Peter, I went through the road crossing the tracks thing many years
ago. I haven't had a problem in many years except for an occasional
Kadee airhose that needs some bending. All this was upset when I
purchased a pair of brass trucks designed for the troop sleepers (Allied
full Cushion, I think). Seems as though the Rock Island used them on
their express cars. So to be true to prototype I installed them and ran
the car. Although I didn't derail the car, every road crossing was an
experience in roughness. The journals stick out very far and will ride
on the scenery beyond the rails. I had to do a fair amount of scenery
surgery to get that car to run. Then after running the car for awhile,
I decided it wasn't worth the effort and when back to the original ASF
type trucks.
And you're correct regarding sound at train shows--your expensive
decoders just become part of the overall noise. However, during my open
house events, I think most people are impressed with how well a larger
scale sound system works. Even though my FEF 4-8-4 remains unpainted, I
was once asked to run it. When I hit the whistle, a couple of kids
cover their ears--just like the real thing, that steamboat whistle is
impressive and makes babies cry! I have many of the older DSX and DSD
units in diesels, but the tsunami's are set to shut off after a few
minutes of idle, so I'm not overwhelmed with engines all over the place.
If the wires in the harness are messed up, the whole plug can probably
be purchased from SHS or it's not that hard to make your own. I said it
before that the wiring contained in the engines or running to the
tenders are the weak spots. If your running wires to headlites, marker
lites, speakers, roof strobes the inside of the engine likely looks like
a drain clog from a balding man! Furthermore if you like to disconnect
your tender, those little plugs are going to fail eventually, which is
probably why SHS hardwired their 2-8-0 and so did AF in some of their
engines.
Now if you want to find a good home for those unwanted decoders--we can
talk!
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
On 4/27/12 10:01 AM, Peter Vanvliet wrote:
Tacking on to Bob's message...
This week's activities involved mostly doing maintenance on the
layout. I have a very small layout, yet maintenance is still an issue.
Although I long for a much larger layout, the thought of maintaining
it does present a dose of reality!
a) I recently completed a two-lane road with wooden crossing boards in
between the rails. It turned out that the SHS NW2 has very low
clearance, so it would get stuck on them. I'm filing the wood down as
needed and testing with the engine.
c) I think I have made the decision that sound in engines isn't for
me. At home I usually turn the volume way down, or off altogether. At
our club shows the ambient noise is too high to be able to hear the
sound these engines make, even with the volume maxed out. The
complexity and cramped-quarters isn't worth it to me.
d) I took some new overall photos of my layout this week, which I
posted on my web site: http://pmrr.org/Layouts/Chartiers/index.htm
e) I started building the PRS box car kit I e-mailed about before (no
web site photos yet). This will be my "hobby time" focus this weekend.
I won this item on eBay and it did not include instructions, so it is
kind of a puzzle to figure out what part goes where and in what order
they should be installed. I'm enjoying the kit, though. I have
decided, by the way, to make it a PRR X37. Any inconsistencies will be
flagged under "good-enough". I have decals on order from Des Plaines
Hobbies.
f) Received the Smokey Mountain Model Works stirrups I ordered the
other day. They look nice.
Have a good weekend!
- Peter.
O
