Have been on it a couple of times but living in Oz puts me out of sync with you blokes in the USA. Something about time zones Never seen anyone on it but would like to.
Joe Couple of suggestions. I check every axle of a car before it hits the track out of the box and, or wheel sets. I have to usually reset every set of wheels from new but once done never again unless it gets dropped. A little trick I picked up from someone years ago in HO was to put a bit of C.A. on the back of the wheel / axle join. It creates a little shoulder and the wheel usually never moves again. Worst I have struck are Bachmann, with Aristo a close second. USA are usually near enough in gauge but I still check them from new. Sometimes get the odd axle or two under gauge. Get yourself a electronic vernier set (Can be had cheap these days) and set to the G1MRA standard. If you do not know where or what to look for I will be happy to advise you where to look or anyone else for that fact. As for standards? Man do I get sick of hearing we don't need no stinkin' standards in G (sorry)........ Large Scale Myself, TOC, Gary Raymond and a couple of others fought AMRA to a standstill over what they were trying to do a few years ago with standards and got them to accept G1MRA. I believe reinventing the wheel was not called for BUT now I hear that they are looking at it again to perhaps go to the NEM Morop standard. In case you are not aware those are looser standards but kinda ties in with a lately defunct manufacturer who was all for it. Maybe had something to do with a bunch of loco's that had serious gauge issues and not just one line of them neither. ALL of them. Also the G1MRA standard is nearly or may even now be over a hundred years old. Worked then, works now! I have never used the AML sets and have heard all about how well the San Val wheels roll but if and this is a if, I buy wheels for something special, I buy Gary Raymond or NWSL wheels (and still check the back to back ) in semi finescale only. Will still work outside quite well. Finescale wheels do not work outside unless the track is dead level and that means transversely as well. Then all you need is a bit of bird poop or a seed and that 10 Grand loco just hit the ground. Also, I have yet to find a set of the major makers turnouts to be right. LGB Aristo USA trains, all have serious problems somewhere but you have to realise that the toy mentality was and still is rife in track work. Especially turnouts. Made to a price, not a standard and that goes back to LGB. Set track turnouts have always been a problem, even in the smaller scales, right up to today, and the Large Scale manufacturers swooped on them to be a "also me" against LGB. So as you see it is not a new problem but one brought about by cheap. By that, I mean to a price! I even had a fella here in Oz who accusingly said to me "How dare I make money out of L.S. trains." He did not want to pay for turnouts but was always moaning about his LGB units and derailing problems. He stopped annoying me after a couple of years! Any other questions , just ask. Always happy to help.
Nice one Chuck!! Pleasing when someone actually listens.
Some of you may recall that I make turnouts and make them to the G1MRA standard. Making wheel sets is an art in itself and what appears to have happened here is the fillet is to broad. Making the flange thinner is not going to fix this problem, because the fillet is still to wide. Shortening the axle is not going to fix it neither. Shifts the wheel inward and again, a back to back problem ...to narrow. A whole rethink on the shape of the wheel is called for. Taking RPO25 and scaling it up to suit 1 scale track does not work in practice. Looks good on paper though. Myself, I use USA Trains wheels. Heavy, can be re-gauged easily, and interestingly can be fitted to the wider MDC/ Piko trucks straight of the bat. Once done I have never had a problem with them and I am a stickler for gauge / back to back settings. Bachmann wheels I have used and tossed. Noticed that RLD is selling sets of 4 USA wheelsets for 20 odd dollars. Put that together with a Piko hopper and 1 scale Kadee coupler and you are in front of any one else's stock by quiet a few dollars and if you model in 1 scale as I do then that represents good value.
Every thing Jens said and then some! I have watched this build from when you started and posted it on another forum and am still very interested. Great work Joe.
I remember the horse drawn milk cart in the morning. Milko would run from house to house and the horse knew the round so well that he knew what street to turn down and when to stop and start. Milk in bottles. REAL milk, not homogeniesed pasteurrised and (Purely Oz) Buggerised.!!!
I guess with Large Scale in general you have to look a little at the age group of most of the (dare I say) modelers in the over all scheme of things. plus at the available capital to that age group. Most are over 40. A lot are over 50. The rest are 60 or better. Kids gone, House paid for, Wife is interested in the garden side of things so the R.R. gets to be built out there. Why those models in particular? Been a member of LSC for over 13 years and heard a lot from the regulars in chat, and some of those fellas can or did , (passed away) have some very fond memories of particular loco's. Joe, you are right. The F3 was iconic in it's own right and always will be but until I started talking to these fella's I never knew just how popular the PA, was with them, In fact a couple of them stated they were the only dismal to achieve steam engine status. Why? The amount of smoke that erupted from the exhaust at throttle up. (Blower fueling up). That and the stunning Santa Fe Scheme. Those PA's looked like they were doing a 100 mph standing still. I was always curious about the VO. Did we need another SW1 whatever? No. So the next best would be the VO. For the same reason I said before. These fellas saw them all the time around yards and such. A friend (deceased now) who lived in NM always said " Make a USRA light Mike and it will sell like hot cakes. Aristocraft did but screwed it up. MTH wouldn't. Why did he say that. Cause that again was what they saw. Any of this making sense now. The Big Boy made sense to make purely because of it's Iconic value. Everyone knows the loco. Maybe some not by name but they have seen a picture of it. I recall as a boy of 11 looking at it in the Encyclopedia Britannica. That was in 1960. It was on the first page of the loco pictures. Not the Rocket, that was the next page. As Ray said, the GS4 is still running and widely known, Plus that beautiful paint scheme. Also, if you ever watched the black and white t.v show of Superman when they say "more powerful than a speeding locomotive", it is a GS4 shown, Kids remember that. Kids become adults and they see it again as a model. The Dreyfuss? OK in the states maybe but elsewhere? Not so sure about it but the J3a makes sense. The Challenger again because it is the largest loco in the world still running and is very well known. (Sorry to shoot you down Ray but Uncle Pete was not the only road to have the 4-6-6-4 Challenger type but Clinchfield was the only other road to have the series 2 type apart from U.P.) ... 3985 is a series 2 as are the MTH models. They are a heavy Challenger. Would I like to see modern diesels? Yep. Would they sell in numbers? Maybe. I say maybe because of the sales of the Aristocraft and USA trains modern loco's. Most guys had to do some serious realignment work to get them to look right on their R.R. or they sit on the shelf as a Queen. I would love to see a Century but it would probably not sell. I think Ray is right in saying a J makes sense. Would that sell? More than likely it would and in numbers too. Oh and by the way, you think Accucraft is expensive, look up Fine Arts scale models and prepare to be shell shocked. Try 20 grand for a Big Boy. and sold out before a tool or die was made. Museum standard of course.
Ray, I am interested in the UP pa units if you still have them and also what is the chance of getting your hands on a centipede u.p. tender? You just know where I am going with this. heheheh
Wonderful work Jerry The U.P did have one boat tail dome unit. It was called Moonglow. After some years they cut the rear of so it could be used mid train
Understand why and I agree fully. As an entry level headset the 151 is very very good value. Just the little niggle of the ears thing but that is what happens for long term use.
I use teamspeak also for gaming. Mainly for Run-8 and use the Senhiesser 151 units listed above. They are ok but I will be upgradeing to a much better set shortly. Only because those units sit on your ears and not around them and over a 2 hour period or longer they can become uncomfortable. That said the mic and sound are quiet fine.
I had to look this up and as it is on the UP heritage web site so then the rumor mill can now simmer down. This does not mean though you will see it any time soon. Also, do you think that what is needed is another LARGE loco or for that fact oddball (like the Triple X) for our layouts. I have been saying for years that a Light Mike (USRA) would sell like hot cakes. And what is the point of no rolling stock. I am seriously giving thought to going to 2 rail O scale and getting rid of all the Large scale, 1:32 stuff I have.
It looks like you might be using MDC truck frames on your freight equiptment. If you are, I've found a way to add an oil-lite brass bushing in them. It costs about $.80 cents per axle, they roll better and are very quiet. Larry
Larry, could you go into some further detail with this please. I have a lot of MDC rolling stock and I am intrigued.
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Never seen anyone on it but would like to.
Teamspeak (Group voice chat) - Now up and available for users
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It's a thought and a welcome one too