Coffee Shop XXXVI-2/4/2013


Hey guys! Just decided to check in here. Hope everything is generally ok. I've been spending a little time away from trains to be outside in the warm weather with friends. Don't do anything I wouldn't do! :)



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Good morning. It's 46° with 100% humidity. Wind NW at 23mph. There's a fair chance of showers and thunderstorms. The high will be 65°.
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It's been raining off and on all morning, most certainly since 3am when I noticed it. I couldn't help but do that. Thunderstorms with almost continuous thunder tend to be hard to sleep through. My only plan for today is to stay dry. The new medication seems to be having a positive effect. The tingling in my right arm is nearly non-existent and my fingertips only hurt a little. It wouldn't be so bad if I could feel something other than pain, like to be able to actually feel something when I touch it or be able to feel my hair when I run my fingers through it. That's a very distant memory. I may get some layout work in today. That will depend partially on how ugly the weather gets.
 
Good Morning:

Looks like we may sneak in a nice day or two for a change. 45° right now, and sunny.

Have a good day.

Joe
 
Greetings

Since Tuesdays are abbreviated workdays for me, I had enough time yesterday to get decoders into 3 more of my Stewart F units. Might have gotten a 4th one done if it weren't for an unexpected problem. I tried to remove the shell on B&O 4604, which is equipped with a SP-style snowplow pilot that I cemented on. When I glued it on back in 1993, I didn't realize that the front truck wouldn't clear (the chassis was already attached when I did this). So I ended up having to break-off the plow; no worries, it was a 'clean' break along the cement line. Now I'll need to mill away some white metal on the invisible interior side of the plow, to create enough clearance for the front truck. Hopefully my dremel with a fiberglass cutting wheel will be up to the task.
 
Things appear a little lazy on the forum today.
I have nothing to contribute as I have done very little that is RR related lately.
We are trying to get tjhe club layout ready to show for the layout tour as part of the NMRA national show in Altanta this summer. Yes, Birmingham and Atlanta are only a couple inches apart on the map when you look. Painting vehicles and people is such fun with an OPTIVISOR.

I'll check back for the exciting experiences someone else will have to post!
 
Greetings

Since Tuesdays are abbreviated workdays for me, I had enough time yesterday to get decoders into 3 more of my Stewart F units. Might have gotten a 4th one done if it weren't for an unexpected problem. I tried to remove the shell on B&O 4604, which is equipped with a SP-style snowplow pilot that I cemented on. When I glued it on back in 1993, I didn't realize that the front truck wouldn't clear (the chassis was already attached when I did this). So I ended up having to break-off the plow; no worries, it was a 'clean' break along the cement line. Now I'll need to mill away some white metal on the invisible interior side of the plow, to create enough clearance for the front truck. Hopefully my dremel with a fiberglass cutting wheel will be up to the task.

Ken
Are you going to have anything left to do on Sunday?? And as fate would have it, just as Bill & Keith (2 MRR friends) have sent some more work my way, I got stupid and got hired for a day job!:D Back to the grind come Monday,,,what an annoyance,,workin for a livin!:rolleyes:
 
..., I got stupid and got hired for a day job!:D Back to the grind come Monday,,,what an annoyance,,workin for a livin!:rolleyes:
Well Karl, that sure looks like a "happy accident" to me! LOL (congrats):D

My decoder install project hit a major speed bump this evening. The plow-equipped F unit that I mentioned in my previous post, it was apparent that I wouldn't be able to re-install the existing pilot except to glue it back on - permanently -after reattaching the shell to the chassis. Not acceptable if I want to be able to quickly remove the shell to troubleshoot or swap-out decoders at some later date! So I had to order a brand-new Details West plow pilot and coupler bracket from Walthers (thru my LHS), and leave that model sitting in pieces while I wait for those parts to arrive.
 
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No layout work today. The FP7's and the geeps got a good run though. Went to my fathers place for lunch. Pinto beans, cornbread, collard greens, home fries. I had dinner at home tonight. Chimichangas topped with jalapenos, pepper and Tabasco. The geeps (GP7, GP35, F slug, GP7) are getting a good run right now. I've had these Bachmann GP7's for at least a couple of years and they still run whisper quiet. Looks like there's a small chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.

Well, time to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
 
Today didn't get as warm as predicted, but it was sunny all day and pleasant. We finished our yard cleanup - next some new plants and shrubs.

Let everything sit on the layout today, even though my Kato motor and three TCS T1 decoders that I ordered yesterday, arrived late this afternoon. Wow! that was fast. No special shipping either, Just UPS ground.

Burgers on the grill this evening - first time this year.

Joe
 
Good morning. It's 48° with 92% humidity. The high will be 72°.
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Today I intend to work on the layout a bit. Cleanup mostly. Right now I'm getting ready to move the geeps onto the Sundown shop track and give my Atlas Trainmaster and Atlas U30E645 a run.
 
G'mornin gang!
Looks like partly sunny (as opposed to partly cloudy?) today. Got to run Tinkerbell to the vet for a check up, then the LHS to pick up some stuff, then home. Maybe a grass cutting today, so we can Weed-n-Feed Saturday, before yard saling. I've already staked my claim, Friday is all MINE!!:cool:
I've GOT TO finish a few projects this week:eek:, one you may be seeing in the pages of MR soon!
Ken,, save something for Sunday will ya!!;) and thanks:cool:.
 
Good morning folks

It was 45 F as I headed out this morning. High today will be 63 F.

My daughter had volleyball practice last night. She only stayed for half the practice. She has five more practices and then club volleyball is done. Both her and my son are representing their high school in the Central League Writing Contest today. It is a writing competition with most of the high schools from their athletic conference competing. There are anywhere from 2 to 4 students representing each grade. This is the third year my daughter has done it. They are given a topic and have a set amount of time to write a story. My daughter got honorable mention two years ago.

Tonight my daughter has a SAT Review class. As a result I will be out most of the evening.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
Good Morning:

53° and sunny at the Jersey Shore this morning. It's supposed to be a nice day.

Gathering up the parts I have set aside for the BB SW1500 (SW7) project I'm about to undertake. I should get out the camera and document the project.

Enjoy the day!

Joe
 
I've been busy working on a couple of locos today.

The first is a GP40. It's all Bachmann, body, frame, motor, everything. Well not quite. The couplers are Kadee. However there is something slightly amiss. Can anyone spot it? Better put your sharp peepers on.

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The other is this GP38. Bachmann and Atlas. The coupler pockets are a bit high so I have some Kadee 142's coming. I could have cut out the middle of the pilot, put in a shim and lowered the coupler taht way but I really didn't feel like doing that. Must be getting old.

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The thing slightly amiss about the GP40 is it's a Bachmann GP40 body on a Bachmann GP38 frame. The other loco is Bachmann GP38 body on an Atlas GP40 frame.

Didn't get any cleaning up done on the layout. In fact I made more of a mess working on the GP40 and GP38.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
 
Jeffrey, my eyes aren't that good any more. The only things I noticed were that you hadn't gotten around to installing a horn or number lights on the GP40. Never looked at the frames;);).

Either I'm 0-4 or 4-4, but all four 2006 release Athearn RTR Alco RS3s are a bust. My remaining two, still in sealed packaging performed poorly when put on the layout. I installed a TCS T1 decoder, as the only user installed part.
Both had electrical contact issues, and in one case the gears in the gear toer assembly shifted out of place. These releases, one a PRR, two Reading, and one CNJ all performed badly out of the box. Worse than the issues I have with my GP35s.

I'm going to set them aside for a while, and move on to other projects. At some point I will do a complete rebuild, in an attempt to get two reading units at least. That will be down the road.

At least now I know what I'm dealing with.

Have a nice evening.

Joe
 
Joe, sorry to hear that your Athearn RS3's are all lemons. That batch must have been manufactured on a Monday or a Friday - oh wait a minute, I forgot the Chinese work 7 days a week!:rolleyes:

I managed to get back on schedule with my Stewart F7 decoder installation project. I got one installed in the chassis of the 'problem' unit I was struggling with last night, now I just have to wait for the new plow pilot to arrive at my LHS [next week] before I put the body shell back on. I also completed a second installation, but I discovered during re-assembly that it was missing the porthole window glazing [which holds the shell onto the chassis], so I had to set that one on the Bad Order track with the other one. I now have one remaining F unit - I'm hoping it won't give me any unpleasant surprises like these last two did.

BTW Karl - I'll still have 10 models left to convert when I come over on Sunday. Three of them are switchers that have to be dissassembled in order to electrically isolate their motors from the frames - lotsa fun!
 
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