Trucks are Rebuilt and Installed
Mood:  happy
Topic: On the Tracks

The trucks on the SW-1500 went bad, axles wore in the bearings and became VERY sloppy. The locomotive had to be lifted off the rails and suspended while the trucks were removed and taken apart. The wheels and axles were sent back to the manufacturer and were re-machined and fitted with new bearings and tires. It took about a month and a half to get the entire job done. I should ahve done a video of some of the work but was so busy working on the problem I forgot to set up the camera.The locomotive is sitting on some supports but it is also supported by a 2 ton hoist as a further safety measure. I finally got the whole thing done today and ran around the track a couple of times, all is well. 

In theory I should never have to do this again but we shall see. 

 

New "Kar" Barn
A few weeks ago I was thinking that I really need to get a place to put the kids crank cars so they will be easily available shen there are kids at the track. I measured the two crank cars I built and ran off to th e local building supply store and bought the stuff I needed. You can see the resluts of the project. Sorry I didn't go a progressive series of pictures of the construction.

Fire Engine and Engine House
Mood:  happy

OK, between the storms I managed to get out and put down some ballast so there would be a place for the fire house when we got it painted and I finished the fire truck. Both were inside and outside projects for both of us.

 

 

 

 

 

fire Engine for the Road
I got inspired last week and decided to do something really different, pedal RR car for kids that looks like a fire engine. Pictures this weekend.

Rainy Sunday
Mood:  lazy
It is raining today, rained last night and will doubtless rain tonight and Monday. According to the weather folks it will rain most of the week. With any luck it will clear up in time for the pre-schoolers visit on Friday. I didn't let you know about the new conductor car that I built for watching young riders. It is a good idea to have a conductor on the rear of the train when you are carrying small children. The conductor carries a whistle and a radio to alert the engineer and the children. Can't be too careful. No picrures today, soggy.

Drop Center Flat Done!
Mood:  happy

The drop center flat is done, brakes werk well. I'[ve ordered a brake conversion kit for another ste of Tom Bee trucks and will soon be installing an air brake kit on those trucks.

I tried the air brakes on a long down hill run and they worked well, certainly better than putting the locomotive in partial reverse to slow it down.

 

Visit the live camera at http://railroadcam2.viewnetcam.com:50003/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0

Winter Project
Mood:  energetic

Building an "Easy Kit" drop center flatcar. Well, easy is a relative term and no relation to the term "easy." Easy means someone who built it before, from scratch, thinks thaqt this thing is easy to do because all of the holes are drilled!

So far I've been working on it for a week. There is much to go on the kit. The sheet metal was a little long, I'd rather have it cut with a shear so I'm waiting for the local sheet metal shop to open so I can get it 'square cut.' More as this develops.

Amonth ago I added a little building along the main line. The cedar 'line shack' came from a dealer and was delivered quickly. It is bigger than a dog house but smaller than a garden shed. You can see it on the web site on the live East camera. ( Http://mr-train0.tripod.com )