Come on back to the caboose and get a cup of coffee [or sweet ice tea] - Part VII
- Thread starter N Gauger
- Start date
Jim, I'm working on the switch, not the loco. Yes the loco in the North Pole Central set is the 4-4-2 that Lionel has made for about 50 years or so. :mrgreen: I find the guard rails on the MTH switches are further away from the running rails than they are on my Atlas switches, I suspect that is the problem. We will see.
I've got one that I burned up on some o27 track - had to replace the motor and e-board, as you might remember, lol!
Hey, did you finish your doll house project? How about a picture?
Here is another pic of my new locomotive cruising by the Tardis at my daughter's farm:
Hey, did you finish your doll house project? How about a picture?
Here is another pic of my new locomotive cruising by the Tardis at my daughter's farm:
Jim, Maybe I can put MTH running gear under that North Pole Central loco. :thumb: :mrgreen:sign1
Good morning.
It's 34 and clear, wind chill of 30. The high is expected to hit around 60 and it will be partly cloudy.
I put my KCS covered hopper in line yesterday (first time I've had it on the rails for more than a photo) and it kept derailing. Odd behavior for a new car. Upon inspecting it I found that the trucks were too tight and weren't allowing any rocking motion. I loosened each truck screw a quarter turn and it rolls along perfectly. I also changed out the couplers on a few Bachmann cars. They still had the EZ-Mate II couplers they came with. I replaced them with Kadee #148 Whisker couplers. They look so much better now. Today I think I'll come up with a load for one of my flatcars. It looks so useless with nothing on it. I believe I have an old RS-3 body in the junk box that I can cut up and weather.
Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446 11/16/2008
Wind Chill: 31°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 28°F
So Far Today
High: 38°F
Low: 34°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph N
Today High: 62 Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. Northwest winds around 5 mph.
Tonight Low: 38 Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.
It's 34 and clear, wind chill of 30. The high is expected to hit around 60 and it will be partly cloudy.
I put my KCS covered hopper in line yesterday (first time I've had it on the rails for more than a photo) and it kept derailing. Odd behavior for a new car. Upon inspecting it I found that the trucks were too tight and weren't allowing any rocking motion. I loosened each truck screw a quarter turn and it rolls along perfectly. I also changed out the couplers on a few Bachmann cars. They still had the EZ-Mate II couplers they came with. I replaced them with Kadee #148 Whisker couplers. They look so much better now. Today I think I'll come up with a load for one of my flatcars. It looks so useless with nothing on it. I believe I have an old RS-3 body in the junk box that I can cut up and weather.
Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446 11/16/2008
Wind Chill: 31°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 28°F
So Far Today
High: 38°F
Low: 34°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph N
Today High: 62 Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. Northwest winds around 5 mph.
Tonight Low: 38 Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.
ok i have had it!!!!!! had it with my mth rail king 4-8-4 "j" northern steamer! its been one thing after another, did not run right out of the box, the battery had a broken wire, got that fixed then the rubber traction tires would not stay on for one lap around the track. then the screws that hold the drive rods on kept working loose , and bent a rod. fix all that and last night for some reason the engine fried! smoke came out of places its not mint to! and stink , omg the stink!
i doubt i can get my money back, if so id buy a diesel and forget all about steamer! they better at least send me a new one.
i doubt i can get my money back, if so id buy a diesel and forget all about steamer! they better at least send me a new one.
I think there is something in the Good Book against mixing MTH and Lionel, isn't there? :-^
Morning. Back from Sunday School. Cool and windy. Got to water greenhouse. Might drive up to the lake house and check things out. Have a good one.
:mrgreen:Good afternoon all. Primered half of layout will do other half in the morning then a second coat and after that in a few days I will apply the green paint.:thumb:
Bad trains happen I had a lionel that the side frames on the trucks would vibrate loose after a few laps
Had a k-line GG-1 pre lionel take over had bad soldering on circuit board, no failures from MTH(disclaimer you results may differ from mine as I only have one MTH train :mrgreen
Brutus where did you find a small Tardis?
Howdy, A quick hello as I can't stay. We got some snow today but pavement still warm enough to stay clear. Rocket, my advice is don't change to diesel, change to a different toy train company. Went to a train show today, worst one I have ever attended, suppose to be trains only and everything was there. After many years of atteneing that show I must reconsider. TTFN...S.J.
As sir james said its not that its a steamer ( althou I do like diesels better) its the company not type of product sign1
Sorry had to put that in there I do have a few cars by that cuss word but all my engines are lionel well except one but its a Williams
Evening all been a while hope all are fine to many pages to go read everything.
did have my standard set out last weekend and running it was great as its acually the first time I've run it since I bought it and that was like 2 years ago. ( tried a few times but back then had a :curse: transformer one of those 2 piece ones that lionel put in there cheap sets about 10 years ago. )
Well will talk to you all later
Good evening all,
Well I think I have corrected the switch problem. As I mentioned before I thought the guard rail was the problem and it appears I was right. Here is a picture to show what I did.
If you look at the left guard rail you will see a white strip on the left side of it. I glued a piece of .060 styrene there to narrow the flange way which keeps the wheels from striking the frog of the switch. So far it is working. I don't know how long the glue will hold as it takes quite a beating when the wheels slam into it.
Here is the North Pole Central.
The engine and tender. The covered hopper is a track cleaning car, not part of the set.
The Gondola has an elf chasing a reindeer, the box car plays music (powered by a 9v battery) and the caboose lights up. Not bad for an inexpensive set. The engine smokes as well as you can expect and the tender has an air whistle which works when powered by my Z4000, but since the loop I run it on is powered by my postwar ZW it does not operate. I guess the old ZW needs a new rectifier.
If the engine will handle it I will add a Christmas box car or two and two hoppers or gondolas loaded with candy for the grandkids to pick out on the way by. It the engine dies, I'll just have to use one of my MTH steamers to power it. :thumb: :mrgreen:
Well I think I have corrected the switch problem. As I mentioned before I thought the guard rail was the problem and it appears I was right. Here is a picture to show what I did.
If you look at the left guard rail you will see a white strip on the left side of it. I glued a piece of .060 styrene there to narrow the flange way which keeps the wheels from striking the frog of the switch. So far it is working. I don't know how long the glue will hold as it takes quite a beating when the wheels slam into it.
Here is the North Pole Central.
The engine and tender. The covered hopper is a track cleaning car, not part of the set.
The Gondola has an elf chasing a reindeer, the box car plays music (powered by a 9v battery) and the caboose lights up. Not bad for an inexpensive set. The engine smokes as well as you can expect and the tender has an air whistle which works when powered by my Z4000, but since the loop I run it on is powered by my postwar ZW it does not operate. I guess the old ZW needs a new rectifier.
If the engine will handle it I will add a Christmas box car or two and two hoppers or gondolas loaded with candy for the grandkids to pick out on the way by. It the engine dies, I'll just have to use one of my MTH steamers to power it. :thumb: :mrgreen:
As sir james said its not that its a steamer ( althou I do like diesels better) its the company not type of product sign1
Sorry had to put that in there I do have a few cars by that cuss word but all my engines are lionel well except one but its a Williams
Evening all been a while hope all are fine to many pages to go read everything.
did have my standard set out last weekend and running it was great as its acually the first time I've run it since I bought it and that was like 2 years ago. ( tried a few times but back then had a :curse: transformer one of those 2 piece ones that lionel put in there cheap sets about 10 years ago. )
Well will talk to you all later
all my other MTH engines run perfect, all the lionel engines i have are junk!!!! that why i went to MTH, THE BETTER BRAND.
i have one williams engine, its ok but the horn is a joke, no sounds , no smoke, and cant run on DCS or TTMC,
Good afternoon all. Primered half of layout will do other half in the morning then a second coat and after that in a few days I will apply the green paint.:thumb:
Bad trains happen I had a lionel that the side frames on the trucks would vibrate loose after a few laps
Brutus where did you find a small Tardis?
I can get a 240mm/10" high Tardis from Maplins here in UK, it costs £24.00/$37.00 retail and comes complete with Dr Who and ANO.sign1
Good morning.
It's 41 and clear. The high will be around 70 and it will be clear.
I found something amongst an assortment of old rolling stock yesterday that I didn't expect to find. An old AHM helium car with markings for the Atomic Energy Commission. I've heard that these are somewhat rare though I don't believe there's anybody clamoring for them. The old talgo trucks were pretty much toast so I replaced them with Mehano talgo trucks which have had Kadee couplers fitted. I also brought it up to NMRA weight standards and it now tracks very well. I also sent my switcher team on it's first run yesterday pulling a mixed bag of coal hoppers, tank cars and general freight. They did very well. Not a bit of slippage with 12 NMRA weighted cars. Now I just have to set their acceleration and deceleration values.
Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 11/17/2008
Wind Chill: 38°F
Humidity: 94%
Dew Point: 36°F
So Far Today
High: 41°F
Low: 38°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE
Today High: 68 Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Light and variable winds.
Tonight Low: 42 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. West winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming north after midnight.
It's 41 and clear. The high will be around 70 and it will be clear.
I found something amongst an assortment of old rolling stock yesterday that I didn't expect to find. An old AHM helium car with markings for the Atomic Energy Commission. I've heard that these are somewhat rare though I don't believe there's anybody clamoring for them. The old talgo trucks were pretty much toast so I replaced them with Mehano talgo trucks which have had Kadee couplers fitted. I also brought it up to NMRA weight standards and it now tracks very well. I also sent my switcher team on it's first run yesterday pulling a mixed bag of coal hoppers, tank cars and general freight. They did very well. Not a bit of slippage with 12 NMRA weighted cars. Now I just have to set their acceleration and deceleration values.
Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 11/17/2008
Wind Chill: 38°F
Humidity: 94%
Dew Point: 36°F
So Far Today
High: 41°F
Low: 38°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE
Today High: 68 Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Light and variable winds.
Tonight Low: 42 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. West winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming north after midnight.
Good morning folks
It was 34 F as I hit the pavement this morning. Our high will only be 47 F. It is a big change from Saturday when we were in the seventies.
Did mostly chores around the house. We raked the leaves and other yard care type things. For Cub Scouts we had Scouting for Food. No trains.
I have a few days of hell coming up at work as we try to get some projects advertised so they can be bid before the end of the year.
I hope everybody has a good day.
It was 34 F as I hit the pavement this morning. Our high will only be 47 F. It is a big change from Saturday when we were in the seventies.
Did mostly chores around the house. We raked the leaves and other yard care type things. For Cub Scouts we had Scouting for Food. No trains.
I have a few days of hell coming up at work as we try to get some projects advertised so they can be bid before the end of the year.
I hope everybody has a good day.
Morning. Tom, good job with Scouts. Very important organization [I was a Scout and a Scout Master once]. Busy week. Spent an hour this AM on phone with a lawyer that has a client trying to get an agreement with Town. Have a great week. Train???? Hope to get a little time soon for them.