hon30critterI am committed...
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Hi Brent,
I am committed to building the snow plow. I'm just waiting for some parts.
BATMANDave, did you ever get the trailer built?
Alas that is yet another project sitting on the back of the workbench. My passion for building things has declined significantly.
Dave
Edit:
Top of the page! We broke down and ordered pizza and wings for supper last night. There is lots left over. Help yourself. I also have eight or nine different beers on hand to go with it.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good evening all.
Dave, it was a long time ago but I remember following your Mckeen motor car build with great enthusiasm. I hope you go forward with the plow.
I got on the bike today and definitely could feel I did not have the breathing capacity I normally do, so rode at 80% for 44 minutes which was a good compromise. I felt much better for it. My son and his GF are in very good physical condition but are suffering, the wife is keeping tabs on them.
Dogs and weather, they know way ahead of time what is coming. Full moons are another time we have some restless nights as the coyotes howl and keep us all awake for a couple of nights. The biggie is when we get an Earthquake, they jump to their feet a couple of minutes before we hear or feel it.
I can't imagine life without a dog, they say dogs make you live longer and I believe it. They know I am not 100% and I enjoy their extra mushiness. I wonder if you have lots of dogs if that makes you live even longer, I should be good for 120.
The world weather has gone crazy. In November we had 165% of total November rainfall in three days. We are still in recovery mode.
Pilots flying in and over Vancouver are saying the Northern Lights show is pretty good. So far it has been sunny all day and cloudy all night so I haven't seen a thing.
Dave, did you ever get the trailer built?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
York1Dave, good luck with the plow. Post some photos when you finish!
Hi John,
I'll make sure to do that. I don't think it will be finished for a few weeks at least. I'm waiting for some parts. I did manage to find a motor and a worm that match up in my parts bins. All I had to order from NWSL was some 1.5mm shaft, bearings and a worm gear. The motor is a Sagami coreless unit. I picked up a box full of Sagami motors on eBay a few years ago for peanuts.
Should be fun.
York1 Our dog does the same thing. The strange thing is that she is deaf, so it can't be that she hears a storm. I've wondered if it's something about the change in air pressure that alerts a dog.
Our dog does the same thing. The strange thing is that she is deaf, so it can't be that she hears a storm. I've wondered if it's something about the change in air pressure that alerts a dog.
Agreed. Nothing beats a dogs instint in my opinion. Their senses are just so finely tuned compared to ours.
JJF
Prototypically modeling the Great Northern in Minnesota with just a hint of freelancing.
Yesterday is History.
Tomorrow is a Mystery.
But today is a Gift, that is why it is called the Present.
JDawgI "sought shelter" in my laundry room with the dog until it passed. The poor girl was FREAKED out. She woke me up with her whining before my phone had even alerted me with it's unholy screech.
York1 John
JDawg, an eighth of a mile is a little too close for comfort for a tornado. Like Kevin said, I doubt if you will find too many places with tornado shelters in Florida. Although I think you guys do get tornadoes after hurricanes.
I hope no one got hurt, but I know that mobile home parks usually have lots of injuries from tornadoes.
SeeYou190 JDawg Another tornado was up by Matlache and Cape Coral. I think that was the one that got me out of bed early. I did not hear the storm itself, but I heard my piles of construction supplies fall over in the backyard. A stack of concrete block was shifted, and my concrete mixer was moved about 30 feet. That must have beed some wind. WINK 11 said to seek shelter in a BASEMENT!?!?! What is a basement? Where does he think he is? I think he was just reading from a NWS report. JDawg Come to Florida they said. The weather is great they said. You'll love it they said. Normally in DEC-FEB that is very true. Not this year. You got a bum deal for sure. -Kevin
JDawg Another tornado was up by Matlache and Cape Coral.
I think that was the one that got me out of bed early. I did not hear the storm itself, but I heard my piles of construction supplies fall over in the backyard. A stack of concrete block was shifted, and my concrete mixer was moved about 30 feet. That must have beed some wind.
WINK 11 said to seek shelter in a BASEMENT!?!?!
What is a basement? Where does he think he is? I think he was just reading from a NWS report.
JDawg Come to Florida they said. The weather is great they said. You'll love it they said.
Normally in DEC-FEB that is very true. Not this year. You got a bum deal for sure.
-Kevin
A basement is a special place that people in my neck of the woods keep all sorts of junk in. Or, those of us that enjoy trains often set up our "basement empires" down there.
Yeah, it has been better than MN weather, but not by much. I "sought shelter" in my laundry room with the dog until it passed. The poor girl was FREAKED out. She woke me up with her whining before my phone had even alerted me with it's unholy screech. Long story short, I had a 100 pound lab trying to get on my lap... in the laundrey room... during a tornado.
Sure dident have to do THAT in MN.
JDawgAnother tornado was up by Matlache and Cape Coral.
JDawgCome to Florida they said. The weather is great they said. You'll love it they said.
Living the dream.
Today's (and tomorrow's) forecast for the Finger Lakes Region of NYS.
Hmmmm.... This might be a good idea....
Stay Safe! Healthy! And.... Warm!!!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and coffee please.
No church this morning -- I am sick -- either a cold or flu, but this has really knocked me for a loop.
MLC, I can imagine Mississippi with the snow. Don't worry about your own driving, watch out for everyone else!
Brent, I hope your experience with the virus is short and mild. All of my friends who have had it had mild cases.
Dave, good luck with the plow. Post some photos when you finish!
Charlie, I think you and us do some things in common. I buy a lot of groceries, and then we don't go out for long stretches. I spend all of my time in the train room, which is just fine with my wife.
Ed, neat photos of the snowplow.
Fergmiester, it's good to hear from you again. I know what you mean about certain projects -- my crossing signals took me three months of on again-off again work until they were finished. Check back into the diner again soon -- maybe with a picture of your signal project!
David, don't you love it when stuff like that happens with your grandson? No one was hurt, no one did anything wrong, but revenge is sweet in a case like this!
Ed, that is an amazing model! I also have not pronounced mallet correctly.
Kevin, at least the cold and rain means no digging! I would say that would be a win for me.
TF, I got sick after you -- that means you must have given it to me. Hope you feel better soon.
I guess there won't be anything happening here the next couple of days. I'll just sit in my rocker, drinking coffee and watching TV.
I hope everyone has a good Sunday!
SeeYou190 Track fiddler As soon as I'm feeling better I'd like to go somewhere South to enjoy some nice weather outside. Don't come here. It is cold, rainy, and we have a Tornado Watch right now. This is the worst Winter weather I remember. 2022 is not off to a good start. -Kevin
Track fiddler As soon as I'm feeling better I'd like to go somewhere South to enjoy some nice weather outside.
Don't come here. It is cold, rainy, and we have a Tornado Watch right now.
This is the worst Winter weather I remember. 2022 is not off to a good start.
From what I've been hearing, you sure have been getting a bum wrap on what's typically the nicest time of year in Florida this year Kevin
TF
1st Tornado passed by about 1/8 mile from my condo building. Tropicana mobile home community was destroyed, they are now evacuating it. Another tornado was up by matlache and Cape Coral and a third was near Marco island and Naples.
Come to Florida they said. The weather is great they said. You'll love it they said.
227 was so huge when we visited, you couldn't even get the whole thing in one photo but was quite an experience to see in person.
I found out later the sister is displayed outside in Proctor. I still have yet to go visit that one but I'm gonna!
Informative video you shared so I found what I had. Thanks Ed
we got 3 inches of snow here in the South. Roads are slick as they have no plows etc.
we have to travel home in this.
I had to go buy a new Dehumidifier early this morning as the one we were using had a sensor failure.
I will take the broken one to the Northern Command and fix the sensor and have a spare. I did not have the luxury of fixing it here as it failed at 3 am. and we travel back home today.
gmpullmanDo a search for CPU fan or graphics card fan. https://www.ebay.com/itm/284205337503?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Interesting idea. Thanks.
I've got it in my wee head that I want to scratchbuild the blade assemblies. I haven't done any modelling for quite some time. This might be the spark that gets me going again.
It might be a few weeks before I can work on the blades. The spoked wheels I ordered might not be here until March.
Track fiddlerAs soon as I'm feeling better I'd like to go somewhere South to enjoy some nice weather outside.
gmpullmanTHIS is pretty neat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4RooNoY_A
Thanks for that video Ed! The model is amazing. It shows just what can be done if you have the right skills.
I also learned something. I have been pronouncing the word 'Mallet' with a hard 't'. I don't think I had ever heard the word spoken before. Now I stand corrected.
Cheers!!
Morning
Been sick as a dog on the couch for a worst part of a week.
As soon as I'm feeling better I'd like to go somewhere South to enjoy some nice weather outside. I'd happily volunteer to drive the golf cart unless Clyde is still doing such a good job of it at that time.
https://youtu.be/DJsn1QivbKM
Right Turn Clyde!
P.S. Neat video on the Yellowstone Ed. I have seen Ralphs model of 225 up there but had no idea he worked on it for 28 years. Quite impressive.
Good afternoon Diners. Rustle up a chicken salad please, Brunhilda. A large coffee to go with it as well.
Some mornings take awhile for Dawn to 'get going'. Been like that today.
Revenge!!! My eight year old grandson loves soccer. A year back he trained at a well known Soccer Academy. Although he won a number of awards, the owner of the Academy let my grandson go, as not good enough.
He joined a local soccer team near where he lives. The league they play in has teams of older age group. Many a time my grandson is on the losing side, but still manages to be 'Man of the Match'.
Anyway. Today they played the Soccer Academy. My grandson scored two goals in a 4-2 victory. With once again the 'Man of the Match' award my grandson is grinning from ear to ear. Revenge!!!
A Simple Photograph. A Simple Scene. Easy to model.
Oh how we remember. It could be anywhere. A young boy talking to the Engine Driver. Note how the railing goes down to the boys waistline. Did the builders of the railing know a boy would stand there?
The fact that it is the end of the line at Panama City. The locomotive is number 1861 of The Panama Canal Railroad. The style of railing. The boy doesn't care. A memory that will stay with him the rest of his life.
IMG_0875 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Stay Safe Everyone.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Morning all!
in for a big mug before I get hauled out the door and into the -14 (7 F) by the puppy. Hoping to get at the layout today to work on scenery and also figure out why I decided to install signals on the layout.... Argggh.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
BATMANEd that snow machine looks like it can fly, can it?
When the wings extend it looks like the Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang car!
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Howard, on Flickr
When that blade is spinning look out for flying ballast!
THIS is pretty neat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4RooNoY_A
Cheers, Ed
Evening all.
Spent hours in the train room today, it was a good day.
Felt good today but BP was 126/79, that's 20 points higher than normal for me and is a result of likely having covid according to our Doctor friends. No working out until I return to normal as covid can play nasty with the heart. My son had a really rough day with it today, he is feeling quite beat up as is his girlfriend.
We are apparently getting a great Northern Lights show this weekend but it is cloudy here, hope it clears up.
Ed that snow machine looks like it can fly, can it?
Hockey and trains this must be heaven.
hon30critterIf anyone else has any suggestions, please share them.
Back when I used to be a productive citizen (AKA employed) I used to like rummaging around in the bins full of old computer parts and hulks that GE was paying Waste Management to haul away once a month.
I would drag home tons of "good stuff" that I was sure would find a use on the model RR. Somewhere around here I still have a crate full of "pancake fans". Some were very small, down to about an inch square, like you'd find on a video card that fits into a PC. Do a search for CPU fan or graphics card fan.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/284205337503?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Maybe you could search for some of those? This one is certainly on the large side but there are certainly smaller ones. Of course, you're left with the dilemma of finding a right-hand and left hand pair?
Sidewinder_Plow by Edmund, on Flickr
Sidewinder_Plow1 by Edmund, on Flickr
They already have hubs for 1.5 mm shafting. Alternately you could see if the fellows over in the shipbuilding arena have any screws that might work?
https://www.modelboatbits.com/Model-Boat-Propellers/
Approaching snowbound Sharon Springs by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Quite the “snowblower!” by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Blasting through Brookfield by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Good Evening,
We are having a warm day here, it is 16F but a bit windy,
Still working on that Branchline sleeper. Did one truck today that was 27 parts. I have to let the cement set on some prts before I add others or I might knock them off. Those brake hangers sure are small. Makes it a slow process
Nothing new here. Did a grocery pickup rhis week so I can just stay home next week. Luckily the car has a fairly large trunk.
I have been running trains a little. The Northern is still on passenger duty.
An add for a'66 Sunbeam Tiger just popped up on my screen. One of my dream cars. Perhaps in another life.
CN Charlie
hon30critterAs far as the thickness of the copper pipe end cap walls are concerned, if it doesn't look right I can grind the inner walls to fix that.
Great minds, I was thinking the same thing.
BATMANDave, It looks to me that the drums are about 5' across judging by the guys standing in them.
I figured that the drum is a little under 6' so I have ordered 3/4" and 1" caps. Based on the lengths of the two gentlemens' arms and legs, I am guessing that the blades are about 30" high so the whole rotating assembly is somewhere around 11' in diameter. The blades also appear to be fairly wide. I'm guessing about 4' each assuming the plough body is 10' wide.
I just ordered some really cheap RC 6 spoke wheels that resemble the hub assemblies, although the wheels are flat and not concave. If I can't correct the shape I won't have lost much. They were $1.00 each with free shipping, and I have 10 of them to play with. I may be able to get the concave shape by cutting off some of the rims, gluing 2 or 3 of the spoke assemblies together and then hollowing out the center.
As far as the thickness of the copper pipe end cap walls are concerned, if it doesn't look right I can grind the inner walls to fix that. I thought about using brass sheet to form the drum but I think the copper cap will be much easier to work with. I won't have to worry about any seams becoming unsoldered when I an attaching the blades.
If anyone else has any suggestions, please share them.
York1Well ... How about those two good news posts in a row! I am very happy to hear that both surgeries went well, and recoveries have started. Thanks, Mike and Henry, for keeping us informed.
hon30critter BATMAN Are you thinking of having the blades spin? A small motor with a rubber band drive could work as there would be little resistance to stretch the rubber band. Hi Brent, It would be nice if the blades were able to spin. The challenge would be to get them balanced properly given that they will be scratchbuilt. I think I have figured out how to make the center hubs of the blades using 3/4" or 1" copper pipe caps (whichever looks better), and if I can find the right size, a couple of cheap six spoke RC car wheels. I will make the final blades out of brass but I will use card stock to create the templates. I've got lots of car siding and brass sheet, rivet decals etc. etc. I'm going to wait until the Accurail 36' box car is delivered before deciding on any final dimensions. Dave
BATMAN Are you thinking of having the blades spin? A small motor with a rubber band drive could work as there would be little resistance to stretch the rubber band.
It would be nice if the blades were able to spin. The challenge would be to get them balanced properly given that they will be scratchbuilt.
I think I have figured out how to make the center hubs of the blades using 3/4" or 1" copper pipe caps (whichever looks better), and if I can find the right size, a couple of cheap six spoke RC car wheels. I will make the final blades out of brass but I will use card stock to create the templates.
I've got lots of car siding and brass sheet, rivet decals etc. etc. I'm going to wait until the Accurail 36' box car is delivered before deciding on any final dimensions.
Dave, It looks to me that the drums are about 5' across judging by the guys standing in them. There appear to be two drums, one on each side so the pipe caps may work. A thinner gauge copper cap may look good. Could you then cut the spokes out of the brass sheet, attach it to the spindle and pull it into the drum hoping to bend them as you pull them in? You could then solder the spokes to the drum.
Or bend brass sheet around something round like a small thread spool, cut out a round brass end piece and solder that on. Of course you could do the same with styrene.
Well the doom and gloom for my Northern Command was bust, just rain.
Now between the Northern Command and where I am at currently The Southern Command, may be a different story as we are now under a wintwer sotrm warning here tonight until tomorrow afternoon. I will have to drive back carefully during this nice wet snow storm.
Who would have thunk that the Southern Command would get hit and not the Northern.
It has been a lazy few days here, read a whole book, got to rummage through the "bargain barn". Delivered two radios back to their owner. plan for on call next week. (blah)
we plan to hit the "bargain barn" on the way back to the Northern Command, so long as the wether is not too nasty.
I will report sometime later.