Running Bear's Coffee Shop XLIX


Was the PC a victim of the same?

Milw 113: Get yourself a copy of "The Men Who Loved Trains", by Rush Loving. Jr., (Kindle version is available), read it then make your own conclusions, it's an interesting read.

L&S: PC was doomed before it even happened. As you mentioned, a clash of culture, incompatible data flow, under capitalization and diversion of capital, Subsidized competition, bad labor agreements, and a disinterested management, that was unaware of what was going on around them. It all added up.

Garry: Glad you enjoyed the story. These things happen. Photos of the ore cars when you get to it, please.

BigE: One thought, Railroaders aren't bankers or businessmen. Bankers and Business people are not railroaders. Herein lies the problem. Amtrak, is the perfect case study of what happens when the regulators get to run what they regulate. :rolleyes:
 
Yall may or may not believe this. Now I'm not a novice at decoder installs. I have installed them for myself, many friends and I even do them for the LHS when asked. I guess that I've installed several hundred over the years.

Never had this happen before. I was installing a decoder in an older Bachmann N&W J 4-8-4 in N scale. I had a N-scale decoder and went about making sure the motor was isolated from the frame, and the split frame that provided pickup to the motor was also isolated from the wipers on the drivers. Double checked every connection, made sure there were no cross wiring and there was no shorts according to my meter.

Put it on the track, turned on the power, short. Had JMRI read it, and it said no decoder. To prevent damage to the decoder, I took one of mine, repeated the process and again, no joy. Direct short when power was turned on. Told the owner to come over as I hadn't been able to install the decoder without a short. The owner comes over, and I install, again a HO decoder to show the owner whats going on.

Well guess what, it worked! I then removed that decoder and installed the N-scale decoder, and nothing. No short, no movement nothing! Put the HO decoder back in, and again it worked perfectly. Even installed a new light in the smokebox. Put it on JMRI, where the decoder was read properly, and I then programmed it with no problems. We tested it, and although it ran a little rough, due to the small piece of N-scale track I have, and I knew that it was dirty. The owner went home with the loco and some instructions on getting it to run on his layout. (Mostly to clean the track). I then took the N-scale decoder and put it into a switcher that had another N-scale decoder in it. Worked perfectly!

I've never run across an install that was this strange or funky. How about yall? Yall ever have a decoder install like this?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Milw 113: Get yourself a copy of "The Men Who Loved Trains", by Rush Loving. Jr., (Kindle version is available), read it then make your own conclusions, it's an interesting read.

Cheers mate, added to my wish list at Amazon....
Also found this, for one of by friends back in the old country, who's an Erie Lackawanna (DL&W and Erie) fanatic... Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad, 1938-92 by H. Roger Grant
 
POUR_COFFEE1-Copy.png


Good Morning!

Sunny with a high of 58.

BLUECOFFEEMAN.png


TRAIN_ROUNDANDROUND.png






Tipton.gif

Temperature in Tipton IN
 
B*ll*cks!! Found an undecorated Atlas HO RS-11 shell, but the seller doesn't ship outside the good ol' US of A... :( http://www.ebay.com/itm/121607680103?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Does Model Train Stuff, M B Klein, deal with parts or should I try Atlas itself, or do you have anyone else to recommend?

Edit: Just realised that it sounded, or looked like, I was calling the seller 'b*st*rds, which is not in any way, shape or form the case, so I deleted that part, I do apologise!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
After the wee disappointment and a cuppa, I feel a bit better, sooo......

Good morning gentlemen....here's another '13' for you Louis...

NampW%201213_zps0snrdmp1.jpg
 
B*ll*cks!! Found an undecorated Atlas HO RS-11 shell, but the seller doesn't ship outside the good ol' US of A, b*st*rds! :( http://www.ebay.com/itm/121607680103?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Does Model Train Stuff, M B Klein, deal with parts or should I try Atlas itself, or do you have anyone else to recommend?

It's only a $10 item. I'd bet someone here might buy it and ship it across the pond to you. I don't know anything about exchanging monies or shipping overseas otherwise I might offer.

I don't recall seeing parts at Klein's. I can't help there either. Sorry.
E.
 
B*ll*cks!! Found an undecorated Atlas HO RS-11 shell, but the seller doesn't ship outside the good ol' US of A, b*st*rds! :( http://www.ebay.com/itm/121607680103?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Does Model Train Stuff, M B Klein, deal with parts or should I try Atlas itself, or do you have anyone else to recommend?

I believe there's quite a bit of documentation involved and personal delivery to the PO. Many sellers don't consider it worth the effort and time, especially for low priced items (not sure that I would either). Then the postage is probably more than the item.
 
I believe there's quite a bit of documentation involved and personal delivery to the PO. Many sellers don't consider it worth the effort and time, especially for low priced items (not sure that I would either). Then the postage is probably more than the item.

Really? I had a friend in Ireland, County Cork, who used to send me Jameson's Whiskey now and then straight from the distillery. He never mentioned it being a big deal - nor would he let me help pay for it. He has since re-patriated to Aussie land and we have lost touch.
 
Nice! Looks like I have 2 (maybe 3) orders coming in today. Unfortunately, none are directly train-related.
Mostly electronics stuff - which of course will get applied to the trains once other stuff from China shows up.

Tomorrow I have 3 orders coming (maybe only 2 if #3 comes today). One has 2 more model kits to build. I LOVE to build stuff!!

The other is a Roku streaming TV unit. I know little-to-nothing about it so that'll give me something figure out.
I haven't had any "real" TV in well over a year so anything will be nice.
In any event I should have plenty to keep me occupied for a few days.
 
This one is for you LOUIS. You ashed for a picture of the B&O wagon top, and here it is. This is the first Fox Valley car I have ever bought and I like it. It also came with real Kadee couplers and metal wheels. Now all it needs is a bit of weathering and it will fit right in. Came last week and I forgot to get a pic for you.

View attachment 49263

Thank you Montanan and congratulations on your purchase, she is a beauty!
 
I just read some sad news across the street: Bob Hartle, a.k.a. "crmproducts", died suddenly a few days ago from a heart attack. I'm sure a few of you in here know who he was - the guy in Clarion, PA who hosted frequent op-til-you-drop sessions on his large layout. He had fairly strong opinions on just about everything (especially track maintenance), and he frequently ended his sentences with an exclamation point (!). I always enjoyed reading his posts.

I do remember him sharing something about having an emergency heart procedure done last year. Goes to show that we should make the most of our time today because we can't always be sure we will have another "tomorrow"...

Thanks for sharing the news and the good advice as well. He is in our thought and prayers as well as his family and friends who miss him.
 
Yall may or may not believe this. Now I'm not a novice at decoder installs. I have installed them for myself, many friends and I even do them for the LHS when asked. I guess that I've installed several hundred over the years.

Never had this happen before. I was installing a decoder in an older Bachmann N&W J 4-8-4 in N scale. I had a N-scale decoder and went about making sure the motor was isolated from the frame, and the split frame that provided pickup to the motor was also isolated from the wipers on the drivers. Double checked every connection, made sure there were no cross wiring and there was no shorts according to my meter.

Put it on the track, turned on the power, short. Had JMRI read it, and it said no decoder. To prevent damage to the decoder, I took one of mine, repeated the process and again, no joy. Direct short when power was turned on. Told the owner to come over as I hadn't been able to install the decoder without a short. The owner comes over, and I install, again a HO decoder to show the owner whats going on.

Well guess what, it worked! I then removed that decoder and installed the N-scale decoder, and nothing. No short, no movement nothing! Put the HO decoder back in, and again it worked perfectly. Even installed a new light in the smokebox. Put it on JMRI, where the decoder was read properly, and I then programmed it with no problems. We tested it, and although it ran a little rough, due to the small piece of N-scale track I have, and I knew that it was dirty. The owner went home with the loco and some instructions on getting it to run on his layout. (Mostly to clean the track). I then took the N-scale decoder and put it into a switcher that had another N-scale decoder in it. Worked perfectly!

I've never run across an install that was this strange or funky. How about yall? Yall ever have a decoder install like this?

CJ you have encountered the mysterious digital gremlins. After many years of servicing and building PCs and other solid state electronics I have come to the conclusion that sometimes strange and unexplainable things happen with solid state electronics. Maybe it was the alignment of the planets at that particular moment? ;)
 



Back
Top