Afternoon all Ihave spent the day working in the trainroom…
Vacuum the carpet
Clean dust from water surfaces, autos, rolling stock, etc…
Clean all loco wheels
Clean rolling stock wheels
Clean & polish all train track
Install lock on trainroom door (Reports of thieves in the area)
Install Kadees where needed and some that were working OK
Weight all rolling stock according to standards
Clean cobwebs (yes I have them) from all trestles, trees, bridges, etc
What have I forgot? We have company comming in the morning and will be here through Christmas day and I want Murphy to be outruled this weekend. I am shooting for no derailments, no unnecessary uncoupling, No stalling, just a perfectly running freight train.
Actually #8 won’t help you as much as correcrt wheel gauge,correct coupler height and trip pin height and bullet proof track work…That is what gives us smooth and trouble free operation not adding extra weight unless of course you are using the light weight wooden cars from the 50s.[:O][:D]
simon, I use a 1/2’’ paint brush. when doing rolling stock & locos I take them outside the trainroom so I do not simply spread out the dust. As far as the layout, I have a small attachment that fits on my shop vac, that and the small paint brush generally work pretty good.
and for weighting the rolling stock, sometimes they want to do the string effect, pulling the lighter cars off track in a curve, and yes, it does help.
You can test run it flawlessly all tonight, but 20 seconds after your guests are oohing and aahing, you’ll have a derailment. It’s one of Murphy’s Train laws. [:D]
I swear, it happend to me this week. I spent several hours test running my new layout before a fellow N scaler was coming over and it ran flawlessly. I even ran a train pushing 4 empty coal hoppers backwards at breakneck speed. Nary a problem.
5 minutes after he got there, a coal haul derailed.
Mike,You miss my main point…As far as string lining that only happens on extremely long trains with or without RP20.1…I know I dumped 17 hopper cars out of 89 hoppers loaded with “live” coal loads…Most embarrassing I may add.[:I]
Mike, good luck! Sounds like you have done all the right stuff…But as mentioned, Murphy’s Law is ever present!!
I did much the same thing a few(actually, many weeks ago now) only to have the majority of the Work Train derail…Heck of a deal when the work train can’t make it.
Non the less, good luck and no matter…Have fun with a house full of company!
Mike I wish you luck in running a fun & trouble-free display. Correcrt wheel gauge,correct coupler height and trip pin height + Weight all rolling stock according to standards will help keep your train on the track even on some of most uneven track arround. I run on a HO modular club set up and when you go over 20+ different modules at shows, wanting to keep from derailing, having your cars set up RIGHT is a MUST!
Mike, you forgot the most important thing! You should have invited all the neighbors that think you are luney because you play with trains over to the house this morning. Then you have to run the train and watch it derail, stall, uncouple, and smoke. The neighbors will now know you are crazy, but now the layout will now run perfectly for your guests as you have completely ruined your credibility among the people in your neighborhood! Good luck running trains for the company![:-^]
howmus That makes perfect sence, How could I have over looked that. Must be one of Murphys unwritten laws. Best be gettin’ back to the train, It has been running now for about 3 hours with no problem, I can leave it and come in here and check the forums. Mike
You must achieve the proper chemical balance in your own bloodstream. Enough to get rid of the jitters, but not enough to mess up your judgment and reaction time. The biggest problem when I run the railroad for guests is … me! Normally I can juggle up to 5 trains, not bad for a 5x12 HO layout, but when people start asking questions, whether dumb or not, I lose concentration and miss flipping a turnout, or let one train catch up to another’s caboose.