Coffee Shop XXXVI-2/4/2013

[jeffrey-wimberly]

well my son is down from BRRRRR new hampshire & is having a blast down here, doesnt want to leave lol, infact he , i went to scalerails with him, the local club & he found a card for a hobby shop in ft myers, i told him i havent found a decent local hobbyshop that sell train stuff , well wouldnt you know it , we drove there and BAM great train hobbyshop fully stocked & has old & new kits & flextrack & wow , GREAT FIND

That'sgreat! Closest hobby shop here (Alexandria) caters mainly to the R/C crowd. The model railroad section is in a corner at the back of the store. It used to be at the front and took up four aisles and two display cases.

 

[bnsf971]

well my son is down from BRRRRR new hampshire & is having a blast down here, doesnt want to leave lol, infact he , i went to scalerails with him, the local club & he found a card for a hobby shop in ft myers, i told him i havent found a decent local hobbyshop that sell train stuff , well wouldnt you know it , we drove there and BAM great train hobbyshop fully stocked & has old & new kits & flextrack & wow , GREAT FIND

I am guessing that is not Hobbie Warehouse.

 

[bnsf971]

Looks like I need to swing by the ol' coffee shop more often. Ken, I'm sorry to hear about your sister.

 

[bnsf971]

One last thing...
Back several weeks ago, when we were kvetching about MB Klein, I decided enough time (14 years) had elapsed that I would give them one more try for my mail order business. I ordered one of the Intermountain SD40-2W engines, in CN, with their web address on the sides. It's a nice looking engine, and would compliment the one I have now. It was also priced right. So, I ordered.
And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Monday, I finally got an email saying the engine was on its way. I live about 300 miles away, and could have walked there in this length of time. But anyway, I finally got a package in the mail today.
And, in the grand tradition of Murphy, I opened the box and found-- a CN SD40-2W, but in the Vancouver Olympic scheme, with the rainbow stripes. To give MBK credit, the BOX was correct, but the engine in the box was wrong. Now, I'm not sure if I want to make a stink about this, or not. I looked long and hard at this engine before choosing the one I ordered. In the end, I decided the unit with the outline of North America and the website would fit with my other stuff. Two handrails were broken, but a drop of CA on each fixed that. I am having DCC trouble, and won't be doing much running of trains for a few days, anyway, but what do y'all think? It isn't what I ordered, but the decision came down to virtually a coin toss, anyway.
This is what I ordered: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Intermountain-HO-SD40-2W-CN-w-DCC-Sound-p/imr-49303s-01.htm

This is what I got: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Intermountain-HO-GMD-SD40-2W-CN-p/imr-49305s-01.htm

At the very least, I'm going to call them tomorrow, if nothing else so they can keep their inventory straight.
At this point, it's looking like it might be another 14 years before I try one more purchase with them.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

My final post for this month. Tomorrow is March 1st. Bill paying day! Gonna be a bust morning I would think. The weather guesser says it'll be nice enough. Got some cleaning done on the layout today. Still needs more.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[kbkchooch]

Gomez
I like the one you ordered, the one you got reminds me of a roll of fruit flavored lifesavers.

I've been torturing myself with a Mantua "little six" switcher. Somebody, I don't know who but he looks like me, decided the little bugger needed an overhaul.
First came cleaning and relubing the axles and bearings, then some wiseacre (me again) Decided to go full bore with the valve linkage, got silly on ebay and got linkage for a "Big Six". Six is six right?? Wound up re-using the main rods, the bulK of the big six parts, and the eccentric rods came from my junk bin, from an old Bowser E6 years ago! Thankfully I still had rivets and the peening tools from years past.
Finally I took out the old magnet, and installed 6 of these, "high performance" magnets. Put the lil bugger on the track and let her go. An hour later and the only thing to fall off was the left hand brush. Yep, the little brush was riding down in the chassis, and the engine never stopped!! So after repairing that (oh Joy) I then tried to make the motor stall at high speed. Wow, can you say TORQUE?? It'll never happen in normal use. I had to push alot harder than that cast boiler will ever load the chassis!!!
Tomorrow, work on the body, while I wait for additional pickups and a decoder!

Sandman time, cya in the A.M.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning...

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Friday, March 1, 2013.

TIPTON

 

[tootnkumin]

Must've been a shortage of cheese back then.

 

[Boris]

One last thing...
Back several weeks ago, when we were kvetching about MB Klein, I decided enough time (14 years) had elapsed that I would give them one more try for my mail order business. I ordered one of the Intermountain SD40-2W engines, in CN, with their web address on the sides. It's a nice looking engine, and would compliment the one I have now. It was also priced right. So, I ordered.
And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Monday, I finally got an email saying the engine was on its way. I live about 300 miles away, and could have walked there in this length of time. But anyway, I finally got a package in the mail today.
And, in the grand tradition of Murphy, I opened the box and found-- a CN SD40-2W, but in the Vancouver Olympic scheme, with the rainbow stripes. To give MBK credit, the BOX was correct, but the engine in the box was wrong. Now, I'm not sure if I want to make a stink about this, or not. I looked long and hard at this engine before choosing the one I ordered. In the end, I decided the unit with the outline of North America and the website would fit with my other stuff. Two handrails were broken, but a drop of CA on each fixed that. I am having DCC trouble, and won't be doing much running of trains for a few days, anyway, but what do y'all think? It isn't what I ordered, but the decision came down to virtually a coin toss, anyway.
This is what I ordered: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Intermountain-HO-SD40-2W-CN-w-DCC-Sound-p/imr-49303s-01.htm

This is what I got: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Intermountain-HO-GMD-SD40-2W-CN-p/imr-49305s-01.htm

At the very least, I'm going to call them tomorrow, if nothing else so they can keep their inventory straight.
At this point, it's looking like it might be another 14 years before I try one more purchase with them.

Based strictly on your experience, the comments of others, and my recent experience with some freight cars, my guess is that Intermountain has a major quality issue with their (China) supplier.

I received a Jade Green NYC box car for Christmas (purchased in TN), that would not stay on the track. It appeared that the wheels were somewhat different, but took the gauge. The car took a dive and fell off the layout, splintering beyond repair.

Because it was a gift, I ordered another similar car from MBK which I discovered had the same problem. I requisitioned a pair of trucks from an older IM GN boxcar, and the derailment problem went away. That's not the retailer's fault, but it is becoming a real issue with IM products.

Joe

 

[Boris]

Must've been a shortage of cheese back then.

Genuine railroader's scowl. Smiles are not authorized.

Joe

 

[Boris]

Good Morning, Happy Friday!

Today is pay day, Costco day, and bill pay day.

Everyone, have a great Friday!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today is pay day, bill pay day and Costco day

Same here except Suddenlink day instead of Costco. Got Dish Network to feed too!

*

Good morning. It's 36° with 86% humidity. The high will be 55°.

Looks like it's going to be a nice but somewhat cool day. It's partly cloudy now but is due to be mostly cloudy later.

In a while I'll be heading into town to pay some bills, get gas for the van, get the first half of the grocery shopping done and whatever else I need to get done today. Later I'll clean up more of the layout, that is if the rest of my day doesn't get hijacked.

I was looking at my locos earlier and counted them. I have thirty-two in serviceable condition. Of that number less than half still have their factory built drives. Many of them are rebuilds with different motors or trucks and fully a third are Frankenlocos cobbled together from spare or junk parts that weren't intended to be where they are. What a menagerie I've assembled.

 

[Boris]

Neat roster - that's quite a collection. I especially like the FM Trainmaster.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

That's an Atlas model. I've got a funny decoder setup in it. I didn't have a decoder with both working and lighting functions. So the motor in controlled by a Bachmann decoder that a bad light circuit and the lights are controlled by a Digitrax decoder that had a bad motor circuit. Someday I'll replace them with a good decoder but in the meantime if it ain't broke don't fix it. You can't tell it from the photo but the end handrails (on the other end as well) are from a 1960's Athearn Hi-F GP7.

 

[blackz28]

hey jeffery look what i found lol. i found at a flea market down here

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Hey, I've got one of those!

*

*

Got the bills paid. The groceries have been bought and put away. Got gas for the van. I have money set aside for my meds and for a package I need to send out. I had to do without some grocery items I consider luxuries (others might consider them basic) and skipped the oil change on the van (I hardly drove it the last couple of months so it's still good) in order to scrape together $39 to get a Rock Island E-R Models (Roco) FP7. My father chipped in for the shipping. I should have it by Wednesday.

 

[blackz28]

jeffery , i changed the wheels out to 33" on the toys'r'us car but what did you do for the coupler ?? body mount a kadee box ?? or just replace the truck mounted coupler ??

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

jeffery , i changed the wheels out to 33" on the toys'r'us car but what did you do for the coupler ?? body mount a kadee box ?? or just replace the truck mounted coupler ??

I cut off the truck mounted coupler box. Just snipped it off with wire snips. I body mounted Kadee #242 draft gear boxes with Kadee #148 Whisker couplers. Nothing to it. Took me about 20 minutes. I used small brass screws to attach the boxes to the car.

 

[blackz28]

Cool jeffery thanks

 

[blackz28]

Same here except Suddenlink day instead of Costco. Got Dish Network to feed too!

*

Good morning. It's 36° with 86% humidity. The high will be 55°.

Looks like it's going to be a nice but somewhat cool day. It's partly cloudy now but is due to be mostly cloudy later.

In a while I'll be heading into town to pay some bills, get gas for the van, get the first half of the grocery shopping done and whatever else I need to get done today. Later I'll clean up more of the layout, that is if the rest of my day doesn't get hijacked.

I was looking at my locos earlier and counted them. I have thirty-two in serviceable condition. Of that number less than half still have their factory built drives. Many of them are rebuilds with different motors or trucks and fully a third are Frankenlocos cobbled together from spare or junk parts that weren't intended to be where they are. What a menagerie I've assembled.

& I dont see a smokestack anywhere in that pic