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Mike Desira

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Dec 15, 2004
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hello people, I am Mike :wave: and I had a LIMA set when I was young. Apparently I must have been a bad bad boy cos it disappeared somewhere along the line !!!:cry: All contact with the model train world was lost until lately when I rediscovered the HO/OO world. :thumb:

Only problem is that I have a gadzillion questions to ask about all aspects of the hobby, :eek: and I would appreciate any input which would help me to realise my dream of building an HO/OO setup.:D

Nuff said for the moment - I don't want to bore everyone to bits - and my first question is what got me back on the rails - why is it called a frog? :confused:
 
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jetrock

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Dec 18, 2003
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Because if you look at it from above, it kind of looks like a frog, with short front "legs" on one end and long froggy legs on the other.

frog.jpeg

grenfrg3.jpg
 
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ausien

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Sep 14, 2004
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welcome to the GAUGE:wave: , Mike ask as many questions as you like, we will answer the ones we like,:D :D :D and let someone who knows the answers to the ones we dont like...:confused: :confused: :confused: :thumb: :D :D :D ..have a great christmas..steve
 
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Catt

Hi Mike,and welcome to the Gauge.Don't be the least bit bashful about asking questions.There's sure to be someone here who can answer them.

By the way incase you are wondering ,there are no such things as dumb or stupid questions ever,just people that won't ask for fear of looking dumb . :D
 
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Mike Desira

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Dec 15, 2004
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nice, these earthlings-on-rails!!!!!!

thanks for the help people :thumb:

some stuff about myself, then........I live on a small island in the middle of the mediterranean sea, and I am in the unenviable position of not having any trains running anywhere :cry:

Please bear that in mind when I ask something so obvious to you lot, but is a complete mystery to innocent lill' me. :eek:

I'm mechanically minded, which explains the clanking noises between my ears :p and am comfortable with computers and electronics. :rolleyes:

My dream layout is blonde, 6' 6'', errrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmm........:eek:ops: wrong thread, darn.

My dream layout is to be mostly a shunting yard train setting according to a rolling stock ?roster? generated by computer, despatching the lot, and organising the next train before the despatched one completes the loop and returns. The engine is ?decoupled? from the train, goes through maintenance,
picks up the new train and toddles away. The arrived train is split up by the shunter/switcher/whatcamacallit, a new roster is called up and a new train starts taking shape.

Should I

a: get a life? :eek:ops:
b: stop boring you lot with my inane blithering? :p
c: wait hopefully for your comments on my dream? :D
 
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docsnavely

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Sep 20, 2004
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Mike,

welcome to the gauge!:wave: In response to your questions:

a: who in the world needs a life when they live on a small island in the middle of the mediteranean?

b: we all ramble on and on here, that's what makes this forum great!:rolleyes: :D

c: comments are endless on this forum! and if you're the inpatient type (which I doubt since you live on a small island in the med), just roam all of the archived threads and see if you can get some info that way.

Most importantly though, have fun!!!!!:thumb:

-doc
 
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ausien

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Sep 14, 2004
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60103 said:
If you get a diagram of a horse's hoof from the bottom, there is a structure called a frog. It looks a lot like our track frog.
Now ask your sister (the one that's crazy about horses) why that's called a frog.
Click to expand...
years ago a horse had soilid hooves, then one day a horse stepped on a (FROG), and got squished and stuck there :eek: and when asked what he had stepped in,:eek:ops: he answered a frog, after that horses mantaind a soft part in the hoof that has been called the frog ever since.....(B#######t) but a good story....:D :D :D .

to adress your question,(about bablin on) your in good company here...we all bable from time to time:thumb: :rolleyes: :thumb: ....have a good one...steve
 
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Mike Desira

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Dec 15, 2004
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60103 said:
Mike: you just laid out a plan for getting a life. or was that a typo for "wife"?
Click to expand...
ermmmmmmmm........already got one :rolleyes: .....wife, i mean, for quite some time now, too...... thing is I'm still trying to figure out how to read and reprog her decoder!!!!!!:eek:

Can't say anything wrong about her, cos she just approved the territory lease on which I can eventually build by empire!!!!:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
 
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Mike Desira

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Dec 15, 2004
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ok tech stuff now.........does a GP-50 (what an ugly brute, but I fell in love with it) have a front- and a rear-end or is it double ended?

Also, on what type of maintenance programme are they operated in real life?
I mean for say engine oil....is it an oil change every 5000miles or just top up and the devil take the hindmost?

I have this idea of running a loco logbook on a computer which would generate prototypical problems like "dynamic brake stack cooler fan breakdown" this would then be translated into so much down time required to fix the problem and will it screw up the schedule?

If aircraft electronics are called "avionics" what are train elecs called?

When it comes to trains, is there things like Major maintenace and Line maintenance, just like aircraft? My future yard will feature both, and all incoming engines pass through Line before going out again.
 
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shaygetz

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May 2, 2003
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does a GP-50 (what an ugly brute, but I fell in love with it) have a front- and a rear-end or is it double ended?

It would depend on the railroad. Most run them short nose first. The Southern and the Norfolf and Southern both ran/run them long hood forward for added protection for its train crews.

Also, on what type of maintenance programme are they operated in real life?
I mean for say engine oil....is it an oil change every 5000miles or just top up and the devil take the hindmost?

Again, it depends on the railroad. The Union Pacific, the Sante Fe and the Pennsylvania had regular scheduled washes and everything. The Southern Pacific is a weathering nuts dream with their equipment almost never being washed but with regular scheduled maintenance. Settle on a road (if you're free-lancing, follow another roads practices) and research out their maintenace standards.

I have this idea of running a loco logbook on a computer which would generate prototypical problems like "dynamic brake stack cooler fan breakdown" this would then be translated into so much down time required to fix the problem and will it screw up the schedule?

Most model operation sessions have some type of random chaos senarios installed. A regular maintenance schedule would be easy to do with call order cards or a random program. I know of operators who even call out wreck trains for derailments. I've added a "hotbox" scenario to mine.

http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=7200&page=1&pp=15

Once tripped, the offending car has to be set out on the nearest siding and recovered by a wreck train. With a maximum allowed speed of 10mph, it can be a long crawl to the nearest available siding.

When it comes to trains, is there things like Major maintenace and Line maintenance, just like aircraft? My future yard will feature both, and all incoming engines pass through Line before going out again.

Yes, again something researched from a particular railroads practice.
 
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Mike Desira

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Dec 15, 2004
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my man...:thumb: ...:thumb: MY MAN :thumb: .......:thumb:M:thumb:Y:thumb: :thumb:M:thumb:A:thumb:N:thumb: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I could kiss you!! Thanks for the info.:wave:

My "only" reasearch tool, albiet a very powerful one, is the net. :( See, we do not have trains here, :cry: and sometimes a single visit to the company's offices is worth a week's troll through the net. SIGH!!:( :( :( :( :(
 
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