Come on back to the caboose and get a cup of coffee [or sweet ice tea] - Part VII

John Baker

New Member
Good evening guys,

Well both PA teams won in the NFL playoffs. So far so good. sure would be nice to have an all PA superbowl.

Jeffrey, where did you get the interior images that you printed?

I asked this question on another forum, but will try again here. When laying HO flex track, does it matter or is it easier to lay the track on curves with the movable rail on the inside or outside on curves?

Have a good week,

John,
Having worked in HO and N for 40+ years, and now due to galloping decrepitude Lionel O. I never gave much thought to this question, but this sums up my track laying practice. Assuming that you are laying the track to its finished position? the outer rail will always pull back from the chairs, I therefore clamp this in position at the connection to the previously laid section, it will then slide out of the chairs downstream as you pull and pin the curve, with the aid of a cutting jig and razor saw cut back the longer inner rail, clean up the end and continue. I also used 'Tracketta' templates.
Hope this helps.:killer:
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 32 and partly cloudy. The high is expected to be around 60 and it will be partly cloudy.

Got the interior background pieces for the Shell station printed up yesterday and spent nearly 2 hours cutting them out. I put them together into a wall last night and installed it in the sales area of the station. Wouldn't you know the wall would warp later on. Too late to do anything about it now. I'll just have to live with it. Today I plan to do some work on mt Walther's engine house. It has two doors that are close together. That's always bugged me. I plan to remove the center section and make it one wide door, then I can lay two tracks in side by side without needing a certain length of track (which I don't have) to clear a turnout to clear the center section. By removing the center section I don't need that run of track. Still need to start work on the foundation of the Midtown Consolidators building as well.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 1/12/2009

Wind Chill: 32°F
Humidity: 92%
Dew Point: 30°F

So Far Today
High: 33°F
Low: 32°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE



Today
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High: 60 Partly cloudy. Highs around 60. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight
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Low: 35 Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower to mid 30s. South winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming northwest after midnight.

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sir james

Member
Howdy All,another cold day with more snow expected overnite. I'm trying to find a way to send the snow to the Chief as we don't need anymore and I know he would love to have it. Other than that just trying to stay warm and well...S.J.
 

jefelectric

Member
John,
Having worked in HO and N for 40+ years, and now due to galloping decrepitude Lionel O. I never gave much thought to this question, but this sums up my track laying practice. Assuming that you are laying the track to its finished position? the outer rail will always pull back from the chairs, I therefore clamp this in position at the connection to the previously laid section, it will then slide out of the chairs downstream as you pull and pin the curve, with the aid of a cutting jig and razor saw cut back the longer inner rail, clean up the end and continue. I also used 'Tracketta' templates.
Hope this helps.:killer:
Thanks John.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 43 and partly cloudy. The high today is expected to be around 50 and it will be partly cloudy.

For all my intentions to get certain things done yesterday I actually accomplished very little. I got lighting in the Shell station sorted out so I don't have that big bulb hanging down in full view. Other than that I didn't get anything accomplished on the layout. For some reason I was just very tired yesterday. Later I went down to my parents place and gathered up the trash and put it out for collection this morning since my father wouldn't be there to do it then went over to my nieces place and watched her live-in boy friend do something that could best be described as demonstrating how NOT to attempt the installation of a dog door. He's going shopping for a new front door for the trailer today as the old one now has an oversized hole in it. Before I left there I got a tape measure and showed him what he SHOULD have done to start with as in measure the dog door from side to side where the screws come through then do the same from top to bottom. I made sure he wrote the measurements down before I left. He doesn't seem to be real swift on DIY projects.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 1/13/2009

Wind Chill: 38°F
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: 34°F

So Far Today
High: 44°F
Low: 38°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph NW

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Today High: 52 Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. North winds 10 to 15 mph.

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Tonight Low: 28 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s. North winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming light after midnight.

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jefelectric

Member
Good morning,

Another cold one here. To be down to 7 & 8 degrees on Thursday and Friday nights. Hope my pond pumps don't freeze up.

Spent the morning trouble shooting my MTH, PRR A-5 switcher. For you non PRR people that is an 0-4-0. When I tried to run it over Christmas, I sat it on the track and turned on the power. It immediately blew a fuse. Since the granddaughters were here and want to RUN TRAINS, I just put another engine on and set it aside. On examination I discovered the rear pickup roller on the tender was stuck in the up position and was shorting to the bronze strip that picks up the outside rail current. I popped it loose and when placed on the track it ran fine for about 2 laps. It came to a sudden halt when the 10A fuse popped again. After I checked it out I discovered the same problem, but on closer examination discovered the roller wasn't mechanicly stuck, rather it had welded itself to the bronze strip. I'm now waiting for the coating of epoxy with which I covered the bronze strip to dry. Hope this works. It looks like the roller just clears the bronze strip when it is sitting on the track. When it goes over anything that sticks up just a mite such as a switch or uncoupling ramp, it hits. Will report back with the results.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 29 and partly cloudy out here by the lake. It's a nice warm 72 in here where I am. The high today should be in the upper 50's and it will be partly cloudy.

Did some initial prep work yesterday to modify the double entry doors of the Walther's engine house. My intent is to make it into one wide entry instead of two narrow ones. This will allow me to run two tracks in from a turnout placed in close proximity to the structure. There are still two other projects that require my attention so I at least have something to keep me occupied for a while.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 1/14/2009


Wind Chill: 29°F (-1c)
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 25°F (-5c)

So Far Today
High: 30°F (-1c)
Low: 29°F (-2c)
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph NE

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Today High: 58 (14c) Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

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Tonight Low: 32 (0c) Mostly clear until late night then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s. West winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming north after midnight.

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sir james

Member
Good evening all, Cold till saturday next two days will have a high of seven. I ran some trains yesterday, but goofed off today just read some of OGR and watched some TV. have a great evening...S.J.
 

jefelectric

Member
Where is everybody? Spent the day at the Museum cataloging photographs as usual. Some very interesting ones today. Forecast is that it will not raise above freezing until next Wednesday when it is to be 34. I'm ready for Spring. :thumb:
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 33 here and partly cloudy. High today will be around 47 and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterday seemed to be fix-it day. I had a water line outside that had taken it into it's head to start leaking a little so I had to tighten it. Stopped the leak. Rebuilt a HO grain trailer that had some issues and made some repairs on a 53' container and chassis. Next on the list was to replace the starter unit in the kitchen light fixture. It's one of those cheap 18" fluorescent fixtures that uses the little round starter that's about as big as a 1/4 ounce paint bottle. The old starter had been in there so long (10+ years) that it seemed frozen in position and wasn't coming out without a fight. I ended up taking a pair of pliers to it to get it to turn the required quarter turn to come loose. Once it was out it was a simple matter to install the new one. Now the light works as it should instead of taking 20 seconds to a minute to come on. I then took my frustrations out on a poor defenseless 1/87 AMC Pacer and reduced it to a rusted hulk with smashed windows and flat tires. That felt good. Maybe today I'll have time to get to the Walther's engine house IF something else doesn't get in the way.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 1/15/2009


Wind Chill: 31°F (-0°C)
Humidity: 94%
Dew Point: 34°F (1°C)

So Far Today
High: 36°F (2°C)
Low: 32°F (0°C)
Rain: 0.00" (0.0mm)
Rain Rate: 0.00" (0.0mm/h)
Gust: 6mph (9km) NNW

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Hard freeze watch in effect from late tonight through Friday morning.

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Today High: 48 (9c) Mostly sunny. Cooler. Highs in the upper 40s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

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Tonight Low: 25 (-4c) Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

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Chief Eagles

Active Member
Morning. Sunny but real cold for NC. Not suppsoe to get above freezing tomorrow. BURR You Yanks can have it back. Hope to run trains today as nothing on Town calendar. Have a good one.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Took the precaution of changing out the antifreeze in the car today. It hadn't been changed in a couple of years and the temp is supposed to be in the 20's next couple of nights. No sense in taking chances.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's a balmy 25 and partly cloudy out here by the lake this morning with a wind chill of 17. Glad I'm sitting here in a nice toasty 70.

I got very little done on the layout yesterday. I had all these plans about what would get done but as usual other things got in the way. With these low temps coming through I had to do some things to prepare for it. I was busy sealing up whatever gaps I could find. That 'Great Stuff' gap filler is great stuff. I had one window (32''w by 17''h) that refused to quit being drafty so it got filled in with the stuff. Ain't no draft there now! I also took the precaution of changing out the antifreeze in my car since it hadn't been done in a couple of years. That's all I'd need is a frozen block. As for what to do today, yesterdays plans are now today's plans, and just you watch! Old Murphy's gonna snicker!

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 1/16/2009


Wind Chill: 17°F (-8°C)
Humidity: 66%
Dew Point: 15°F (-9°C)

So Far Today
High: 29°F (-2°C)
Low: 25°F (-4°C)
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 10mph ENE

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Hard freeze warning in effect until 10 AM cst this morning.

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Today High: 45 (7°C) Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 40s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

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Tonight Low: 30 (-1°C) Partly cloudy. Lows around 30. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

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