Week 518

Sun, Jun 30, 2024 thru Sat, Jul 6, 2024

Sun, Jun 30, 2024

Adding the 36" metal wheelsets to the Unit Coal Train required a new coupler on the ends.

Check this out...

I used an "Over Shank" coupler (as shown in the picture
below) to line up the coupler with new 36" metal wheelsets.

The Over Shank coupler allows the coupler to drop
down a bit to compensate for the increase 3" on the wheelsets.

Since the end car is flipped, I had to change both ends.

The far end of the WB train with the EOTD.

This is the other end car which will match up with
the locomotive when traveling EB. Both of these
couplers are Over Shank couplers.

Mon, Jul 1, 2024

Train Day!

with Rob Fair 6-8pm 2 hrs.

Marcus Thorsen 6:15-6:30pm 15 mins.

Ran the Unit Coal Train 2A WB tonight...

First item of business is to remove the tape which
marked the cars equipped with the new 36" metal wheel sets.
Since they all have the new wheelsets we no longer need the tape.

Rob Fair reviewing the Train Cars in Consist paper-
work for tonight's session.

Marcus joins the crew.

Marcus brought the tunnel portal and the concrete
wall which I will add to the scene this week.

After Rob traveled the distance from the Melrose
Park Power Plant to Powder River Basin (5 laps)
we are now switching the train into the East Yard.

Before calling it a day, we prepared the Piggy-back
Train 2C for departure. However, we noticed the 
coupler on the trailing locomotive was too low.

The rest of the piggy-back Train 2C ready to depart
Proviso Yard.

The finished job at the Powder River Basin East Yard.
Cars are loaded with coal and ready for movement
to the West Yard before departing back to the
Melrose Park Power Plant.

Meanwhile, back at the workbench.
Here's the trailing locomotive with the low coupler.
I plan on replacing this coupler with an under shank coupler
which will bring it up to the standard coupler height.

Tue, Jul 2, 2024

Let's make a scene...

SCENE 1 - Right of the Bridge
Start with a clean slate.

Paint the under part black

Install the outer wall.

Install the portal.

Next up: Install the road and sidewalk.

Wed, Jul 3, 2024

Continue making a SCENE 1 - Right of the Bridge
...adding the pattern for the roadway.

Cutting out the pattern for the roadway.

Still working on adjusting the coupler height on my
C40-8 locomotive.

The new box is too big for the opening so I need
to file the opening to make it fit.

FINALLY!
I filed for 30 minutes and finally got the draft gear box
to fit into the slot.

I even secured the cover and now to check the height.

How it looks from the front.

It's still a little low, but within 50% it will do...
for now...

*Hopefully there isn't too much variation in track heights
so this should work. We'll check it out on our next run.

The new coupler attached
to Piggy-back Train 2C.

SPECIAL GUESTS

My brother, Neal, and two kids, Christian & Becca are in town from Viet Nam. 

They stopped by for a quick visit after the fire works display at St.Charles Country Club.

To see their video see this week's Layout Update on Fri, Jul 5, 2024.

Rare footage of my wife, Jan, in the train room.

Here are special guests: Neal, Christian & Becca.

Thu, Jul 4, 2024

Making a scene...or two...

This is SCENE 2 - Left of the Bridge
Cutting away the point and preparing the roadbed.

SCENE 2 - Left of the Bridge
Point is cut out...next step: Add where the road will go.

SCENE 1 - Right of the Bridge
Cutting out the roadway.

Back to SCENE 2 - Left of the Bridge
Layout out where the roadway could go.

Fri, Jul 5, 2024

Click here

for

Weekly Basement Layout YouTube Video Update

Season 2024 Blog 518

Length: 02:58 mins.

Christian & Becca return to the Train Room to run the Piggy-back Train 2C

This will be the last train run on this Train Order Board.

Christian surveys the performance of his Piggy-back train.

Becca takes care of the throttle.
By the way - she did an excellent job!

Sat, Jul 6, 2024

We had lots of uncoupling last night so I'm going to try to fix the coupler height on the trailing locomotive...

If you look back on a previous photo (see *), you'll see the coupler is a little too low.

I'm going to make some adjustments to see if I can raise the coupler height.

The draft gear box will be fine. I need to add the
small plate. It is a Kadee plate that I needed to file
and drill out a larger opening.

My plan is to mount the coupler on this surface
and put the draft gear box over it. Usually it goes
the other way around.

Here's the plate glued inside the draft gear box.

When testing the coupler it came out too HIGH!
What? Over compensation.

What I did, was used a different coupler which was
NOT an under shank but a regular mid-shank coupler.

Now we'll see how it works during the next run.

I ran 4 more laps after Becca ran 1 lap with the Piggy-back Train 2C.

After fixing the coupler height it ran great!

BUT, we had other problems.

I had to retire two cars because they kept derailing.

I need execute a full inspection on these two cars.
Wheelsets and stanchions all need attention.

More to come...