I am now ready to do battle with my old flex track, turnouts, soldered joints and whatever else the railroad god throws in front of my wrecking crew. I have purchased all tools deemed essential in advertisements for the project of ripping and laying. I have saws. I have cutters, I have flex track straigheners, I have guides for cutting and laying track. I am glued, I am fastened, I am bonded, I am nailed, braded. I am shimmed. I can elevate, superelevate, depress, straighten. I have many different forms of compasses and surveying equipment for checking and marking a radius, a circumference, an arc, a tangent, a diameter. I can scrape, I can tape, I can mortar. I have pins, I have needles, I have push pins, I have pullpins. I got rhythm, I got music, who could ask for anything more? Now, just to be able to do it without the resulting derailments.
MarK; Good luck..... Best of all; are you having fun? Stay cool and run steam while you redo your layout and have fun.....
Ready . . . FIRE! . . . aim? Seriously, good luck and have fun! You did forget the anvil, to weight down that spot of track that won't be complaint otherwise.
Bob- If I wasn't running steam almost exclusively, I wouldn't have to rip and relay. I WILL stay cool. By the way, what does Valium do to alignment and joining track? I am having fun. I am having fun. I am having fun. Really, I am. Pete- I use a heel or whatever one calls the pice of iron that is shaped like heel and looks like a heel, but is 20 times heavier.
Mark: Vallium makes the track look good when it really isn't... Just remember to bank your curves with some shims..... Stay cool and run steam......
I heard the Coasters in a bar once several decades ago. They might be a bit too thick. Bob, I think, was referring to styrene inserted at the curve. Otherwise, a dime or two would do.
Mark: The Coasters are still at it..... Styrene will would for a shim. You could also use thin pieces of foam.... Stay cool and run steam....
Since I am always too tired on weekends from working all week I have switched to the weeknight dabble. Perhaps I should start a new thread of that name. This weeks dabble- So far this week I have finally bitten the bullet and am working on bench work. My current benchwork is sort of like a picture frame that will lend some support in holding various scraps of foam from previous now defunct layouts in one piece. The space i'm planning on using will be 3 feet by 4 feet. It seems like on small layouts the most limiting factor is the width because people always end up using smaller radius curves.Hopefully this new benchwork will eleviate this problem.
Let's see-- I think I'll paint up some engines for the Seneca Confederation. Fact is, I don't know--maybe clean track. That's way overdue. We'll decide on Saturday morning.
Geeky, This won't be regular cleaning. This is be cleaning the overspray from scenery construction and painting the rails, making sure the railcrossings are clean, the endless search for pins or other small steel objects, etc. Occasionally, if I've got paint or hard glue, I'll sand a short portion of rail with 800 grit paper. Jeanne's company Xmas party was the last time we ran a full lap. Once I get things settled down, I typically use diluted carpet shampoo on a small cloth ball. I wear latex gloves to avoid drying out my hands. Apply it lightly, wait a second or two, wipe it off with a clean cloth. If I have an oxide problem, I'll use a hard rubber eraser (I think it's from 1956!) or a small sharp paint scraper (used lightly). I also run a Rocco (pad) and Centerline (roller) over it. I have a Tomix, but haven't converted it for DCC. The vacuum used to jam on my old road. Nothing but bad luck with goo gone. Mixed results with brass or silver cleaner. The only place I really have trouble with dirty track is on the bridges. An eraser taped to a stick get tired in a short while. I do have to figure out the Tomix just for that. I think I just need a dropping resistor.
Being a sufferer of DTS (Dirty Track Syndrome) I found that Goo Gone works the best. Apply, let it work itself in for a minute or two and then wipe off with a white cotton cloth. Any white cotton cloth nerbles or whatever they are called will be visible and disposed of either with a vacuum or a pair of tweezers (if they get caught by lousy trackwork).
Nits. Isn't that what lice leave behind? And that some editors have with my stories? I have a theory about DTS, based on my experience. Where I've done a good job on trackwork, especially in the area of plentiful track power feeders, I've had very few cleaning problems. Where I've done a bad job, in the areas of lack of feeders or "rocking" track, I've had to clean.
ok this weekends task is to clear off my desk and replace piles of crap with O scale track and smoking hudson with whistle.
This weekend's work is already started. A combination N/HOn30 test track. Nothing complicate. A 48" piece of one by four. The track will have a switch as well, for trouble shooting any problem cars, or engines. My old test section was built onto my work bench. So was in the way at times. This one I can move. Boxcab E50
Geeky- I think we've all modeled the Pine Plains Central. At one time or another..... It's one thousand percent better than having nothing. Keeps you actively in the hobby. Eventually, along comes the scenery, etc. Boxcab E50
