[banghead][banghead][banghead] got a new athearn gp40 kit at the train show this past weekend…finished it up let the glue dry (ca) and the next evening i went to take it for a test drive…put it on the rails and hooked up to a small coal drag of 13 hoppers…went to the power pac and throttled up…lights but no movement[%-)][:(!]…I thought how in the hell is 14 cars not going to be pulled by my new gp[:0]…checked to see it it was hung up on any thing and it was not…so then I went to trouble shooting …still could not find what was going on…inspected the underframe and trucks again and you will never believe what i found…apperently when I applied the shock strut some ca leaked down and glued the truck on the inside of the housing[:(!][B)][:0][B)] [:I] well …after a long barrage of choice explicitaves i began the process of righting my wrong…got the wheelset unstuck and all of the leakage of ca cleaned up…repeated the aformentioned process of my small coal drag and it ran perfectly[^][:D][;)]…sooooooo in the grander scope of locl buliding I believe that I will apply ca to the piece itsself and not where it will be going…hope youse guys get a laugh uot of this…after all its on me…J.W.
JW,
Thanks for sharing. I’m sure we’ve all had our moments of “lesser glory” when it comes to MRRing. Thankfully, at least you were able to rectify the problem with no ill effects - other than your ego. [:)]
Tom
AHH! Nothing like learnign by your mistakes, I have made my fair share of them over the years! Best one was a week ago when I cleaned up the trucks on a BB Athearn and then hard wired them to the motor, put it on the track with another BB Athearn fired up the pack and they were fighting over wich direstion to go. Back to the drawing board, I said. We are all human, it just happens!
dsorry i’‘’'m hasvingh troiuble typgni this as I glusde my fignersd togethre withg CA tonihgrt. Actually I almost did! Just got them off the part I was holding in time. Building some small metal Woodland Scenics kits. Glad you got the GP40 (what ever they are? Some kind of diseasal I think…) back into operating shape. I loved your story! [:D]
I got an athearn RTR dash 9 a few monts ago. Beautiful loco, but a little light. So, I did my normal routine of glueing fishing weights inside the shell, but appearently I didnt let it dry long enough. It ran fine, but a few days later I was going to take it apart to put in a decoder…Only to find that there was a 1/4 inch bead of super glue holding the back of the shell on. After about an hour with a box of Q tips and some acetone I set it all straight.
Good ol’ acetone…I have used it many, many times to free myself from…sticky situations…like the time I glued my fingers together…the time I glued my hand to the ping pong table…the time I glued my foot to the floor…I hate CA sometimes.
Glad you didn’t lost the loco, though!
Athearns are very picky about how you put them back together. I recently cleaned and lubed the drive on a GP50. Put it back together, sat it on the track, opened up the throttle,and what? Nothing? Not a single sign of life! Took the shell of and glanced at the guts, sure that I’d re-assembled it correctly. Checked the connections to the track, etc. Still, nothing. Then, to my shock, what is sitting right in front of me? Of course, you knucklehead. That strap that spans the motor and truck tabs sure makes a difference.[:I]
ughh sounds like something i would do . at least you figured out how to fix it !
Good thing about CA is a little goes a long way, better thing is that little bit will fit in a small, cup-shaped piece of aluminum foil. I either dip the needing to be secured ends in the drop or use a toothpick to apply it just where needed.
J.W.
Wow, thats sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do…
Atleast I know I am in good company… [
][:D] Thank The Heavens I am not alone in this world
If it makes you feel any better, I got you beat. I had been spending an hour or so spraying up trees with the a light glue mix, ya know, sprinkle, sprinkle, spray spray. Well, I wasnt paying attention to where the rest of the spray went. The next morning I came out feeling like a Master Model Train Stud (casue the trees came out ok) and in the middle of my self hyped glory, I notice the whole half of my work bench, tools, paint, boxes, a couple of dishes and glasses along with a 2 box cars had got over spray on them… A nice fine, white, crusty overspray film. THAT took awhile to clean up. ugh. The joys right?[:I]
Thanks for shareing.[:)]
J.W.
Wow, thats sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do…
Atleast I know I am in good company… [ ][:D] Thank The Heavens I am not alone in this world
If it makes you feel any better, I got you beat. I had been spending an hour or so spraying up trees with the a light glue mix, ya know, sprinkle, sprinkle, spray spray. Well, I wasnt paying attention to where the rest of the spray went. The next morning I came out feeling like a Master Model Train Stud (casue the trees came out ok) and in the middle of my self hyped glory, I notice the whole half of my work bench, tools, paint, boxes, a couple of dishes and glasses along with a 2 box cars had got over spray on them… A nice fine, white, crusty overspray film. THAT took awhile to clean up. ugh. The joys right?[:I]
Thanks for shareing.[:)]
Liquid plastic cement is a better way to go when attaching the parts on Athearn locos - less chance of accidents.
As a previous poster said, instead of applying CA directly from the bottle use a container (I use Pringle lids for both CA and epoxies) to pour a few drops and then use a sewing needle or pin with the head cut off, (pointed end stuck in a stick or dowel for a handle), to apply a drop at a time.
Another tip: Use Gap-Filling or Medium CA to attach parts. It’s much easier to control and doesn’t run all over the place. It also gives you about double the time to position and adjust the part. Thin CA is best for joints that are already positioned.
Between your title and the above comment, you could have just stopped right there… I knew exactly what you had done… ahem… been there…
Jeff
Boy…glad you got it fixed. I had commented about this very problem in an earlier thread, as I STILLL have the detail parts to add to my Hudson. Most go on top of the boiler, and I don’t want to drip CA down inside and onto the motor… One of these days I’ll get to that project.
An old Indian chant…Owhaa-Tafoo–Liam…(repeat faster and faster)[:)]
If I had REALLY learned from ALL the mistakes I’ve made, I’d be so smart I could RULE the world!
As it is, Istilltake out the trash everyday!
Darrell, smarter than the average bear (but not by much), and quiet…for now
There there I have done some real “brainiac” moves myself. Such as the time I was looking at my latest ebay wonder. I bought an old brass USRA 2-6-6-2 that wasn’t running much (dead as a door nail) got to messing with the wiring, got some motion, noise,etc. Each time I tried something I would disconnect the powerpack. So after my latest fix I tried it and it wouldn’t run! Tried everything and still no go, so after an hour and a half realized the powerpack was disconnected I had forgotten about it. So the loco was up and running fine and the other loco (me) was a fair bit redder in the face…
I pity the fool…
At least you’re a LUCKY fool. Any time you make a mistake with CA and end up with no permanent damage, you’re lucky. Consider buying lottery tickets.
I got a good laugh out of that one.
Allan.
Don’t feel bad JW, I know I’ve done more than my share of these kind of things.
If you learn from the mistakes, you can call them “experience.” [:D]