THIS is why...

[basementcalling]

LOL - lack of proofreading. I'm sure you know that "jis" was supposed to be "his".     But it looks like jis jizz produced some of the expected TRW amusement.

I’m not sure if I should move this into the Crew Lounge or the Foro de Escalas HO!

Move it Tom? I'm not sure if anyone should touch it - unless you've had all your shots.

[unittrain]

Let it drift past the event horizon of a black hole.

[Dave V]

Sorry for getting everyone spun up.  I was really pissed last night and honestly it ends up being my fault because all of it started when my dual-mode DCC 4-6-0 quit working with my Kato Sound Box.  The Sound Box works on back EMF and apparently at some point for reasons I don't know the steam card for the Sound Box quit recognizing the 34.  Ironically the diesel card that comes with the Sound Box worked just fine with the 4-6-0, LOL.  But anyway, I thought maybe I could bypass the decoder, but never could get the tender shell off.  At that point I noticed a bunch of fuzzies between the brake shoes and the drivers and determined to clean them out.  Gave the loco a lube job while I was at it.  But, with my fumbly fingers I accidentally tipped the loco over with the gear plate off, liberating the wheels from their journals.

But it did get me off the pot finally to think about what's next for the JD.  The JD has been fun but it really has been a source of frustration because no matter what, when it comes to Pennsy my ambitions always exceeded my resources.  The nice thing about the RGS in HOn3 is that no matter how big I make the layout, one or two short trains a day represents real action.  I think I can make far more compromises if necessary and still preserve the feel of the RGS...whereas only a handful of folks (Todd Treaster comes to mind) can do the Middle Division justice and still finish the layout.  And the change of scales is both refreshing and necessary.

[mu26aeh]

I thought maybe this was a finish the statement thread.  After reading the issues, I have my answer.

THIS is why.....   I don't mess around with N scale steam.  Too many fragile delicate parts that if something gets a hair out of line screws everything up.

[badlandnp]

I have three of these ten-wheelers, one equipped with Loksound, and ir has run wonderfully well. Never lost a rod oe anything more than spinning off the traction tire on one side while figuring out how many cars she could pull. She is on the bench at the moment, my fault though. Had the two wires to the motor tucked in next to each other, and the insulation wore....bzzzt!

Anyway, all I have is steam. And the only issues I have had are self generated. The MP Mikes are great pullers! And a thin layer of BFS made them better! ( I thin it with 90% Iso)

Anyway, sorry to hear of your troubles with these. Blowing off steam is what a pressure relief valve like TRW is for, mostly! Keep chugging away!

[Dave V]

I have three of these ten-wheelers, one equipped with Loksound, and ir has run wonderfully well. Never lost a rod oe anything more than spinning off the traction tire on one side while figuring out how many cars she could pull. She is on the bench at the moment, my fault though. Had the two wires to the motor tucked in next to each other, and the insulation wore....bzzzt!

Anyway, all I have is steam. And the only issues I have had are self generated. The MP Mikes are great pullers! And a thin layer of BFS made them better! ( I thin it with 90% Iso)

Anyway, sorry to hear of your troubles with these. Blowing off steam is what a pressure relief valve like TRW is for, mostly! Keep chugging away!

Until yesterday I had great luck with my ten wheeler as well.  I ordered a replacement and am reasonably confident it will work well.

But as noted in my JD thread the CMRy will soon be my only N scale dabbling...  The Pennsy will have a new owner.

[SandyEggoJake]

...the CMRy will soon be my only N scale dabbling...

Well shoot!  And here I was hoping to steal your CM steam on the cheap!   

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty" - Teddy R. 

[wm3798]

Dave, er... Dr., I am right there with you.  I was never a big steam modeler, but I dabbled with a couple of Western Maryland style steamers to scratch what little of that itch I had, and found them at once rewarding and frustrating.  Bachmann's Consolidation was (is?) a pretty darn good runner, but I couldn't imagine having a fleet of them to maintain.  When the time came, the steamers were the first to go on the auction block.

N scale diesels have their own issues, wheels always needing cleaned, gauged and otherwise fussed over.  Needle point axles collect fuzz and break contact...  Been at it for going on 40 years, so at least I can get in and out quickly to do the maintenance on them.  (Although my eyes seem to keep getting farther away, and the number of thumbs I have is gradually climbing...)

Since I'm now completely layout-free, I'm deeply regretting my decision to unload my two HO scale Ma&Pa pieces a number of years ago. 

That said, I'm probably going to hang in there in N scale based on the fact that I have a warehouse full of structures, built and unbuilt, 100 million miles of flex track and enough turnouts to build Bailey Yard, an investment that I could never recover, nor that I would want to repeat in another scale.

Sooner or later there will be a cabin in the Blue Ridge somewhere with a basement, and we'll see which way the modeling winds will blow...

Lee

[Dave V]

My ridiculously big N scale collection (relative to the real estate upon which to operate it) was a big deterrent for many years, preventing me from actually moving on even if my heart already had.  In fact, I dug myself in deeper by buying even more N scale stuff thinking I could convince myself to stick with it.

You're right, of course, that you will never recoup the investment.  Not even half.  But if they're in boxes doing nothing for anyone, well...  That's your call of course.  But inertia isn't always the most satisfying reason to do or not do something.  If these things gave you joy at one point they've already done their job.

For me, I'm kind of in this "rut" now where even though I've modeled everything from modern Santa Fe in HO standard to G scale narrow gauge, I'm the N scale PRR on a door guy.  It's cool to meet folks I don't know who know me from my layout, but I think it's time to climb out of my niche and follow my heart.

[John]

Could the JD trackage / benchwork be converted to HON3 running ????

[davefoxx]

Could the JD trackage / benchwork be converted to HON3 running ????

Hi, John,

I would imagine that there wouldn't be enough clearance between tracks or in the tunnels for HOn3 on the JD.  Probably not worth messing with.  I say take the cash from the sale of the JD and parlay that to the HOn3 project.

DFF

[John]

I've been toying with similar thoughts 

[peteski]

The second reason I joined TRW (and really like this forum) is its N-scale-bias. If you all move up in scale, I'm probably out of here.   

Reason's peteski likes this forum:

1. The member pool is small enough to keep the number of daily posts manageable enough to read most of the new posts without spending hours on the forum.
2. N Scale bias (even thought other scales are welcome).
3. It is not your father's forum, if you know what I mean . . .
4. High number of participating  s.
5. I like you all (most of the time). 
6. The respect points system.

Just kidding on reason #6, and only half serious in my initial statement.

[Dave V]

Could the JD trackage / benchwork be converted to HON3 running ????

John,

Even if I could live with a 13.75" radius curve (which is too small for a D&RGW K-27), then I'd have to daylight a tunnel, change out all the structures, widen the roads (particularly the underpasses) to achieve what?  Something that still looks nothing like Colorado and now bears no resemblance to the original Juniata Division.

No, it would be a Frankenlayout, unholy in its conception and ghastly in its manifestation.  No thank you!

I've been toying with similar thoughts 

Your benchwork is much more suited to this than mine.  Move over, M&O...now it's WP&YR in HOn3!  I like!

[John]

No, it would be a Frankenlayout, unholy in its conception and ghastly in its manifestation.  No thank you!

Just had to ask ..    I wouldn't do it either ..