N scale "What's on your workbench?"

Mark Watson Oct 28, 2009

  1. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well I have ordered what may be my last Bandai shorty passenger train. They have not produced a new train in about 2-3 years, and their mechanisms have not been available for a long while, plus the running trucks underframes for the cars have also been out of stock for several years. I have another sleek gold speedster coming and have managed to dig up two power chassis from my parts box and four underframes for the running trucks under the cars.

    So last night I was changing out the sideframes on the power chassis and installing Kato trucks under the underframes for the cars. On the Kato trucks I replaced the Rapido couplers with Kato two piece couplers which work well with MTs. They are Kato 11-702 and 11-707 and are drop in replacements for the Rapido.

    Now getting ready to cut some thin lead for weights. I get the rolls of lead on Amazon. The soft thin lead cuts with either a single edge razor blade or scissors.

     
  2. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    Hmmm... coil car loads?
     
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  3. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    LEAD run far far away LEAD (y) dont ya know that stuff is bad for you :D good idea about coil car loads with that lead you get a load and weight at the same time(y)
     
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  4. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Coffee is bad for you. Eggs are bad for you. Bacon is bad for you. White bread toast is bad for you. Real milk is bad for you. There goes my breakfast !!!! :D:LOL::ROFLMAO:
     
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  5. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    Like most things, lead is bad for you if it impacts you at high velocity...
     
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  6. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Only if you inhale or otherwise ingest it, or the Missus shoots you for spending too much on trains.
     
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  7. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well with the running chassis for the cars now weighted with LEAD it was time for the test track and an hour or two running in either direction. And since the power chassis was and all wheel drive Bandai I decided I could get by with just one powered car for the 6 car train.


    And I could save another mechanism for another project since these are not available anymore.


    I found another running chassis and fitted a set of Kato trucks to it and some LEAD weight. Added it to the consist with the lone power unit. It climb the 2% and 3% percent grade out of the port facility like it was not there. Once on the main I opened the throttle and it was doing a scale 100 mph around the track.

    All this prep is getting ready for the arrival of the Golden Turtle, Turtle Creek Central's newest passenger power.


    Comes in a set of three cars, a cab car and two coaches and I have two sets ordered that will give me four coaches and a cab car at each end.
     
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  8. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    ... too much money, time, room, attention, etc. on trains.
     
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  9. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    Right now, it is several hundred locomotives to be entered into the CabControl system. It sure would go a lot faster if there was a computer software inteface that I could dump all the locomotives out of JRMI Decoder Pro instead of hand entering everything via a throttle.
     
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  10. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    The first question is whether there is an data import capability for CabControl...

    Then whether there is a reporting utility for JMRI to create formatted data files for import into such systems.

    Sure sounds like a problem in serious need of a reasonable solution.

    And manually transcribing the data isn't a "reasonable solution."

    But on the other hand, I wish I had a big enough locomotive collection for that to be an issue!
     
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  11. DCESharkman

    DCESharkman TrainBoard Member

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    I have already sent an email to ESU about this, still waiting to hear anything back!
     
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  12. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    M/T Truck Frame loads

    20230122_154040.jpg
     
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  13. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    My Ford FAST needs these. How hard are they to assemble?
     
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  14. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Allen for the 2 GP7's 1 GP9 that'll become power for one of my locals once I get a new layout up

    And after they hit the dip tank in my roads colors

    And the switcher followed me home I swear

    And the box they were taken on is my n scale river boat it will be renamed but it's Lindberg 1/163 scale
     

    Attached Files:

  15. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    "Dammit, I ordered a TEN wheeler!!!"
     
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  16. jwaldo

    jwaldo TrainBoard Member

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    Fixing another too-clean boxcar.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Mark Ricci

    Mark Ricci TrainBoard Member

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    Unsure if you have explored the JMRI_UserFiles directory... Inside their is a roster.xml file, if you right click (in windows) and select edit, the file can be opened with any text editor on the pc. The problem is that besides the specific text (labels) address in the roster, there would some parsing to clean enough to import assuming the CabControl provides PC app and a method to import.

    I'm moving layout to total DCC EX so plan on having JMRI rosters up on 1 screen and paste text, labels and info into the roster file and then the Arduino IDE to upload to the hardware. Not elegant but beats a total rekey. Fortunately, only have a 1/2 doz locos.

    This is my roster.xml opened in Word and pasted (w/o tabs) into this page-Too big for snippet.
    2021-06-21T07:03:50.163+0000

    2502

    dcc_long



    Light

    Bell

    Horn

    Coupler Clank

    Diesel Fans

    Dynamic Brake

    Optional Ditch Lights

    Switching Mode

    Audio Mute - StartUp-ShutDown

    Manual Notching Up

    Manual Notching Down

    AUX3 Function Output

    Dim Headlight

    AUX4 Func Output

    Talking Defect Detector

    Cab Radio Comm

    Rail-Joint Clank

    Brake Set/Release

    Sanding Valve

    Short Air Let-Off

    Air Compressor

    Pop Valve



    Random sounds

    Automatic brake sound

    Gear shift sound




    LastOperated

    2021-06-24T12:41:27.425+0000



    OperatingDuration

    8822





    2021-06-25T22:58:03.669+0000




    5916

    dcc_long



    Light





    2021-06-19T04:28:41.004+0000




    1523

    dcc_long



    Light

    Dim





    LastOperated

    2021-06-21T09:01:59.438+0000



    OperatingDuration

    18868





    2021-06-20T16:46:51.148+0000




    56

    dcc_short



    Headlight

    Bell

    Horn

    Coupler

    Compressor

    RPM Up

    RPM Dn

    Ditch-MARS Light

    Mute/Master Volume

    Shutdown and Startup

    Cooling Fan

    Air Release

    Brake Set/Release/Squeal

    Horn Grade Crossing

    Station Sounds

    Yard Sounds

    Maintenance Sounds

    Radio Chatter

    City Sounds

    Farm Sounds

    Industrial Sounds

    Lumber Sounds

    Horn2

    Track Sounds

    Aux Light Control

    Long Horn

    Play Macro

    Record Macro

    Brake Squeal





    LastOperated

    2021-06-24T12:41:03.088+0000


    OperatingDuration

    20667


    Nested inside the same directory- MRI_UserFiles is a directory called roster, each loco in the system has a respective .xml file For the 2018 Atlas SD35 Gold loco, Below is the first page of 98 total. Interestingly, only the first page has any meaningful data, the remaining 97 pages are all returns.

    upload_2023-1-28_17-46-48.png

    Lastly, and a little more promising, is when the roster.xml file is opened in Excel. Since now a database can be created if desired.

    upload_2023-1-28_17-54-41.png

    And, the SD35 xml roster file;

    upload_2023-1-28_17-58-2.png

    Unsure if any of this is helpful but it is how I would explore a solution...
     
  18. Massey

    Massey TrainBoard Member

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    Finally got around to working in the Scenic Valley today. I glued up the facia and while they dry I have them strapped into my ratchet straps. I fixed a piece of trackwork that got messed up when I rebuilt the frame as well. Tomorrow I will try and run a train on it, if I get time to do the wiring.


    Ratchet straps and tape holding it all together.
    230D9F5C-A4B6-4877-9E15-44612D653067.jpeg 09DC3DA2-BA0E-45C6-9EF6-ADE901CF05E6.jpeg

    Jars if paint being used as weight… don’t judge, it’s all I had that would fit!
    FDEA2CC4-2CD6-43C5-8168-19DDBB9BFF9C.jpeg
     
  19. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    The paint train love it
     
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  20. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    I have the paddle wheeler riverboat :ROFLMAO::LOL:(y):eek:;):):D:p:cool::sneaky:
     

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