And the lights all went out in Massachusetts...

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

No, it was not a weather-induced power failure. In fact, a few weeks ago the power company sent a crew down our street to trim branches away from the lines, and so far despite an epic snowstorm we haven’t even had one of those annoying drops where I have to reset a few clocks.

No, it was my elbow. I bumped into Baldy’s Barber Shop and took the building to the ground floor, a long way down in scale HO feet. No damage, but the clips that provide power to the building shorted. Poof, and out went the lights on the street, in fact in that whole part of town.

Heed my words, ye of little faith. This circuit was protected by a cheap Radio Shack fuse, so the far more expensive power supply lives on.

Thanks again, Radio Shack. I hope you will survive all the corporate upheaval, and will still be there for me when I need a fuse. As for my MR friends, remember that a lot of your nice power supplies have one-time-only fuses built in, and an ounce of Radio Shack fuse is worth a pound of power supply.

2

I’ve got to say, when I seen the drama unfolding concering a “northeastern blizzard”, the first thing I asked myself was, “Its January, and in the northeast…aren’t they used to snow, and why is this a shocker?”

I only say this as many yankees laugh at the south for shutting down the city when we get ice. Born and bred on Montana, I can tell you, yankees can’t drive on glare ice any better than southerners. Its not snow, its pure, glare ice, and your “skills” you think you have don’t apply. [swg]

3

Don’t I remember the slogan for Bussman Fuses, something like:

Buss Fuses—Electricity’s Safety Valve. Or something like that?

Yes, those little in-line fuse holders are all over my layouts power feeds.

Cheap insurance, indeed. Ed