Weekend Update - May 13, 2007

[outdoorsfellar]

Things are moving along on the Allegheny & Cumberland.This weekend I accomplished two things... I finally shored up a corner section as well as made a hidden panel out of it so the track underneath can be reached & I installed the last of the upper level fascia  ( tomorrow I'll paint it )  & added plaster cloth.

[wm3798]

I've been working on my wood chip fleet... now up to four cars... almost.


and I rescued another basket case from the junk box.  This time an old Trix flat with a cable spool load.


Lee

[atsf_arizona]

Here's my contribution for the week, a pair of quick snapshots:



Could be better focused and color balanced, but haven't had much modeling
time at all lately. 

Nevertheless, I amazed what this better camera might be capable of: 



Enjoy and have a good week.

[Chris333]

Up-date on the Z scale Berkshire:



Still waiting for the motor to show up, it should end up being a Maxon 8x16mm.

[Roger Holmes]

Somebody send Gregg a Keystone Light ;D ;D

(I'm assuming the Keystone Light ad campaign is running nationally.)

Roger, if you're referring to the beer, I haven't seen that brand since I moved to Florida 26 years ago. I drink St. Pauli NA and Kaliber when I drink anything resembling beer.

I guess I'll hafta explain my reference.  To establish it's reputation as a Smooth beer, Keystone light has been running a series of radio ads (particularily on the nationally syndicated Bob and Tom Show out of Indy) that feature letters from people recalling their own Smooth moves--like implying Ed's lady friend was selling something other than trains.

This proves the old adage that jokes aren't very funny when they have to be explained ???  Oh, well.

BTW I have no idea if Keystone Light is smooth or not since I've never had one (or more than one for that matter).

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I doubt it is.

[3rdrail]

If it is a radio ad, I'd have missed it anythow. I only listen to radio occasionally when driving and then to the all classical music PBS station from FSU in Tallahassee, WFSQ.

[SquirrelHollow]

I'm too lazy to resize my pics at the moment, so I'll provide links to keep the page size down.

I spent some time playing with my RS-3 / RS-1 critter project.  I finally got the worm gear off it's short shaft on the Kato drivetrain, and pressed it onto the motor shaft.  I'm now wishing I had waited to press it onto the motor, since this is a 6v motor requiring a rather large resistor.  The newer Kato 11-105/6/7 chassis have a 12v motor.

The final plan is Short Hood + Cab and appropriate parts of the sill.  I'd really prefer the RS-1, but the internal shell dimensions are a littler tighter than the RS-3.  I've considered an RS-1 cab on the RS-3 body, but it requires some modification I'm not excited about.  Who knows... I'll figure it out eventually.
http://crankylove.net/5.jpg

I also spent a day or more demodding a Kato Mikado from DCC, and trying to fix a drive rod problem. 
http://crankylove.net/DN_Mike.jpeg
I finally ended up noticing the retaining pin holes were cracked on both sides of the #3 driver, and one side of the #1 driver.  As it sits now, the loco runs like it's brand new.... without side rods.  I'll see if Kato can provide me with the parts and hope to have it back in proper working order soon.
http://crankylove.net/DN_mike_together_again.jpg

I did learn 2 very valuable lessons this weekend:
Never buy a used, DCC modded loco if you plan to demod it.
Never buy a used steamer with problems the owner "has no idea how to fix," unless you know they're a complete idiot.

Last, but not least, I made a little more progress on narrow guaging another Kato 11-105 chassis for tender drive in my Nn3 4-4-0.  The locomotive is done, aside from whatever drive modifications will be required.  Remotoring the tender with a newer Bachmann F9 motor proved fruitless.  The motor height is different that the original motor and the short drive shaft required didn't lend itself well to articulation.  I'm going to have to bash or build a new tender as the old one is too small for the Kato components. 
Sorry, no pics.