***CRIMSON RED DAILY THREAD***

[SUPERCOACH]

The sound effects they have in the engines today are pretty awesome.  As a kid, I had to make my own sound effects.  But all of the top end engines these days have a speaker and built in sound effects.  The sound effects are tied into the DCC system too, so they know to rev the engine up when the throttle is wide open for example.  You can also trigger various sounds from the throttle whenever you want, such as bells and whistles.

[BAMAWV]

So y'all can throw switches electronically? Just like the big boys. Track status gives "same track" alerts?

Track status is just a little red light that indicates you have power turned on to the track.  If you have a short circuit on the track the unit will kill the power to the track and the track status light will blink.  This happens sometimes if you derail going through a switch.  You can also turn off the power to the track separately from the control unit while you are tinkering with it.

You guys are the cool Dads. We just gave them guns and ammo and turned 'em loose. I'll bet a train yard would be cool. Change train consorts,--drop off and pick up cars from side track in the least amount of moves. The rail fans seem to enjoy the water tank stop too.  BTW, in order to have a Shay ready for lunch time, you have to start firing them the night before.  That'd take the fun out of the toy trains.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

I've got my own personal train set if you want to play.

Click here for link

We all grew up around and working summers around these trains. I can drive, fire, and brake these trains (but not at the same time). I've never been on the mainline, but I've moved cars around in the yard with these Shay Engines. They have airbrakes but we still use the mechanical brakes, mostly for the tourist's benefit.

I have 6 of these MTH HO scale SD70ACe diesels. They are DCC command control with sound and lights. They have two 1" speakers mounted in fuel tank. Have 28 functions. My DCC system is Digitrax.

Digitrax - Digital Command Control. 12VDC on rails constantly. Then the throttle sends digital signals to locomotive decoder you want to run. Each engine has a decoder with operating sound, lights, and MU functions to let it talk to it with the throttle.Turn on lights, sound, different functions when you are running multi-units.

 Set the address to each loco ( locomotive road number XXXX )and it is stored in walkaround throttle. When running the throttle you pick which diesel, or diesels in my case you want to run by road number. MU them together.


I have 3 Union Pacific and  3 BNSF ( Burlington Nothern Santa Fe) roadnames.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vknouq3uTJQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vknouq3uTJQ</a>

I have 2 of these on a 4 x 8 layout I am building for the kids (OK it is for me as much as them).

SC that is the Empire Digitrax system isn't? Like I said I have the Chief. I have 6 MTH SD70ACe with PS3 sound.

I have 2 Athearn BNSF SD70ACe with sound. I have 2 AC4400 BNSF. All these are the Heritage III paint BNSF.

Most the rest of my locos are KATO engines. Iuse the plug in decoders for them.

I hobbied when I was a kid in HO and N scales.

Then in 1988, I started back modeling in HO. I have purchased KATO, Athearn, Stewart, Atlas, and Proto 2000, diesel  engines. 2 are Tower 55.

I don't have any idea how many engines I have collected. A bunch collected or past 25 years.

I model Union Pacific, BNSF and  Santa Fe. I do have others like Southern, and CSX and other roads of fallen flags.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

I'm taking the kids to ride the North Pole Limited in a couple of weeks.  It is at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, right behind the NMRA headquarters.  We go every year.

Click here for link

We are members at the museum, which entitles us to ride the Missionary Ridge Local any time we want for free.  They have about 3 miles of track that originally belonged to Southern Railway but was abandoned when the pre-civil war Missionary Ridge tunnel become a bottle neck and the main line was relocated to bypass Missionary Ridge.

We go several times each year.  It never gets old.  When the kids get a little older they will be able to ride in the engine.

Thanks SC.

That is the railroad when rode on in 1992, behind the NMRA HQ building. The Missionary Ridge Local.

I will have to check and see about going. I know it's fun! Thanks for update.

[BAMAWV]

I'm taking the kids to ride the North Pole Limited in a couple of weeks.  It is at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, right behind the NMRA headquarters.  We go every year.

Click here for link

We are members at the museum, which entitles us to ride the Missionary Ridge Local any time we want for free.  They have about 3 miles of track that originally belonged to Southern Railway but was abandoned when the pre-civil war Missionary Ridge tunnel become a bottle neck and the main line was relocated to bypass Missionary Ridge.

We go several times each year.  It never gets old.  When the kids get a little older they will be able to ride in the engine.

We give cab rides pretty often but the guys are careful who they pick. Plus it is a little different inside a coal fired cab.

This is coal fired.  I forget how old you have to be before they will let you ride in the cab though.  I think they will let you ride in their diesel cab at 12, but you have to be older for the steam engine.  They aren't picky, they will take anybody that will pony up the cash and sign the waivers.

This museum is the home of Southern #4501, as seen in the movie October Sky (one of my favorite movies btw).  #4501 is pretty famous.  They have been restoring it for several years now, and it will be running again real soon (i.e. months), if not already.

The ride to the top is 3 hours of standing up. They never let kids ride and you have to be careful about too old. Mostly, LOL,-they don't want stuck with some AH for 3 hours. Kids would be a relief.

[SUPERCOACH]

I think the throttle I have is called the Zephyr.  It is compatible with the chief and the other systems though.  It is basically a throttle and track power combined in one box.  I think it is 5 Amps.  I have 2 of them connected with a LocoNet cable.  The second one just acts as a throttle.  You can use it as a booster/stationary throttle when you hook it up with the chief and the other big systems.  I really like the throttle knob, it is very easy for the little hands to control.

I had an oval Tyco layout as a kid.  I eventually traded for my cousin's oval Tyco when his engine died and I then had one "big" set.  I think I ended up with a 3rd set added in there too eventually.  I never had any scenery, I just put it together on the floor and ran it around my room.  But then one day my engine finally died and that was the end of that.  I probably burned it out trying to pull all of those cars from the 3 train sets.



I only started back buying "modern" equipment a couple of years ago.  I model the Southern since that is what ran through town when I was a kid.  I might add a few TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia) pieces once I build the big layout.

I have a couple of the Atlas Gold MP15DC's and a cheap Bachman 2-8-4 Berk for my kids to play "Polar Express" with.  I added a DCC/sound decoder to the Berk.  I planned to use the switchers as part of a big switching yard layout some day.  I would love to build a working model of Norris Yard in Irondale someday, including the hump.  I'm a yard guy, that is where all the action is.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

So y'all can throw switches electronically? Just like the big boys. Track status gives "same track" alerts?

When I get it all wired up, yes.  Right now I flip them manually though.  The coolest thing about DCC though is the fact that you can run multiple trains at the same time, all going different speeds or directions, or some of them not moving at all.  It isn't like the trains we had as kids where you turn up the dial on the transformer and all the engines do the same thing.

The 4x8 I am building is going to be really nice, like a piece of furniture with a model train on top of it.  The table itself is built out of oak.  I am making the oak table so that we can just lay a 4x8 sheet in there.  We can later take the 4x8 sheet out and stick a different one in there if we decide we want a new layout.  This is the first layout I have ever tried to build with scenery, so I'm thinking we might want a do-over once we figure out what we are doing and our skills improve.  I won't need a do-over on the table though, I have been building stuff like that all my life.

I am going to make a little control station on the side of the table that I sit the two Digitrax controllers on.  In between them I will have a switch board that has an exact scale map of the track layout with a toggle switch at each track switch on the map, with some LED indicator lights to see which path is active.  I want it to be simple enough that the little guy can operate it (4 years old).

Sounds great SC. In high school I built a N scale layout that was 3X6 foot.

Remember those 6 axle diesels require a pretty large radius. I don't know off hand, at least 22 inches or maybe 24 inches.

I use a minimum of 30 inch radius on my layout. I have a four complete circle helix running from the lower level to the upper level on my layout.

The diameter of the helix is 60 inches. It is a double mainline as well. So it is 2 tracks separated by 2.5 inches that climb from 38 inches up to 58 inches.


What is great about the NMRA, is that you can get on the building codes for model railroads on a DVD now. I bought my code book in the early 1990s.

It is a huge 3 ring binder full of model railroad codes.

[SUPERCOACH]

I'm taking the kids to ride the North Pole Limited in a couple of weeks.  It is at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, right behind the NMRA headquarters.  We go every year.

Click here for link

We are members at the museum, which entitles us to ride the Missionary Ridge Local any time we want for free.  They have about 3 miles of track that originally belonged to Southern Railway but was abandoned when the pre-civil war Missionary Ridge tunnel become a bottle neck and the main line was relocated to bypass Missionary Ridge.

We go several times each year.  It never gets old.  When the kids get a little older they will be able to ride in the engine.

We give cab rides pretty often but the guys are careful who they pick. Plus it is a little different inside a coal fired cab.

This is coal fired.  I forget how old you have to be before they will let you ride in the cab though.  I think they will let you ride in their diesel cab at 12, but you have to be older for the steam engine.  They aren't picky, they will take anybody that will pony up the cash and sign the waivers.

This museum is the home of Southern #4501, as seen in the movie October Sky (one of my favorite movies btw).  #4501 is pretty famous.  They have been restoring it for several years now, and it will be running again real soon (i.e. months), if not already.

The ride to the top is 3 hours of standing up. They never let kids ride and you have to be careful about too old. Mostly, LOL,-they don't want stuck with some AH for 3 hours. Kids would be a relief.

That makes sense.  This is a really short trip, about 3 miles.  They go real slow though so the ride takes a little longer than it normally would.  Probably about 10 or 15 minutes to the end of the line, then you get off and watch them turn the engine around on the turntable.  Then you go back to the station where you started.  The whole thing takes less than an hour, and a good chunk of that is spent at the end of the line watching the turntable and touring the shop.

[SUPERCOACH]

So y'all can throw switches electronically? Just like the big boys. Track status gives "same track" alerts?

When I get it all wired up, yes.  Right now I flip them manually though.  The coolest thing about DCC though is the fact that you can run multiple trains at the same time, all going different speeds or directions, or some of them not moving at all.  It isn't like the trains we had as kids where you turn up the dial on the transformer and all the engines do the same thing.

The 4x8 I am building is going to be really nice, like a piece of furniture with a model train on top of it.  The table itself is built out of oak.  I am making the oak table so that we can just lay a 4x8 sheet in there.  We can later take the 4x8 sheet out and stick a different one in there if we decide we want a new layout.  This is the first layout I have ever tried to build with scenery, so I'm thinking we might want a do-over once we figure out what we are doing and our skills improve.  I won't need a do-over on the table though, I have been building stuff like that all my life.

I am going to make a little control station on the side of the table that I sit the two Digitrax controllers on.  In between them I will have a switch board that has an exact scale map of the track layout with a toggle switch at each track switch on the map, with some LED indicator lights to see which path is active.  I want it to be simple enough that the little guy can operate it (4 years old).

Sounds great SC. In high school I built a N scale layout that was 3X6 foot.

Remember those 6 axle diesels require a pretty large radius. I don't know off hand, at least 22 inches or maybe 24 inches.

I use a minimum of 30 inch radius on my layout. I have a four complete circle helix running from the lower level to the upper level on my layout.

The diameter of the helix is 60 inches. It is a double mainline as well. So it is 2 tracks separated by 2.5 inches that climb from 38 inches up to 58 inches.


What is great about the NMRA, is that you can get on the building codes for model railroads on a DVD now. I bought my code book in the early 1990s.

It is a huge 3 ring binder full of model railroad codes.

I go by that NMRA building all the time.  Is there anything to see in there like a layout or something?  Or is it just an office building?

[Coach Hank Crisp]

I think the throttle I have is called the Zephyr.  It is compatible with the chief and the other systems though.  It is basically a throttle and track power combined in one box.  I think it is 5 Amps.  I have 2 of them connected with a LocoNet cable.  The second one just acts as a throttle.  You can use it as a booster/stationary throttle when you hook it up with the chief and the other big systems.  I really like the throttle knob, it is very easy for the little hands to control.

I had an oval Tyco layout as a kid.  I eventually traded for my cousin's oval Tyco when his engine died and I then had one "big" set.  I think I ended up with a 3rd set added in there too eventually.  I never had any scenery, I just put it together on the floor and ran it around my room.  But then one day my engine finally died and that was the end of that.  I probably burned it out trying to pull all of those cars from the 3 train sets.



I only started back buying "modern" equipment a couple of years ago.  I model the Southern since that is what ran through town when I was a kid.  I might add a few TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia) pieces once I build the big layout.

I have a couple of the Atlas Gold MP15DC's and a cheap Bachman 2-8-4 Berk for my kids to play "Polar Express" with.  I added a DCC/sound decoder to the Berk.  I planned to use the switchers as part of a big switching yard layout some day.  I would love to build a working model of Norris Yard in Irondale someday, including the hump.  I'm a yard guy, that is where all the action is.

Hey I still have a TYCO 2-8-2 steam loco. (Mikado)!

When we were kids, dad built us a table top railroad that would fit under our bunk bed.

I guess it was 4X6 feet. Dad put wheels on it so it wa easy to roll out and in.

It was H0 scale.

My parents bought a small 10 X 40 foot trailer for my grandmother to live in and had the tow truck put it next door to us. Not far from our house.

Then when my grandmother went into the nursing home. My dad built a small layout in the trailer living room. Not big, but seemed big at the time.

Then it wasn't long before my brother got married and used it for a starter home.

I have some Atlas engines as well. They are some FP-7, GP-7 and
 RS4 Baldwins. Santa Fe, Southern, L and N.

Those Atlas engines built around 1990 use the drives made by KATO. Great company out of Japan whose engines today are some of the best made. Better than MTH which is made in China.

The Stewart engines had at one time KATO drives in them as well.

KATO still makes a few  engines each year for HO scale. Plus they make a few runs of those double stackers cars.

KATO mostly makes N scale both engines and freight and passager cars.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

So y'all can throw switches electronically? Just like the big boys. Track status gives "same track" alerts?

When I get it all wired up, yes.  Right now I flip them manually though.  The coolest thing about DCC though is the fact that you can run multiple trains at the same time, all going different speeds or directions, or some of them not moving at all.  It isn't like the trains we had as kids where you turn up the dial on the transformer and all the engines do the same thing.

The 4x8 I am building is going to be really nice, like a piece of furniture with a model train on top of it.  The table itself is built out of oak.  I am making the oak table so that we can just lay a 4x8 sheet in there.  We can later take the 4x8 sheet out and stick a different one in there if we decide we want a new layout.  This is the first layout I have ever tried to build with scenery, so I'm thinking we might want a do-over once we figure out what we are doing and our skills improve.  I won't need a do-over on the table though, I have been building stuff like that all my life.

I am going to make a little control station on the side of the table that I sit the two Digitrax controllers on.  In between them I will have a switch board that has an exact scale map of the track layout with a toggle switch at each track switch on the map, with some LED indicator lights to see which path is active.  I want it to be simple enough that the little guy can operate it (4 years old).

Sounds great SC. In high school I built a N scale layout that was 3X6 foot.

Remember those 6 axle diesels require a pretty large radius. I don't know off hand, at least 22 inches or maybe 24 inches.

I use a minimum of 30 inch radius on my layout. I have a four complete circle helix running from the lower level to the upper level on my layout.

The diameter of the helix is 60 inches. It is a double mainline as well. So it is 2 tracks separated by 2.5 inches that climb from 38 inches up to 58 inches.


What is great about the NMRA, is that you can get on the building codes for model railroads on a DVD now. I bought my code book in the early 1990s.

It is a huge 3 ring binder full of model railroad codes.

I go by that NMRA building all the time.  Is there anything to see in there like a layout or something?  Or is it just an office building?

When we went there wan't anything. Now it may have changed, I thought they had an area or was going to open up an area for a layout. They get many a model railroad collection donated to the NMRA. The was talk of having a layout and use some of the stuff on it.

Need to get that NMRA code book (DVD) when start on a layout. Otherwise you will have questions on standards, clearances and be guessing on correct answer.

Code showes you what distances you must maintain between different classifacatoins for example. Locos like 4-8-4 are large. Code would tell you what radius is the smallest you can run that engine on by without hitting other engines on an adjacent track or a curve. 

 
We have gone to that Dixie RR club in Calera. I guess 11-12 years ago when my son was young. They had "Thomas The Tank" engine out the for a weekend.

They pulled the cars it seemed out and back a few miles. One thing I remember is that we got to ride in a passager dome car.

Is Action hobbies still open on the 231 in Huntsville?

[BAMAWV]

On "rail fans" weekends we'd take two trains up the mountain. One with film crews, rail fans,--the other dressed with logging equipment and flat beds (with logs). They'd stop at certain locations and we'd make runs around curves or through switchbacks, so they could photograph. Not enough smoke-- back it up and try again. This went on all day. I remember jumping off the log train going into a switchback to throw the switch--it being so dark in the hills you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Also climbing logs on the flat cars to set a brake or take one off. Nightime is creepy-- even with lanterns.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

On "rail fans" weekends we'd take two trains up the mountain. One with film crews, rail fans,--the other dressed with logging equipment and flat beds (with logs). They'd stop at certain locations and we'd make runs around curves or through switchbacks, so they could photograph. Not enough smoke-- back it up and try again. This went on all day. I remember jumping off the log train going into a switchback to throw the switch--it being so dark in the hills you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Also climbing logs on the flat cars to set a brake or take one off. Nightime is creepy-- even with lanterns.

One of my biker friends is an engineer for BSRR. He has wanted me to meet him at night when they leave the yard in Fairfield and ride all the way down to Birmingport. He said we could ride it either way. I guess it is 20-25 miles. It would take the better part of a night. I told him I was afriad it would get him in touble, if we got caught. He assures me there is nobody to see us do it. But I have never taken him up it. It would be a thrill. Same RR my grandfather worked at as an engine for 61 years.

[Chechem]

"Good morning."

Hope everyone slept well.  
Wow, page #1111.

[BAMAWV]

"Good morning."

Hope everyone slept well.  
Wow, page #1111.

"OMG. Seems like only yesterday we were on 1110. Morning!"

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