Running Bear's Coffee Shop LXII

[IronBeltKen]

Good morning. 36*F and sleeting here in the Land Of Pleasant Living.

Curt - It took me a few seconds before I noticed that you relocated the mine building. 0-8-0 looks good sitting there in the open.

BBob - glad to see your co-worker is "still among us".

Lame - there are things you can do to improve the performance of Atlas turnouts (except maybe for snap switches and 20-year vintage stuff). I have CustomLines and Mark3's all over my layout and haven't had any problems. Of course now my preference for yards is Peco - I like the little spring that holds the point rails in position without needing a Caboose Hobbies ground throw.

* * *

Left work a few hours early yesterday so I could pick up my plywood and cut the pieces to the various sizes I will need on the extension. I wanted to take advantage of the dry weather, since I don't have space for a woodworking shop and I need to wheel my table saw outdoors to do any cutting. That part is done, now I need to determine where to drill holes for the shelf brackets. Looks like I'll need to rent a hammer-drill since I have to attach a few of them directly to the brick chimney.

Y'all have a great day!

 

[BigE]

I have come to the conclusion after running the trains tonight that Atlas switches are junk. Derailments galore tonight lol.

I don't have any problem with them.
Only problem I have had was after I ballasted and got gravel in the way of the point rails and throws and in between the frogs and main rails.
Carey/CJ showed me some tricks to fixing any problem areas.
One thing was to check to the points rail for too little or too much curvature. A track gauge should help with that.
Post a pic up close and let's see one these "problem childs".
E.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's partly cloudy and 35.

 

[BigE]

Might as well head up to the grocery story and be done with that.
Suppose to be windy today but it's fairly calm right now.
I don't like the wind.
Later.
E.

 

[BigE]

Talk about a "holy crap" moment. I got back and put all the groceries away and put the radio back on to the Sat. morning lawn & garden show only to here "Eric from Acworth" was calling in.
The dude even sounded just like me!!
Talk about strange.
E.

 

[kbkchooch]

Talk about a "holy crap" moment. I got back and put all the groceries away and put the radio back on to the Sat. morning lawn & garden show only to here "Eric from Acworth" was calling in.
The dude even sounded just like me!!
Talk about strange.
E.

OMG, there's 2 of them!! RUN!! , hahaha

 

[bnsf971]

Talk about a "holy crap" moment. I got back and put all the groceries away and put the radio back on to the Sat. morning lawn & garden show only to here "Eric from Acworth" was calling in.
The dude even sounded just like me!!
Talk about strange.
E.

OMG, there's 2 of them!! RUN!! , hahaha

I guess y'all didn't know about the highly-classified cloning program...

 

[BigE]

OMG, there's 2 of them!! RUN!! , hahaha

According to the lady checking my voter registration recently there are actually 3 Eric Whites in this county.
2 of which are in Acworth.
Also one of the editors for MR Mag. carries the same moniker.
E

 

[BigE]

I guess y'all didn't know about the highly-classified cloning program...

You laugh... but a friend of mine found "another one of me" on LinkedIn. He knew it wasn't me but said I should check out the other guy's resume. Talk about scary! Mine and his were almost identical!! As far as resumes go, we could EASILY have passed for each other.
E.

 

[Boris]

Good Morning, It's Saturday! Overcast and 44°. They forecast calls for rain until dinner time, then changeover to snow.

 

[Lame9910]

Here are two pictures of one of the problem switches.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning ...

Lame: Do you have a track gauge to check the distance between the rails? ... If so, check at all locations in the turnouts. I not, I suggest you buy one. ... The ends of the point rails may be filed from the inside in order to prevent well flanges from bumping into them which may cause a derailment.

 

[santafewillie]

The point rails both look a little mangled to me. The one on the right in the bottom picture might also be hitting on something. They should fit flush against the stock rails. This can be fixed with a pair of needle-nosed pliers and patience.
Willie

 

[BigE]

Ditto Garry.
The top pic right point rail appears [to me] to have a curve in it.
I think it should be straight.
You might also lay a 2' or 4' level on the track to be sure you don't have dips and stuff.
I had an early problem I couldn't seem to resolve. I kept putting the 2' level on it and couldn't see anything wrong.
Then one day the 2' wasn't handy but the 4' was so I layed it on the tracks and golly mercy!! Over a 4' span there were some serious dips in the track. Turns out none of it had to do with the tracks or turnouts. It was my table deck being un-even. I fixed it using shims between the deck and frame.
Good luck.
E

 

[BigE]

The point rails both look a little mangled to me. The one on the right in the bottom picture might also be hitting on something. They should fit flush against the stock rails. This can be fixed with a pair of needle-nosed pliers and patience.
Willie

That is EXACTLY what Carey showed me on one of his first visits over here.

 

[santafewillie]

Went out and took a picture. Here's a #6 turnout showing what I mean. Click it for a bigger picture.


The turnout that you showed in your post doesn't resemble any Atlas turnouts that I have. The throwbar is different (mine is trimmed, they are usually longer) and the point rails extend past the throwbar over the first tie. On all of my Atlas switches, the point rails end on the throwbar as pictured. What type is it? All of mine are Mark IV and yours may be different.
Hope this helps.

Willie

 

[Lame9910]

I don't remember off the top of my head. I will check to make sure they are straight. What happens is some cars will follow through the switch properly then some decide they want to go the other way. Lol. Since I'm out getting the oil changed in the truck I'll swing by the hobby shop and get a track gauge also.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[Lame9910]

Well getting the track gauge might be put on hold. I got a call from my brother and it sounds like my father may have had a stroke while at my brothers house. Might have to go to the hospital instead of the hobby shop.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[BigE]

Well getting the track gauge might be put on hold. I got a call from my brother and it sounds like my father may have had a stroke while at my brothers house. Might have to go to the hospital instead of the hobby shop.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

Wishing your Father the best. The LHS will be there later.
If it was/is a stroke the faster they can get him treatment and rehab the better.
Go see your Dad. The trains can wait.
E.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Not much happening here. I put together all the stuff for under the layout tomorrow. I really hate crawling under the layout and discover that I need something else, plus it is harder on the back. MOH is out with daughter and grandkids shopping. The boys are spending the night and next Saturday also.

Joe- It's a generic C class, but it is hard to tell that in the photo. It is a Heritage unit decaled for the Pennsy and has LOK sound.

Willie- That's too funny about the beer sales on the layout. I started out with all Atlas turnouts, but through all the changes I only have PECO now.

Ken- Actually what I did was extend the track about 6 inches, then tried to duplicate the scenery. The buildings are in the original locations.

Here are the special rules for the Bellevue Sub. The issue is I don't have tortoises on my turnouts so the lower target will have to be fixed, hence the special rules.

I hope everyone has a good night.