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Post by tjdreams on Jan 19, 2016 16:10:16 GMT -5
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Post by tjdreams on Jan 14, 2016 13:14:07 GMT -5
Hi All Today I have to Bring you all some Very Sad News Glen Chenier passed away last Tuesday morning.
His wife contacted me this morning to give me the bad news. She said that he had bin diagnosed with Small Cell Cancer and that it took him down very quickly. I spoke with him just a few days before Christmas and he said nothing to me about being ill or having cancer
He will truly be missed
For those who didn't know him, Glen was the engineer who designed and installed the aftermarket wheel wipers in MTL's F7's that greatly improved their electrical pickup and performance.
David
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Post by tjdreams on Jan 11, 2016 18:05:33 GMT -5
I just happen to have one on my work bench that I'm tuning up for a customer MTL " F& B dummies have a flat base with the trucks half's (Gimbals) held in place with a plastic keeper washer The Gimbals, geared wheel sets, and Side Frames are identical to those used on the powered units. After removing the body and the 2 screws holding the side frames in place you can see that the journals in the gimbals anything but smooth and typically out of round as well. use a small round file to get rid of any burrs & clean up the journals. While you have it open check to see if the wheel set are in gauge and that they will roll freely with out binding or rubbing the gimbals. Check for out of round and or off center axles. Check the side frames for burrs add one drop of lube to each journal re assemble and enjoy. For a small Fee I can preform this service as well as install Glens Wheel Wipers on both the powered and non powered MTL F7 A & B units as well as tune up (HOS) Marklin's locomotives Please contact me off the forum at "dave . wolf 64 at yahoo . com" (no spaces) if interested. David
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Post by tjdreams on Jan 7, 2016 16:50:39 GMT -5
Their is one on eBay do a search for "zthek" It's bin listed and relisted for over a year now. I would like to get one but their is no way i'm paying the prices that dealer is asking. While that ebay dealer dose have some hard to find items many/most of them are listed at excessively high amounts. 400 to 500% too high. But as they say A fool and his money are easily parted and you can't fault the guy for wanting to be the one who gets that money.
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Post by tjdreams on Jan 7, 2016 16:02:20 GMT -5
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Post by tjdreams on Jan 7, 2016 0:13:10 GMT -5
Commodore Keep a eye on eBay for a Marklin 88075 ( Marklin's version of the New York Central Commodore Vanderbilt 4-6-4 Hudson) They don't come up for sale /auction all that often. And when they do pop up theirs usually a pretty hefty price tag on them. The one I have is a Nice looking, Smooth running, Reliable loco. I've run it at shows for hours on end with out any problems.
David
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Post by tjdreams on Dec 27, 2015 12:23:36 GMT -5
I got a pair of Searails EMD model 40 industrial switchers David
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Post by tjdreams on Dec 21, 2015 18:55:59 GMT -5
I've gotten good results painting the rail using a airbrush (Iwata Eclipse HP-CS) First I wash the track with Vinegar then let it sit on a brown paper bag to air dry (not as much lint or fuzz like on a paper towel). After drying for a couple hours I use the airbrush to blow off any remaining moister or dust. For paint I use Polly Scale Acrylic Paint (Rust #F414323) Thinned 30% to 50% With the air set at 18 to 20 psi I spray each side of the rail holding the tip of the air brush 90* to the rail and almost touching it so the spray pattern is no wider than the rail is tall. Getting the inside of the rail requires a little more angle and a steady hand. Giving it a couple light coats works better than one heavy coat. I paint the track sections before installing them which allows me to hold the track and airbrush at just the right angle and distance so no or very little paint gets onto the ties or roadbed. I use a old t-shirt dampened with Isopropyl Alcohol to wipe off any paint that got the top of the rails or ties as soon as they are done being sprayed. I also leave the last 1/4 inch of each rail unpainted to insure good electrical contact between sections
For turnouts I use a old tooth brush dipped in Vinegar to clean the rails then blow dry right away. Then I paint the outside of the rails as above and use a OOO brush trimmed to a very tiny point to hand paint the points and insides of the rails. Once installed on the layout I use the OOO brush to touch the ends of the track and rail joiners along with any spots I may have missed.
David
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Post by tjdreams on Dec 11, 2015 14:23:50 GMT -5
Another vote for The rainy day photo
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Post by tjdreams on Dec 1, 2015 9:54:15 GMT -5
Dave & Doug Don't get discouraged. I have a considerable collection of AZL, MTL, and Marklin Locomotives and have never had one or even heard of one with the problems you have described. Its Rare that we hear of a Problem Loco from AZL. In fact AZL has the most reliable Best running Z-scale Locomotives on the market today.
Just because you have had a bad experience with a loco or 2 don't discount the Scale or even the manufacture. No matter how good a manufacture is defects happen to us all in every scale. No one or product is perfect 100% of the time. Don't let this one problem/setback turn you away from Z scale trains or the manufacture. Contact AZL for help and Treat it like you would derailed car, Stop the train for a second, put the car back on the tracks or replace it with a different one, throttle up, and continue on with the fun of running your trains.
David
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Post by tjdreams on Oct 17, 2015 13:31:31 GMT -5
Great Scale Model Train and Railroad Collectors Shows & Railroad Marketplace Is Next Weekend October 24th & 25Th 2015 Location: Maryland State Fair 2200 York Rd. Timonium, MD 21093 Times: Saturday: 9am - 5pm / Sunday: 10am -4pm Check it out @ Great Scale Model Train ShowThe DC Z-Bend Track Group will be setup and running trains at the show Stop By and say HI David
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Post by tjdreams on Oct 14, 2015 16:39:56 GMT -5
First welcome to the forum zscalejohn The NCE Power Cab is a good choice for Z scale. Wiring is easy and if your worrying about the voltage just pickup the Digitrax UP6Z Voltage Reducer. If you can't find the locomotive your looking for, in the road name you want with a Decoder in it, Ask for help finding it. Most of us who are into Z Scale will be happy to help you out in any way we can. Their are people here who will install a decoder for you, rebuild or repair a old locomotive and still others who do a excellent job repainting them (for a small fee of course). Yes it may cost you a little more out of pocket to have someone install a decoder for you but you are going to pay a little more for a model with a decoder already in it anyway. So why not just pay a little extra and get exactly what you want.
David
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 27, 2015 20:16:28 GMT -5
Still waiting on Backordered parts so no update on the Bridge Crane.
However I did spend some more time working on one of my 45* corner modules. The inner track 2nd from the top is a 11" radius (279mm) all the rest are 12" or larger. Using Micro Trains Flex track I soldered all the joints and added a feeder wire to every coupler. This should provide plenty of power to the rails. I also cut and glued 2 layers of cork roadbed in place. By using 2 layers I can get a more defined ditch along the rails. I'll just build up the joining edges with a little extra flock so it matches the other modules. Finally I took the cover off the switch so I could see to make sure no glue wicked its way into the internals as I add ballast.
Oh and when connected to the matching 45* module the 3rd track in the upper left will create a nearly 7' bypass siding. David
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 20, 2015 10:17:28 GMT -5
Well It's been a Busy Week for me at work, And some of the parts I ordered for the Bridge Crane are on Backorder. So no updates on it yet.
Not being able to work on the crane I decided to finish building my corner module bases. I went with 2 - 45* bases 4'-4" long 2'-1" wide with 22.5* angled ends to make transporting and getting through tight doorways a little easier. In keeping with the Z-Bend standard the mating ends are 2'-0" wide. The layout will easily support a minimum 245mm (10 inch) radius. I need to do some testing but I think I can stretch the minimum radius to 270mm by using just the Marklin 8503 (55mm) straight track after the 2-1/8 set back for the bridge tracks. With the larger radius I don't think the slightly shorter straight section at the end will be a issue. I still need to build the legs but that's next weekends project. All that's left to do today is give them a coat of paint to help prevent warping.
For anyone wanting to build a similar corners here are a few dimensions.
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 13, 2015 21:50:53 GMT -5
I already tried paraffin wax and beeswax along with dragging the line across a citronella candle as well as some bars of soap. I just couldn't get the right combination to keep the line straight yet flexible enough to slide through the block on the hook and wind on to the Drum. It kept wanting to swing and stick straight out to the side when I would turn the drum.
Initial testing with the stuff I got from the craft store is looking good. The thread came in a Hank about 4 inches long so it doesn't have the tendency to coil like the stuff that comes on a spool dose. I cut a 8 inch piece of the thread with the spot where it was folded in the middle slid the hook on and glued both ends to the drum with the hook hanging in the spot where it was folded. While I'm loosing the functionality of the 2 part hoist line actually going through the working block on the hook, (Yes the block on the hook really did work) I can now stuff that area of the hook with some Tungsten putty to add some weight. It will still appear their is a block with a 2 part hoist line, It just wont be functional any more. And as a bonus I will not have to turn the drum as many times as before to raise or lower the hook. I'll try to take and post some updated pictures later this week once I get finished tweaking and reinforcing the top end so it slides on the rails easier.
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