Coffee Shop XXIX


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Today I decided to convert the Front Range loco chassis to DCC. I had a Digitrax DZ143 decoder laying around with nothing to do so I got it ready to be installed. Something very important was going to have to be done first. The TAPP trucks are OK for display but if this were to become an active runner the worse than bad TAPP trucks would have to go. I replaced them with a pair of Proto 2000 trucks from a FA2. Yes, I know those have AAR sideframes but when has that mattered to me in the past. Never I think. Besides, it puts my personal signature on the job. How many GP9's have AAR sideframes? Not many I would think. I got tired of looking at the BNSF GP9 shell so I put the patched Soo GP9m shell on it. What does all this make it now? A DCC Front Range/Proto 2000/Walthers GP9s?
 
WCWBrassHat said:
Good Morning, All!

Had a good visit with Carey (CJCrescent) yesterday. He reviewed the changes to my layout and them we went to visit a local club layout that he had not seen.

Tom, Check the DCC documentation on the HH660 before you do the reset. I think you are partway thru the shutdown procedure on the QSI decoder. I think you have to cycle F6 or F7 to get it to run again IIRC. Good Luck!

Glenn
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Thanks, Glenn. I'll check that first.
 
Dollie's Dad said:
Thanks, Glenn. I'll check that first.
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Thanks, Glenn. That was the problem. I have no idea how it happened in the first place since I haven't initiated the shutdown sequence in a very long time. I guess I must have hit the F9 key without realizing it, then interrupted it somehow.

If I had your picture, I'd hang it on the wall (right next to my autographed picture of the Orange County Chopper crew). I am that grateful.;)
 
Hi guys. I got a B+ on my history test last week and it is bothering me a bit. I did good on the other tests. All A's.

Jeff: Front Range? I never heard of them. Sounds like a good job you are doing on it. Front Range/Proto 2000/Walthers? GP9s? I stopped trying to figure out your creations when your IQ left my IQ in the dust at the start line. I like the crack about having to lose 40 IQ points to be as smart as Sheldon. He says he would have to lose 60 IQ points to be smart.
 
Good morning...

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.
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:cool:

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Morning....not sure about the good part just yet...:confused:

We are having rain be fallin' on our'n heads today..high of 60F forecast..although we have been consistantly 5F cooler than that all last week...in the rain :rolleyes:

I'm going to an early doctors appointment today then off to do some runnin' 'roun' doin' stuff before evening classes...might not get any mrr time today...:eek:

Gotta check out the rest of the forum..have a good one ...:)
 
Good morning. It's 46° (8°C) and sunny. The high will be 81° (27°C) and partly cloudy.

Only thing on the schedule today is to get then second half of the grocery shopping done. Later I'll see if I can get some of the layout cleaned up.

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I enjoy all your weather reports. It's a good reminder that not everywhere is hot and dry. It was 102° yesterday, but it finally looks like our long, hot summer is coming to an end. A cold front is moving in, and we could be as low as 75 on Wednesday, then in the low 80's for the next few days.
 
bnsf971 said:
For that area, that's a nice fall day.
My internet has been kind of flakey lately, hence the really brief posts. I've typed long posts, hit the submit button, and they've gone *poof*.
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That's why I type my posts up in Notepad or Wordpad then copy it and paste it here. If something goes wacko I have the saved document to copy and paste again.
 
Doing some more work on the Front Range chassis. Well a complete rebuild really. The Front Range shafts were too short and had a nasty habit of sliding apart on turnouts. The new shafts have much more slip travel and won't come apart. This did however require some restructuring. The motor has been changed out. The replacement is a Mashima with smaller flywheels from a Proto FA. The mounts didn't want to play so the motor is held in with super glue. Quite securely too I might add. The trucks are from the same Proto FA the motor and flywheels came from. The drive shafts are a mix of pieces from Athearn. The hollow shafts connected to the flywheels came from an SD9 and the worms and spline shafts came from a PA2. So let's see, what does that do to the pedigree? Front Range frame, Proto motor, Proto flywheels, Proto trucks, Athearn worms and shafts, Walthers body. Ah ha. I have a regular mutt here. It's definitely worth the nomenclature of GP9S, the 'S' of course denoting the Sundown shops.

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I also made a m9odification on the Model Power GP9 chassis. The shaft couplings had a habit of snatching the wires coming from the trucks. I fixed that little problem by gluing in two pieces of stiff wire that arc over the shafts and hold the wires up out of reach of the shaft couplings.

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Good morning. It's 61° and sunny. The high will be 87° an dit will remain sunny.

I'm down at my parents place this morning waiting for a couple of deliveries to show up while they're out taking care of things important to them. No plans on the schedule today. Maybe I'll be able to clean up the layout a bit without getting side-tracked again.

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Today I'm working on a couple of projects and doing some ordering. There's a new GP9 (Alaska) shell on the way and a Walthers Pennsylvania GP9. I got good deals on both of them. For my projects today I'm working on three freight cars. An Athearn Carnation billboard reefer, a Bachmann UP stock car and a Tyco UP MoW gondola. I could body mount couplers on the gondola but I decided to go ahead with truck mounted couplers. That's enough time for that. On the stock car I'm cutting the truck mount couplers off and am installing Kadee body mount coupler boxes. I need to find doors for it. The Athearn reefer requires simple repair. One of the coupler boxes was damaged so I cut it off and installed a Kadee coupler box. I'm waiting for the glue to dry then I'll install Kadee couplers. I also have two Bachmann locos I might do something with. One is a Path Mark GP40 #1998. It's rear wheel pancake drive and it actually runs. It's in fair shape with only the handrails and horns missing. The other loco is a SD45, Conrail #6203. It looks like maybe a Spectrum or Bachmann Plus model. It's missing the handrails, horns and sideframes. It has a split frame mechanism.
 
Jeffery- I am constantly amazed at the wide variety of rolling stock you put your hands on. Do you mostly trade for your new treasures??
 
Dollie's Dad said:
You do stay busy, don't you?
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It's a good way to keep from going up the wall. The biggest part of being mostly home-bound is boredom.

PNKFLOYD said:
Jeffery- I am constantly amazed at the wide variety of rolling stock you put your hands on. Do you mostly trade for your new treasures??
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Absolutely! I buy some but most I trade for. It's surprising how many want the stuff I build. I guess for some it's the 'I have something nobody else has' factor. Take for example my newest GP9. Though the parts are all commercially available how many locos are there with that particular setup? It was a special situation that called for a custom-built drive. I had the parts so I built it. I thought about putting the regular Blomberg trucks on it but that would diminish the unique feel the AAR trucks give it. I have a brand new shell coming for it.
 
Good morning. It's 49 and sunny. The high will be 87and it will be mostly sunny.

Well I woke up this morning to news of more fires in the Austin area. Haven't those people had enough already? I have some relatives that live in the area. I don't know how close this new fire is to them yet. Last time some of them had to evacuate.

Yesterday I received some Bachmann locos that I got for parts/weathering practice. What appears to be a Spectrum (DC) SD45 (Conrail) and a GP40 (Path Mark) with a truck mounted pancake motor. Both lack handrails and horns. The SD45 lacks side frames. Both do run. I picked them and some cars up for less than $10. They both run rather well though they never will on my layout. While I was putting them away I came across a loco I built earlier this year for the L&A MoW train. It tips the weird scale at 7 to 8 and is made up of parts from three locos. Athearn motor and F7 trucks. Proto 2000 flywheels, shafts, worms and FA2 frame. Bachmann FT body. It's DC but wouldn't be difficult to convert to DCC. I had forgotten about it until I stumbled across it last night. That's another loco to get a decoder for.

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