Hog Waller Junction

John Moore Mar 11, 2015

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I can see why it would be a tight fit in your tunnels.
     
  2. Jeepy84

    Jeepy84 TrainBoard Member

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    Ah, yeah, I've seen that one in the Walther's catalog, about as big as a Streamliner I imagine?
     
  3. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Found this on You Tube and if nothing else check the size versus the F units pulling especially the width. There is a pop up note about the rotary disc catching rail work if the track work is sloppy as far as height goes at the joints and Mike Fifer has a video segment on track cleaning that features this car amongst others. One thing I have found is that the liquid reservoir empties way to fast with moist cleaning and there seems to be no way to control the rate of flow. However the rotary abrasive disc and the vacuum function work like a champ. It is amazing what that small vac can pick up.
     
  4. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Sat this morning giving some more thought to the tunnel portals which are not an issue for my small power and cars but is an issue if I want to use that track cleaner. Last night I had successfully cast two double portals to replace them and then this morning a light came on in the dim recesses of the old grey cells. I had one of those rare Zen like moments of complete awareness and recognition. Hey dummy those are lightweight Hydrocal castings. They cut extremely easy. Just need the right tools and the little Bissell vacuum. Thus commenced operation widen in place or operation Wipe since most of the M of W gang are old WW2 veterans just a few years removed from the war.
    Used just three tools plus the vacuum and it took about thirty minutes. Stuff cut easy using the fine blade on an Exacto and the sanding stick smoothed it out. Trimmed out a little more foam backing with the wide chisel blade. Now for some styrene strip to put the edge back and before that some black paint to the raw areas that might show.
     
  5. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Cut out and widened the tunnel portals and then broke out the Atlas track cleaning car to check if it would clear. These danged things are as long as a E-7 and a bit wider.

    Then I took some styrene and some scribed styrene and recreated the wood support beams that I had cut away on one side. The tunnels themselves are at least 4x4 inches so plenty of room inside the tunnel. More than enough room to run double stacks through if I ever got crazy. I would just have to install a taller portal at each end.

    I discovered that there are a few places where even with using the rail joiners and the same brand of track that the rail joints were slightly raised for one side of the joint. Just enough to snag that abrasive rotary disc while my power rolls over it without a hiccup. So looks like a few places I will have to go and pry up the low end and apply a thin shim under it. Dagnabbit something else to do if I want to use that track cleaner.

    Tomorrow I hope to finally restore the trees I took out and give the track another good cleaning to pick up any loose ballast. Saturday will be no work on the layout, going to the train show with the CFO. She has already advised me of what funds I may partake of and I will be looking for a few more ore cars and maybe some more small motive power that I might get a deal on. She will be looking for things Chessie and Christmas gifts for some of the younger Grandkids.

    I came to the realization that in my search for smaller locos I can expand to Japanese and European that could be Americanized since I am running a fictional railroad.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2015
  6. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Not to hi-jack your thread, John, but you will enjoy this you-tube video I found.

     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Oops. It was not showing. So I've edited that link to work.
     
  8. gcav17

    gcav17 TrainBoard Member

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    Ok john... So how do I see your Gallery pics on tapatalk? Can anyone help me out here?

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
     
  9. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Can't begin to even have an idea. My cell phone is basic make a call get a call when I turn it on. It is usually off 95% of the time. My computing is done on a Gateway on my desk. You won't find me paying for any apps on anything and certainly not giving my thumbs a workout while blindly walking across the Wally World parking lot. I am too busy trying to avoid being run over by the folks behind the wheel looking at a little screen. I connect to everything off the old Gateway puter by IE11 and after a few tweaks of that I have had no issues with the new Train Board format. Also I can connect with Firefox with no issues.
     
  10. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    I'm with you John. I just have a basic Tracfone. Costs me about 20 bucks every three months. I don't care if I'm on the 'net or not while I'm away from home. And social media? Yuck!

    Not that there's anything wrong with that, though. :D

    Doug
     
  11. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Friday I managed to get the last of the removed trees back in and once again the track cleaned. Had to clean the points of a couple of the Peco turnouts that got a film on them from my spraying when I set the new ballast in place were I had done the track work. Worked a bit on the couple of track joints where one rail or so was just ever so slightly raised, but enough to catch the rotary abrasive pad under the track cleaning car. Yet to try it out to see If I did any good.

    Went to the show today and found my Bmann lady there. I had some 70 tonners on the list and be danged if she didn't have them in unlettered. Came away with two slightly cheaper than at my discount dealer up the road from me, plus without postage and then figuring in about $3 worth of gas I saved about ten dollars. And they are in my hand now without any wait and currently on the layout doing break in laps. I also made a good choice when I picked them as the power chassis for my Class A Climax locos because I discovered that they are rated for 8 inch radius curvature. The 44 tonners are only rated for 9 inch.
    Picked up five more ore cars for the Macy Moly Mine that will need couplers applied before entering service as foreign road cars and I caught those at a cheap price also along with a bag of Lichen, also marked down and a new bright boy.

    So the TCC has four new locos now that need lettering and numbers and once the ore cars have their couplers I will be in full operation while I continue to tweak a few items on the layout some more. I am going to put one of the Class As in the shop also since running it I have noticed that the roof is just a tad too wide and stands out like a sore thumb compared to the others.

    My Missus who accompanied me and scored a few things for herself and a couple of the Grandkids was looking at some of the operating modules with the Ntrak setup there. She made the comment that what I had at home was better looking than most of those and more realistic and weathered. Hit me right between the eyes because I am usually my worst critic on things scenic. Now trying to get my T-shirt off over my swelled head without ripping it for my senior nap. Does make all the effort and sometimes turning the air blue around me in the effort to get things looking right woth.
     
    Jeepy84 likes this.
  12. Rocket Jones

    Rocket Jones TrainBoard Member

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    John, I was at that show as well. Sorry I missed you! I picked up a couple of hard to find pieces myself at fair prices.
     
  13. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    A lt of us have been following your progress and saying it was good! :)
     
  14. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Converted the new (old used) Atlas ore cars to MT trucks and two by MiniTrix. Repaired the cars with loose or missing trucks or broken couplers from the derailment and put the whole shebang behind the new pair of 70 tonners plus a mid train helper and a rear pusher, both 44 tonners. So here is some heavy traffic on the TCC.


    Shortly after this video was taken I had my 2nd derailment occur, and would you know both in the tunnel. Cause is shown below.
    The ancient ore cars I have are having issues with the bolster pin hole that the truck pin goes into. On some the pin hole had cracks thus widening and loosening the grip on the truck pin. Those I repaired using a touch of solvent glue and a very thin rod to tighten it up that acts as a shim in the hole. However it looks like I am going to have to take each of the old cars and de-truck them and do the same fix using the very thin piece of styrene inserted in the hole. So once again I will be retrieving cars out of the tunnel, dang I hate tunnels that are over a foot long, and have some more work cut out for me. Then it is back on the track and run them some more to be sure they keep their trucks. Hopefully I won't have to resort to my little box of old Bmann truck screws.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2015
  15. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    Nice video! I counted 19 cars, who'd have thunk?

    For the trucks you could always go to a nut up above the bolster, a screw and washer underneath and loctite the screw to the nut after setting it to the desired height.?
     
  16. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Twenty counting the caboose.
    Dismounted all the trucks on the old ore cars and found loads of issues as to why I was losing trucks and pins. So I gathered all 14 cars on the workbench and set out on several courses of action depending on how bad they were. While I was working I had the five new cars doing laps behind a 44 tonner just to see if they would have any issues like the others and after an hour of running they were still on the rails. There were a few that literally had some plastic missing from the bolster. Those I went to machine screws to reattach them with some ACC to further strengthen the bolster. In those cases I had just enough bolster left to support the truck level. Others even with styrene shims installed the pins would still not stay secure so I installed just enough of the thin plastic strips with a solvent plastic weld glue to tighten the bolster hole so that the Bmann truck screws I had would grip and hold. Plus the solvent weld glue also melted enough plastic to fill the cracks appearing in the bolster pin holes. So some I was able to get a nice tight fit again. Others I used a small drop of ACC in the hole to grip the pin being careful not to get it outside where it would lock up the track swivel. I now have 9 of the cars with loads running around behind a single 44 tonner and so far everything is staying put.

    The 44 tonner snaking around two other trains at Hog Wallow Junction station with 9 loads plus caboose after repairs were made. These ore cars with loads are heavier than the empties or ones with plastic loads. The controller is set for a 45 SMPH speed and it is coming off the curve inside the tunnel and entering the passing siding while still in the curve and not missing a beat.
    I really like these little locos as they pull good, handle tight radius good, and don't skip a beat on my terrible grades up the incline. Plus they have a decent speed range unlike the racehorses that my SWs are. The 70 tonners are just as good, take even tighter curvature and also don't hesitate on my grades. So far I have four of the 44 tonners, and five of the 70 tonners with three of the 70 tonners being the donor mechanism for my Class A Climax geared locos.


    The background sound is an exhaust fan running in my workshop, not the locos.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2015
  17. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Atlas? All factory equipped?
     
  18. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    I like the one lone baby blue car.

    :D

    Doug
     
  19. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    These cars are originally MiniTrix that were marketed by MP and then by Atlas back in the 60s and 70s. I changed the trucks to MT with truck mounted couplers when I repainted and lettered them years ago. Not the first time I have had plastic deteriorate and become brittle after about twenty years. Where I have seen it has been the real early European stuff. Seems the later plastics from the late 80s and 90s don't seem to suffer that fate unless they have been stripped and repainted a lot.

    Currently I continue to test my new 70 tonners and have them double headed on a 35 car consist right now as I slowly break out and service cars from storage to go on the layout. Maximum cars for one 70 tonner is 18-19 depending on curve radius on water level grade. My lower level track is 9.75 radius.

    The Missus came in and when I told her the number of ore cars in the train She said you need that many? My answer is that with cars at the mine, loaded cars in transit to the port, and empties returning yes and probably need more. Hmm birthday this year or Christmas might have a small package containing some new ore cars and maybe some shorty beer can tank cars. She saw some of those at the show and liked them.

    So happily running trains and starting to cull out some motive power while completely unsupervised. The bunch is all downstairs supervising the Missus as She cleans and assembles the evening meal. Ribs, with a vegetable and rice mix with a slight curry seasoning, and corn on the cob.
     
  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yikes. Looking at my clock, and now that you mention food, it's lunch time!
     

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