Come on back to the caboose and get a cup of coffee [or sweet ice tea] - Part VII

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 39 (35 WC) and cloudy. The high is expected to be in the low 60's and very cloudy with a higher than average chance of rain.

Yesterday I received a package which I'd been waiting about 5 days for. In it were 2 Athearn SOO LINE covered hoppers and an Athearn Conrail wide-vision N-20 caboose kit. The caboose went together very well with no flash having to be trimmed anywhere. It has of course been fitted with Kadee #5 couplers and is awaiting a set of RP25 metal wheels. The covered hoppers were already assembled but were on the light side. I installed the needed amount of weight to bring them up to 5 ounces and Kadee #5 couplers were installed in place of the horn hooks they had been equipped with. All that remains is to equip them with metal wheels. I then went over and helped my niece do some work on her home. I cut the remaining pieces of trim molding so the crown molding can be installed then helped her install the base board molding in the back bedroom.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 12/23/2008


Wind Chill: 35°F
Humidity: 55%
Dew Point: 26°F

So Far Today
High: 41°F
Low: 36°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 22mph SE

Today High: 62 A chance of showers in the morning...then showers likely and isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. Not as cool. Highs in the lower 60s. Southeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Tonight Low: 62 Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Warmer. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

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TomPM

Another Fried Egg Fan
Good morning folks

It was 17 F this bright cold morning as I headed onto the slightly less busy roads. Wind Chill was only 10 F as the wind has died down significantly from yesterday. High today will be 33 F. We may be in for a mess later. It looks like we may get freezing rain that should change to rain tomorrow night.

No modeling last night. We were wrapping gifts and doing some other last minute preparations for Christmas. The kids set-up their slot cars and have been racing them the last two nights. It took us a while to get them running. We had some dirty track and pick-ups on the cars. The clipper oil trick seems to work just as well on the slot car track as on model rails.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 

jefelectric

Member
Good morning,
It was 13 this morning but had risen to 32 by 10:00 so we are having a heat wave. To be a high of 50 by Friday, what a change. Finally finished the doll house, will post a few pictures later.

Jeffrey, As I posted earlier, my 13 year old grandson wants to start a layout. He is trying to decide what gauge to use. He has an MTH O gauge set and his Dad has some HO stuff of recent vintage so he could go either way. I tend to lean toward HO due to his limited budget and to my doubt as to how long his interest will last. Now to get to the point of the question. If he starts with conventional control, is there any special wiring consideration needed to be able to change over to DCC? I am under the impression that all you need to do is change the Power pack/control unit and add decoders to the locos. Is that correct or is there more involved. Thanks for any help or advice you can offer. It's been about 50 years since I was in HO.
 

jefelectric

Member
As promised, I'm back with a few pictures of the Doll House. Just think of it as a 1" = 1' model rr structure.

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Note the train wallpaper in the boys bedroom!
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
John: That's absolutely correct. He can start with regular DC control and when he's ready make the switch to DCC. I recommend the Digitrax DCC system. It's easily upgradable and has everything you need to get started right out of the box. I use the Digitrax DCS 50 myself. It has 2.5 amps of power and can 10 trains at once. To change the control device simply disconnect the DC power pack and connect the DCC unit in it's place. That's all there is to it. He can start the switch to DCC on the locos even before the DCC unit is in. Nearly all HO decoders are dual mode, they'll run on both DC and DCC with no modification. I use Z Scale decoders (Digitrax DZ125) in my HO equipment because of their small size. They can be placed almost anywhere so there's no milling of the frame needed.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
I've been playing around with ideas for a hedge around the park. I'm thinking about dumping the white picket fence (too residential) and replacing it with a thick hedge that goes all the way around the park. That will help it look more like a community area.

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jefelectric

Member
John: That's absolutely correct. He can start with regular DC control and when he's ready make the switch to DCC. I recommend the Digitrax DCC system. It's easily upgradable and has everything you need to get started right out of the box. I use the Digitrax DCS 50 myself. It has 2.5 amps of power and can 10 trains at once. To change the control device simply disconnect the DC power pack and connect the DCC unit in it's place. That's all there is to it. He can start the switch to DCC on the locos even before the DCC unit is in. Nearly all HO decoders are dual mode, they'll run on both DC and DCC with no modification. I use Z Scale decoders (Digitrax DZ125) in my HO equipment because of their small size. They can be placed almost anywhere so there's no milling of the frame needed.

Thanks Jeffrey, I am surprised that the Z decoders will handle the amperage for HO motors.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Surprised me too when I first found out about them. But they handle my old Athearn's just fine. I have two enormous Athearn SDP40F locomotives running tail-to-tail that have DZ125's in them and they'll run all day long and not have one lick of trouble.
 

sir james

Member
JOHN, that doll house is really something,beautiful work.
Good Evening, only news today is watching movies and the lite snow coming down all day. I have a couple of train projects I want to do but just don't seem to get at them. Oh well,enjoy your christmas eve day..S.J.
 

Chief Eagles

Active Member
John, that dollhouse is outstanding! Great job, man! Love the train room!
That man dos fabilous work. Should see his scratch built things on his layout. Like this stockyard and gates open and close with real tiny hinges.
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Had busy day today. New Post Office ribbon cutting, drop off candy for ladies at CU, go Christmas shopping, go by Dr's and get meds, meet Mom of 4 at Town Hall and give her Santa for her kids, walk 1 1/2 miles, eat dinner, take wife to mall and drive back. ENOUGH!! Tomorrow is a "zoo". Rush here and rush there. Good night.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 68, cloudy and very wet out here by the lake. The high today should be around the low 70's and there's a chance of thunderstorms.

Worked on the park a bit yesterday to see how it would look with hedges instead of fences and I must say that I like the look of the hedges a lot better. They also look a lot better than the existing lichen borders which I have never really liked. I'll be going to Lowe's later today to pick a Christmas present for my sister. She's been wanting to get an outdoor thermometer for the porch and it has to be one that she can see from the kitchen window. I know which one she wants so I'm going to grab it and surprise her with it tomorrow.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 12/24/2008


Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 69°F
Low: 68°F
Rain: 0.02"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 25mph SSW

Today High: 72 Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph in the morning becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tonight Low: 52 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Lows in the lower 50s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Christmas Day High: 70 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Highs around 70. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

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TomPM

Another Fried Egg Fan
Good afternoon folks

Temperature is 37 F as I got into the office late today. It has been a crazy morning. The overnight rain started at 11 PM instead of 3 AM as the weather mis-forecasters predicted. Since it was in the twenties at the time we had icing before the salt trucks were scheduled to get out. Most of the crews were scheduled to report at 2 AM. By midnight in many places things were a mess. The morning rush was a nightmare. Accidents and road closures everywhere. I left two hours late to go to work and got caught up in the gridlock from a tractor trailer crash that happened over two hours before I left. At one point I tried to turn around to come home but I could not make any headway. Two hours after I left I got to work.

Nothing to report on the modeling front. Tonight we have Christmas Eve services at church and my daughter is playing flute in the service.

I hope everybody has a good day and a
Merry Christmas.
 

Chief Eagles

Active Member
Busy day up and down the highway. Think I passed Santa a couple of times. Eat eat eat. Now tired.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.
 

jeffrey-wimberl

Active Member
Good morning.

It's 60 and cloudy this morning. The high is expected to be around 70 and there's a chance of rain.

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Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 12/25/2008


Wind Chill: 57°F
Humidity: 95%
Dew Point: 57°F

So Far Today
High: 60°F
Low: 57°F
Rain: 0.02"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph E

Now through 05:00 AM CST December 25, 2008
High: 70
Through 5 AM...moisture will be lifted over a cold frontal boundary which extends from beyond 60 nm out from High Island to Atchafalaya Bay. This will continue widespread but light shower activity over the area east of the Sabine River and over the near shore waters west of Grand Chenier. Amounts will range from a trace to a few hundredths of an inch.

Today High: 70 Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers. Highs around 70. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

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