Model Railroad Mishaps

[rush2ny]

Alright gang, I would like to hear some of your Model Railroad mishaps. With permission I would like to use them on Johnny's model railroad safety site : The Model Railroad Transportation Safety Board (http://rush2ny.100megsfree5.com/mrrtsb.html) to use as a teaching tool. Anything is useful ,such as when I first started in the hobby, many moons ago, I kept frying locomotive engines not realizing the difference between AC and DC. It can be a fictitious story on your model railroad such as, a derailment and how the railroad fixed it. Or it could just be some great old fashioned safety advice. I leave it up to you.

Happy railroading!

Russ

[BoxcabE50]

Well, it's been many years. I don't recall all the details. Received a new locomotive, and was very excited. So had to immediately test run it.

The section of layout chosen was unfinished. L girder benchwork. All that was in place consisted of a strip of plywood roadbed, with cork and track. No scenery.

My new loco proceeded along, and looked great. I was thrilled. Until it hit a bad joint in the freshly laid track. (How did I manage that? graemlins/226.gif I'm an excellent track builder!) With no scenery as yet, yup, you guessed it, thus began a 40 some odd inch plunge to the floor.......

It WAS a brand new loco......... :mad:

Never again. Now, all new stuff is tested on the work bench. Where hitting the concrete is impossible.

graemlins/shakehead.gif

Boxcab E50

[Telegrapher]

Last year I was running a 20 car train on my double track layout. It had been running for about an hour, switching back and forth between the 2 main lines. I stepped out of the room for about 15 minutes and when I came back the 20 car train didn't look right. The caboose was in front of the engine and about 14 cars were cruising along as if nothing had happened.. I stopped the train and checked the track for wrecked cars. Nothing. I took a flashlite and checked inside the two tunnels. Nothing. Looked under the layout and all I saw was a bunch of scrap styrafoam and pieces of plywood and other stuff. Nothing. Finally I crawled under the layout and pulled out all the junk and there were the cars laying on the carpet with pieces all over. After a couple of hours investagating, I discovered one wheel set was worn. The little point on the end of the axel that fits into the truck was worn down to nothing and when it derailed and went over the side it pulled 5 other cars with it. The thing is, it landed on the carpet and didn't make any noise. I found wheel sets and trucks and broken couplers all over under the layout.

[John Moore]

Well I have a recent disaster less than 24 hours old. Comes from piling things up to high.
Top Rubbermaid storage box decided it was time to topple about five feet to a carpeted floor. Problem was the almost 400 N scale cars contained in the box. All the layers of packing were to no avail as the sudden stop and weight did its number. I've never seen delrin trucks snap and wheel axles break until now. About two thirds of the cars are in need of repair. Car Shop forces will be busy for months. Oh well I wanted to upgrade some of the truck sets anyway. Pass the tissue please.

John Moore

[watash]

I had a layout under the floor of a house once. Stakes were driven into the dirt, roadbed laid on them until I had a huge layout under there with lights and all.

My mountains were real dirt! One afternoon I was watching two cast brass Hobbytown diesels gliding down grade with 14 passenger cars in tow. Just as they were about to go across an "S" curved trestle, I saw a big black stink bug raise his head up and look at the oncoming headlight! It was the last thing he ever saw on this earth!

I couldn't reach the power pack in time, and the whole train went over the top of the bug's back and nose dived into the canyon some two feet below! It took weeks for the smell to leave, but I was still cleaning dirt out of gears and wheels a couple of months after that!

[Monon64]

That's good Watash!!



I can see a movie being made of this experience. Return of the Stinkbugs!! :D

[watash]

It is like hitting a fat skunk in your brand new sport car at 80 miles an hour in the summer time with the top down! :mad: graemlins/bleh.gif

[BoxcabE50]

Originally posted by watash:
It is like hitting a fat skunk in your brand new sport car at 80 miles an hour in the summer time with the top down! :mad: graemlins/bleh.gif Eeeuuuwww! graemlins/shakehead.gif We're about 200 feet from a main east-west street in town. Where a creek passes underneath. Every year, there are skunks hanging out in that particular place. And numerous of them wander under our open windows. Or get run over by a car or two. graemlins/bleh.gif

graemlins/222.gif

Boxcab E50