SITREP 9/20/20

 Yesterday we had another T-TRAK get-together of the model railroad club. The narrow gauge modules didn't go to this one since I haven't corrected all of the issues I had with them, but I did get some scenery done on the end cap.

 Let me digress.

I built an end cap to use when running my narrow gauge modules to complete the standard gauge loop. At the time that I built it I had no intention of ever using it for anything other than completing that loop for home use while testing the narrow gauge line. However, we have a show coming up in October at the Selma NC train station, and we were short a loop. The club asked me if they could use my end cap, and I committed to completing some scenery on it so that it could be used for that purpose. 

In other news, my grand-daughter in Wyoming has gotten into horses and rodeo riding, and it just so happened that I have in my collection of figures a horse that looked amazingly similar to hers. A little paint and it is a match. Additionally, I have a structure of a horse barn that I built long ago for my 4x8 layout that was going to waste. And so, I reasoned, what better than a horse pasture for the end cap.

The first thing I did was lay out all of the components. Well, actually, the first thing I did was build the windmill that you see, and then I laid out all of the components. Horses, of course, and the horse barn, but also some large sunflowers that I had bought because my wife likes sunflowers and never found a place for.

I rearranged the pieces until I had a rough idea of where I wanted everything to go, and then started gluing everything in place.

The final arrangement moved around quite a bit, but eventually I had everything where it needed to be. The rocks were better on the outside edge, a water tank to go with the windmill, a tree for shade and of course the shelter.

The rancher and his helper checks fences. Yes, the fence is a bit big, about 10 scale feet in fact, which is bigger than I wanted it to be but that was a detail I didn't really notice until the figures were glued in place. That's what I get for not checking the measurements.

The sunflowers are 12-14 feet in height because they are HO scale, but there are sunflowers that are that big so it's not a huge stretch. I was careful to plant them all looking the same way and the wife loves the way they came out.

The white horse is the grand-daughters. I got a real good view of the grass in front of it, but not so much of the horse itself. A shame really, but at least you can see what it is.

A few more horses stand around the shelter observing the rancher from afar.

And the overall birds-eye view.

Yesterday it went to the show (but was not included in the layout) to be inspected and certified as ready for use. After the show I took it home, added some track feeders and painted the edges in the appropriate club color of brown. Next is to build a shipping container of some sort to protect it as it makes its way to the show in Selma.

And in other news, J class 611 has arrived and has been programmed. I also put decoders in my 4-8-2 light mountain locomotive and I plan on making a K2a out of it, just one of many projects. My two Consolidations also got decoders but one of them has a hitch in its giddyup so it will need some additional work on the driveline. 

I also have decoders for a couple of diesels, but I need a few more for some Life Like GP20's in N&W livery. These are some wonderful locomotives, I got a couple of them in garish MicroTrains Christmas paint and was pleasantly surprised at how well they ran. I have since acquired three black ones in N&W paint and one in the CB&Q Redbird scheme. I don't think they made a black CB&Q loco, but if they did I would certainly retire the SD7 and SD9 because their wheelbases are a bit long for some of my current corners.

The CB&Q GP20 ran on the club layout yesterday, turning in a flawless performance where the GP9 bounced over a piece of expansion track (later on I found one wheelset on the narrow side) and both it and the Consolidation picked points on one turnout in particular. Like I said, they run surprisingly well for being inexpensive locomotives, a little bit on the noisy side but that's something I can live with.

And that's the state of things here. I hope you all are getting some train time in.

More Power

Earlier in the year I had sent my Bachmann J class 611 in to have a drive rod/valve gear issue repaired, and they didn't have parts so they sent it back to me. Bachmann has just re-released the J class and I had one, road number 608, on pre-order. I got the call last month saying they were in, so I went ahead and ordered another one, road number 602, while I was at it.

When they arrived I disassembled one of them and compared them to the previous run 611. I found the locomotive itself is little changed. There is a hole in the previous run above the trailing truck that had no apparent purpose that is not present on the current run, the grille in front of the cab on the previous run is an actual hole in the body of the locomotive covered by a screen and on the current run it is a solid casting, and the red color on the side stripe of the new run is a brighter red, not maroon like the previous run. Other than that, the only real difference is the wiring. The wiring in the loco itself is the same, but instead of terminating in a plug it terminates on another PC board which is then wired to the new style plug for the sound equipped tender. The tender is quite a bit different because of the sound board installed, but visually identical save the red stripe color.

 A comparison of the parts sheet between the previous and current run shows that most of the locomotive parts are the same, with the exception of the wiring. The boiler shells are interchangeable with the only differences being cosmetic, as listed above. With that information in hand I went to the website and saw they had some parts for the J class again. Since the part numbers looked to be the same as the previous run I ordered a cylinder assembly to repair 611. When it arrived I unpackaged it to install it, but unfortunately, for some unknown reason, it didn't have the drive rods installed (which was really the part I needed).

So instead I sent 611 back to Bachmann to be repaired. I got the call today telling me that, once again, they didn't have the parts but since they had a current run, and since I had added a sound decoder to my loco, they were glad to replace it for a $60 fee. I mentioned the different colors in the stripe but gladly paid the upcharge, so I will once again have J class 611 on my roster. That will make 4 J class locos, and I have enough passenger equipment for two trains. We'll see where it goes from there.

I also ordered cylinders for my 0-6-0 locos to replace broken ones. I was unable to get a green set for my Southern loco, so I got black sets for both. I also got the lead and trailing trucks to convert the Southern 0-6-0 to a 2-6-2. During the repair process I found cracked gears on my Pennsy 0-6-0. Not to worry, on a previous order I had gotten a set of drive wheels for it, so they were quickly replaced. I also modified the mounting of the trailing truck a bit since the spacing between the rear driver and trailing truck just didn't look right to me. Now I once again have a good running 0-6-0 Pennsy switcher and as a bonus I have a good running 2-6-2 Southern Prairie as well.

I've also adjusted the volumes on all my sound equipped locos, they were too loud for my train room. The J class locos will all have their own whistles as well, with the N&W 3 chime flat top staying on 611.

In other news, I have been applying scenery to my T-TRAK end cap so that it can go to a show in Selma NC during the first weekend of October. I won't be able to attend the show since it's my anniversary weekend, but hopefully the end cap will be well received. My task for the upcoming month is to build a case for it so that it won't be damaged during transport.

This upcoming weekend will be another "show" at the same member's house as last time. I won't have the narrow gauge there since I haven't finished the scenery or fixed the issues I found with it at the last show, but it will be good to see everyone again.

One of these days I will begin construction on my new work room, and then perhaps I'll have layout news to share.