Good Morning All.
Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes other then I shifted eras on my ISL from 77/78 to 95/96 so I can use my Ohio Central GP7-its a P2K that I picked up for $55.00..It was a bigger job then I thought since I had to place all 50 of my higher detail cars in a "interchange" ratio of 8 cars and not all 8 cars will be used for a given "work" day.You see some days there's only outbound cars or 1 or 2 inbound cars.
The thought has cross my mind to re-letter my Bachmann GE 70 tonner for Lake Side Terminal RR. or LST for short. LST would be located in one of the cities located on the shores of beautiful Lake Erie-perhaps Toledo or Loraine. It main function would be to service Lake View Industrial complex and maybe a two miles long and would interchange with CR.Era 1994/95.
That remains a thought on the back burner on slow cook..
Have a good 'un!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
gmpullmanThanks again for the head's up. Maybe I'll take a stab at opening one later tonight.
Good Morning, Folks—
Don't bother with the menu, Flo, I'm just passin' through.
Cats Think Well Of Me mentioned opening the newest Broadway Limited PRR P70 coaches so I thought I'd take a stab at it and post my results...
and the verdict is— BLI did their homework on this aspect of the design!
You can see little pockets where you can insert a flat tool (skewer?) but with a little prodding I managed to get the floor out without using any tools, just my digits.
And one more view of the window glazing and catches.
Just slight outward pressure on the car sides at the bottom and a gentle pull while rocking at the end steps and the floor begins to move free, then work the other end the same way gently pulling down on the steps and up at the carbody ant you're home free.
There's about two feet of excess floor height so any figures will have to get the axe, or the #11 (They'll look like the Elbonians in the Dilbert strip)
Now I really have to figure out a way to get some axial free play in the snap-in, unadjustable bolster pin truck pivots and I'll be hitting a home run!
Maybe there is too much downward pressure from the bronze contact strips in the floor that does not allow for enough free play in the trucks? (first photo just above the truck leaf spring)
We shall see
I hope everyone is doing well and I'll stop by later when I can pull up a chair and chat a spell.
Have a rewarding and safe weekend, everyone!
[Edit:] Looks like I made "top-'O-the-page"! Everything's on my tab. There goes my train budget for the week.
Ed
Evening all. Flo, could I get my normal order of breaded mushrooms with blue cheese dressing with some iced tea with a bit of lemon? Thank you.
Hobby Front: I might be getting my Athearn Gondola tomorrow. Depends on the Post Office. It was shipped via SmartPost. I checked the tracking and it got to the post office this afternoon. (If so, it will go out to the layout on Sunday.)
The main plan is get the raw screen on the river extension covered. Requirements: 1 blender, old newspaper, water, fork and/or spoon (depends on desired finish), colander and bowl, additional larger container. Water in blender, place newspaper in blender, grind newspaper, repeat steps until blender full, mixture to colander, drain excess water to bowl (reuse water), put mixture in other container, repeat until other container full. Use cutlery to place mixture on screen. Let dry.
How much I actually get done on Sunday depends on the opinion of my back. The last few days it has been a pain. It hurts in a place that makes moving hard. (When it hits, I almost wonder if it's slightly psychosomatic due to my dislike for w*rk lately. It doesn't hurt as bad when I'm not at w*rk: at home, on lunch, etc.)
Heartland Division CB&Qyou will not find any that are larger than these two GN electrics.
How about the Swiss Federal Railway class Ae 8/14? It was about 12 ft. longer than the GN W-1 and had a little more than double the power. Or Malmbana´s IORE loco in Sweden, made for pulling the heavy ore trains from the mine in Kiruna to the Norwegian port of Narvik. The IORE loco is 150 ft. long and has roughly three times the power.
Anyhow, all of them are really impressive monsters, though if there were a beauty contest among them, my vote would go to the GN W-1!
Thanks, Cats!
I saw the tab locations on the underside. Maybe it calls for one of those toothpick shim methods to unlatch the window glass. MTH cars are easy to slide the floor out of. Walthers—well, an entirely different animal.
Thanks again for the head's up. Maybe I'll take a stab at opening one later tonight.
Regards, Ed
Speaking of electric locomotive, you will not find any that are larger than these two GN electrics.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
hon30critterIt was the motor/gear sounds that I was referring to
I wasn´t too sure about having mentioned the loco is DC only. Bemo locos don´t have a reputation of being noisy - at least not in the past. My other loco has a growling sound coming from the motor beig fed with PWM DC, while the gears are silent. My new loco has a slight hum, but noisy gears. I did not notice it at first, but Bemo took the plunge and now have metal gears installed, which do a little bit of "singing". Better slightly noisy metal gears than those easily wearing out plastic things!
Ulrich:
It was the motor/gear sounds that I was referring to. I think you said it didn't have a decoder in a previous post but you did like the mechanical noises the locomotive was emitting.
I hope you get a break from the heat soon. When we came back from the beautiful weather in British Columbia (18 - 20 degrees C) to +40 C in Toronto it was quite a shock! It made us want to get back on a plane and go back to BC.
Take care,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good morning, everybody.
Ed: ... Those are interesting photos of the DD1 especially the one with the shell off. Where is the decoder ? ....
He, rather tongue-in–cheek, is keen for us all to turn to Marklin and even pointed out that there is a 1965 Marklin Crocodile on the local version of eBay for the equivalent of 1038 Euros.
JaBear - that price is only slightly over the top. Here, a 1965 Marklin Croc in mint condition and original box fetches about €500 - 600. Considering that the Croc was Marklin´s second best selling loco and that there must be hundreds of thousands still around, that´s an astonishing value.
Larry - in my student days, I was a member of an MR club which had its home in the attic of the Cologne - Deutz train station. It was the night before we had our annual public day, a couple of my friends and I were giving the layout a run down to see that everything was according to spec for the upcoming event. Of course, it was in the small hours of the day, when we finished the job and started to make our way home. Right outside of the station building (which was closed at that time of the day) we got arrested by a couple of railroad cops. They took us to the police station where we were greeted with a big grin - the cop on duty was a fellow club member.
"suspicious persons". To an outsider that description would cover most model railroaders...
And all to sadly that includes railfans. Every time I go railfaning at the T&OC station you can bet the farm a cop will drive by-99% waves and radios "Its one of our local train watchers". The other 1 % just drives by and radios "Just a train spotter".
Not so long ago you could sit there for hours and not see a cop but,today everybody wants to be a wannabe crime fighter and calls it in.
Pretty bad when the cops know you by sight because you're "one of the local train watchers".
BRAKIE "suspicious persons".
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning one and all!
It was a rather interesting here in the land of the Buckeyes yesterday.
Since it was to hot yesterday to railfan outside I worked on various modeling projects and finished reading a Western novel under the A/C and last night after it cooled down I did some night time railfaning from my back yard into the wee hours of the morning.A cop did spotlight me and asked me if I lived here-all the lights in the house was turned off after he was satisfied I wasn't a boogie man or one of the homeless persons-we have three here in Bucyrus-all druggies.
I suspect the old hag that lives across the street from me called the cops again.She calls them regularly about "suspicious persons".
I'm not sure what I'll get into today..I might even make some tuna casserole.
Flo a glass of orange juice.
A neighbor lent me one of those portable AC units with the hose to the window. it cooled the bedroom down. Thank goodness. it is 78 degrees at 7 am and 90%+ humidity.
On my way to the dermatologist to look for skin cancers. I had a real crook a couple years ago, she kept bringing me back every 3 months for a biopsy. When she refused to biopsy two at once, I found a new doc.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Lunchtime!
Flo, I am not really hungry. It´s too hot to be hungry, but a scoop (or two, three) of ice cream would be nice, thank you.
It´s too hot for anything but taking a nap, which I will be doing in a moment.
hon30critterI'm glad to hear that it has that sound.
Dave - the loco is DCC friendly with a plug&play socket for a sound decoder and a space for a speaker. ESU offers the prototype sound, but with the rather present hum of the drive, I don´t think it´s worth going down this route. Nevertheless, I enjoy watching this little reptile snaking along on my layout!
Heading for the sofa - CUL!
Ed:
Neat picture of the DD1 entrails! The sheer size of real locomotives and their parts always amazes me.
I like your new addition! I always thought that the nickname "Crocodile" was very evocative. I'm glad to hear that it has that sound.
Evening Dinners
Flo, Ed and I will have a please
Boy work was peacfull, only one customer in 9 hours? Should have taken a SD 7 to work and fixed it. But, today I had to play the car shuffle, pick up the dying car, drop it off at the exhaust shop. I will drop off the loud car at the exhaust shop Friday morning and hope there is another 20 miles left in the dying car so I can go to work and come home.
Stopped by K-10 Model Trains tonight (open till 10:00 PM on Thursday. I was amazed by how much I spent to get 9 more B&O coal cars on the rails! $42.00 for couplers and Proto 2000 wheels? When I started the hobby if I spent $42.00 I was walking out with a new engine, and that was just 11 years ago?
Ed Man I getting more impressed by the BLI F7A every time I run it! I swear it is sounding louder (good thing speakers must be breaking in) every time I run it. I will read the manual you linked me to. I am 95% sure there is nothing wrong with the B unit. I was going to do a decoder reset till I saw there was no CV 6.
YGW Sure glad your dad is getting better! I have gotton I think I have 15 of the coal cars on the main line now and love them.
Ulrich I like the Crocodile, does it have sound, or is that just the motor hum? My self, I am more of a Alligator person my self.
Time to fiddle with coal cars, Ken
I hate Rust
Heartland Division CB&QI supposes these NYC electrics are somewhat similar to crocodiles.
You're in my territory there, Garry. Those P2b-s are the former Cleveland Union Terminal electrics. They have a somewhat conventional traction motor drive not unlike today's diesel-electric.
The crocs are probably closer to the Pennsy DD1 which was a motor-jackshaft drive. Pennsy had an L5 electric which was of similar construction and actually looked more like a crocodile on the exterior.
Here's a peek under the hood. Boy would I like to be in that motor compartment at, say, 60 MPH!
Here's what an L5 looks like:
http://brasstrains.com/classic/Product/Detail/054913/HO-Custom-Brass-NJCB-EL-302-PRR-Pennsylvania-1-B-B-1-L-5-Jackshaft-Electric-3930
Fun Stuff!
Howdy .... I'm back from Nashville.
Ricky ... If I understand correctly, your have a promotion at work.... Congratulations.
Ulrich .... Those are very interesting photos of crocodile locomotives. ..
I supposes these NYC electrics are somewhat similar to crocodiles.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, a tall cold glass of lemonade would be great right now. Thank you Ma'am!
I am beat! Today I have been up an at all day. Mowed the lawn, cleaned a "Dry Sink" type cabinet that came from my parents house about 15 years ago when my dad passed away, continued to set up the deck where the party will take place on Saturday, and did some weed whacking around the house, trees, and raised bed gardens. I should sleep well tonight.
Just taking a break before heading to the kitchen to bake some vanilla chocolate chip toll house cookies. So far no one has told me they are bringing desert for the picnic, so i want to have something on hand if we have no desert. I can just bring them out if we need them....
About the only thing that isn't going to get done is to get trains running opn tyhe layout. I was hoping to clean track and check out one of the long trains (pulled by one of the two 2-6-6-2s I have), but I got an email from the Financial manager at church who also is the guy doing sound that he would like to get the new DBX sound EQ up and running before Sunday as he will be gone the week after. He doesn't want the guy who does it as a sub to have to adjust the channels on the board and be the first to use the system with the new EQ applied.... So tomorrow afternoon I will take a couple hour break from clean ing to stop down and hopefully get the job done. It has only been 3 months since we first started the project......
Time to go make cookies.... Hope to have time to catch up on posts before I turn in for bed later.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Don't buy a Trane. At 11 months, old a solder joint went out and dumped all the freon. This time [15 months since new] it is either the motor or modulator. They did not remove either, went back to the shop and decided that there are 2 possible modulators and waited until today to find out. The parts are, according to the clueless owners mother, who mans the phone, is coming from Texas, ...or maybe Georgia and will be here tomorrow.....or maybe Monday.
I lost the light pipes to my RS-1 It is a small double headlight, so I tried to fashion new light pipes out of some clear styrene sprue. Either I made it too small diameter, too long and it broke to short trying to cut it down or it fell off the patio table and down thru seams in the deck. I'm really good now with a dremel and a flat file. Tomorrow I will figure out how to anchor the LED's and run the wires without anything getting pinched and still being able to attach the shell.
Galaxy always had a word for the day. This is a new one for me clowder.
A group of cats is a clowder, I always thought it was a herd.
Steven OtteSpeaking of diner food, next guy who spells my name wrong has to eat tuna casserole.
Ouch!
My apologies! My father-in-law used the "ph" spelling. (brain was in neutral at 5 am)
I often get Edmond, Edmund and Edward spellings for my name so I just keep it to Ed.
Steven, Your next plate of ribs is on me
Me again!
I am watching an old Hollywood classic called "Broadway Limited" from 1941. Nice shots of a streamlined PRR K4 pulling the Broadway Ltd.!
Good afternoon.
Chloe, the special of the day is BBQ Ham sandwiches? I take two then, please! A lemonade would go well with that, thanks.
ATSFGuy - Sorry, but there were no markings on the spine cars, had to go find the box. I have a set of Walthers' 48' five car set, and, a Athearn 57' three car set. (I thought it was Bowser before, my bad... When it wasn't marked underneath I figured it was someone else, all my Bowser stuff has their name underneath somewhere.) The Athearn spine set is their newer run, so is metal, and tracks much better than their plastic Husky Stacks did. Never had any issues with it.
YGW and Cudaken - The promotion comes with about 5-6 extra hours each week, and a base hourly rate increase as well. The newly appointed store manager (had been acting store manager since the other one retired, and doing very well at it, if I may say so.) flat out stated that she wanted me to take it, and would push so that it worked for what I needed. (She knows I have been looking elsewhere, and giving out résumé papers where I have applied, but would like me to stay with her, so is pushing for the highest raise allowed with the promotion for my hourly rate of pay.) So, once all the paperw**k is finished, that is when the extra hours (current average is 29.5 over past 6 weeks, will go to around 35-37 each week, guarenteed no less than 32 even when payroll is cut during the week, which happens when no deliveries are made.) and the pay increase will occur. (Probably next week as her boss is in NH this week at meetings.)
Weather - Hot and humid again, with a current temperature of 84, with a 80+% Humidity rating. The guru's are calling for strong, maybe severe storms later today. Will have to monitor that as we go through the day, just incase.
W**k - Speaking of that promotion, other w**k stuff - Got yet another delivery yesterday, giving us ~200 to open, (actual count is between 175-190) with another ~80 or so opened, but not stocked just for shoes/boots, and a whole bunch of blankets for a display, and then a bunch of toys for our upcoming shift to holiday prep. Over 10 days, we have received almost 600 pieces, with only 6 people available to work them, and customers, and general cleaning and maintainance. Any wonder why we have this much freight left? And don't get me started on the tech issues the past week.... But it is a nice place to work, and I have a very good manager. Much better than a prior place of employment... And, speaking of a very good manager...
Had someone challenge that our new manager was not doing as well as she should be doing. I disagreed, heartily. She is doing a very good job, espescially for a newly appointed store manager. Her hands have been tied by corporate on what we can have for hours, so.....
Hobby - Not much new here, but do still have a few small projects going, that are slowly getting done. One of those do it every now and again, just for a little relaxation and unwinding. Have a couple car kits going, and some weathering and painting projects still. Hopefully I will get some done that I could getba couple pics posted.
Hope all are well, and all have a good day.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Guten Tag Herr Stefan Otte!
I love tuna casserole, may I order it now, as Steven invited me to it?
It´s sweltering hot today, hitting 34°C around noon. It has not yet cooled off, so we have a unhealthy temperature of 27°C inside. I try to cool off by thinking about ice cream - plain vanilla, topped with rum raisins and a hot dark chocolate sauce - yummy, but a forbidden fruit for me.
I love watching the Croc running on my layout! As it seems, the Bemo staff must now sport a sound engineer, as the hum of the motor sounds quite realistic. Even the slightly stomping noise of the prototype can be heard! Love it!
YGW - what´s up with the reptiles, you ask? Well, one of them, a crocodile (that´s the official nick name of my new loco) has chosen my layout as its new habitat!
Allow me to give you a little insight on crocodiles:
1. The original Swiss Crocodile
Built in the 1919 for service on the Gotthard line.
2. The Rhaetian Railway "Baby Crocodile"
Built in 1921 until 1929, 6 surviving, two frequently operating nostalgic trains.
3. German Crocodile
Not officially recognized as a "Crocodile", often also refered to as "Eisenschwein" (iron pig). built from 1940 to 1956.
4. Austrian Crocodile
Built in 1923 onwards. A copycat Swiss Crocodile, but not as good, though. Built for the Arlberg line.
There are more locos having a similar appearance, but none of them earned the title "Crocodile".
TTFN!
Morning diners,
Steven Otte Speaking of diner food, next guy who spells my name wrong has to eat tuna casserole.
Speaking of diner food, next guy who spells my name wrong has to eat tuna casserole.
I never get your name wrong Steven. I got a cousin with the same name. Plus I'm not fond of tuna casserole.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Hey all
Life for my Dad is improving. I feel much better about his prospects. Kids are with grandma ttonight. Me and Mrs YGW will have a date night !
Ed thanks I am glad too !
Jeremy c - You went 190 miles and no one was home !?
Ulrich - So glad to see you doing better ! What is up with the reptiles?
DER - What ?! The grandsons got it all ? I know grandsons can be eating machines !! My little grandson can put away a pile of food and I keep looking for teh little puppy belly but he doenst get it. Must be two hollow legs !
Alvie - Dont you just hate that ! I saw a person who lived near me throw trash out her window. I wanted to go up and down teh road pick up all of teh trash and fill her mailbox ! Then I saw their yard. I could tell they do not take pride in where they live. The message would have ben lost.
Ken - I cannot figure out how the two circles pass each other at the point. Seems like the wheels would get stuck in the rail gap ? Looking forward to the photo : )
Howmus - When I go to the vet I MEEEEEOOOOOOWWWW too. In fact today I get an injection in my knee you will probably hear me around 3pm ! All the way from VA !
Gotta run
YGW
gmpullman Stephen, I thought you fellows were all about the brats and (yum) Liver sausage there in Milwaukee, Ribs are for the folks in K-C, Saint Looie or Omaha? I like to order once in a while from the Usinger Elves in your neck of the woods. Sorry I missed it, though.
Stephen, I thought you fellows were all about the brats and (yum) Liver sausage there in Milwaukee, Ribs are for the folks in K-C, Saint Looie or Omaha? I like to order once in a while from the Usinger Elves in your neck of the woods. Sorry I missed it, though.
That may be, but the Diner isn't in Wisconsin this month. So I picked traditional diner fare, not a regional specialty.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
G'mornin' Diners...
Just a quick hello before I turn in for the remainder. I'm a nocturnal creature to say the least!
Chloe, I think an egg salad sandwich and a cup of Mississippi Mud will do me nicely.
YGW, I'm glad to hear of the progress mede in your father's recovery.
Lion, I hope you have safe travels and are enjoying the pride of your pride after your ride.
Ulrich, I'm glad you finally had a cooler night. Our summer here in northern Ohio has also been hot, muggy and with VERY little rain. weather patterns are certainly making some very unusual cycles.
Are you aware of the portable air cooling units that use a flexible duct to vent the hot air away? Several staffers used them at my w**k when the AC was down.
Glad for your imprived w**k situation, Rick! Hope it eases some of your burden and gets you more free time for trains!
I run maybe six Bowser Road-Railers on my Amreak trains and have never had any problem with them. I put a Ring EOT on the tail end and it looks sweet!
I envy you for getting some saddle time ROR! I hope to get my bike out soon and get to pounding the old B&O r-of-w here soon.
Mrs. Pullman made some skirting out of nine yards of a sand-beige fabric that looks like suede. She was able to cut it lengthwise and get double the run. It only covers about half the layout but it was a big improvement!
KEN, my friend...
I hope you haven't lost any sleep over that silly B unit! As in my reply in the other post, I'll gladly send you another one. I have a set of test rollers, something of high quality that actully is made by Bachmann! I would place the engine on those rollers and use a variable dc power supply with amperage meter to see if the motor is OK.
That would show any problems in the drive train, too. I have a bunsh of those BLI Fs. Some were sound, some were their short-lived silent series, some were blue-line and some I bought from the 'Bay so I really don't know the history of those.
If you can't get anywhere, let me know and I'll send you another.
Speed matching will only work to bring the faster engine down to the speed of the slower one. It can't do anything to raise the speed if there is something inherently wrong with the decoder or drive.
Nobody can say GMPullman doesn't stand behind his freebies!
Hope the SDs give you no pain. Are you going to keep the Bessemer one painted that way? If you need a bay window caboose to go with it I just found a duplicate.
Wow! That photo you posted is amazing! In all my sixty years, I have never seen a dual turntable setup like that before! Cool Beans!
You guys talking about Star Trek and the All Access Pass got me scratching my head?? I looked all through the MR All Access Pass and didn't see one single episode listed Humm, I must be corn-fused!
Alvie, Those P70s sure do sail! They are the free-rollingest pieces of stock I have ever witnessed right out of the box. Actually the MTH streamline HO cars are pretty free rolling but these may have them beat.
The wishbone coupler mount is a bit of a pain but I only had trouble on one two cars. The setup actually works pretty well to draw the cars together on the straights and allow them to stretch in the curves.
One thing I AM having a little difficulty with are the truck bolsters being too stiff and not allowing enough rock-n-roll. I have some superelevated curves and a few of the P70s don't like them. There is no way to adjust the bolster pins. BLI has them generously oiled, though.
The steam, signal and train-line fittings are wrong, of course. Not sure if I'm going to worry about them just yet. Otherwise, great cars.
Have you tried to pry the floor off yet? I haven't gone there. I'll need 528 seated preiser figures if I want to fill every seat!
Well, I see my sandwich is up and don't she look grand.
Check in later, fella's