Learn from our Mistakes


Larry

Larry

Long Winded Old Fart
You can never take it for granted that the electrical Clips on the trucks on an Athearn engine have to be faced a certain way to make it go forward.
I have a note on my desk lamp that I put there w/a magic marker that says,
"clips turn west for forward". Well, I hadn't ever had any of the newer frames where the couplers hold the shell on. Found that these clips have to face east. Someone had put them in backwards when I bought the engine used.
Now I know to check the forward movement before reinstalling the shell. Lot easier.:D:)
If they are not placed in the correct position you will have a head-on on the same track.




What's your "learn from mistakes"?
 
Make runarounds and / or passing sidings a LOT longer than you originally planned.

Don't put a lot of delicate scenery or structures between you and groundthrows or places where you have to manually uncouple cars.

Don't put a lot of time, effort, or $$$ into temporary fixes that you know you'll not be satisfied with for the longterm and / or will have to tear out later.

If a loco's a dog and doesn't respond to simple fixes, scrap it or sell it to somebody who likes tinkering.
 
Invest in a 10 foot long 2X4 and lay track on it.
Have 6-10 empty gondolas or hoppers ready and lots of weights.nuts n bolts etc to fill the cars.

NOW experiment with grades - before making the wrong one for your layout.
 
Don't make plans to build something that will be too big to maintain. PLAN AHEAD.
My current layout is a lot easier to manage.
 
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If following a prototype era, buy equipment only for that era. It will save you a lot of money in the end.

Don't buy more locos/cars than you can provide maintenance for as you get older, or more than the layout will realistically support. If you have more than you realistically need, some will be neglected as time goes on. The more "toys" you have accumulated over the years, create a bigger headache for your survivors to dispose of after you're gone.

Design and build your layout with an eye toward maintaining it as well as you get older.
 
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You can spend a lot a little, or a little a lot...

Fast, inexpensive, quality. You can only have two of the three. Ever.
 
If you're going to paint your rails, do so before you apply any ballast!

Whenever one of your decoder-equipped locos becomes totally unresponsive, try selecting loco #3 - it probably got reset to factory defaults.
 
check the rails to make sure they are properly alined, or your engine may want to take a nose dive into your scenery or worse, off the table/layout...
 
White (bubble) foam....I just *had* to find out for my self.:(
The blue doubled my costs, of course.........(grumble, grumble)
I hab a good shop vac but I didn't buy it to chase them bubbles.
 
Cjcrescent said:
If following a prototype era, buy equipment only for that era. It will save you a lot of money in the end.

Don't buy more locos/cars than you can provide maintenance for as you get older, or more than the layout will realistically support. If you have more than you realistically need, some will be neglected as time goes on. The more "toys" you have accumulated over the years, create a bigger headache for your survivors to dispose of after you're gone.

Design and build your layout with an eye toward maintaining it as well as you get older.
Click to expand...

Well put. When I planned my current layout I knew right off what equipment I needed formy chosen era, 1957, Modern equipment was out, and I only had to concentrate in that time period. My layout for the most part is along the wall, and at a height that not only brings the layout closer to a good viewing level, it also makes it easier, as I found out, to access any wireing, or to install new wireing. I had helped whenever possible a model railroad club, that was unfortunately 180 miles away, and saw some shortcomings that I was able not incorporate in my home layout. I'm finding out that I don't seem to bend as easy as I used to for some reason. Almost everything is within a 30 inch reach or less trom the edge of the layout, making things easy to work on. I find that I have almost no unwanted or unneeded equipment to deal with. PLAN AHEAD.
 
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Painting

1) Before you shake a jar of paint, make sure that the lid is screwed on all the way

2) Even when doing little touch-up paint jobs, only wear "junk" clothing
 
1. Buy a new loco

2. Run it but it doesn't work right; however you really like it and want to keep it

3. Spend a few months on and off trying to fix it, and fail

4. Ta da - it's now out of warranty, or if it still is in warranty whatever work that was done to it ("modifications") kicks it out of warranty

Not smart

DougC
 
Learn to make repairs on your equipment yourself. Not all manufacturers have warranties, nor do all manufacturers have repair facilities. This is especially true for items like brass, (locos & cars), older plastic locos, and even for older kits, esp older structure kits, loco kits and car kits.
 
There's some good advice here guys!

To avoid injury while cutting thru thick plastic simply get someone else to hold the pieces.
 
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Rico said:
To avoid injury while cutting thru thick plastic simply get someone else to hold the peices.
Click to expand...

Or better yet: Use a vise or a set of clamps to hold whatever you're cutting/grinding/drilling [I normally don't have an extra set of hands at my disposal :D ]
 
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