Hi All:
I am not sure how many people have heard of Saluda Grade in western North Carolina. It had the steepest grade for a mainline route in the country; over 5% at one point and much of it at 4.7%. The following websites have a lot of pictures, information, and stories that I hope you find interesting. There is some duplication between the sites but all have somethings that are different.
dwight77

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Hi All:
This website has some very interesting information, pictures, etc about railroading in the South, much of which had to do with logging. Hope you enjoy or find it interesting.
dwight77
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I am the unfortunate owner of an HO Spectrum J class locomotive that has never seen a complete run on my pike. This is actually locomotive # 4 The original was a gift as I never would have p[purchased one in the first place but I graciously accepted it and placed it up on a shelf. Well after looking at it for some time I decided to try and give it a whirl. Never made it 12" as the drivers were out of quarter and actually lifted the locomotive up off the track causing it to instantly derail. Sent #1 back to Bachmann four months later I receive #2 place it on the program track and nothing, try it on the test track and still nothing. Problem bad decoder actually fried to a crisp. Send back #2 and receive #3. Place #3 on the program track everything seems ok so far attempt to run it on the branch line and the front of the locomotive is actually resting on the rails. I did a little research and found that the bars used to mount the front and rear pilot on some models were reversed so I tried that, result: a little better but still not right. I shim the front and rear pilot with Kadee washers and it finally has enough clearance to run, in a straight line that is. As soon as it hits a curve any curve (my minimum radius is 28" on the branch line 32" on the main) and the tender actually lifts the rear of the locomotive off the rails causing instant derailment. I have several Spectrum locomotives including 4 mountains, 3 K4's, and 2 Russian Decapods that all negotiate all of my layout without incident. Ah maybe the 4-8-4 wheel arraignment is too much perhaps, nope sorry I have two BLI M1's that run through the layout like a hot knife through butter a pair of 2-20-2 Santa Fe's used for pusher service that have no problems and well lets say all of my big articulated's 12 of them the circuit like Swiss watches. So I now am studying the J class literally under a magnifying glass and see they have some hokey
close up draw bar set up. That is supposed to keep the tender close coupled to the engine and still allow it to swing. Well guess what that don't work for beans. So I get the nice folks from Bachmann on the phone and tel them my tales of woe. They try to pawn me off with some shinny toy like looking piece of junk J class and I said no thanks. ( I had seen one of these in an LHS and God only knows what they came out with this piece of junk. So after much to do they send out #4 well a month goes by and number #4 never arrives. Oh it's on it's way parcel post bla bla bla well guess what I live in New Jersey Philadelphia Pa. where Bachmann is located is less then 50 miles from my house someone could have walked here with it in less time. So the customer service manager assures me that if I call her by 1:00pm Friday before the FedEx or UPS guy gets there she will personally send me out a new one. Well guess what another week goes by after I call her at 1:03pm and still no J class. So I call her on Thursday and she apologizes saying she must have forgotten good thing I called, well I guess the voice mails I left every day and some times twice a day for a week never got heard (Hum?) So Friday am at a little before 10:00am the FedEx man hands me a box form Bachmann industries Yes it's J class #4!!!! hooray................
Well the box gets opened up and down into the train room we go. You'll never guess what happened.... THE SAME EXACT THING!!!!!!!! So now I am fit to be tied and leave Laura the customer service manager a message telling her that nothing has been solved and what can we do about it I am done with replacing a problematic locomotive with the exact same model as before.
I had to run out to the store and did not have cellphone service for a few minutes during which time she leaves me a message telling me that they ran that engine on 22" radius Bachmann easy track and it ran fine it has to be my track work bla bla bla and that she will be out of the office by 12:00 noon, how very convenient.
So now that you guys are either board to tears or laughing so hard you need to go change your underwear I ask you have any of you had any experience with the Spectrum J class 4-8-4 and if so did you have a similar problem and how did you rectify said problem. Others have told me they experienced the exact same thing and solved their problems by putting them on eBay. At this point a 10lb hand sledge is looking mighty tempting. I'm at my whits end with this piece of junk and the only thing I am possibly considering is eliminating their ridiculous draw bar set up and going with a more conventional type possibly made of delran or perhaps metal. Your thoughts are desperately needed thank you in advance.


Here are a few pictures of the draw bar that I feel is causing all of the problems. Note: it is working freely and has no binding I haven't had the chance to check to see if the tender wheels are in gage or not but will get to that tomorrow

[Here is a shot of the drawbar mechanism if you want to call it that Bachmann in their infinite wisdom decided to use on this particular model locomotive ONLY to the best of my knowledge it is not used on any of the other Spectrum line. A simple prototypical straight drawbar most likely is the answer





[b]You can see in this shot how close the tender is coupled to the engine although a well intended idea it simply just doesn't work[/b]

OK guys....Today is NTD....So get on 'em.....Do a train-related event....Even if it's just sweeping the layout room floor....

For those in the Philly area, there's this.....

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Have a good 'un....

Chased a light engine move west out of Napoleon today...











More photos from the Great Locomotive Chase are on flickr.

My wife came across this, and she thought it might be helpful to me.
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I figure you could make a sheet of railroad and highway signs, billboards, and advertising then when you need them, cut them out and stick them on. I have NOT tried this but I sure will
Charlie

Today I was preparing some paint for airbrushing. The jar of paint was old, and I had to strain out some lumps. There was still a little bit left after I was done mixing, but decided to throw the rest of the bottle away. Even though it was clear the bottle was nearly gone, I still had to think twice about it. There was still enough to do some touchup paint on something, perhaps to paint a few hats on some LPBs, or use for weathering. But surely the paint would be dried up by the next time I would need it.

I am guessing I am not the only "ultra thrifty packrat" model railroader. I have saved scraps of brass, and even have a drawer full of "bits and pieces" of styrene. Those bits and pieces come in handy when all I need is a tiny scrap to plug a hole or make a small detail.

What's funny is - if I were painting a wall and had an ounce of paint left over, I would proclaim the can empty and chuck it. Yet, at the hobby shop I pay 3.50 for an ounce of paint! Or if I were insulating my attic with foam and had a 4 inch square piece left over, I'd chuck it. Yet on my layout, I have been saving any piece that looks large enough to be useable until my scenery is done.

I guess what gets saved relates to the scale of the project I am working on. And a model railroad is a very small scale!

Hey Kids,

Are you looking for a specific prototype that's not commercially available.

Here's the answer to your prayers.

I found the link to this website on the Monorail Society's Yahoo! Group

Quote:Monorail models

Just found a website about 3d printing. They have one railroad train set and could prob. build any other, they need a pic to go by.

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its in german {Actually Dutch} and I am no help there sorry! I have seen the youtube vids where they have moving gears as well.

Quote:These are N scale bodies for Dutch train models.

The comment says: "Please note these models often need to be sanded, since surplus material is present on the surface. Our apologies"

One could design a monorail model using Sketchup or Rhino or a slew of other CAD programs and upload it to Shapeways to have it printed.

Quite amazing.

Hey guys - long time no see!!!

Today I picked up my Mikado from Dr. Wayne, who added the vestibule cab, FWH, pipes and valves, as well as the numerals and the weathering. She's a beauty and I owe Wayne a real debt of gratitude for his stunning conversion. Thanks again Wayne!!!

When I got there, we put the train on his layout and took a little spin through the lovely southern Ontario counrtyside. I managed to get these pics.

Here's one showing all the cool piping and detail, and of course the all-weather cab that is so impossible to find off the shelf.















After the photoshoot, we ventured out into the real 1:1 southern Ontario countryside, and actually caught a train barrelling past at one of our stops. All in all, a very fun day.

cheers
Val