I just picked up my Chuggington flat cars at the LHS today, and although it's a bit longer than I thought it looked in the photos, I think it's acceptable, so I ordered another, too. I'm not fond of the lengthways deck planking, but I think I can fix that with a scribed styrene overlay with the scribe lines going across the car. The Moore I think about it, the more tempted I am to order a low side gon and a hopper as well, just to see if they can look any better after a run through the paint shop. I'm afraid the boxcar might require too much work to make it look right, but I might be able to use its under frame with an entirely new body scratch-built out of styrene sheet. I also model in On30, so that's also another possibility, too.

Bill in FtL

I think the Chuggington flat car would work quite well with the Thomas series locos & trucks. In fact, from the pictures, it looks to be very close to the flat used in the episode featuring the blue sedan being transported over the rails. From the same photos on the web, it even looked like it had a reasonable amount of detail, too. We'll see, I have ordered a couple, just to have a look. I agree that the hoppers don't look very appropriate, but the little mine gons might be ok with a proper paint job. A lot of the Thomas items could stand some paint enhancement (at least a dull coat to reduce their high gloss), as well.

Bill in FtL

Quote from: electrical whiz kid on March 15, 2016, 10:40:34 AM
James in Florida has the right idea.  shimming the surface of the guard rail that is facing the stock rail will tend to pull the wheelsets away from the frog, thus avoiding hitting both polarities at once.   Hint:  Nail polish, paint, etc., can/will eventually fail and you will be right back to the problem.  James has nailed it.

Rich C.

That could be true if the problem area was indicated to be at the frog, but the OP pointed out with his screwdriver that the problem area was where the rails come near each other as they approach the frog (coming from the points). In this case, shimming won't help (unless the short is actually occurring where the metal rails are close together behind the frog, as they lead away to the two divergent routes, not where the screwdriver indicates).

Bill in FL

Most Bachmann HO sets today come with E-Z Track, which uses molded plastic roadbed/ties and either steel or nickel silver rails. The nickel silver rails are much preferred by most modelers because it provides better electrical conductivity. Brass track was popular in the fifties and sixties, but fell out of favor because the oxides that forms on it's surface is a poor electrical conductor, so if you want the trains to run smoothly, you'll find your self cleaning the rails more frequently. The steel rails are plated to help prevent rusting, but abrasive rail cleaners like the Bright Boy pads will wear the plating off, allowing the steel to rust. Steel rails are also harder to solder feeder wires to, as well. Do yourself a favor and use nickel silver track on your layout, it's also less trouble to maintain.

Bill in FtL

Quote from: AGSB on March 06, 2016, 12:48:14 PM
In order for the "finger flick" to work, the switches have to be spring loaded in order for them to stay in the direction they are placed. Peco switches are spring loaded to start with unless the spring has been removed so they operate with switch machines (manual or electric) as are Atlas "Snap Switches". If your switch is not spring loaded, here is a video on how to manufacture a spring to make them so. It is for N scale but should be easily adaptable for HO.
https://youtu.be/9rfZpe1LNjk

These springs are commonly referred to as "over-center" springs, and usually are set up to use the spring's compression to keep the points pressed against the stock rails. I've seen this done using either coil or hairpin type springs (but always with the spring in compression). Recently, I read of someone rigging his own over-center linkage that used rubber bands to provide the spring tension. Sounds like a great idea, but I don't know how he did it, since rubber bands only work in tension, not compression (still trying to figure it out). Anyone else have any ideas?

Bill in FtL

Quote from: WoundedBear on March 13, 2016, 12:31:36 PM
And I have to agree with James in FL. I would start by shimming the guard rail as well. The method he described is spot on correct in my books, and far easier than cutting into the rail.

Sid

Sid,

In this case, shimming the guard rails would only pull the wheel closer to the opposite rail, thus increasing the chance of a short, while also creating potential derailment problems. The short is occurring because of the back of the wheel contacting the vertical surface of the opposite rail. Painting the inside surfaces of the rails with nail polish or insulting lacquer is the easiest solution. Pacific Fast Mail used to sell insulating lacquer for use in it's loco sound system installations, but they are long since out of business. It looked, smelled, and applied like nail polish, but it was black in color. It worked pretty well for painting the wheel backs of a loco to make an electrical cam for the "chuff" wiper.

Bill in FtL

Didn't the prototype Pennsylvania L1 mikado use the same boiler/cab/tender as the k4 Pacific? Seems like a Pennsy mikado would be a good candidate for a future release...

Bill in FtL

Quote from: Titanic5972 on February 13, 2016, 11:24:36 PM
My locos

Hey Titanic5972,

Nice loco collection. I don't see any front couplers on any of your locos. Did you remove the couplers on some, or did they all come without them? I know Thomas, Percy, and James models come without their front couplers, but I thought Henry, Gordon, and Salty had them (I'll have to check).

I realize those big hooks & loops aren't true to the series illustrations and videos, but they are quite useful for operation. Didn't the original models made by Rev. Awdry have front couplers?

Bill in FtL

Quote from: Titanic5972 on February 14, 2016, 08:32:54 PM
I uploaded the images to photobucket and then on the right side of the screen there was 4 boxes with different url codes. I copied the bottom one with is labelled IMG and pasted it here. That brings the photo up.

Thanks, I'll have to try to remember that. My problem with third party photo sites and posting on groups like this is that the photo links do not stay active for very long, and within a short time, the photo simply disappears, leaving a lined box with just an empty white space contained within. This can happen in just a few days or weeks, and future viewers are left to wonder what the picture was.

Bill in FtL

Quote from: Titanic5972 on February 13, 2016, 11:25:20 PM
Sorted now. Thanks guys

So how were you able to post the photo so that it didn't show up as a link?

Bill in FtL

So, the lobster refrigerator car looks like a repainted version of the mail car (a reefer with Windows in the sides?), the troublesome truck #5 and the Sodor salt wagons look like repaints of the old plain salt wagon, and the cattle wagon appears to be a repaint of the previous cattle car. Not that there's anything wrong with having more variety in paint schemes, but I had hoped the refrigerator car would have included some new tooling to be more plausible as a reefer. As it is, with it's windows, it seems more believable to believe it really represents a box car fitted out with tanks inside for the transport of live lobsters and fish, rather than an actual reefer. Such cars did exist in the USA for restocking fish in this countries lakes and streams. Ah well, no foul, since the Thomas line is really all fantasy anyway, and it's great for introducing kids (both young and old) to the hobby of model trains.

Bill in FtL

The Climax has a fragile and difficult drivetrain, which is unfortunate because it is a very aesthetically pleasing loco. My Climax gave up it's drive very quickly due to a combination of bad gear and bad universal joints. I'm not sure what you can do, especially if you can't get the repair parts you requested, maybe a new letter (not eMail) to the parts department will work. Does the motor still spin up while the loco just sits there?

The best advice I can give you at this point is to replace it on your roster with a Stearns Heisler, which seems to have the best drive of all of the Bachmann geared locomotives. That's what I did a couple of years ago, and my Heisler is still running sweet...

Bill in FtL

I suspect the lobster refrigerator wagon will likely look like the ice cream wagon with different graphics denoting lobsters. It could also be a repainted salt wagon, too. I would prefer it to be a newly tooled body with vertical planks and no visible external bracing, since a true refrigerator car would likely have insulation around the wall framing which would be covered by an additional layer of sheathing on the outside. In the USA, reefer doors are hinged rather than sliding, and are recessed flush into the sides. Also, both the doors and sides are quite thick due to their double sheathing and insulation. It should be interesting to see.

This brings to mind another question, if the current ice cream wagon isn't a refrigerator car, what keeps the ice cream from melting? Or, is it just used for shipping the empty ice cream cones to the ice cream factory?

Here in the USA, lobsters are frequently shipped live to better preserve freshness.

Bill in FtL

With E-Z App, you are using your phone to directly control a loco which has the E-Z App board installed. With the WiFi system, you are still controlling the loco with the DCC system, but the phone controls the system using the WiFi interface. For On30, you will be able to use E-Z App only after the user installed loco boards become available from BlueRail Trains (soon), or when Bachmann releases an On30 loco with an OEM E-Z App control board installed.

Running an E-Z App loco on a DC layout is easy, just pre-set your DC throttle to provide enough power to the rails to allow E-Z App to function (usually about 3/4 throttle) and you are ready to go, but beware that any DC locos also on the track will start to go, too. If you already have DCC installed on your layout, you can easily add an E-Z Loco at any time, without adding anything extra (other than the loco and your phone), and it will use the available DCC power already on the rails without interfering with any of your existing DCC locos. If all you have is E-Z App control on your layout, in order to add a DCC loco, you will still need to buy a DCC system in addition to the DCC loco itself.

E-Z App Rocks!!!

Bill in FtL

Quote from: TBModels on January 31, 2016, 08:37:18 AM
Hey guys, I didn't want to start a new thread to ask this question, so I found this one to repost.

Anyway... I recently bought a Hornby Flying Scotsman on eBay. There is a problem with the engine / tender in that the engine will work on curves, but it will not work on straight pieces of track. Once it gets to a straight section, the engine stops.

Has anyone had the same problem / know how to fix it?

Probably the wheel contact wipers need to be tweaked, so that they touch the wheels at all times. They are usually strips of copper (hopefully phosphor-bronze, which is "springier" than just copper) located between the wheels and the chassis frame. As these contacts get older, they lose touch with the wheels. Usually, tweaking will require removal of the lower frame cover plate so that you can remove the drivers in order to get the clearance needed to bend the contacts out towards the wheels. They must make contact with the wheels at all times through the limits of the axles lateral play. I've seen several Hornby locos with similar problems.

Also, watch out for metal pinion gears that start slipping on the motor shaft, eventually leading the loco to slip and stall while the motor spins free. This can be fixed by thoroughly cleaning all oil & grease from the gear and motor shaft, and then carefully applying a bit of ACC-gel to the hole in the gear using a toothpick, and then quickly pressing the gear onto the shaft so that it aligns properly with the spur gear. You possibly could also use a tiny drop of locktite instead of the ACC gel, which might allow more time to work, but in either case, be sure none of the adhesive can migrate to between the motor shaft and bearing, or your loco will will be suitable for static display only!

Bill in FtL