Recent content by trailrider

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    Need Multi-Way Switch

    A single-pole, 3-position rotary switch that dennis461 suggests will do the trick. There are other, similar, rotary switches with more poles and positions that will also work. Some will have metal tabs that can be left on or broken off to give you just the 3-positions, and the other poles can be...
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    History of All Kinds

    Since Malmstrom was/is the most spread out of the MM bases, if you went 163 miles East to Oscar-3 at 55mph in a T-van, it could take four hours each way, plus whatever time it took on-site. With 16 hr. timelines, your chances of getting back to base were slim. Usually wound up at Oscar-1 or...
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    History of All Kinds

    About as bad as having to wait on-site for alignment and calibrate (2 hrs 32 minutes) for the capsule to tell us it was "green". That is presuming it went to strat alert on the first try. If it failed, we might have to re-penetrate and try again. Had one site where we went through three cycles...
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    History of All Kinds

    So how did you align the bird? On MMI we aligned the mirror on the can to the photoelectric autocollimator, which was set to launch azimuth +90 degrees, so the belly band of the bird was pointed at launch azimuth. On MMII, the collimator azinuth was set at 90 degrees period, and the bird rolled...
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    Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop

    Howdy, railroaders. It's 4:00PM MDT. Temp officially 101 deg F at Denver International Airport. But only 100 in the southern suburbs. Not bad...for August! Wonder what it will be then? Fortunately, we have A/C, but it's too hot to take the dogs for a walk. Our 2-1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel got...
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    Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop

    With all the Breaking News, you'd think somebody would try to fix it!
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    Looking for help designing a layout.

    Fortunately, a rendering plant won't offer any scale odor the way a real one would. That's why the real ones are located in the middle of nowhere! LOL!
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    My adventures in Ho Scale.

    Will your MOW people check the rocks periodically to see they can't come down on the tracks? Maybe they should hire some of the people who check Mt. Rushmore periodically. All kidding aside, that looks GREAT!
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    Running Bear’s June 2025 Coffee Shop

    And the 509th is still winning the "non-war"!
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    Is your layout prototypical or free lance?

    "Protolance", that's a new one on me. But I would wager except for a museum sized layout, most of us wouldn't have room to model prototype railroads. One of the towns with a yard I model, Galesburg, Illinois, had one of the bigger yards the Burlington ran. There is no way I could fit the...
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    Is this hobby still worth it?

    You pays your money and takes your choices. I don't have the adjusted figures for today versus an HO scale steam locomotive in 1954...$24.95, for DC only, no sound. The late Paul Harvey used to tell about the old man who remembered when a dollar was worth a dime. Inflation has boosted the value...
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    Is this hobby still worth it?

    You know, if push comes to shove, model railroaders can always go back to scratchbuilding using wood, plastic and sheet metals that are readily available without being affected by tariffs. That may not appeal to everyone, but it is still a potential source, not to mention providing and...
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    Slowly climbing down the rabbit hole...

    Wife picked up a bunch of Model Railroader and Model Trains magazines dated from 1953 - '56. HO scale locomotives ready-to-run (DC only of course), for $24.95. Freight car kits for $3.95 or less. Just about the time I got my first American Flyer set. Those were the days...
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    So what are you listening to right NOW?

    Horseracing. Don't bet, but like to watch the ponies run.
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    What are you buying this Month?

    Not doing much on my layout lately. But my wife found some old issues of Model Railroader and Model Trains magazines from 1955 and '56 for sale in an antique shop! One article described how to scratch build a Burlington Zephyr, using brass or nickel silver. I don't recall when, but there was a...
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