11-10-2010, 08:33 AM
Hey BiL! Thanks!
Good luck with the up coming open house. I'm sure you'll have a good time for sure.
The SMRC is having an Open House at the end of this month and the first weekend of Dec. No word on whether or not I'll be asked to assist on any of those dates. Although Stephen did mention that the area we were switching during the open house requires a jump on to the main line to service one industry. He commented that when switching that spur when asking dispatch for permission to enter the main he'll tell you to, "Make it quick!" Which I'm sure keeps things interesting when its busy like that. Last nights switching detail was all calm and collected.
I left out the part about my gunky, dirty wheels though!
When I first put my loco on the track it was stalling quite a bit. So Stephen graciously took it to the cleaning station inside the layout space. They had a couple of leads hooked up to the main buss that ran to a couple of alligator clips in a drawer that could be clipped to the leads of a locomotive or a short piece of track. There was also a homemade foam cradle to put loco in upside down. In my case we clipped the leads to the short track, held it on a set of trucks and applied some throttle to the engine to get the wheels spinning. Then dipped a Q-Tip in some alcohol and apply to the spinning wheels. I'm embarrassed to say that the wheels on my engine were filthy! The tip of the Q-tip after cleaning just one had black streaks all over it! Gosh... :oops: :? He also advised me to NOT buy one of those Kadee brushes. He mentioned that they used to use them but threw them all out a long time ago citing that they brushes were pitting the metal wheels. He told me that one would mysteriously keep re-appearing until eventually they buried it in the bottom of the trash can. Timely advice because I was contemplating buying one of those, but now I won't.
However, I saw it as a learning opportunity. I instantly saw how quickly and easy it would be for me to set up a small cleaning station on my own layout in order to maintain my own equipment at home. Something I can almost whip up in an evening and one more thing I took home with me from last night.
Cheers!
Good luck with the up coming open house. I'm sure you'll have a good time for sure.
The SMRC is having an Open House at the end of this month and the first weekend of Dec. No word on whether or not I'll be asked to assist on any of those dates. Although Stephen did mention that the area we were switching during the open house requires a jump on to the main line to service one industry. He commented that when switching that spur when asking dispatch for permission to enter the main he'll tell you to, "Make it quick!" Which I'm sure keeps things interesting when its busy like that. Last nights switching detail was all calm and collected.
I left out the part about my gunky, dirty wheels though!
When I first put my loco on the track it was stalling quite a bit. So Stephen graciously took it to the cleaning station inside the layout space. They had a couple of leads hooked up to the main buss that ran to a couple of alligator clips in a drawer that could be clipped to the leads of a locomotive or a short piece of track. There was also a homemade foam cradle to put loco in upside down. In my case we clipped the leads to the short track, held it on a set of trucks and applied some throttle to the engine to get the wheels spinning. Then dipped a Q-Tip in some alcohol and apply to the spinning wheels. I'm embarrassed to say that the wheels on my engine were filthy! The tip of the Q-tip after cleaning just one had black streaks all over it! Gosh... :oops: :? He also advised me to NOT buy one of those Kadee brushes. He mentioned that they used to use them but threw them all out a long time ago citing that they brushes were pitting the metal wheels. He told me that one would mysteriously keep re-appearing until eventually they buried it in the bottom of the trash can. Timely advice because I was contemplating buying one of those, but now I won't.
However, I saw it as a learning opportunity. I instantly saw how quickly and easy it would be for me to set up a small cleaning station on my own layout in order to maintain my own equipment at home. Something I can almost whip up in an evening and one more thing I took home with me from last night.
Cheers!