Today I was kind of in a funk. I did get the wiring problem worked out. I believe I missed labeled a track feeder at it's terminal board end. I should have noticed two feeders labeled No.4. I must have done that earlier in the week when thought I fixed the problem. I kept the layout in the operating possition and worked on the terminal board underneath while sitting in my lab chair kind of twisted around and looking up. I had a difficult time seeing the slot in the bright shinny terminal board screws. Last month my optometrist told me my vision had changed quite a bit, but not enough to be alarming. I guess he was right. I ran a couple trains and had my first slow speed meet. Electrically everything seems to be working properly. Mechanically I'm having a problem with a track switch and there are a couple large rail gaps that I need to address. Trains pull fine over them but pushing is not always successful.
MADE A LITTLE PROGRESS I swung the layout around 180° to make a paper template for cutting out the removable section of scenery. From this vantage point it was easy to see a high frog wing rail on the problem track switch. The gaurdrail sticks up high enough to stall a slow moving locomotive. I can't blame Kato for this issue. I have two switches point end to point end. They are kind of twisted due to the sharp climb up to the coal & lumber dealer. The spur to the lumber dealer climbs about ½" in 12". I'll only be shoving a car or two a time up the hill. I haven't had any problems with that. The switch at the top of the grade suffers from a low frog and can sometimes stall a locomotive running at slow speed. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, fixed that switch before I installed it. Next up; installing a parallel connector in the track feeder and switch motor wiring running to the back of the layout. This is a backfit since I decided to rip the layout in two.
MAKING ROOM FOR CONNECTORS I laid out my cut line for bisecting the layout. The 7ft ruler was in the attic when we moved into This Old Dump. Any other of you older gentlemen know what it was used for? I thought for surveying until I saw one in an antiques store. My great, great grandfather would have used one. Next I cut out some of the glued on foam sheeting to make room for terminal boards and parallel conector. It was tough pulling up the glued on foam. That's it for now, Have a Good One!
IN SUPPORT OF THE LUDITE HARD DRIVE Today I took a little break from the train room. Last night I spilled my organizer full of wire terminals all over the poorly lit attic stairs so today I cleaned up that mess. The Ludite Hard Drive When my wife and I purchased our first home together I had 6 pickup trucks full of model train magazines to move. That summer I decided to pare down my magazine collection. I went through every issue and cut out any articles I thought I would want for future reference and sorted them into files based on subject matter. I've been doing this with hard copy magazines ever since. As I mentioned on a previous post, after discovering I had purchased a few Kato Mikado, spare drivers and GHQ PRR L1 conversion kits a dozen years ago, I've decided to give Acme HCD a PRR theme. Seriously, after being out of the hobby a few years I didn't know I had these locos and kits. I did some internet research and saw that in '07 and '08 there was an in depth series of articles written about this conversion but the there are no back issues available. Ebay had one issue available. While cleaning up the wire terminals I spotted the Ludite Hard Drive and thought, since I have the L1 kits and the spare Kato Mikado drivers, I must have read the conversion articles at some point. Perhaps I saved them in the LHD. I brought down the LHD, I guess you could say I down loaded it! I pulled out the PendAFlex file named PRR Locos, the folder named Loco Upgrades and bahm! There they are. All three installments of the Kato USRA Mikado to PRR decapod conversion. My point is, having info in digital format is good, but sometimes having well organized, old fashioned hard copy at your fingertips is just the ticket. I must admit, for years I've envied the Brits that build their locomotives from kits. I understand these GHQ kits aren't easy but I'm looking forward to the challenge in the future. Have a Good One!
So last night I read through my material on the PRR I1. It turns out I don't have the extra side rods and crank pins needed. I do have most of the 1950's RMC series of articles on scratch building a locomotive. If I haven't located the side rods and crank pins by the time I'm ready to do the mods I guess I'll have to finally learn how to use my old hobbyists lathe/mill. The locomotive conversions are not a priority. I've put all my reference material, locomotives, kits, and parts in their own designated drawer in the flat file cabinet. I'll revisit it when I need a break from layout construction. So back to work on the layout. My next step is rip cutting the door and filling the voids where I make the cut. This would have been easier to do before the track went down, for sure, but when the track went down I didn't plan on moving the layout on a regular bases. Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome! Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and away from the saw blade Have a Good One
"Ludite" hard drive! That's funny! And so true for this 'oldhead' as some of the grandkids say..... As for the side rods, photo etched brass is an option for something new to learn. Or doing a Max Magliaro, and just cutting them out and filing away until they are correct. Either way, am looking forward to seeing what you come up with, being a mild Pennsy type guy....
Badlandnp, That's the author of the 07 &08 RMC articles. Max Magliaro. Thanks you just saved me a trip up stairs. I still need to list and credit the older articles. I won't get to the hands on portion of the locomotive projects until this summer at the earliest. I'm working on finding some parts and more refence material. I'll probably do a Minitrix K-4 up grade first. SWIMO wants to see some scenery and structures first.
