Scattered Thoughts . . .

The nine feet of used track that I had ordered online the other day arrived today so I was finally able to run this large Fn3 scale steam locomotive on some track for the first time.  A couple of days ago, I spent a little time cleaning and lubricating this old steam locomotive.  I had tested it, running, while it was lying on its side but I had yet to run it on any track...  until today.  When the track arrived, it was in need of cleaning.  The rails were a solid dark brown color indicating they would not conduct nearly enough of the low voltage electricity needed to power any locomotive.  The rails appeared to be completely oxidized.  Actually, it appears as though this track was barely used and probably spent most of its life on a display shelf which is likely what its primary use will be at our home too (along with occasional test runs).  After a few minutes of cleaning, the tops of the rails were nice and shiny again. I didn't clean any of the rail joiners nor where the rail j

This morning, we did a short hike in Montpelier to Hubbard Park.  I'll write more about that and share some photos in another blog entry.  After our hike, we went to lunch at Sarducci's.  Next to Sarducci's is a single railroad line used primarily for transporting granite.  The kids were hoping we would see a granite train coming through the city while we were there.  The chances of this happening are very slim but, who knows?  Maybe we could get lucky... While eating lunch, we heard a train coming through.  Unfortunately, we were seated on the porch overlooking the river on the opposite side of the building where the railroad tracks are located so we couldn't see the train.  We did hear him...  we heard the rumble of the engine...  we felt the vibrating building as the train passed by...  we heard the horn...  and we heard the clanging bell as it slowly crept across streets.  The kids were kind of bummed that we couldn't see the train making its way through downtow

We gave Lukey a new steam locomotive for his birthday.  When he first drove it on his layout, the locomotive would slip and slip and slip.  If it was pulling any cars whatsoever, it would lose traction and stall while the wheels would continue to spin.  After cleaning the track...  and cleaning the wheels of the locomotive...  we determined that we needed to add something to the wheels to help add traction.  This is when I decided to give Bullfrog Snot a try so I placed an order online.   The Bullfrog Snot arrived within days but today was the first chance that Lukey and I had to apply this new sticky green stuff. We place the locomotive upside-down and cradled in a towel and applied some power to the wheels so they would turn.  Then we cleaned the wheels again so the Bullfrog Snot would stick to the wheels as best as possible and then started applying this sticky green goo called Bullfrog Snot. We let it run for about a half hour, ups

My model of a Porter steam locomotive. One of the many attractions at the Amherst Railway Society's annual train show has been an operating steam locomotive running on 100 feet of track. This particular locomotive has made the journey from Maine to Massachusetts for the train show the past two years and it has been a really nice addition to this huge show. The Boothbay Railway Village loads their Edaville #11 Porter steam locomotive on a big truck along with 100 feet of track and makes the journey to Springfield, MA just for this incredible train show. I'm sure it is a lot of work but many of us at the show appreciate all their hard work to make this happen. All the kids at the show had an opportunity to learn about steam locomotives as the engineer showed them around the cab. They were able to pull the deafening whistle, ring the bell and even peer into the red-hot firebox. This is a great opportunity for everyone, especially kids, to learn a little bit about these st

I put together a short video this morning for Lukey. Lukey enjoys watching train videos whenever he visits us and this video is definitely something he'd enjoy! Another reason for video of a new locomotive is that watching a video playback of anything shows flaws you might have missed in real life. This is especially true with small models and old eyes... it is much easier to see the small details on a video if the video is done correctly. So, I pulled out a camera and attempted some video. Between projects, medical appointments and periods of poor health, I'm putting together a long test track (among many other things) which will run along the wall like a shelf in the back room. This test track will allow me to work on locomotives every now and then when I have time and when I feel up to it. This test track will also provide me with a great way to program my locomotives as well. The track is 12 feet long so it is sufficiently long enough to run from end to end while sti

From this angle, you can see the tender marker lights and the firebox glowing in the cab. As I wrote in a previous blog entry a couple of days ago, my O scale MTH Hudson steam locomotive arrived back from the shop. I had sent it in about a month ago to have some major upgrades installed so I was pretty excited to get it back... especially to have received it in the days right after our annual train show excursion! I had the ProtoSound electronics upgraded from version 1.0 to version 3.0. This upgrade is a significant sound upgrade as well as a very significant control upgrade. Slow speed control is outstanding now... slow and steady... chuffing smoke... the sound is great and it runs silky smooth.  This upgrade also included the ability to control the rear coupler with my controller. And, naturally, this useful feature includes an uncoupling sound as it uncouples.   While it was in the shop, I had marker lights added on the front of the locomotive and the rear of the tender.

Around lunchtime today, FedEx pulled into our driveway... the moment I saw the box in the driver's hands, I knew what it was... my upgraded O scale Hudson steam locomotive! It was packaged exactly how I had packaged it to send it in to the facility to be upgraded. I actually made a box to perfectly fit the manufacturer's box. Apparently, this worked out well since it appears to have arrived safely and securely.  I haven't had a chance to put it on the tracks yet, but it is looking very nice!  I had the electronics swapped out completely with the newest available today. The electronics that I had originally were two generations old and quite lame by today's standards. This upgrade also provides better control, far better sound quality, better chuffing smoke, and more sounds than was previously available. Mostly, however, I'm excited about the better control. Additionally, I had an engineer and fireman added to the locomotive... a firebox glow effect with LED

Sheila, talking with one of our newest train show fanatics... He went home with a new train set and a few other toys. Sheila and I had a great time at our annual train show extended weekend. It sounds as though everyone who joined us had a great time as well!  My spinal injuries were putting a painful crimp in our time at the show but, overall, we had a great time and are glad we ventured to the show regardless of my spinal injuries. I couldn't walk at all in the days before we left for the show so it was a bit iffy whether I would make it to the show at all. We still probably would have traveled down to see everyone but being able to walk around the show didn't look promising in the preceding days. After having problems getting around the show on my own this year... as well as some problems last year which weren't as bad as this year... and even some problems the year before that were milder (I see the pattern and it isn't a pretty pattern)... I have de

My big O scale Hudson steam locomotive is headed to the shop for some nice upgrades. This old locomotive, by MTH, currently has only very rudimentary control and some generic sounds which, to be honest, aren't that great. This upgrade will be a significant upgrade and will be  very welcomed! My MTH O scale Hudson steam locomotive... This old locomotive runs great but it operates unrealistically just like the old Lionel locomotives... press a button on the transformer and the locomotive jumps into forward... press it again and it jumps back to neutral while coasting to a stop... press it again and it jumps into reverse...  press again, back to neutral... forward, neutral, reverse, neutral, forward, neutral...  So, what if I am going forward and I want to stop at a freight station or passenger station and I want to leave the station going forward again? The next time I press that "direction button", I'll be heading in reverse! I'd prefer to have complete

NOTE:  Lukey and Kenzie are getting older and bigger but they still cannot read my blog, therefore, I have no problems writing about Christmas gifts for both Lukey and Kenzie. For those who can read this blog, please don't mention these gifts to Lukey and Kenzie until after their Christmas. Thanks. I'm slightly early this year... I usually begin my Christmas shopping in September but I decided to start a month early this year in the hope of easing the financial burden that far too many people feel at the end of the year. Grandchildren at Christmastime will do that! Lukey has been focused on and infatuated with Amtrak for years. Actually, we plan to do an Amtrak day trip soon so he can finally say he's traveled on an Amtrak train. He's seen Sheila and me do quite a few Amtrak trips over his four short years but he is still optimistic and excited about taking an Amtrak journey for himself. Whenever Lukey plays with his freight train, he always stops at the sta

Back a couple of years ago, I happened to win an O scale (the old Lionel size) diesel locomotive on eBay for about $25. It runs on traditional 2 rails rather than 3 rails and can even run well on the tight curves necessary in a relatively small room (I have no room for large sweeping curves). I wanted to find a few more of these EMD F9 locomotives. About a week ago, someone advertised three of these locomotives up for auction on eBay. Finally! Long story short... I won the first one... was quickly outbidded for the second one... and then won the third one! The two diesels I won are still in the hands of the US Post Office but I'm already putting together a plan for this small fleet of locomotives. First, I needed to come up with a numbering scheme. There is a big "853" on the side of each of these diesels. Repainting is too much work so I decided to just add a suffix to each number...  853A, 853B, and 853C. This morning, I set out to create backlit numberboards for

My New York Central passenger set, headed by a Dreyfuss Hudson streamlined locomotive. As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I came home from the annual Amherst Railway Society's train show empty-handed this year. During our drive back home, I decided to do some model railroad shopping online when we arrived home.  Before we headed to the train show, I put together a pretty good sized list of things I might buy at the show if the price was right. From my experiences at past shows, I knew that I would not find three quarters of the stuff on my list so I made sure I had a pretty lengthy list to improve my odds of coming across something I wanted.  I had products on this wishlist from a number of different scales... N scale, HO scale, O scale (narrow gauge, 2-rail and 3-rail stuff), and even one F scale locomotive. I even had some products on my list which are not scale specific (ie, various power controllers, scenery products, etc). Even with this many products on my wishli

I don't really get much accomplished when my health is lousy and, for the past few weeks, my health has been pretty lousy. I don't even remember when I last immersed myself into an art project. I've been fighting off a cold for at least two weeks now. A cold isn't a big deal for most people but, for me, a cold only compounds my problems with my mast cell disease. The cold ends up knocking me for a loop and it seems to take forever to shake it. My body already has too many mast cells and too many overactive mast cells. When we add a cold to this environment, my mast cells are even more overactive wreaking havoc on all fronts. To make matters worse, I really wore myself down over the past few months. I knew this would be a recovery period for me but my mast cells are a bit angry right now as well. Angry mast cells make for prolonged cold symptoms, bone pain, joint pain, fatigue, intermittent anaphylaxis, and a bit of nausea. This makes for some very long but very bori

My new O scale, 2 rail, F-unit diesel locomotive on a short test track...  (that yellow locomotive in the background is a Lionel GP unit on 3 rail track). My health has been quite lousy for the past week so I have not gotten much of anything accomplished in this new year. I don't want to write about my health right now so this blog post is about something less painful to read. The first good thing that happened this morning is that my health was in the "fair" range.  The next good thing that happened this morning is my car started! It is frigid here... well below zero with wind chills approaching -50 degrees. I know I need a new battery so it was a small miracle that my car actually started this morning.  I ran some errands and arrived home to find our postal carrier leaving a package at my door. Just yesterday, I had found a few trains online in eBay at great prices. These are all O scale, 2 rail (same size as the 3 rail Lionel trains everyone knows except using