Hard to see but the insulation did not go all the way into the connector like the one they sent me does!
I am at a complete loss as to how to replace this wire assembly with the one from Hornby, which I must add they sent free after only one E-mail explaining the problem. Excellent customer service. I just don't know how to do the work and don't have the soldering skill even if I did know what to do! It's only 8 tiny wires, not the motor or any internal connection problems, not a quonky decoder, nothing like that, just a simple tender connection.
This for a guy who , with the exception of Nascar, watched 5-6 hours of T.V/Video a week. And this total includes 30 minutes a day M-F of the local news. No, not me. Then there is the magazine itself. Same old same old newbie articles (nothing wrong with being a newbie) then the dumb as bricks article last month on the Scotchlock connectors. Ok, I get it, if you follow the article to a "T", you might be OK. But you know there is gonna be some "Bubba" modeler that is gonna run out to the shed and grab a handful and use em just because of that article.. Never mind her never read it, Oh and RMC has been kicking their butts the last few months, in pages per month, content and at a lower subscription price. Guess who will be getting my money? Besides, am I the only one who would like to smack Cody Grivno in the chops? 
He grates on me like Gilbert Godfried!!
Thanks Willie! I've seen Tom's spectacular layout and gotten some of my backdrop ideas from there.
Curt - glad to hear your signal project is moving along, looking forward to seeing the photos when done.
B-Bob, good to see you and thanks for the comment about my slag pit photo. That's actually a Komatsu loader from a Kibri kit. I'd love to have one of the Norscot Cat models but they're ~20 years later than my modeling era. Guess you'll be headed back to the internet "wilderness" by the time I get this posted...
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House has gotten really quiet again. Youngest daughter flew back to Florida, and my 21yr-old drove back to Ohio. SWMBO spent most of the afternoon visiting with a friend, so I had time to finish my work on the slag cars. I got the 6 new ones painted and weathered to the point where they look similar to the originals, so if I co-mingle the two sets you can't really tell the difference:
Another thing I did to all 12 of them was to paint the white lime powder coating to the inner surfaces of the pots. [The lime serves a purpose similar to teflon in a frying pan - it keeps the hot slag from sticking to the pot.] Painting the insides of the bowls was easy, but simulating the "overspray" was a PITA - I needed to use my airbrush for that, spent at least an hour just getting that set up, then cleaned-up and packed away. Probably seems counter-intuitive, but mill workers don't worry about neatness when they're applying this stuff - these are not passenger cars LOL.
Only remaining task on this project is to paint the removable slag loads.
Curt .... I looked at the photographic backdrops that were commercially available. .... It would have been too costly for the 140' I needed. .... So I combined different types of backdrops, and some are photographic. Most of mine is the Faller backdrop which has the sky the way I like it. I sued various techniques to blend it al together.
Lloyd.... .. You are building a great layout.
My bridge scene is mostly sky....
This doodlebug is running very close to the backdrop. You can see a variety of materials in the backdrop including a photo of a white building and other items glued to the backdrop . The yellow foliage is Woodland Scenics material glued to the backdrop. Acrylic painted was used to blend it all together.
Moving along the branchlike, the doodlebug passes a house I cut from a calendar.
Good morning. Calm and hovering just above the freezing mark in central MD.
NP2626 and Ken of D&J - glad you could join us!
Karl - From your avatar, it looks like you've had quite the falling-out with the Kalmbach folks..?
Curt - best of luck on those remaining signals.
I'm seeing a lot of great-looking backdrops here from Terry, Chet, Karl, and Garry. Mine are home-grown, nothing spectacular; mainly just tree lines, since the region I model is the Cleveland metro [i.e. mostly flat]. Here are a few shots from my previous layout:
Don't have any finished scenes on my current pike, but here's one with a backdrop:
Spent most of Saturday painting the slag cars. Almost finished, just need to simulate the lime in the empty pots. Gotta get ready for Mass now, then take Daughter #3 to the airport. Have a good 'un!
LED lights my friend, LEDs. I have all LED lights now with the exception of 2 sets of C9 bulbs and I can't bring myself to replace those. They are the lights I remember as a kid, I don't care what they cost me.
Bruce from looking at the new harness it looks like bare wire on one end. If that is the case and you have space to hide the wire just cut off the connector on the bad harness and carefully match the wires and splice them together. Twist the wires together and wrap them in a little electrical tape. Cut the wires in different lengths so that all the splices are not in one place, that will make it less bulky.
Good evening gang!
Been cleaning gutters and cutting aluminum track for the drop ceiling all day, and got almost all the ceiling replaced on the train side of the basement. IF I ever do this again, mental note. cover the layout with plastic. The tailings from the new tiles looks like a fine dusting of snow on the little town. Thankfully, the computer cleaning attachment for the shop vac works well for "snow removal".
E Back in the hopsickle again eh? Here's to sending you positive vibes for a quick healing event. You don't belong there son, the place is full of sick people!
KenL, about the avatar. I didn't have a falling out per se with any one particular person at Klambake. Its more of a conflict of interest. They have an interest in my money. Judging from all the "offers" I get in the mail. Special renewal rates (the same rate as the cards that fall out of the magazine each month). What's so special ? Oh , and the rate gets even better (higher) when I combine that with Video Plus! Oh really.
Garry. Your awesome bridge scene reminds me of one a friend of mine built on a 2x8 ft module. His photo backdrop was take at the prototype location on the B&O, blown up and installed on the module.
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And calendars are fair game, just ripe with photos for the picking!
Louis. When I bring your stuff down, am I just going to have to follow the glow of Christmas lights to your house??
Well, tomorrow is another work day, catch y'all then!
but you are more than welcome!!! )
