Strange weatehr here today. Son is out between clouds, snowing, snow on the ground but melting. Went to the in laws last night. Not sure who was excited to see each other more. Grand parents or grand children. But big smiles to go around for all and a very happy reunion. Still end of the evening there were tears as we remembered MOH. Daughter is still sick.
V8Vega - wow that is some in expensive IT. Hope you get the rest set up
Dennis - nice layout so did the money go towards more train stuff ?
Garry - Got the PM and sent you one. Thanks
Curt - Hope your trip went safely. In my prayers
Rob - Boy I have cut up so many tree's from storms from this past year. I think I am up to fifteen trees that have gone over.
Tom - Congrat on your anniversary
Jeremy - congrats on all of teh job offers !
Ken - Sweet !! 80 cars !! Nice picks. That is one heck of a snow bank for that steamer to push !
Hi Rob,
I, as well as almost all the folks I know doing operations in HO, use Skewers (the wooden shish kabob thingies) to uncouple the Kadee style couplers. There is a trick to learning how to do it quickly, but I find it is much easier and better than the magnets stuck around the layout. The magnets always seem to be where you don't want them, tend to allow cars to uncouple where you don't want them to uncouple, and are not generally prototypical either. In real life the crew has to uncouple the cars and usually do it right where the car is to sit. Anyway, that's what I use.
All my turnouts are controlled by Tortoise machines. The toggle for them are on the fascia right in line with the turnout. The crews also throw the turnouts just like they did back in 1925 on the real thing. I don't like the manual switch throws as they are grossly out of scale.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Tom: Congrats on the anniversary.
*
CederstrandOK, so you pull up to sidings, yards, etc to separate out some cars. Even if your turnouts are controlled electronically, don't you still have to manually uncouple those cars? Or is there a trick to coupling/uncoupling I don't know about? Are you using little electromagnets like old Lionel had or what? Please describe how this is done. IF I am uncoupling cars by hand anyway, why bother with remote controlled switches at those particular busier switching locations on a layout?
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
Well... EX TROPICAL CYCLONE OSWALD...The weather gets worse for us. A report of a Tornado around 50km NORTH of where I live. Brisbane is under a TORNADO WARNING for the first time in my life time. Something I really didn't think would ever happen. Lets just hope that we don't get one!
Won't be doing much today. It's my sisters 19th birthday but I don't think we will be doing much now.
Going to batten down the hatches....
OzJim
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s
Good luck down there Jim.
Stay Safe, take no chances.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.
Johnboy out.........................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
james saundersBrisbane is under a TORNADO WARNING for the first time in my life time. Something I really didn't think would ever happen. Lets just hope that we don't get one!
I remember many years ago a friend of mine stated that a tornado couldn't move over water. I asked him to explain a water spout. He said that wasn't a tornado. A few years later he was proven wrong as a series of tornado hit here in one night and not one, not two but three went across the lake without missing a beat. And years before that some weather guesser yahoos said you couldn't have a tornado among high rise buildings. Well the downtown Miami tornado sure shut them up.
yougottawantaDennis - nice layout so did the money go towards more train stuff ?
Not yet Yougottawanta, but probably. Right now, I fighting with my Digitrax system. Going to give up on that for now and just wo*k out the bugs on the trackage with good old DC. At least I know what I'm doing with that.
I also have to redo all my feeder drops because they are rather flaky right now. Tried to use one suitcase connector to connect #12 and # 22 wire. Should have known better but you know how it goes. This time, I'll do the intermediate suitcase routine. Really, I should just solder them and do it right.
Thanks for the complement on the layout by the way!
Cheers
Dennis
CDN Dennis
Modeling the HO scale something or other RR in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies Alberta, Canada
Howdy, everybody ....
OzJim ...... Let us know if you are safe. I've been around too many tornados, and they can be deadly.
YGW ... Thanks for reply. I'll check messages next.
Rob ..... The 2-6-6-2 is now operating after a few adventures with it. When I first got it ( 1 or 2 years ago) , I ran it very briefly, and saw no problems with it. Then it sat in its box until now. .... I had 2 good decoders and installed one in it. That was easy. I removed a small circuit board connected to a 9 pin connector, and replaced it with a decoder with the 9-pin connector. This is in the tender. Tested engine and it was fine. ... Then, it was time to put lettering and decals on. After doing that, I put it back together, and it would not run. .... I tried another decoder, and it did not run..... I put the DC circuit board in and with DC power, it did not run. ..... I finally realized my very stupid mistake. The rear tender truck must be loosened to get at screws to remove tender shell. When I put it back on, I rotated it. It was connected to the wrong side, and getting power from the wrong rail. Next I rotated the rear tender truck 180 degrees to its correct postion. Put it back together, and it ran. ..... By then, I had to make other 2 repairs. The engine trailing truck (one axle under cab) has a small die cast metal frame. I had fractured it at the pivot point. (clumsy me) I fixed it with super glue, and screwed it back to the locomotive. Also, there is a detail part under the rear of the cab that I had also broken (clumsy me). I glued it together also,. ..... There remains one more problem. The engine wobbles very slightly. I see this is due to the rear driver wheels being very slightly out of postion. The wheel needs to be rotated on the axle slightly to be correctly quartered. This is a factory defect which I should have noticed when I tested the engine 1 or 2 years ago. SInce it is hardly noticable, I will not make it a high priority repair. Here is the 2-6-6-2 next to my Proto 2000 Heritage 0-6-0. The little switcher is among my best engines.
Cheers, everybody!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
chochowillieI also have to redo all my feeder drops because they are rather flaky right now. Tried to use one suitcase connector to connect #12 and # 22 wire. Should have known better but you know how it goes. This time, I'll do the intermediate suitcase routine. Really, I should just solder them and do it right.
Anyone having problems with the site?
It has timed out on me about 4 times in the past hour.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
rdgk1se3019 Anyone having problems with the site? It has timed out on me about 4 times in the past hour.
Peppermint tea. please.
***Ray & Jeffrey, Thanks for the explanations!
***OzJim, stay safe. I know all about tornadoes and they are not to be trifled with.
***Garry, sure sounds like you enjoy creating extra work for yourself. Very nice shot of those two locos on the layout.
Rob
Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, I sure could use a cup of decaf right now.
Got my sister home safe and.... well I don't know about the sound part. So I don't have to shuttle back and forth to Canandaigua any more until her next trip to the "very far".
Tonight I turned on the sump to check what might be wrong with it... Immediately got completely soaked with grungy water that sprayed all over the place. Duh, If I had taken a good look I would have seen what was the matter. the pressure from the pump had blown the check valve off the outlet pipe. the connection has had a small leak for a couple years and it was on my, "Probably ought to take a look at the one of these days" list. Since water is still seeping in, tomorrow will be go buy a new check valve and install it day. That and several other items on the must do list will mean no hobby time again tomorrow. I won't try to check out the sump pump for an other day or two as I think the main problem is the pipe is frozen outside, so I'll wait for some warmer weather in a couple days. In the mean time I will have to empty the sump by hand. Fun and games. Oh, I also heard the main furnace come on right after I got home from my sisters house tonight and smelled gas again! This time I had a good idea what was the problem, went down cellar and sure enough, the burner had popped off the venturi again. This spring as soon as I get my tax refund I will be investing in a new furnace. The time has come to upgrade! Hopefully I will get whole house air conditioning at the same time.
Blackie appears to be holding his own at the moment, but it still may be a trip to the vet for him on Monday... He has now taken up residence on the couch rather than his private chair next to the aquarium. Still not walking right. I get worried about those kitties........
Keep safe out there! Prayers for all...
Hey all. The girls are at a friends house for an all night sleep over. Didnt get any RR done today Oh well.
OzJim - hope all is well be safe been through a couple of those things.
Garry - sent to a PM.
Good Morning! from Tipton IN.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
TIPTON
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Morning coffee in the diner...
GOOD MORNING!!!
Today is Sunday, January 27th, 2013!!!
The prayer candles are lit for those in need.
MAKE today a GREAT day by doing a good deed for someone!!!
-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.
Well, I hope I already did.
Called my Dad to tell him why I left early and what I have arranged as a help for my Mom. Made him feel a little better. Called the nurse who sees after my mother to ensure that this will continue, despite my mother having told the lady it is not necessary. Gave her my telephone number so she can call me should something happen.
My BP is up again, but I have to learn how not to worry too much about my parents´ situation. Not nice, but in order to protect my family and myself I have to go down that route.
I am not in the mood for any MRRing, but I hope this will come back soon. I am all set to build the first box of my boxed layout, the bill of material is ready to be taken to our home improvement store, and the order for some track is resting on my desk.
Have a great Sunday and blessings to those in need!
Gidday OzJim, Queensland storm one of the lead stories on the evening television news here. Hope you're managing to keep your feet dry.
Thoughts and Best Wishes to All that need them.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning!!!
Coffee and the Sunday Breakfast Buffet please. Thank you.
Starting to rethink my DCC desires. Not that computers savvy even though I have an IQ of 400.1 ( I think the decimal point is in the right spot), bout the only thing I can do with a computer is turn it on. We had typewriters when I was in school, and computers where big and had tape reels and punch cards. But, I’ll probably do it anyway and then I can sit back and scratch my head wondering why oh why do I do things that I do. Probably never run more than one train at a time anyway.
Rob- I’m thinkin the same way you are with the switches. But If the layout were big enough and there were several switches, what I would do is possibly put some powered sitches where there would be no uncoupling, but if there were to be some business or reason to uncouple, I probably would not power the turnout since like you said, gotta be there anyway. Haven’t really heard too many rave reviews of the magnetic uncouplers.
Which reminds me. If the magnet holds, or pulls the couplers apart, how can you couple? Push the cares back off the magnet? But wouldn’t it uncouple as you pulled forward. If there’s no room to push the car back off the magnet before the end of the track, like many industries or business would be…..? I think the shishkabob type thing would be the best. Or whatever method, but still a manual you do something with something to uncouple it standing there method.
OzJim- Hope your allright!! We here are waaaaay too familiar with tornadoes and they are NOT to be messed with. What hurricanes an TS’s take hours to do with their winds (and I’m not making light of them at all) a tornado does in seconds and with little to no warning sometimes.
Yesterday I/we did NOTHING. Not a blasted thing and it felt good….. To a point. Shoot, we didn’t even go into town for groceries. As my buddies Vietnamese in-laws would say LLLLLAAAAAzy man!!!!! The only reason I didn’t get to the trainroom is because I didn’t pick my lazy butt up out of the chair. So today will be different. I’ve perused through WPF and I now need to do a bit of w**k on the railroad. We will have to go to town for the weekly groceries and more than likely she’ll wanna eat. Odd, when we’re home…., she’s never really hungry. But get in town and it’s starvation city for her. Hm.
Oh well, think I’ll toss a load of laundry in the washer before Church. Hope I don't wake her up.....
Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
Good morning. It's 57° with 100% humidity and fog. It'll be cloudy with a high of 75°.I have a train running as I type this. Three geeps on the head end of a general freight and a SW1500 and F unit slug pushing. I have the 1500 running in reverse behind the slug. It seems to be happiest there.The only layout related plans for today are general clearing of clutter. My plastic scale ruler is crumbling on me so I downloaded a printable scale ruler PDF file from Miniature Planet and printed a new one on heavy card stock and sealed it with a good coat of Valspar Clear Flat. It should work well until I can get another clear plastic one.
Extra strong coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.
***Jeffrey, do you ever get derailments adding a pusher on the tail end of a train?
***Ray, "fountains and gas leaks", you're having to much fun again! I hope Blackie improves.
***Todd, I like your thinking on where to power and not power turnouts. A very good compromise which saves some cash along the way, too. Now leaning towards Kato Unitrack. Looks like they offer some larger radius curves so perhaps it won't look to terribly goofy with some larger locos running on them. I know, not as "realistic" as using flex track, but (for me) it will most likely "run better" when it's finished.
Trying to decide which of two loco schemes to go with, either the Bachmann Climax "Painted Unlettered Black w/Red Windows/White Stripes" OR the "Clear Lake Lumber w/Diamond Stack". I prefer the diamond stack over the strait or tapered stack, but like those red windows. The name can always be changed to "Stumpy's Logging Co." or something more interesting and window frames can always be painted red, so may well go ahead and order the Clear Lake version with intentions to eventually paint it.
With dreams of a Garratt, chugging in my head. Hmmm, maybe it's time to sell my van sitting outside I never drive?
Cheers! Rob
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have the Breakfast Buffet as long as it is out today, but please bring me a cup of dark roast (Seneca Lake Blend) coffee in my FGLK Mug please. Oh, and watch as I will be needing several refills I think...
Sun has come out for a change here in the Finger Lakes. I need to drive over to Lowes in a bit to buy a replacement Check Valve for the sump pump. The old one is worn out anyway and the rubber connectors are hard as a rock, so for the little they cost a new one would be smarter I think. The sump was emptied by hand last night before bed, and is less than a quarter full this morning. At least water isn't poring into the basement at the moment. If the outside lines are frozen (above ground) I have a section of pipe I have used once before that will drain it out to the garden which will offer a temporary fix.
Hopefully I will be able to finish scanning and get the photos I need done for the MLK Art and Poetry Contest done today as well.
Blackie appears to be a little better today and has used the litter box several times this morning. He was walking almost normal earlier but was back to being hunched up last time he walked by. Right now he is laying on the dinning room rug next to his brother Manét.
Rob... Stumpy's Logging? Going to model your farm I see...
Hope all you folks from the southern Hemisphere are safe and the tornados, wind, and rain have stopped!
Later!
jeffrey-wimberlyWhy not do it then instead of putting on something that you know will fail. I solder all the wire connections under my layout.
You are of course correct Jeffrey. Thanks for the shove. I'll solder them and be done with it.
On another issue Jeffrey, what brand of DCC are you using?
Tmarsh
TMarshBut, I’ll probably do it anyway and then I can sit back and scratch my head wondering why oh why do I do things that I do. Probably never run more than one train at a time anyway.
Boy does that sound familiar , and I have a massive background in using/building/programming computers way back to the punch card days. I let my Son in law convince me how great the DCC thing would be with my medium (17 x !3) layout .
He said to me Ïll help you out if you run into trouble". Right!!! I've asked and he's either too tired or too busy. So much for his help Any way I'm still fighting with it and at the moment I'm test running the layout on plain old DC. Once I get that sorted out, maybe I'll be less frustrated and will be able to get the DCC to work on a test track. I should have done it that way in the fist place. Hind sight is so wonderful!
Cederstrand***Jeffrey, do you ever get derailments adding a pusher on the tail end of a train?
chochowillieOn another issue Jeffrey, what brand of DCC are you using?
I'll have some chile please.
I saw on the Weather Channel most of IL is having freezing rain. Good day to stay home and work on the layout. Right, Todd?
Looks like the cost of buying trains by mail just went up today. .... New postage rates are up. Looks like international rates are inceased the most. ..... Also, starting today, merchants will be paying a 4% surcharge on all credit card transactions in order for the government to "protect" us from unknown bad stuff.
Rob ..... Now, I'm enjoying the 2-6-6-2. I ran it quite a while last night. It was noisy at first because evidently it was not lubricated before leaving the factory. I took care of that little problem.
good morning everybody, work last night was lots of fun.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
Well, the excess dishes are done and the laundry in limbo.
Watched a lot fo Oprah's 'Super Soul Sunday' this Am with MOH.
MOH is still bummed about losing job. I said think positive, something better willl come along. I think MOH could apply more and faster to jobs available, but that is my opinion. Myabe i get a fire started under butt to get going.
TOmorrow go for foodstamp application, should get some this time as we are under my one meager income. Waitign for unenjoyment is OK, but it needs to get here faster!
I have worked our budget 15 ways to sunday and if we get food stamps and unenjoyment in 6 weeks {provided MPH doesn't get new job by then} we MIGHT sqeak by on a wing and a prayer-provided nothing goes worng- and with some help form above..food pantry here we come in earnest!
If I could get a lot for them, I'd sell off my trains, but they won't bring much....
On a happier note, , the sun is shining here {RAY should be happy...Mr. Solar Panel himself} and it is like 27* F out there today! Tomorrow warmer! then we are expecting 50*F & 55*F soon!!!
I'll have the House Special, please.
***Garry, was a tough choice to go with the Climax over the Logger, just couldn't justify giving "Stumpy's Lumber Co." both at the moment. You see, in the back of my mind, there remains a Garratt loco chugging away and what few brain cells are still firing upstairs are working on how to make one possibly appear.
***Ray, actually I already have a representation of my farm, which of course looks nothing even remotely like it. Heck, there isn't even a "Stump Town" attached to the (HO) farm.