N Scale Hi Rail - Retro Hollow Core Door Layout

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think you need to retrofit an access road between the tracks and the river that just ends, and add a pickup with two morons and a dog in it sitting there looking like "now what?".

[wm3798]

There's a prototype for everything!

[amato1969]

Love that picture!  Had to put our Wheaten Terrier to sleep unexpectedly last week, so enjoy time with that pup!!!

  Frank

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Love that picture!  Had to put our Wheaten Terrier to sleep unexpectedly last week, so enjoy time with that pup!!!

  Frank

Oh man, I'm so sorry. We had to do that with our old boy Damian a few weeks ago. It was really rough.

[wm3798]

On to happier thoughts.

So.  A little back story.  As has been described elsewhere in these pages, I moved into what was supposed to be my weekend getaway, and immediately chaos ensued.
We ended up taking 3 storage units, the combined monthly outlay being the cost of a fairly nice convertible.  As such, we determined it was time to slim down our surplus a bit, and bring some of it to the house, even though there's an enormous amount of work yet to be done to make it fully habitable.  What had been a happy place to retreat to where I could roll up my sleeves and monkey around with finishing the house quickly became a giant "TO DO" list staring me in the face every moment of every day.

We chose to use one of the bedrooms as a temporary storage unit, so after several trips back and forth, a large number of boxes have been stacked neatly in the back bedroom.  This was going to be the next room that got the full treatment (drywall mud, paint, trim and flooring) but now it is squarely at the back of the list.

The higher priority now is to build out a bar counter in the basement that we can use for a camp kitchen while the main living area gets our full attention.
To prep for that, I got rid of a bunch of stuff, unpacked a bunch of tools and supplies, built a tool room, and otherwise cleaned up the basement space.  This freed up my workshop table, which I've been using to clean up my TTrak modules to prep for Altoona next week.

Well, we reached the nexus of the layout being exposed in the storage unit, with the obvious need for it to move, and the space in the basement being cleared out to where there is now a spot for it.  So, against everyone's better judgement, we brought it, and a bunch of the support boxes and furnishings home... the day before Rho was setting off to North Carolina for 3 or 4 days to work on the development we have underway down there...  That's right, I was left Home Alone with a lifetime of model train stuff that needed to be dealt with...   But I think she recognized the mental health value of the break from reality that Model Railroading provides.

Well, I've been a pretty good boy, so far.  I finished a big project I needed to deliver yesterday, then I worked into the night on the wiring needed to plug in a few things in the basement

By midnight, I was pulling out the power packs, monkeying around with wiring, and cleaning track, and by 2 a.m. I had some locomotives testing the trackwork.  I'm happy to report that everything is moving along just fine.  I still need to find the box with the structures... I know it's here somewhere, and there are a couple of more odds and ends still in the storage unit.  But before I get too far ahead of myself, I still have to finish up some important work (billable hours!) and finish wiring the bar area.

So yeah, I've gone from worrying about when I'm going to have time to do anything to make progress on the house to having my number one priorities shifted to building a bar and getting the layout in order!  Life is good here in the hill country.

Now if only I'd gotten more than 3 hours sleep, I'd be really forging ahead!!

Lee

[wm3798]

It's good to have the band back together.  The layout, the workbench, the tools, and of course, the wayward bunch of orphans that have been dropped off at my doorstep over the past couple of years.



This pair of mint condition Rivarossi E8s rounds out my A1G collection.  Both units are powered, and run very nicely.  They came in a good sized box of surplus provided by @bbussey .  Bryan informs me that these have languished in storage for nearly 50 years.  A shot of contact cleaner and a drop of oil were all they needed to roar back to life.  I just need to replace the light bulbs and they'll be good as new.



The next offering came, I believe, from @Ed Kapuscinski .
The much maligned ConCor SD50 by Mehano.   This was a total basket case, it's wiring was trashed, the circuit board was a mess of solder blobs...  but an hour or so of tinkering brought it back on line.  I replaced the factory board with an LED assembly from an old Atlas split frame, and completely rewired it.  After a little break in time it was running reasonably well, even at less than interstellar speeds.  I think it will M U nicely with my Lifelike GP38-2s.

More projects are in the wings, so stay tuned... same Bat time, same Bat channel!
Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh man, seeing that SD50 getting love makes me so happy! I was keeping it around for a lark for a long time, never thinking anyone would ever Restore It And Run It On The Mainline.

[wm3798]

Wait till you see the next old dog that's learning some new tricks...

But not until a few billable hours get put behind me.

Back to work everyone!

Lee

[wm3798]

Speaking of ConCor by Mehano...  I had one of their SD40-2 models last year, and ended up selling it at N Scale Weekend after I gave up trying to get it to work.  Now that I know what to do to fix it, I might see if I can get another one.  The SD50 uses the same drive, just with a different truck at one end.  The hardwired pick ups from the trucks are the weak link, but I think I've found a way to reduce the strain on the solder joints.  And the idea of using an old Atlas light board to solve the power distribution and lighting problem came to me like a thunderbolt.  I've got a whole drawer full of those things leftover from my decoder installation days.  The LEDs are yellow, but when the model has as many other deficiencies as these things, it hardly matters.  There isn't even a clear lens in the headlight casting for the light to come out of...

Speaking of which...  I think this little bit of photo editing works particularly well with this one... 



Happy Hi Railing, everyone!
Lee

[nickelplate759]

I seem to recall that the Con-Cor SD50, SD40 and C636 all had Mehano shells but Roco mechanisms.

[wm3798]

Here's the chapter and verse on how these evolved...  The drive isn't officially by Roco, but it's apparently made in the same factory that Roco used...  The drive is remarkably similar to the old Atlas E7 (a Roco product) and the later ConCor RDC, right down to the wired pick ups and red drive gears.
http://www.spookshow.net/loco/ccsd.html
Lee

[wm3798]

Okay, so I got a little work done.

As promised, here's the next repair from the @bbussey collection.



A first generation Bachmann 0-6-0, complete with the clam shell box, brass gearing, and the world's worst 3 pole plastic motor.  After a bit of Dremel work, a deep dive into the parts bin for a barely used modern 5 pole motor from a Spectrum Connie, and some fumbling around with a gear puller, I effected the transplant, and now have yet another small steam switcher in the fleet.  This one could see a lot of use, since Bryan had taken the trouble to install MT couplers, fore and aft.
I may yet upgrade to an all wheel pick up tender, but so far so good up on the Retro Loops.



Here you can see the new motor hanging out the back of the cab.

[Angus Shops]

I got a chuckle out of “Bachmann Quality Since 1833” - who was modelling anything, and what we’re they modelling, in 1833? Probably using the same factory…

[garethashenden]

I got a chuckle out of “Bachmann Quality Since 1833” - who was modelling anything, and what we’re they modelling, in 1833? Probably using the same factory…

I got a chuckle out of that too. The actual history of the company is interesting though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachmann_Industries

[lock4244]

I got a chuckle out of that too. The actual history of the company is interesting though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachmann_Industries

It seems Bachmann started out manufacturing the ivory back scratchers preferred by C. Montgomery Burns.