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Post by dazed on Apr 18, 2024 11:50:09 GMT -5
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Post by dazed on Apr 18, 2024 11:02:22 GMT -5
Well, curiosity got the best of me...
I tried taking the roof off of the car that lost its side panel.
You're right...if you're not careful, you'll bust the roof apart. I broke mine clean in half. Thankfully, it is at one of the seams and the break is nice and clean and straight. So probably a no(t much) harm, no foul type of thing. (EDIT: not quite as clean as I thought on one side, but I still think it's fixable)
So, the edges are easy to pry up but you'll notice an oddly significant resistance. The reason for this is there are two center-line vertical posts, roughly at the 1/3 and 2/3 points lengthwise. The roofs are glued* to these posts, and I'm really not sure how you would get the roof off without breaking it. You might be able to pry up on side just enough to get something in to cut it, but it would be tricky at best.
I will try to snap (no pun intended) some pics when I get a minute.
*it is possible that this is a "press-fit" sort of situation, and possibly the paint adhered to the post. (it's a male-female thing, with the male being the post coming up from the car body and the female being the roof post) But it very much looks like there is CA glue residue at the connection point.
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Post by dazed on Apr 18, 2024 10:46:43 GMT -5
Good question. I've never taken the roof off. I do know that the entire side panel (the silver/gray anti-vandal panels and vertical rack-body-color supports) is a single etched metal piece attached with doublesided tape. Had one fall off.
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Post by dazed on Apr 18, 2024 8:31:43 GMT -5
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Post by dazed on Apr 16, 2024 16:00:27 GMT -5
The BNSF Swoosh from the first run was also an almost-instant sellout. I can't recall any of the others. Maybe Pennsy? Doesn't seem like MoPac hung around long either.
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Post by dazed on Apr 15, 2024 8:34:54 GMT -5
Showing “Sold Out” on my end Where exactly are they sold out...I can't seem to find anywhere that is?
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Post by dazed on Apr 13, 2024 8:45:57 GMT -5
I'm 75 percent done drawing an F40PH shell for 3D printing. By me putting in a lot of time on the project this will guarantee that AZL does the F40PH. 😂 That phenomenon has existed for some time. It used to be when someone kitbashed a loco, as soon as the paint was dry the manufacturer would announce. This even happened very recently with one gent on Trainboard who had fashioned a nifty little tunnel motor from a MTL SD40-2 mod. I've had it happen myself on a few occasions but never with a loco....just freight cars and one particular passenger car, and all in n-scale. Not that you need it, but you will get IMMENSE street cred in the model railroading community if it happens. The F40PH is one of those iconic locos, and the Amtrak roadname itself is so extremely popular that the commercial success of the F40PH should not be in doubt. Do the cabbage variation and you've got a very popular loco that spans 40+ years.
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Post by dazed on Apr 11, 2024 12:16:32 GMT -5
dazed: The complaint against traction tires would be the same in every scale. AFAIK, the main complaint is that traction tires will inevitably wear out and modellers don't want to have to replace them. I've also come across someone complaining that running traction-tired engines increases the needed frequency of track cleaning. (Regarding scale differences... I also recall someone telling me that Maerklin Z turnouts were live-frog, which would make a difference if that was the default in Z as opposed to N where plastic frogs are the default and any engine is obliged to be able to do reliable switching operations over dead frogs, but on investigation it appears Maerklin are dead-frog so I don't know what that person was talking about!) Well, there seem to be very few complaints regarding AZL's use of traction tires. I came to Z from N as well and it was mentally sort of an adjustment for me too, as it was drilled into me that traction tires = bad. But so far a non-issue. Same with track cleaning, etc. Replacing tires, yeah again just not sure how much of an issue. Not saying these aren't issues, but every scale has its compromises so you adjust I guess. Or you could replace the traction tires wheels of course. I would say just run them as-is, then if/when the tire wears out, just replace the wheel at that time if it's important to you. The dead plastic frog hasn't been the norm in N for a long time, especially in op-focused circles. Yes it depends on what track you're using, but the biggies--code 55 from Peco, Atlas, and ME--all have power(able) metal frogs. I agree with most what you're saying about the holistic approach to building a model railroad. I am also interested in the "mundane"...elements that are normal and everyday type stuff. And I try to build a roster that mirrors the prototype, era, and locale as much as possible. A little tricky in Z, but do-able if you can tolerate a reasonable level of compromise. I differ about DCC, for a number of reasons. Speed matching, for one, is huge. But another big one in my mind is simply because control panels constantly force you to take your eyes off the layout which to me is contrary to my goals. My m.o. is manual uncoupling and manual turnout control...except for passing sidings and other key turnouts. (and staging of course) The selective compression thing is interesting to me. I could talk about that type of stuff for hours. I focus on mainline ops and having passing sidings is integral to that. And your longest train is ruled by your shortest passing siding. Or probably vise-versa...when you decide how long your train can reasonably be....pulled by the type and number of locomotives that (a) look "right" and (b) can actually pull said train up your ruling grade...you then have your minimum passing siding length. For guys like me that run modern unit trains, it seems the magic number in N-scale is somewhere around 32-36 cars, and a reasonable 2-3 loco consist, possibly 4 depending on your locale/ruling grade, or 2+1 or 2+2 if you're operating with DPUs. So 2 pulling 36 cars might be pushing it, and 4 pulling 32 cars might look somewhat unrealistic. (or whatever number that is to you...I expect I'll end up doing something like 3 or 2+1 pulling 32-36, but as they say "your mileage may vary") How those numbers translate to Z is sort of a "yet to be determined" for me. When you do that math on how long that 32-36 car train is, it makes track planning extremely difficult. I want to say the siding length I planned for in N was something like 14ft 4in. You need a good size space to do that. Even in Z, that equates to around 10ft. (and not only for passing sidings but for staging tracks too) I'm not sure you necessarily have to require your weakest engines to handle the steepest grades. In my example, I'm never gonna have a 4-axle GP7 pulling a unit coal train in 2007. Point being there are subtleties to every "hard and fast rule".
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Post by dazed on Apr 10, 2024 23:50:08 GMT -5
I love these boxes. Store mainly my Z scale locomotives in one. The glass is UV filtering which is was nice when it was in a sunny room. Not as big of a deal now that it is in the garage. These are actually cardboard trays. I do have a shelf that is similar probably to what you're talking about. Has a glass cover, very nice looking.
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Post by dazed on Apr 10, 2024 22:44:00 GMT -5
The knock on traction tires in N is related to the fact that for every traction tire you are reducing your electrical pickup surface area by 5-10%.
This also applies to Z, of course. But I think N and Z have broadly different goals. I think more N layouts are built with industrial switching operations in mind. There is also more room for more weight in N locos. So those two things tilt in favor of fewer traction tires since electrical pickup is more desirable for slow running and navigating turnouts at slow speeds, and the additional weight yields better traction without using tires.
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Post by dazed on Apr 10, 2024 22:04:38 GMT -5
Another question, are we going to be able to tell the difference between an SD50 and the base model SD60 in z scale? The question is, can you tell the difference on the prototype? I don't have a clue what AZL's plans are. I don't think they've released artwork for these yet. Since they're not bothering to do the two-window SD60M's, I would imagine that they are also not doing separate tooling for the SD50s. But I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they did either.
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Post by dazed on Apr 10, 2024 9:34:10 GMT -5
If I could time travel I would play the lotto and stock market more. Then I would finance AZLs development of Baldwin S-12s and more steam. Well, yes...I was assuming our time travel powers were limited to model railroading activities.
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Post by dazed on Apr 8, 2024 21:34:11 GMT -5
I need to go back in time... No kidding. I would need to go back to 2019, AND predict the future about the C44-9W's. Then I would still have all the locos and rolling stock I sold off when my dad passed away, and I probably wouldn't have gotten back into N.
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Post by dazed on Apr 8, 2024 15:37:59 GMT -5
While there are negatives to doing this, the positives for me far outweigh the negatives. Easy access to my collection is the primary benefit, versus having to "shell pistachios" to get to my stuff every time. Note, currently don't have my tank cars or Intermodal in them. Tanks might get there eventually, but I'll probably keep the intermodal in their shells. They are so intricate that it is probably worthwhile to leave them there.
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Post by dazed on Apr 8, 2024 15:37:26 GMT -5
Weekend, part two. Fished some TrainboxesPlus boxes out of the attic and cleaned them off, with the idea to put my N-Scale stuff in them. (which I did) Well, had two extra so I decided to see if it would work for my Z. Turns out, worked pretty well.
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