I will agree. I have no qualms about what trip pins are meant to do. My displeasure is when people say they look just like air hoses. When people complain about handrails that scale out to 5" but are ok with 5" air hoses...it just doesnt add up...LOL
Here's a little bit of trivial everyone may already know. All of the "air" connections between locomotives, Brake Pipe, (MR) Main Reservoir, (Act) Actuating and (A&R) Apply & Release MU Air hoses (note: some of these names do vary between railroads) are all designed to be pulled apart and do not require anyone to disconnect them before uncoupling locomotives. Now the 27 Pin (T/L) Train Line MU cable is not designed to be pulled apart and must be unplugged before uncoupling locomotives. Just a little FYI to add to the Micro-Trains and compatible couplers trip pin debate
1 3/8"....2"...2 1/4"...3" ??? Maybe someone who still works for a railroad can measure the circumfrence of an air hose between cars and we can all eat some Pi and know for fact what the diameter of said hose is. Just a thought...
OR, . . . We could just say the heck with it and go on to worry about something really important like climate change or the next pandemic to come out of China or something even more important like who will be elected to be the next dog catcher in Cabbage Flats, PA.
I liked this idea until I reached for the Snickers and got one that describes me perfectly ….. ….. It's true I tell ya!
I'll try if I remember but it seem the older I get, the more I tend to remember things after it's too late. Now what were we talking about?
OK everyone, I finally had a couple of minutes to measure the circumference of the rubber portion of the brake pipe air hose and found the measurement to be approx 6.75". Now check my math, If we divide that number by PI, our answer is approx. 2.15". If we then divide our answer by 160 we end up with a value of 0.013". Yikes, 13 thousands of an inch, too small for me to worry about. I think I'll stick with the 33 thousands of an inch Micro-Trains and compatible trip pins and be happy.
Hi George, And that in my opinion is the advantage of model railroading. Our models are representations of the prototype and some people's good enough is measured on a different ruler than others. The main purpose of the hobby in my opinion is to have fun. I leave all the rules, stress and other negative stuff at work. At home it is my train set and if in my mind trip pins are brake pipe hoses, well I'm just marching to the beat of a different drum. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any issues with people who want to try and build their models to the nth degree, just don't expect me to follow along, I get all the prototype I can handle at work
This is one of those times I am glad that all my trip pins, air hoses, air pins, trip hoses or whatever are not installed on any of my equipment!! I have nothing to worry about