Week 76

Week 76

Missing Carlos and Josh, but the rest of the crew is here tonight!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Our last session of the year.

I am leaving for Ghana on Sunday for two weeks.

We'll be taking a two week hiatus from the train.

Here's what happened this week at the train crew operations.

 Dean Hatzis replacing the make shift #6 mainline switch with a brand new #6 purchased at the last train show.

 Action shot of Dean in action.

 Ed Nelson at the inspection station.

He has become our main car inspector.

Several more cars went through the shop tonight.

Ed also added lubricate to wheels to aid in the ease for rolling stock.

 One of our camera shots.

I thought it was kinda neat to capture Dean on the screen and in person.

 Close up of the same.

 Jordan Osborn reviewing "the book".

 Jordan's trademark camera greeting while at the controls.

Will anyone be cleaning up all those wires?

The start of the next video.

Checking out the newly installed #6 switch on the mainline.

Westbound UP manifest on route to Iowa.

Length: 1:03

This video shows the test train running over Dean's newly installed mainline switch.

As you will see, no defects whatsoever.

That's great workmanship by a great craftsman.

Notice the attention a running train gets.

Week 75

Week 75

Went to the train show on Sunday, December 13, 2015

Jordon Osborn and Josh Jones went with me.

I traded the left hand #4 Code 83 Switch with a right hand of the same - no problem.

I also bought 10 3' sections of Atlas Code 100 flex track ($33)

From the same vendor I bought a right hand #6 Code 100 switch to replace our failed repaired of the same ($12).

I bought $45 and I spent $45. That was it for the show.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Small Train Crew this week.

Just Dean and me. Here's what happened...

 Dean Hatzis checking the specs of our Metra Repair and Maintenance Shop.

Dean Hatzis cutting some of the parts to check clearances.

So...tonight was mainly a "think tank" about how to kit-bash the Metra Repair and Maintenance Shop. More to come...

Week 74

Week 74

Moving right along.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

We had a minor set back this week during our weekly train crew session.

Dean Hatzis had to miss tonight due to truck problems.

Last week he had trouble starting his truck after leaving the train session.

This week he was getting it fixed.

Carlos Baez had to cover second shift this week due to the current supervior's broken foot.

He'll be missing the next three weeks.

Bummer!

However, Ed Nelson and Jordan Osborn were able to come and here's what we did...

 Ed Nelson was our car inspector today.

He examined over 20 cars on performance standards.

He checked coupler height, air hose compliance, incline roll, and proper adhearance to NMRA wheel gauge standards. 

 Jordan Osborn and I inputted new data into our current database.

Still having troubles with the monitors.

I bought another cable converter, but that didn't work either.

Carlos and I are planning on another time to trouble shoot this problem.

We also figured out what was needed and wanted for purchase at the Train Show this Sunday.

More to come...