Good morning gents. Temperature is hovering around the freezing mark under partly cloudy skies here in central MD.
Garry - that's horrible news! I don't know the details of the murders, but even one is too many, especially when you live in a quiet town that is unaccustomed to serious crime.
Terry - bummer about your BLI steamers, but glad to hear your wife is continuing to improve.
David - it looks like your area is finally getting some rain, hasn't there been a draught there for the past few years?
Jan - I see your Alco collection continues to grow.
I finally got started on the post-ballasting cleanup of the track. Turns out the biggest threat isn't the presence of glue on the tracks - that is easily wiped off with 91% iso - but rather, water-induced wrinkling of the underlying cork roadbed. I spent more than two hours yesterday trying to fix a problem where my loco kept 'hopping' over a curved point rail, so I soaked the ballast in 91% to loosen the track and try to level it out, but the problem persisted. Since my LHS has Sunday hours, I dashed out to get a replacement for this #4 turnout so I'd have it if I needed it. After I got home with the replacement turnout and removed the Caboose Industries ground throw, I tested the turnout one more time - and it worked! Apparently the turnout got elevated by the distorted cork roadbed and the throwbar was being pulled downward by the ground throw, causing the top surface of the point rail to sit lower than the adjoining stock rail - hence the "climbing" behavior! [Eventually I'll replace that #4 with a #6 from my FastTracks jig, but that will require me to revise the spur track and I just want to get back to running trains for now.]
Have a great day everyone.
