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Steam Nut
Fireman
USA
1277 Posts |
 Posted - 07/11/2008 : 09:49:56 AM
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| Oh, thats a good one! |
Steam Lives! |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9272 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2008 : 7:57:34 PM
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Oh, good one Bruce! Yes, thanks to Steam Nuts 'leasing program', Rick's layout will be well populated with rolling stock soon enough.  |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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hunter48820
Fireman
6024 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2008 : 11:18:06 PM
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| Well if you come up with any extras, put them on a westbound train to, let's see, oh ya, Nashville!! |
Best, Andy Keeney
Look out for #1, but don't step in #2! |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9272 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 12:54:49 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by hunter48820
Well if you come up with any extras, put them on a westbound train to, let's see, oh ya, Nashville!!
Extras? Did the man say 'extras'? [:-boggled] Poor Rick is searching high and low, coast to coast for gondolas to fill the need. Trust me, there won't be any extras. They will all be earning their keep! |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1101 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 08:49:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkF
Yes, thanks to Steam Nuts 'leasing program', Rick's layout will be well populated with rolling stock soon enough.
I'm still waiting for the leasing papers so I can have my attorneys pore over them with a fine-tooth comb. Bruce: don;t laugh, that's exactly the situation I find myself in, although "leased rolling stock" makes a car card system difficult to operate!
I guess I shouldn't complain though....LOL |
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Dutchman
Administrator
USA
23230 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 08:54:08 AM
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Rick,
Is there a particular style gondola that you need? I like the looks of the new 41' steel gon that Accurail recently released. The nice thing is that they are available in kit form. I also saw some nice gons (built-up) from Bowser when I was last in MRPO. |
Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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hunter48820
Fireman
6024 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 3:10:34 PM
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quote:
Extras? Did the man say 'extras'? [:-boggled] Poor Rick is searching high and low, coast to coast for gondolas to fill the need. Trust me, there won't be any extras. They will all be earning their keep!
Hi Mark and All,
I'm not fussy, I'll take any and all types of empty cars that happen to be heading west. As a matter of fact, we'll even take loaded cars and just dump them when they get here!!!
I happened to have just bought a B&O Mill Gon by Athearn. It's really long and I really like it. It has drop down ends on it. First time I had seen one of these RTR cars by Athearn and was pretty impressed. |
Best, Andy Keeney
Look out for #1, but don't step in #2! |
Edited by - hunter48820 on 07/12/2008 3:13:49 PM |
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1101 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 4:49:30 PM
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| Bruce...what I'd like is PRR prototype gons, but the only ones readily available are the Bowser GS series, which are short and would have been pretty old in 1966. The Eastern Car Works kit mill gon is very close; in fact I assembled, painted, and decaled one...but don't have that kind of time. I saw the Accurail one in an ad and plan and getting a couple. Andy...I bought one of the Athearn ones too and they are VERY nicely done... |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9272 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 6:19:51 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by hunter48820
[brI'm not fussy, I'll take any and all types of empty cars that happen to be heading west. As a matter of fact, we'll even take loaded cars and just dump them when they get here!!!
[:-bigeyes2] - Note to operating department; please route all traffic away from Nashville Road due to rumors of disappering equipment! |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9272 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 6:21:30 PM
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| Rick, don't forget that only about 20-30% of your gons should be PRR, if that. Especially with the scrap train, those cars came from just about anywhere and everywhere, so any road, and condition would do. |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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hunter48820
Fireman
6024 Posts |
Posted - 07/12/2008 : 6:56:06 PM
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quote:
- Note to operating department; please route all traffic away from Nashville Road due to rumors of disappering equipment!
Just consider the Nashville Road a modern day LaSalle and Bureau County Railroad!! Remember them? The blackhole where boxcars (from PC?) were disappearing and showing up in LS&BC markings![:-eyebrows] Oh those naughty boys!! |
Best, Andy Keeney
Look out for #1, but don't step in #2! |
Edited by - hunter48820 on 07/12/2008 6:57:01 PM |
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1101 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2008 : 9:51:59 PM
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Just so everyone doesn't think this story of mine features nothing but sweetness and light along with the inevitable happy ending, one of the chief fun spoilers that kept rearing it's ugly head during the initial benchmarking session was dirty, crappy, gunky wheels that seemingly defied all cleaning efforts. Despite wiping down the yard the night before the session as well as carefully cleaning the two Harsco switchers, it wasn't long into the session when Steam started to experience problems with dirty wheels and track. A quick cleaning job on Harsco #12 revealed two thick, dark streaks of gunk on the towel paper...not once, mind you, but a second time, later in the session. Obviously something sinister was lurking in the yard, something that would need to be addressed.
Last night during a work session, Mark ran one of the switchers back and forth with the Centerline car to clean the track, yet within minutes, the switcher was bogging down. A quick rub of a finger over the rail revealed nothing, nada, zip, zilch, clean as a whistle...yet the switcher's wheels looked like Goodyear retreads...
After a bit of head scratching and a closer examination, the culprit was finally revealed: the chalk weathering applied to the trackwork by yours truly many years ago. The tops of the rails were gleaming, yet the sides where the flanges rubbed against were filthy..I mean really FILTHY. Since I'm one of those "..if a littles good, a lots better" type of modelers, you can imagine the environmental disaster I was facing (hint: monumental). What REALLY hurt was that I had gleefully given a clinc many years ago describing how to use chalks - in particular, concrete coloring powders - to "make your yard look realistic as all get-out". I can now add to that "...but run like poop". Since then, I haven't run trains much, so the problem never really had a chance to make an impact - until the other night.
Ah, the less glamorous aspects of "THE WORLD'S GREATEST HOBBY"
Here's the beginning of what will prove to be a tedious job: cleaning up my own miniature Superfund site. First, I have to strip everything off the layout that my wandering elbows could possibly encounter, then gather my supplies: dental pick, screwdriver, alcohol, toothbrush, vaccum cleaner, and other assorted cleaning sundries:
Here's a closeup of the problem. See that gorgeously realistic "crud" on the side of the rail? Doesn't that look really prototypical? NOT! Unfortunately that's the coagulated powder/chalk the switchers keep picking up, particularly on the flange surface of their wheels.
Since my ballasting skills back then were't exactly finely honed, the first step is to remove all the stuff that was marginally (and sometimes really badly) interfering with performance, followed by a thorough vacuuming, then literally scrubbing the inside surface of both rails with a stiff brush dipped in alcohol. Here's a before and after pic:
After the alcohol dries, I'll vacuum once more, then check every inch one last time to make sure the surfaces are reasonably clean...the ones I can actually see, that is. The section I worked on tonight was about three feet long...leaving only another 19 feet left to clean <sigh>. Thankfully Mr Chalkhead limited this disasterous technique to just the Harsco yard, and only then the more heavily traveled areas, so the rest of the layout isn't affected.
Having begun doing penance for my weathering sins, I took a break from leaning over the benchwork and snapped a few pictures of the ever-busy Herr Street Yard, nerve center of Harrisburg Steel Corporation. The first shows the PRR hot crew lounging around between calls to trundle molten metal or searing hot slag around. The Harsco idler car is required for all hot moves.
Meanwhile, yellow Harsco #12 FM switcher shuffles through the yard towards it's next assignment. This being 1966, Harsco has not yet gone the remote control route, thus the two man crew.
Here's a fifty ton hot metal car with wings, used to transport molten iron or steel to a using customer such as a foundry, which fortunately there are several nearby. The wings or arms are used to latch onto a casting maching and tilt the ladle:
While waiting for the alcohol to dry, I wandered a bit further down the yard and lensed a few slag cars which have been prepped with lime and ready to be filled during the next blast furance tap.
I guess the alcohol has dried...time to get back to work...
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Edited by - Harsco on 07/14/2008 9:57:36 PM |
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Dutchman
Administrator
USA
23230 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2008 : 10:07:39 PM
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Rick,
At least you now know the problem and have a process to fix it.
BTW, I love your photos. You have some rolling stock that you don't see on most layouts.
Seeing that yellow HARSCO switcher, I really think one of the new Atlas HH660's would make a great addition to your roster. |
Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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Harsco
Fireman
USA
1101 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2008 : 10:29:18 PM
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Bruce: I've been thinking the exact same thing....steel mills always seemed to buy a lot of odd ducks, which the Alco seems to fit. Having haunted USS Fairless during the eighties, I fell in love with the whole "heavy industry" atmosphere there...it was always a treat to go there since as a vendor, I had to deliver directly to each using location. I was fortunate to have seen/be close to/in a blast furnace, open hearth, soaking pits, rolling mill, pipe mill, central maintenance shop, loco shop...it was an experience that lead directly to my modeling focus (Harsco #12 and #6 were modeled after the Fairless FM switcher that hit my delivery truck one day while I was in the open hearth, watching them charge an oven with one of those HUGE ladles. The FM's step caught the tail of my truck and literally dragged me backwards for about ten feet before the engineer realized the situation and stopped. It was the most intense ten seconds of my life.....LOL).
I was going to wait until the second issue of the HH660's, when (I think) the DCC encoder's included... |
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MarkF
Engineer
USA
9272 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2008 : 11:08:12 PM
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More great shots Rick! One of these days, we'll have to put together a 'story board' explaining the operatinr process, that is if WE get it figured out!
Bruce, not only are the cars different, but the operation is unique as well. There's a lot that goes in in this complex on Rick's layout during a session, and this complex is only a part of Rick's layout.
As for the track cleaning, don't despair Rick. Annoying, yes, but we'll get there. We still had fun! |
Mark
See my homepage at http://home.comcast.net/~prrndiv/
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Harrisburg Terminal Railroad (HTRR)
