Herrinchoker - this is true and the better panel bashers still gas weld bodywork instead of TIG welding. The better way my friend showed me was in fact to use oxy/hydrogen as the flame is less hot and easier to control. That said, even my very talented English fabricator won't gas weld because it makes subsequent repairs very difficult.. Same with bronzing stuff. Once done it always needs bronzing after that. Most of the repair jobs are brackets or tanks/radiators in the field so I felt that TIG capability would be more useful.
JR,
In the early days of aviation aluminum was gas welded, (1920s) use of exotic gasses had not been discovered. It was also discovered at that time industrial oxygen had to be pruified to a greater extent than medical oxygen due to the impurities it left in the aluminum, compromising the strength. Dad tried on several occasions to teach me how to weld aluminum, but I do not have the "eye" to do so. There is a color that is reached when the torch has to be pulled back before everything drops out. He made four boxes for "important" papers, all gas welded, and then fishscaled, my older brother has them.
herrinchoker
From today's "Progressive Railroading"
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
York1I'm having bacon, eggs, and black coffee right now. A little late for breakfast, but I took my time this morning. Breakfast is good any time of day. Join me for breakfast and coffee.
Well, it is lunch time here at our zoo. I had a very nice dish of ham and eggs baked into a turnover.
Very Good!
riogrande5761Kirk gets the whole ship to himself with a pretty girl
Of course she would be pretty. Who would want to give an unattractive girl a virus?
Well, maybe I would if she promised not to serve me meatloaf.
Thank you for not taking offense Mr B (or if you did, letting it slide). We have had the metric/english thing too and we won't even go into kilopasquels or what ever they were. I can't read telemetry in real time if I have to enter it all into a calculator to get numbers I can comprehend. The intermittent fuel pump is another matter. I would be willing to bet a space vehicle has a pretty complicated wire harness not even taking into condideration the backup systems. We went crazy all last season trying to find a fault in one brake temp sensor. Finally found it when we had time to pull the harness and lay it out.
Robert, I will look forward to seeing progress reports on your layout. That bridge in WPF was magnificent. Best, J.R.
As a former rocket scientist myself, I must say it's sometimes a difficult discipline, but there's a lot of routine engineering in there, too. Lots of parts, just like a locomotive, but you can't pull into a service depot when something goes wrong, so failure is not an option.
Remember the European Mars lander that crashed? That happened because the had some mission software in metric units and some in English units. Sometimes, even on Mars, you can't fix stupid.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I am alive and healthy. Furthermore, my family is alive and healthy. My entire family.
The less said now is less that will have to be apologized for in the future.
As time goes by, I will try to make updates to my layout build thread.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Good morning, everyone.
Another one of those beautiful mornings where the sun, temperature, clouds, and wind all come together for a Garden of Eden day.
I have to go to the grocery store today. My wife says I have to wear a mask, and I always do what she says.
I am finally taking care of layout things I don't really like -- ballasting. It seems I'm never satisfied with how it looks.
Have a good day, everyone.
Edit: Top of the Page!
I'm having bacon, eggs, and black coffee right now. A little late for breakfast, but I took my time this morning. Breakfast is good any time of day.
Join me for breakfast and coffee.
York1 John
Theme for the day?
CN_6506-at-Smithers-BC-11-71 by Edmund, on Flickr
Smithers, BC. Those were the days... I remember when the "temporary" ditch lights were added to the head-end at Edmonton for the run into the mountains.
I hope everyone is well.
Cheers, Ed
Thanks Mike. That's what I was afraid of. Even among friends some topics are better left alone.
GMTRacing I see nothing about him leaving the forum.
OK, just thought I would mention them. I've only used them for wood working projects, and nothing model railroading.
As far as Robert P., he started a thread in the General Discussion, said he was leaving and wanted moderators to delete everyhting he had posted. That thread is gone, but some of layout build is still up.
It was something that was started in here, the diner.
I'll end it right it, so I don't get "ended"!
Mike.
My You Tube
Mike,
I have a selection of those furniture sticks, tried those first and felt the softer pastel crayons did a better job more quickly. I also had better colour match that way - multiple colors and shades on the ties.
Unless Robert was involved in one of the threads that was deleted and took offense, his last post was Monday back and forth with Kevin. I see nothing about him leaving the forum. These are stressful, trying times but I hope he is not missing. J.R.
GMTRacing I tried something else and used some oil based pastel crayons to try to camoflage the holes.
There are also a variety of wood filler sticks out there, in a huge selection of colors, by many manufacturers, for filling nail holes and minor imperfections on furniture and such, that work great for nail holes in track.
Speaking of Star Trek and social distancing in the same thought, you original series fans go watch episode - The Mark of Gideon. Kirk gets the whole ship to himself with a pretty girl and wonders what is going on!
Turns out that episode is a strange reverseal of what is going on in the world today. In stead of trying to prevent sickness, the planet Gideon has eliminated sickness so well the world if over crowded. In scenes where they show the leaders, you can see through the window all these "extras" hired to just mill around bumping into each other. (when I was a kid, I used to play Star Trek with my siblings and we would pretend to be on Gideon and mill around bumping into each other!).
Anyway, the twist is, Kirk was confined on a replica of the Enterprise with the leaders daughter with the purpose of passing to her a virus he was a carrier of, but all the crew were inoculated against (and presumably all of the Federation) so he was to get her sick so she could pass a new virus to the population of Gideon so there would be natural disease and thus reduce the population and keep it in check.
BTW, anyone know what happened to Robert Petrick? Why did he leave?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Good Morning All,
Took a while to catch up posts but with Brent back there were more.
Dave- hope your SIL makes a prompt and full recovery.
Brent - I share your pain or at least the memory of it. Moving into this shop we hired riggers who were struggling with our Hitachi turrent lathe and finally slid it off the skids onto my foot. All 5 toes broken (the doc laughingly referred to them as powder) and I had all the toenails pulled so he could set the toes. Actually the worst part was getting needles in each toe to anesthetize them.
Kevin - actually rocket scientists are mere engineers. We get to work with engineers at the track. There is a reason they are often referred to as "educated dummies". My apologies to those of you I have just offended. My experience has been uneven at best.
I have been spending at least a couple of hours an evening on the layout. I read with interest Kevins epoxy fix for the nail holes in trackage. Being lazy, I tried something else and used some oil based pastel crayons to try to camoflage the holes.
track before by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr
track filled by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr
It is after all the "good enough" layout. Still noodling around with the high tension wires. I added 1" scraps of sprue to the bottom of the towers and planted them in the layout where I think they will work. I will still need to get some easy line as they are in front of the long bridge on the back wall and if I need to clean or service any of that area for sure I will snag the lines. Flex lines will be better there just for the give in them.
All for now, off to the shop. Today I am working on the gen set and portable (air cooled) TIG i want to put in the primary trailer. Yesterday we serviced the welder, today I will finish the gen set and hook it all together to ensure the gen set will run the welder. Up to now we had used just a small oxy/acetylene set but aluminum was not possible nor was header repair. Since aluminum brackets and headers crack most often this will be a big help.
Catch y'all later, J.R.
Good morning everyone,
Flo, I'll take steak, scrambled eggs with cheese, and some english muffins. As well as a large cup of iced coffee with hazel nut creamer.
I posted a long comment on being affected by the virus, so not repeating here. But hoping everyone is doing alright all things considered. Prayers to those in need. I'm in an essential line of work and have been working a lot, the pay has been great, for me, but I do miss spending time with people outside work.
I to am a fan of submarine movies! I do love Hunt for Red October, and I liked the book too. K-19 The Widowmaker is another one I liked a lot. Crimson Tide always holds a soft-spot for me as I watched it on a flight to London in 1995. On the return flight we watch Under Siege II. Not a great movie but it did take place on a train. I've enjoyed documentaries as well, and the book Blind Man's Bluff.
Alvie
BATMAN
Brent (or anyone north of Washington),
I'm not too educated on Canadian steam, but they were absolutely beautiful with their paint schemes and stylish front ends. What is the behemoth above?
John
No problem Bear
If you stand on one of those railroad ties, that is you the Bear and you have your space
You can put a person 3 to 4 railroad ties to the north of you and 3 to 4 railroad ties to the south of you
Unless the line is running east to west Then just repeat the above steps
This is social distancing and I was glad to be of help
Unless you're hungry at the time and want to eat the being standing on the third or fourth tie At that point you will be violating social distancing but you will be full
TF
British Columbia has several railway museums. Here is the Revelstoke Museum:
https://www.railwaymuseum.com/
This is another one in Squamish. Unfortunately they don't seem to be offering much information on their website:
http://www.wcra.org/
Here is another. Unfortunately the website is very slow to load:
https://www.pgrfm.bc.ca/
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
That was good Kevin..... Entertaining, I couldn't have said any of it any better myself
Track fiddlerSubmarine movies, I'm going to watch U-571 tonight.
I think U-571 is the best submarine movie as far as being a movie goes.
When I watch a movie, I am a movie fan first, and a history buff second. U-571 is a very exciting movie that draws you in, even if the history is all very bad.
Most of my friends will pan a World War Two movie if they botch the history. I am not like that, I will pan a movie if they botch the movie part even if the history is fairly solid (*ahem* Dunkirk).
No matter how much research you put into the history, if it is a chore to watch, you failed as a movie maker.
However, some historical violations cannot be overlooked and will ruin a movie for me, like the Higgins Boats in Robin Hood. That was laugh fest for all of us that saw that movie together.
I almost lost my interest in Game Of Thrones when they said the gates at The Wall were made of "Cold Rolled Steel". That was way too much for me to take. Just kidding, I never could have lost interest in Game Of Thrones!
BATMAN I don't think working on cars is rocket science
The only thing that is Rocket Science is Rocket Science.
However, all of us that were responsible for keeping vehicles and equipment moving were laughing at the Rocket Scientists at NASA a few years ago when they could not successfully troubleshoot an intermittently out of range low reading failure from a fuel pressure sensor, and the Space Shuttle was grounded for weeks while they figured it out.
Haha... welcome to reality Rocket Scientists!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Judy and I play one game of Yahtzee every night. I finally won after a three game losing streak. Five fives in one shake. 3 of a kind-sixes, 4 of a kind-sixes. Didn't cross out anything for the game, I got em all.
Folks, it's a huge accomplishment to be a Yahtzee champion in this day and age!
Tomorrow I have only one job in the building and then I'm going to make some more bents.
That could be cut short though if it's another beautiful evening like it was tonight.
Brent - Glow plug relay for a 7.3 diesel in a Ford you say? Sure thing.
I will leave it up to you to explain to my boss why it's a two day delivery, while using his air miles for it though...
Weather - Now a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 12:15am (0015) for the entire shoreline of Lake Erie, from Toledo Ohio to Buffalo NY, and everywhere in between! Holy large storm system Batman! (Couldn't resist!)
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.
BATMAN thinking back to what the generation before us went through I am happy knowing I have a warm place to sleep with a full tummy and good health care.
Yep! same here. Everything else I can deal with.
Good one Ricky Judy has shared some songs she has found. They're funny.
The funnyest one I've heard so far was someone redid 50 ways to leave your lover and changed it to 50 ways to escape the covid
Judy and I colored Easter eggs tonight. In past years we have done some chin dropping eggs but this year we're not getting too fancy.
We're going to make potato salad out of them in a day or two and then color some more.
What's funny is Judy wants me to hide them for her so she can find them......I'm a sport
Eveing Diners.
Flo, give the gang and I a please, Ed a Crown Royal and Dirk half a dog treat.
Dumb Nancy / Work Front! God she is such a dingbat! She called nd asked if anyone had came in, told her no. Asked me if the had the American Flags out and the open sighn on? Told her yes. Then she asked "Why arn't people coming in the store"? I said "because they don't want to catch the Corona Virus and die"! Then I really went off on her about my wife want's me to quite! She got Marvin on the phone which I did not want to happen. That part went OK but he is living in make believe land.
I still have a job of sorts, still not sure I want it?
Later, Ken and Dirk say's quite Daddy so you are home all the time Woof, Woof!
I hate Rust
Rick, can you swing by with a glow plug relay for a 7.3 ltr diesel? The truck will start but relies on compression to ignite the juice when the relay fails. I'll pick one up in the next couple of days and put it in, easy fix. I am not a car guy and I don't think working on cars is rocket science but I am not going to pay Ford $300.00 to change a $20.00 glow plug relay.
Watching some of the upfront economic projections of our leaders and thinking back to what the generation before us went through I am happy knowing I have a warm place to sleep with a full tummy and good health care. I like to think of the positives knowing if I have those three things, hard work can get me whatever else I want. My children are safe and secure and unlike their Grandparents not having to go fight in some war on the other side of the world. When the only inconvenience is having to stay home why do we complain.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Good evening all.
Zoe - A Nice big Coke Float tonight please. Thanks.
Dave - Hope the SIL gets well soon.
Brent - Welcome Back!!!!
Steve-O - Thanks for still checking in on us patrons while doing the whole stuck at home bit.
Ok - Which wise guy raised the jukebox price to a roll of TP?!? Oh well, it's virtual, so, no use in complaining. Not like i need virtual TP anyways.... This is the local radio stations new favorite... I already have the words almost memorized, and they only started playing it today.... At 15 minute intervals... All Day Long....
I don't know, it IS kinda catchy...
Yes, this is a legit country song, by a legit country group, that has a few more well known songs in their repertoire... Like this one, one of my favorites they did from a few years back - (2007!!!!!! YIKES!!!!!!)
Anyone catch the ACM Special? I thought that was a neat little way to still do something while the pandemic has changed everything.
Weather - Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect until 0300. (3 AM Eastern Time Zone.) It has hit 65°F the last two days in a row. A bit of rain this afternoon, but not bad.
Looks like the night might be a long one though...
W*^k - BUSY!!!! Holy cow, I went Everywhere today!!!! Put 180 miles on the delivery car, which a "normal" day sees 100-125.... Delivered from 8:30 am, till lunch at noon, then immediately after lunch from 1:00pm until 5:10pm, with quiting time supposed to be 5:00.
One garage we deliver too is closed on Wednesday's effective now till further notice, one is closed on Friday's until further notice, three are closed indefinately, and another three are "no delivery due to possible virus exposure" for 2 weeks. Three more are off limits due to travel restrictions. One place (not really a garage) is on a skeleton crew, with very few orders, and another garage is possibly going to close Monday's starting next week.
Yesterday was one of "those" Monday's... First, the driver in front of me while en route to make a delivery went off road, flat out missing a curve. When I stopped to check on him, he couldn't talk, or respond at all. Turns out he was experiencing a probable stroke. I left after emergency responders arrived. I was told he was transported to the local ER, no clue how everything turned out.
Then, I got back to the store to find the electric power had gone out...
Yep... one of "those" Monday's indeed...
Trains - Still have a few small projects going. As the weather has been more cooperative, I fired up the airbrush to paint a few trucks (boggies for those elsewhere) for some hopper cars I have been working on. I have a few more sets to paint, then I will do the wheelsets for them.
Any recommendations on how to strip paint off of old Roundhouse kits? They are either getting re-decaled or a full repaint and decal set. I've tried just the microsol with pencil eraser on the decals, which did nothing, so I tried 99% Isoropyl, with very poor results.
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the night!
EDITED - Corrected goof up for song linking...