Weekend Update 12/3/23

[Sokramiketes]

No sound in the Erie Builts......just the sound of the wheel flanges bumping on the Atlas Code 55 track spike heads once in a while..... 

"Atlas Code 55, the only track with the clickety-clack built in!"  - Charlie Vlk

[NtheBasement]

I think all lightning is either rogue or there is no rogue place in the USA . As far as surge protectors go and lightning , if the hit is THAT close would it not be equal to being hit by a train with or without a hat on ?

Yeah, household surge protectors won't stop a close lighting strike. 

You got lucky.  We had one hit the ground near the house.  It traveled thru the underground phone cable, blew out the service box, traveled up the conduit and along the foil-lined insulation panels under the siding, along the gutters (looked like a bullet hole where a downspout dropped to a lower eave), apparently hit some moisture and blew out the drywall in our living room.  I got zapped by my mouse.  We lost the garage door opener, light switch in the dryer, outdoor walkway light transformer, cooling fan on the fridge, and everything plugged into the back wall including garbage disposal, cordless phone base, and TV.  Our neighbors lost their well pump and a stereo receiver.  Insurance paid for most of it.

[spookshow]

Yeah, household surge protectors won't stop a close lighting strike. 

You got lucky.

Oh we had plenty of other damage outside of what happened to my little train set. I just didn't see any point in detailing it here.

-Mark

[Ed Kapuscinski]

TTRAK Show at Roland Park Place this weekend.

[randgust]

My downtown office is across from an 8-story with a radio tower on it, it got hit HARD with lighting and blew the radio antenna clean off the roof and left it hanging off the building - guy wires blew right through.

We were never directly hit, but the EMF blast resulting from a hit about 100' away was picked up by my Cat5 network cables in the building and managed to fry nearly everything directly connected to them; in the era of separate network cards it was repairable but the integrated motherboards were toast.
You wouldn't think an EMF blast would do that and bypass every lightning protection on the 110V side I had, but it did.    Our company was down for five days and made an business interruption claim.
You don't have to get hit to get hit.

[mstl 246]

Great job on the substation scene Mark! Really like those M&STL F units in the back too 

Nat

[spookshow]

Great job on the substation scene Mark! Really like those M&STL F units in the back too 

Thanks for the kind words Nat, much appreciated! Those FT's turned out really nice if I do say so myself, probably my best custom paint job ever 

-Mark

[sschnabl]

Mark - what did you use for your dirt?  That looks very realistic.

[spookshow]

Mark - what did you use for your dirt?  That looks very realistic.

Thanks, it's an equal mix of two different Arizona Rock & Mineral products - Earth (#1090) and Industrial Dirt (#1000).

-Mark

[James Costello]

The transformer is based on the Walthers HO model but N scale size.

The transformer load looks great @bbussey - any chance it might one day see a limited ESM print run?

[bigdawgks]

I have completed the first (of possibly many, eventually..) of my upgraded NH boxcars. This one includes new doors (MTL), Ajax style running boards (Plano) and brake wheel (MTL), and Atlas Barber S2 trucks. I used segments of styrene rods glued to the running board to help attach it through the existing holes for the stock one, but it's very noticable through the new one so in future iterations I may try something else (still need to plug the holes though).

[bbussey]

The transformer load looks great @bbussey - any chance it might one day see a limited ESM print run?

Probably not as it is basically a scale reduction of the Walthers model.

[bbussey]

I have completed the first (of possibly many, eventually..) of my upgraded NH boxcars. This one includes new doors (MTL), Ajax style running boards (Plano) and brake wheel (MTL), and Atlas Barber S2 trucks. I used segments of styrene rods glued to the running board to help attach it through the existing holes for the stock one, but it's very noticable through the new one so in future iterations I may try something else (still need to plug the holes though).

Looks good. Keep in mind that there were numerous configurations of New Haven AAR 1937 boxcars. Even the 12 numbers that InterMountain released have variations. Roofwalks (wood or metal), brakewheels (Universal, Ajax, Peacock) and doors (Youngstown, Superior). I don’t recall at the moment the specific truck variations on the AAR cars, but most NH boxcars ran on ASF A-3 trucks.

Also, the InterMountain “Pacemaker” model that they released only once is also a New Haven prototype. The InterMountain model is the original model with new roof, roofwalk and ends.

[Skeebo]

      Great looking model, looks like your really put in the effort. Your paint and decal work is flawless, I wish I could do as well, I have to rely on weathering to help cover up my lack of skill in that direction. I notice you've put in metal wheelsets too, I'm still evaluating the running reliability and looks of metal wheelsets from the various manufacturers before I dive in and change out my large fleet of cars. No criticism, and I understand the reasons not to, but I'm curious as to why you don't body mount? The only real distractor I can see in the picture is the shiny metal MT trip pin. I find it very quick and easy just to use a black sharpie to eliminate the obvious glare. I look forward to seeing a line up of the variations in the future.

     Jim

[bigdawgks]

      Great looking model, looks like your really put in the effort. Your paint and decal work is flawless, I wish I could do as well, I have to rely on weathering to help cover up my lack of skill in that direction. I notice you've put in metal wheelsets too, I'm still evaluating the running reliability and looks of metal wheelsets from the various manufacturers before I dive in and change out my large fleet of cars. No criticism, and I understand the reasons not to, but I'm curious as to why you don't body mount? The only real distractor I can see in the picture is the shiny metal MT trip pin. I find it very quick and easy just to use a black sharpie to eliminate the obvious glare. I look forward to seeing a line up of the variations in the future.

     Jim

I assure you I deserve no credit for the paint and lettering as this car is factory decorated from InterMountain. I simply managed to get a close color match for the replacement parts. That said I have a few cars I will probably paint and decal myself in the future.

I have indeed installed body mounted couplers - I use MTL 1025 couplers for body mounts because the boxes aren't as tall as 1015s, have closer coupling and overall I think they look better. The brass colored trip pins don't really bother me so in my mind aren't worth the effort to try to change.

@bbussey thanks for the feedback. I do have some sources for the differences between the various blocks of cars, but I'm still learning how to identify different trucks based on appearance and the often vague nomenclature used in the reference material. I have ASF A-3 trucks so swapping them out is only a matter of more closely examining the references. Where it will get tricky (or rather where I will probably just use personal preference) is when doing the new image repainted cars as it seems these were renumbered arbitrarily from the original blocks.