Weekend Update 3/22/26

[Maletrain]

WOW, wm3798, what a find.

I have been slowly accumulating the same cars for the B&O's "stone train".  The Atlas cars are right-on for the cars I see in the Bill Price photos of my modelling era. 

I am up to 35, never getting more than 3 at a time.  Whenever I get dispatched to that great yard in the sky, somebody will probably get an even bigger windfall.

[Dave V]

@wm3798 , I have to ask (because it's one of my OCD things)...are the car numbers all distinct? Or will you need to renumber some?

[wm3798]

@wm3798 , I have to ask (because it's one of my OCD things)...are the car numbers all distinct? Or will you need to renumber some?

There are three different numbers. 9 each of two, and 8 each of the other.
My optician tells me I shouldn't worry about it.  Especially on the car ends.

I won't be carrying an inventory spreadsheet, or running car cards and waybills... at least not for blocks of hoppers.  Some of these might end up getting flipped for other things I'd like to have.  I guess I've gotten to the point where there's not as much urgency for that sort of headache.  For my loopty loops, it's just not worth the effort.

That said, I may go ahead and cut the couplers from the trucks to body mount them.  I did that with my speedlettered cars darn near 20 years ago, and they still work great.

http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/rs_atlashoppers.php

Lee

[PiperguyUMD]

Fleet building...


Tasty tasty fleet building.

 

That’ll work nicely with the M2

[milw156]

Modutrak participated in the Rock River valley NMRA show this weekend missing a few modules but still making for a long run of about 200 feet from the east end loop to the west, or a 400 foot round trip.



We're gonna need a bigger trailer if we keep this up


in addition, I think I got us a new member, although the 53" layout height necessitated some extra work on my part while his older sister observes

[Maletrain]

Spent Sunday afternoon cobbling together a magnet car for the club track cleaning train:




The idea is to have a magnet attract ferritic stuff to the plastic car bottom as the car is pushed around the track, then take the car off the track and clean the bottom by simply removing the drop-in magnet so that the collected stuff drops into a trash can.

Everything except four 4-40 brass washers and that brass nut came from my various sail boat and model railroad stashes.

[Lemosteam]

Spent Sunday afternoon cobbling together a magnet car for the club track cleaning train:




The idea is to have a magnet attract ferritic stuff to the plastic car bottom as the car is pushed around the track, then take the car off the track and clean the bottom by simply removing the drop-in magnet so that the collected stuff drops into a trash can.

Everything except four 4-40 brass washers and that brass nut came from my various sail boat and model railroad stashes.

Very cool idea!.  I would tether that magnet to the car with some ship rope, so it does not get lost.

[Maletrain]

I don't think that magnet is at risk for getting lost.  But, a rubber band around those 2 protruding screw could go around that nut and overlap the magnet, which should retain it nicely.  Longer screws are available from the stash, if needed.

Tomorrow it gets its first real workout at the club.  I had to sprinkle stuff on the home layout to test it here.  It will grab an Atlas trip pin from about 1/8" beyond the side of Kato track roadbed.

[Mark5]

I've been doing mostly track, structure, and scenery work lately so I decided to do a piece of rolling stock (of a sort).  This is a 45' trailer I originally designed in T scale that I just up-scaled and 3D printed in Z, so is missing rivet details but is close enough.  It'd decorated with CMR decals, and I faded and weathered with the airbrush.  Good for loads of scrap from Zumbiel headed to a recycler.

Looks great, but I'm fairly certain PC didn't have any 45 footers (45 footers came starting around 1979 or so - Conrail era).

[nkalanaga]

I'd second the idea of securing the magnet.  Loose parts somehow get lost, no matter how careful people are.

I'd use a longer screw, a nut, and piece of string, tied around the screw and that brass nut on the magnet.  The magnet could still be lifted as needed, but couldn't be separated from the car without effort.

[Maletrain]

For storage, the magnet car has its own cozy jewel case.  So, the only issue is whether that magnet can jump out of the car while it is in use.

It seems very stable on my home layout.  But, I am wondering what is going to happen when the car rolls over a decoupling magnet in the track.  That might launch things.  I will test it going in both directions over a track magnet tomorrow.

The other possibility is that the undersides of the club layout look like an "Iron Maiden" torture device, with all of the screw points sticking through, and that might be an issue in a tunnel, somewhere, too.  Plus, I just put some steel brackets on the sides of some spline roadbed in a tunnel - they hold a Masonite "fence" that keeps derailed cars from going to the floor (any more).  Those might jerk the whole car off the track, rather than just pull the magnet out.   Off course, then the magnet would come out, if not tied in.

[John]

Spent Sunday afternoon cobbling together a magnet car for the club track cleaning train:

I need to hack one of those together

[Roger Holmes]

Peter-- I like the way you think in your hot dog cart comment.  Actually my hot dog cart was just out of the frame on the subway enrtance photo.



This was an ebay purchase 15-plus years ago from a seller named Chuck the Printer. Since it's my railroad, patrons are allowed to put Catsup on their fully dressed Chicago Dogs which is how I like mine.  However, it is a mortal sin in Chicago to use Catsup.

 This photo reminds me that I need to put some double-sided tape under the sidewalk since the drilling to create the hole for the subway disturbed the old tape.  The mounted policeman is an homage to the years that I was sent from my home Court in Springfield to help with the Chicago Traffic Court backlog.  I did two weeks every summer for about twenty years.  Each day had four sessions and each session was tickets written in a particular neighborhood.  One session had mostly tickets written by mounted police officers and most were written on Lake Shore Drive because the horses moved faster than the crawling traffic.

The excavation for the second subway entrance is underway.



While I was taking photos I snapped this one of the famous Picasso statue which the artist never divulged what it was supposed to be.  Most people think that it's  bird but the snout looks more like a dragon to me.

[C855B]

...Since it's my railroad, patrons are allowed to put Catsup on their fully dressed Chicago Dogs which is how I like mine.  However, it is a mortal sin in Chicago to use Catsup. ...

Sacrilege!

I'll bring you a proper bottle of mustard at the next show. (Great seeing you. I wish I was feeling better and could have spent more time chatting.)

We have a Chicago-style hotdog shack down the street from us. They have this fiberglas statue out front of a giant hotdog pouring a squeeze bottle of catsup over its head. Probably need to give them grief about it.

[peteski]

I have an N scale hot-dog cart from Showcase Miniatures. Not sure if they still make it.  Check the website.

As for condiments, I like to have both, ketchup and brown mustard.  I don't care for catsup - I like my cats alive.   
Also like to load my dogs with sauerkraut, sweet cabbage, and onions.  Mmmmmm!