Weekend Update 8/4/19

[Dave V]

It's good to know what your "native scale" is. Some don't know theirs, some don't have one. After gigs in Z and T Scales, I've come to know N is mine, now and forever.

I call HO my native scale because it's what my father started me in.  He's been in HO since the 1950s and has amassed a dizzying collection of amazing Eastern prototypes in HO (including locos and cars from some of the most esoteric shortlines like the WA&G and C&PA as well as tons of Pennsy, NYO&W, Reading, and M&PA!) which he tells me so frequently almost to the point of the macabre "will all be yours someday."  I modeled HO as a kid, then dabbled in HOn3 while in high school and college.  Back to HO standard gauge when I first entered the service with a 4 x 8 freelance based on the Colorado Midland.  Then I did an HO standard gauge turn-of-the-century freelanced Pennsylvania coal hauler, the Johnstown & Broad Top.  At the end of that layout and my third tour of duty, I gave into my Pennsy side and decided I probably wouldn't have to haul a layout to a dumpster every 2 years if I could make a go of N scale.  The N scale PRR itself had two incarnations....one based on the Atlas "Scenic & Relaxed," and then the Juniata Division you all know so well.

N scale did great things for me and I have no regrets about it.  But now that mobility is no longer the driving force in my hobby, I can go back to HO.

EDIT:  Not fer nuthin', but I did keep two M1s, two K4s, and all my PRR heavyweights in N scale for...some reason...   

[peteski]

I call HO my native scale because it's what my father started me in. 

EDIT:  Not fer nuthin', but I did keep two M1s, two K4s, and all my PRR heavyweights in N scale for...some reason...   

If the model train scale I was initially introduced to is my "native"  scale, then that would be East German TT scale.  My mom bought a train set for me before I was old enough to play with it, and kept it hidden until  I was old enough to receive it for Christmas. She did that because, living next to a busy mainline, I was fascinated by trains from a very young age. Back then, in Poland, luxuries were scarce, so if something (like a model train set) showed up in a hobby shop, it was purchased for when it might be useful later.

Years later, after I no longed modeled in TT, I found out that the train set which started me in TT scale was actually a narrow gauge H0 (running on TT gauge track). I still have several of my TT scale models (including the original the H0n set), but I have no desire to model in TT or H0e scales.  N scale rocks!

[Dave V]

The things that make N scale great (size requirements, scenery-to-trains ratio, etc) are still just as true as when I championed the cause of N in HO-dominated groups for so many years.  HO narrow gauge obviates those advantages though through shorter and smaller trains and tighter curves while bringing the well-known advantages of HO to the table:  Greater availability of product, better sound, larger details, greater "heft."

Toward the end of my N scale journey I was really struggling with cantankerous steam locos.  Since I am first and foremost a steamhead without the manual dexterity of a Mad Max @mmagliaro , N scale was becoming more of an obstacle than a vehicle for me.  Again, I'm talking about my own experience and not suggesting anyone else abandon N scale if it's working for them.  It just quit working for me.

[BCR 570]

I have been experimenting with the FT couplers and etched pockets this weekend:






Coupler is too far out as I used an existing hole.  More photos in the dedicated thread:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.0


Tim

[DKS]

I call HO my native scale because it's what my father started me in.  He's been in HO since the 1950s and has amassed a dizzying collection of amazing Eastern prototypes in HO (including locos and cars from some of the most esoteric shortlines like the WA&G and C&PA as well as tons of Pennsy, NYO&W, Reading, and M&PA!) which he tells me so frequently almost to the point of the macabre "will all be yours someday."  I modeled HO as a kid, then dabbled in HOn3 while in high school and college.  Back to HO standard gauge when I first entered the service with a 4 x 8 freelance based on the Colorado Midland.  Then I did an HO standard gauge turn-of-the-century freelanced Pennsylvania coal hauler, the Johnstown & Broad Top.  At the end of that layout and my third tour of duty, I gave into my Pennsy side and decided I probably wouldn't have to haul a layout to a dumpster every 2 years if I could make a go of N scale.  The N scale PRR itself had two incarnations....one based on the Atlas "Scenic & Relaxed," and then the Juniata Division you all know so well.

N scale did great things for me and I have no regrets about it.  But now that mobility is no longer the driving force in my hobby, I can go back to HO.

EDIT:  Not fer nuthin', but I did keep two M1s, two K4s, and all my PRR heavyweights in N scale for...some reason...   

My father had zero interest in model trains, and only the faintest interest in 1:1. So I was on my own. Started in HO when I was 7, and switched to N when I was 12. Never looked back.

[robert3985]

I bit the bullet, finally, and started laying the permanent turnouts in Kern Junction, where the BNSF double track line merges with the UP double-track line for the climb over Tehachapi.  Crews got started last night:



Hoping to have it in service for the next session on Aug 17, but we'll see how long it really takes me.   We had another session last Thu Aug 1 with a guest crew of 7 (the most ever) and we kept the dispatcher plenty busy.  But having powered turnouts and block detection in place at Kern will help the dispatcher's and yardmaster's work flow quite a bit.

@GaryHinshaw , Love those U.P. center sidings!  I'll be keeping an eye on your progress on this monolithic turnout combination, which is one of the things I love about hand-laying turnouts...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[John]

I had great intentions of doing something train related --- I started on Friday with a trip to Horseshoe curve on my way to Canton for the HOF inductions .. paid my money to climb up the steps, caught one train before the thunderstorms over ran the area and forced me to run for my life in a downpour with lightning every where .. being an old weather guy, you don't stand next to a railroad track with large trees and other metal all around you.  The HOF induction ceremony lasted well into the night on Saturday, and after driving back to the hotel in Cleveland after midnight I decided to bypass Altoona on the way home  Sunday and get some sleep. This is as close as I have gotten to making the Nscale weekend since it started .. maybe next year

That said .. lots of neat 1:1 railroad stuff in Cleveland .. the city has accomplished one thing I'm impressed with -- synchronized traffic lights .. try to find even one of those in Baltimore

[railnerd]

Dave, I'm a volunteer FIRST Robotics mentor at my high school but we are only active from around December to March.  Just curious what FIRST Robotics activities are there in the summer.

My son's team works year round, although with a smaller group of— we started the summer re-organizing the shop and packing up for a move that didn't happen due to a construction problem.  After packing up the entire shop, then unpacking, we uncovered everything that needed fixing

Rebuilt one axis of our small mill, fixed a busted DRO, re-trammed our 1980s bill mill, and replaced all the gears inside our "import quality" mini-lathe.  Spent last Friday helping unpack a Velox VR5050 CNC router, while many of the kids ran a robotics camp for middle school students in order to hopefully groom future team members.

FIRST is one of the best things out there, and is a source of great connection to the next generation for a grey beard like me.

-Dave

[dougnelson]

A visit to Cassandra on Sunday after the N Scale Weekend:

[wm3798]

That said .. lots of neat 1:1 railroad stuff in Cleveland .. the city has accomplished one thing I'm impressed with -- synchronized traffic lights .. try to find even one of those in Baltimore

Charles Street, St. Paul Street, and Calvert Street have had synchronized lights since the 1950s...  31 mph, and you don't have to stop from Franklin Street all the way up to 25th Street, with the possible exception of North Avenue.

[peteski]

Charles Street, St. Paul Street, and Calvert Street have had synchronized lights since the 1950s...  31 mph, and you don't have to stop from Franklin Street all the way up to 25th Street, with the possible exception of North Avenue.

Even during rush hour, with all the traffic? 

[Bob]

Wow Doug!  A few people told me I should visit Cassandra, and your video shows that I positively need to do this!  Thanks for posting.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow Doug!  A few people told me I should visit Cassandra, and your video shows that I positively need to do this!  Thanks for posting.

Just avoid the "Cassandra Railfan Motel". I stayed there once...
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMaiXqJtryqXQvySmhOGsdtNyVSKEi-t4GTWGkF

[C855B]

Just avoid the "Cassandra Railfan Motel". I stayed there once...
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMaiXqJtryqXQvySmhOGsdtNyVSKEi-t4GTWGkF

Heh heh heh... reeks of seedy dump... which elicits a 32-year-ago memory of the Scenic Motel in Chattanooga, which overlooked the combined lines going west out of town, a very busy bit of railroad. It was a classic old-style tourist flop long past its day, nestled in the kudzu. Never stayed, but one time out railfanning - I think we had just chased the 611 - we had a flat tire and the motel's drive apron was the first safe pulloff on the old-and-very-narrow highway, on the edge of Lookout Mountain. Robyn hiked up the hill to the office to use the phone or borrow a phone book for the nearest tire store that might have been open on a Sunday.

Down she comes with a weird grin. "There were naked people in the hot tub, and porn on a TV!", in mock horror. We look at the sign again... "Scenic Adult Motel". ROFL!!! We still giggle about it.

[eja]

Charles Street, St. Paul Street, and Calvert Street have had synchronized lights since the 1950s...  31 mph, and you don't have to stop from Franklin Street all the way up to 25th Street, with the possible exception of North Avenue.

Remember,
lights synronized for 31 MPH are also synced for 62 MPH