Made an ice tea and went out to THERR RV. Turned on some good music. Sat down and just railfanned T.H.E.R.R. for over 2 hours ! I love days like this .
Thanks for showing us your layout. I had hoped to do some what similar when I departed from the Milwaukee area and moved back up north. It does look to be a real nice get away. Richard
Snowed a few days ago. Still to cold out in THERR RV. Lots of time to play on Photo Shop. My T.H.E.R.R. Fantasy Scheme..... .
Interesting! I see T.H.E.R.R. is buying units coming off lease. Hopefully they are getting refurbished before you torture the crews with them? Looks cool George!
The owner buys anything that tickles his fancy. They are/will be rebuilt from the ground up. With a few new goodies thrown in...to make the 'crews' happy.
Received today from Jim Reisings Estate.... . Kato SD40-2 Mid BNSF Swoosh BNSF #6752 Kato SD40-2 Mid BNSF Swoosh BNSF #6806 MICRO TRAIN FIRST RESPONDER W/POLICE BADGE TRIBUTE CAR 50' BOX CAR MICRO TRAIN FIRST RESPONDER W/FIREFIGHTER BADGE TRIBUTE CAR 50' BOX BLMA BLMA15005 TRINITY 64' REEFER UP ARMN 3 TRACK CLEANER CARS ORANGE The 2 SD40-2 locomotives are AWESOME. Jim's daughter didnt know if they had decoders or not. The listing didnt indicate either. I took a chance. Put the locos on the mains. Entered their cab #'s into the throttle. Held my breath and turned the throttles up. DCC !!! This old f*rt almost cried ! They both took off down the tracks !!!! Absolute smooth throttle control Lighted number boards! Nose mounted headlight! Working ditch lights !! 1) The Trinity Reefer is going to be a tribute car to Jim Reising...when I get done with it 2) The Police Tribute car is going to be a tribute to my late brother in law who was murdered while on duty in 2016 here in Show Low, Arizona 3) The Firefighter Tribute car is going to be a tribute car for my 'Nephew' who is a captain at a fire station in Phoenix, AZ 4) 2 of the 3 track cleaning cars work fine. The high cube one is a 'wet system' car and I have to research how to use it All things considered...I am totally 'STOKED' !!!!!!!! .
Nice additions. I just paid for two of the FVM GP60M's from Jim's estate today so should be getting those soon. I was wondering if they were DCC since FVM only sells DC/DCC READY. I was informed that one of the cases had a "chip" in it. Thinking that is the dummy/DC plug which if Jim was like me I keep them in the original case when I swap out with a decoder. For the price being asked even if they are analog I still got a bargain. I'm likely going to put sound in mine as I've two ESU nano sound decoders looking for a home. If I can get a speaker in the cab (I'm done milling frames) then it's off to the races. Very nice to do the tribute to Jim with your reefer. Looking forward to see it finished.
Wow, Bonus DCC. Years ago I ordered some OLD Bachmann F7's from a member here, really cheap too, like $45.00 for the two including shipping. and he stated DCC in the main loco and the B unit as not having it. To my surprise they both did, so ordered some new shell's and had two DCC locomotives to learn with my Bachmann Easy Command Controller. Nice surprise. Happy for you getting both DCC unit's and supporting them.
T.H.E.R.R. IS A REGIONAL RAILROAD AND THEREFORE A CLASS 3 RAILROAD. * I am putting this in my build thread so I can find it easier later on * According to the Federal Railroad Administration maximum rail speeds on Class 3 railroads are 40 mph for freight and 60 mph for passenger. Because T.H.E.R.R. runs in mountainous territory the average speeds are closer to 35 mph for freight and 50 mph for passenger trains. Using the Model Railroad Speed Calculator at http://www.stonysmith.com/railroad/speedcalc.asp I was able to to get train speeds down to 2.75 seconds per 12 inches = 39.67 SMPH. Close enough ! Main 1 throttle is set at 30 on my Digitrax throttle. Main 2 is set at 25. Each train has a newer SD40-2 locomotive running DCC (From Jim Reising's Estate). Each train is 10 cars long. Each train takes About 2 minutes and 52 seconds to make one lap around on my layout. I figure the discrepancy in throttle settings is due to one train having 10 older cars and the other 10 newer cars. The older cars probably have wheelsets that don't roll quite as free as the newer cars. That's my story and I am sticking to it ! From a distance of about 5 feet...the trains sure do look to be going at a crawling speed. Sitting closer...about 1 foot...and getting my mind to realize we are talking 1:160 scale and setting a pickup truck and a 'railfan' figure near the tracks as the trains go by...35-40 smph is just about perfect The six axle locomotives never stall or spin their wheels on the inclines..at speed...like my 4 axle locomotive do...Wooooohooooo !!!! T.H.E.R.R. main lines run through the middle of Lucky Penny Yard. The yard is protected by block signals. The trains can run through on the mains at 35 mph. The longer I watched the trains run from my seat at the workbench...the happier I was. As always Rule #1 applies ! .
