RE: MRR magazine - issue for Dec. 2010 - Water tower project, pgs 70-74
Has anyone “studied” this article in detail?
I am somewhat confused (easy for me) with some of the instructions for this project.
I initially got the impression that the water spout is movable - up & down - see photo
on pg 71 and large diagram on pg 74.
.
However, on page 74,top right diagram, it states: “Use a small drop of white
glue to secure the chain around pulleys and weights.”
Here is my confusion - if the chain is glued to the pulleys then the spout becomes
“fixed” in some position and cannot be raised or lowered since the chain and pulleys
can’t move relative to each other.
Am I misinterpreting or misreading something here?
I haven’t received my copy yet either but could it be the free or “tag” end of the chain that is attached so that the spout can still move freely but so the chain is not “dangling” into the ether? Just my [2c]
If you want your spout to move freely, leave it be without the glue.
If not, put the drop of glue there.
{puzzled} Why would you care if it moved? do you plan on putting it down when you have a train under it and putting it up when you move the train? That WOULD be prototypical Operations!
Why not set the water tower up with a moving spout following a suggestion by John Allen of Gorre and Dapheted fame. The loco is spotted under the spout, the spout is lowered, and a timer is started that kills power to the track section until the (scale) time needed to refill the tender has passed, after which the spout is raised, the timer is reset, and the loco can go on it’s merry way. Much easier to do today than back when written in the early 50s. Wather’s lists a signal actuation system that uses model airplane RC servos to move the spout remotely, a small magnet in the pivot end of the spout can activate a Hall Effect device to trip a small digital timer.and maybe even signal the drive mechanism to raise the spout when the tender is “filled”?
My thoughts were/are that if one goes to the effort to make the modifications shown
in the article, one would also want the tower to be somewhat prototypical and have
the spout move by some means (personal choice). I would.
As to “water”, some of you may have heard of “instant water” which in created by
putting an “instant water pill” in a glass and adding water.[:D]
In this case, I would delete the addition of water and use my vivid imagination
(this can be done) that water was flowing from the tower into the tender.[:P]
You get the water from the same place we used to get sounds before the advent of onboard sound; your imagination. Just remember the funny looks you got when someone walked in on you while you making those “whooo whoooo and chugga chugga” sounds.
I read the article and didn’t notice the ‘glue the chain’ part, but I wasn’t concerned about it either. I build coaling towers with the Tichy coal chute that pivots up and down but I glue the chain to the pulleys just as the article says to do on the water tower. I was thinking about following the article for the Atlas kit I have in waiting. I would consider making it operate as you suggested and also go to the trouble? of adding sound. I have several sound modules with recording of machine shops and coal loading a locomotive, so why not add sound of water filling a tender. With today’s electronics almost anything is possible. Go for it!
Haven’t recieved he December issue yet Can’t comment on the article.
I operate on an O scale layout with moving water spouts on the tanks and fill sound modules… Very cool.
FYI: Tsunami decoders offer a water fill sound in them. No need for an extra module if you run DCC sound.
I haven’t considered animating my HO scale spouts. I’m happy with the loco stopping in the correct spot and hitting the function button for the water fill sound.
Yes, I found the instructions confusing. I don’t understand how the spout is to be moved with the thread glued to the pulleys. Yet the photo with the article shows the spout in the lowered position.
But I was more interested in the little caption that said that the thread was crimped 12 inches to make it look like chain. If that looks realistic, I can see other applications for this.
Well, mine aren’t motorised and not equipped with sound either, and, even worse, some of them are the old Atlas versions. [:$] However, an operating spout does provide a nice photo op:
For the same reason, the coal chutes and sand spouts on my coaling towers are moveable:
LPBs and vehicles can be moved about the layout as required, and I build many of the vehicles with removeable bodies - this allows them to be parked empty, or on a road with a driver (maybe passengers, too). I’m not a big fan of animation (other than the trains, of course) on my layout, but being able to change otherwise static details can help to keep the layout from becoming visually stale. For the same reason, I use “live” loads in my open freight cars and in the coal bunkers of the steam locos, too.
