Coffee Shop XXXV-12/3/2012

[Boris]

34F and Pleasant in Central NJ this afternoon. Going back down to 20F tonight.

After mulling it over for a week, I decided that I will stay with my current DCC system ( MRC Prodigy Express). What convinced me was that the other day, between myself and my son, we had 18 engines on the layout drawing power, plus 5 lighted passenger cars and did not have any issues while running several consists and 3 controllers.

Normally, I don't have more than 6 engines on the layout at any time.

I plan on working on scenery later this afternoon.

Joe

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I have three DCC equipped bachmann union pacific locomotives. They all run great. One dash 8-40C and two GP-7's.

I don't know about the 8-40C but Bachmann's GP7 while being light on detail is tough as an old boot! I have two, both originally Union Pacific now patched for the L&A. I had some problems with them early on, all related to Bachmann's cheap decoder. I pitched them and plugged in Digitrax DZ125 decoders. Big boost in performance! And they can be made to look pretty good with some work.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got the shopping done. Got everything I needed from Wal-Mart. Besides the groceries I picked up a gallon of anti-freeze and a couple of cans of Engine Restore for the van. Took the stuff out to the parking lot with the intention of loading it through the side cargo door. Went around to the right side and saw that some idiot had parked his car about eighteen inches away. Either he was a walking spaghetti stick or he got out on the other side. Well there was plenty of space on the left side so I should be able to back up, cut left and pull back in and have plenty of room to open the cargo doors. Went to start the van and it didn't want to start. It was like it was vapor locked or something. I gave it a little shot of starting fluid and it fired right up. So I backed up then shifted to drive and the dang thing stalled! Right then everybody and their mother wanted to come down that row and I've got it blocked. Again the engine didn't want to start. Another shot of starter fluid and it starts right up! Boy, it must really like that stuff! I cut left and pulled back into the space and right then some yahoo pulls into the space to the left and has this desire to park right next to the line. However his desire to keep his car in one piece and not get his right front fender dinged by my drivers door won out and he changed his position. So now I get the groceries loaded, added the Restore to the engine oil and freshened up the coolant with the anti-freeze. Now it's time to leave. This time the engine fires right up with no problem! Now I'm on my way home, on the other side of town as a matter of fact and realize I had left my cane hanging on the back of the shopping cart. Back to Wal-Mart! Fortunately the carts hadn't been collected yet and the one I had used was right where I'd left it. I got my cane then set out for home once again. I made it home without incident.

 

[railfan]

34F and Pleasant in Central NJ this afternoon. Going back down to 20F tonight.

After mulling it over for a week, I decided that I will stay with my current DCC system ( MRC Prodigy Express). What convinced me was that the other day, between myself and my son, we had 18 engines on the layout drawing power, plus 5 lighted passenger cars and did not have any issues while running several consists and 3 controllers.

Normally, I don't have more than 6 engines on the layout at any time.

I plan on working on scenery later this afternoon.

Joe

Hey Joe, are you using the original PE 1.6 amp power supply by itself with all those items on your layout?.....or have you added a booster?

Mike

 

[railfan]

I don't know about the 8-40C but Bachmann's GP7 while being light on detail is tough as an old boot! I have two, both originally Union Pacific now patched for the L&A. I had some problems with them early on, all related to Bachmann's cheap decoder. I pitched them and plugged in Digitrax DZ125 decoders. Big boost in performance! And they can be made to look pretty good with some work.

I was easily converted from DC to DCC. My nice friend who gifted me the bachmann 40-8C installed a DZ 125 decoder in it. I was reading the decoder manual....seems it has many cool features. Having been involved since I was young in electronic projects, radio control hobbies, and mechanical type work........life kinda naturally prepared me for the challenges of model railroading. One of the new GP-7's was dead on arrival.......but I massaged it back to life a couple minutes after removing the shell. It's a dependable runner now. I enjoy making machines work.


Mike

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

So do I. Just look at all the locos I've built from spare parts.

 

[railfan]

So do I. Just look at all the locos I've built from spare parts.

Absolutely! It's cool watching you do that.

 

[Boris]

Hey Joe, are you using the original PE 1.6 amp power supply by itself with all those items on your layout?.....or have you added a booster?

Mike

Original PE with a PA² controller, but no power booster. (also 2 PE controllers).

FWIW: This is what we were using when we tried to overload the system. 2 Bachmann RF16s consisted, 2 Bachmann GP9s consisted, 2 Bachmann GE 44toners (separate); Bachmann 2-10-2; BLI NW2; Proto PA1; Proto S3; Proto RS27; Atlas RS1: Atlas RS11; Atlas S2 (Roco); Genesis MP15; Athearn RTR SW1500; and 5 ConCor PRR MP54 coaches lighted. The RF16s were pulling a train on the continuous run loop, the MP15 was moving back and forth, and the RS3 was moving on the other extension. Everything else was sitting on a live track with lights on. I imagine that If I had another controller available, I could have overloaded the system, trying to run a fourth train.

Normally, The PA, RS3, RS1, NW2, S3 and RS11 or equivalent are on the tracks.

Strange that the PE lacks the power to actuate the reverse loop module, but was not affected by all the engines sitting on the track. I suppose that newer motors/decoders draw less amps than older ones.

Joe

 

[IronBeltKen]

... I enjoy making machines work.

Along those lines, I finally got DecoderPro to work on my Windows8 laptop - with help from the tech support guy at USBFireWire.com.

I, too, like figuring out how to get things working - but I love it when they work properly the first time without the need for fixin'!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

This one was a nice little build. My chop-top F unit slug.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Weather guesser says it's 44 heading for 35. Guess I might want to turn the heater up a little. Well it's been somewhat of a busy day for me so I guess it's time to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[railfan]

Along those lines, I finally got DecoderPro to work on my Windows8 laptop - with help from the tech support guy at USBFireWire.com.

I, too, like figuring out how to get things working - but I love it when they work properly the first time without the need for fixin'!

Great to hear you got it working Ken!


Mike

 

[railfan]

Original PE with a PA² controller, but no power booster. (also 2 PE controllers).

FWIW: This is what we were using when we tried to overload the system. 2 Bachmann RF16s consisted, 2 Bachmann GP9s consisted, 2 Bachmann GE 44toners (separate); Bachmann 2-10-2; BLI NW2; Proto PA1; Proto S3; Proto RS27; Atlas RS1: Atlas RS11; Atlas S2 (Roco); Genesis MP15; Athearn RTR SW1500; and 5 ConCor PRR MP54 coaches lighted. The RF16s were pulling a train on the continuous run loop, the MP15 was moving back and forth, and the RS3 was moving on the other extension. Everything else was sitting on a live track with lights on. I imagine that If I had another controller available, I could have overloaded the system, trying to run a fourth train.

Normally, The PA, RS3, RS1, NW2, S3 and RS11 or equivalent are on the tracks.

Strange that the PE lacks the power to actuate the reverse loop module, but was not affected by all the engines sitting on the track. I suppose that newer motors/decoders draw less amps than older ones.

Joe

That's amazing.......those are HO? Hearing that makes me like my prodigy even more. I got it for next to nothing from a friend who switched to an NCE I think. I went digital before I hardly knew what happened.


Mike

 

[kbkchooch]

That's amazing.......those are HO? Hearing that makes me like my prodigy even more. I got it for next to nothing from a friend who switched to an NCE I think. I went digital before I hardly knew what happened.


Mike

The Dark Side claims another victim!!

Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!!

 

[Burlington Bob]

Hey, railfan, I'm curious as to the dimensions of your benchwork that you put together. Looks like it's solid as Sears! Nice job.

 

[railfan]

Hey, railfan, I'm curious as to the dimensions of your benchwork that you put together. Looks like it's solid as Sears! Nice job.

Thanks Bob! It's 10' x 7' if it was a rectangle.....and it's 3' deep all around. It looks over-built with double legs in the middle because it's two free standing tables screwed together. Then to save time and material I skipped the extra legs on the left and right wings.....and just bolted and screwed those to long rear section. So there are two 3' x 5' decks.....and two 3' x 4'. The frames are all lowest grade 1" x 3" sticks.......and the decks are from two sheets of 1/4" BC plywood. There are support joists every 12 inches under the decks. No glue was used.......but lots of screws were. All free standing, easily taken apart and moved. Very sturdy......I walked around on top of it.......only stepped where there were supports underneath though.

 

[railfan]

You know if I was building to last a long time in my own home and my old back wasn't sore or had help......I'd use a little heavier, stronger, nicer lumber......but for my current situation it's more than adequate and am very happy with it. And....it's soon going to be expanded and enclosed into a square donut with a hinged lift-gate access.

Mike

 

[Burlington Bob]

Mike, that looks like what I'm going to do to at least get some trains running on something besides my programming track. I was hoping to have a room completely devoted to trains but that looks like it will be next fall if everything works out. Getting tired of waiting!

Looks like you have something very good to build upon.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning...

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Friday, January 4, 2013

TIPTON

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Weather here is just the same as ever...dull and ccold...and snowy....high of 30F expected...low of 25F.......like to see some sun on occasion....

Another day of fun at the office...4 boxes distilled down into 2 binders and a couple of Powerpoint things...yay....

Well, off I go to Get-R-Done