Bigford[I've had a few of them,LOL!!] Might I suggest you endeavor to move #5 to #1,and #6 to #2,them get the wife to clean up her crap,and for god sake man,don't kill the dog!![The wife,ah....maybe..But not the dog.....Is it her dog? Oh well...LOL!!]
Always the first priority! And second is to be thankful for all the good stuff that happens to us in MRR and otherwise, since at some point, we will all be old, sick or injured so we got to enjoy it while we can.
Doug, I'm just curious, why is this? I've never installed a Tortoise switch machine before. I do manual, using a DPDT switch and music wire under the turnout, then a rod that runs to the fascia (and wires that run to LED's and bus). I really hate doing it because it can take, just as you say, "2 minutes or 2 days to install." I've always imagined that Tortoise machines must be quicker and more enjoyable to install. Could it be that they have all the same problems?
The #1 thing on my to do list is get the CB&T up and running..I fooled around long enough. The next important thing is to get my last 3 industries built.. Beyond that it will be the usual Micky Mouse layout modeling-trees,roads,parking lots etc..
1) Lay some more track so that I am not just running things on the same old chunk of "test track" all the time. 2) Resolve shorting problem with GS-4 so that I can use it this summer at the club. 3) Install power drops from track. Institute DCC bus. 4) Ballast track. 5) Put legs on the two modules I have. That's just a start...
Probably the answer is "I suck at it". I think the biggest challenge with any kind of switch machine install (be it motorized or manual) is getting the throw of the turnout lined up with the throw of the apparatus, making sure the fulcrum is in the right place, and ensuring the length of the throw is not too long, not too short. All these variables, attempted through 1/2" of plywood, is a crapshoot in my experience. Sometimes you eyeball everything just right, and sometimes you have one of those variables out of place and it's like trying to back an eighteen wheeler with three trailers attached.
I couldn't have said it better myself. LOL It's actually kind of comforting hearing that it's a universal problem, though I'm sorry for your pain and suffering... I actually attempted to standardize the whole process--wrote down sizes of bits, technique, etc.--and we'll see, once I get up my courage, how well (or not) that works on the next batch of turnouts I install. :tb-ooh:
1) Re-do all 4 layout supporting trestles from "A-shaped" to "cubes" 1a) install storage drawers in supporting trestles 2) Finish stocking up on tracks, turnouts and various tidbits like cork roadbed, switch machines and auto-reversers. 3) Acquire DCC system (either NCE PowerCab or Digitrax Zephir) 4) Build lumber trestle bridge from scratch 5) Complete track work 6) Launch ceremony for the Kato SD40-2 7) ??? 8) Profit!
1. Get on to second level 2. stop running trains without scenery 3. repair all cars that fell without scenery 4. finish wiring the other 400 feet
Thanks for all the replies. We all have more to do than we have time to do it, I guess. I left the top item off of my initial post, BTW - "Make a To Do List!" It does help me get more done.
With a name like "Schuknecht" (pronounced "shoe-k-neck-t"), I get many nicknames. "Shooter" was given one night when I ruled the pool table (I'm not that good, everyone else was that drunk). It stuck when co-workers got a kick out of introducing me as "Shooter, from Texas" (especially over conference calls), and "Uncle Shooter" is easier for little nephews and nieces to pronounce than "Uncle Sputnik". It has nothing to do with the fact that I qualified as a rifle expert in the Marines. ---jps
Hmmm...not the "shooter" I was hoping for,LOL!! Competition combat shooting is one of my other hobbies..My nickname is "Robowop"...LOL!!
