. When you run the loco in reverse, the 1 is stretched. It is recommended that you do not leave a DC loco on powered tracks for long periods of time if you are not actively running the loco. Heat can build up and fry things........ Normally you might hear a hum coming from the loco when it is sitting still.
Have I confused you yet? Here is a great site for more info about all aspects of DCC: http://www.wiringfordcc.com/
I slept in late again this morning (got up a little after 10AM). Figure I must have needed the sleep. My son should be arriving to borrow my truck soon. They are already in "Pack and Store" mode with the house. I will be glad to see them moved and settled into the new place. They will have so much more room. Each daughter will have their own room and with a 2.5 car garage, the boats can be kept under cover.
Barry, you think the Bug was slow starting up??? They were a dragster compared to the VW Bus with the old 1200 engine sporting 36HP, a 4 speed transmission, and 1000lbs more weight empty....... I drove one of them from Canandaigua to Rochester for about a month while my 1960 bug was being looked at by the insurance people..... The bus could go from 0 to 60 in less than 6 minutes I think. The bug got hit in the rear at a stop light when I was driving out to a school for me Student Teaching. Somebody said something about the good solid bumpers on them... Ah, that was later.... Up until the mid/late 1960s they had this piece of tin foil they called a bumper. After 2 or 3 years they had a habit of just falling off all by themselves. Mine had no bumper by that time. Guy hit me square in the engine compartment. A friend drove his Bug over and helped me tape the distributor cap back in place, get it started, and followed me home to Canandaigua. The insurance company totaled the car, gave me $500 and told me to keep the car as they had no use for it. I put some major money into getting it so I could still drive it..... $15 I think. Had to put on a couple new (truck) rear brake and stop lights, and a new distributor cap. Drove it for another 10,000 miles. Finally at about 120,000 miles I got a 1956 bug with 195,000 actual miles on it for $275 and drove it for 2 years. It died the first day of Spring in 1969 right in my driveway. The transmission wore out. Turned around and sold it to a guy who wanted it for a dune buggy. Got $75 for. Darned cheap transportation, and fun to drive.
Time to light a fire in the wood stove so I'll catch you all later!
Keith, If you in fact have 30 ft of track I'd at least make provision to feed the transformer power to both sides of each track section (contiguous blocks). You needn't hook it all up at first, but if you do have the train slowing too much at places (especially on the flat) and the track is clean then yes you have voltage drop at those points. You can get all technical and go around measuring voltage at various points, but running will show up flaws better anyway. As long as you have your wits about you and good reflexes (I have neither) you can run multiple trains with multiple transformers. Before I changed to DCC, I had two double MRC transformers and a couple of old Tyco transformers for the yards. Running more than two consists was problamatic for me because of the forest of a/b reversing and turnout remote switches I had to deal with as the trains made their rounds (three levels - about 12 seperate blocks). It became not fun and precipitaed the disassembly and new start of the third and lamented lost in the flood layout. Even the shelf switching layout I am plotting to build will have DCC as I don't want to revisit all the mental and physical gymnastics required for the DC setup. Obvipously others are free to disagree - it is after all just my biased opinion. Have fun with the track laying. J.R.
Ray - all that hertz stuff hurts my head. the link though is excellent. I study it all when the need arises and then push it all out of my too small skull. When I do start up again I would like to look into the auto routing for turnouts so I can drive while the little electronic dispatcher controls the switches. all in due time
Happy New Years Eve to everybody.
Two of our five adult kids have theire birthdays today. They each arrived just in time for a tax deduction in their birth year (3 years apart). We have another of the five who has a December birthday. .... and the remaining two, overshot December and have January b'days.
Ulrich .... Nice of you to complement your frineds in the diner. ... It works both ways. based on many comments here, I know it is a pleasure having you as a friend in the diner. ....
Let's celebrate. I'll pay for a round of RBF's.
Cheers !!!!!!!!!!!
Some mixed nuts, freshly shelled, please.
***Robby, CONGRATS on the 3 years. May you have many many more to come.
Rob
Hello Rob. Are the diners "mixed nuts"?
I often feel like I've been freshly shelled, just not here. J.R.
Good afternoon. Thanks for all of the "Congrats". We didn't do much but watch some tv. Now thats a good way to celebrate your three year anniversary .
Woke up this morning to some snow on the ground. Now I get to try my snow tires. What a difference. I didn't slide once. Now I can drive in PA!!
I hope to work on my lift out some today. Finish wiring it up. The "duck under" was just getting real old.
Hope everybody has a good afternoon. I will pop back in later.
Seems like I have the "honors". Just take it easy on me .
"Rust, whats not to love?"