Jeffrey's Trackside Diner - September 2016 - Model Railroader Magazine
Good Morning, Diners...
Ken, I'll take you up on that and if Chloe can find the key to the liquor cabinet I sure could use a shot on the side to make it a boilermaker!
I feel like I've had a Charlie Brown kite-in-the-tree weekend!
It all started a few days ago after I finished the rear brakes on Mrs. Pullman's 2005 Ford Five Hundred. No, let me say here that I am not a very big fan of Henry and Edsal's machines. Just my experience, mind you.
So the Ford with 68,000 miles on it is ready for its third brake job. Last time we had it done done at a shop and the tab was $1200. So I bought new rotors, calipers and hardware.
Long story short... I forgot to torque the caliper bolts and one pair loosened up and I actually lost one bolt! Dumb Move #1! I even paused to try to remember if I had torqued them before taking the car off the stands, but never checked!
Anyway, now I need a M12 x 45 class 10.9 flanged bolt. No parts store sells them—dealer item they tell me. Call Ford dealer, yeah we got em but can't sell them to you. If you bring the car in for us to repair we can put bolts in but we can't sell 'em to you.
Amazon to the rescue. Package of ten bolts, delivered, $1.30 a-piece! Great! Jack up the car, and just for giggles, I put on the parking brake. POP! I hear a snap and the pedal goes to the floor. Dumb Move #2 if you're keeping score!
Sure enough, the connector that ties the left and right cable together has rotted out, Ford placed it less than an inch from the exhaust pipe! More calls, auto parts stores, yeah, we have the cables but we don't have any hardware items.
Call to Ford parts department. We don't support cars that old but we can get what you need from a vintage parts seller. Your cost SIXTY-EIGHT dollars! Yes, that is correct. I wish I would have recorded the conversation. It is just a little metal sleeve! Yes, $68! I didn't ask if that included shipping...
Back to Amazon... after a little searching I find a package of three different cable connectors, including shipping for the whopping price of... $4.60!
Anyway, I wrapped that job up Thursday night and was glad of that...
Chapter Two:
Friday. Mrs. Pullman comes home from making her egg delivery. Now we had been planning a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley for the next day but—she tells me that the scheduling got messed up and the trip is TODAY! Well, OK I can live with that.
After a few more phone calls, my nephew who has set the trip up for us suddenly discovers that our train is actually originating in Akron and that means we have to board at the Fitzwater Road facility by 4:15, not 6:30 as originally planned.
We have to cross Cleveland at the height of traffic AND construction (ask Garry about that) and get to the Cuyahoga Valley like—NOW!
Quick scramble, grab the camera, of course the truck is about out of gas but we make it. They were holding the train for us and were whistling-off as we climbed aboard.
Just so you know not everything was a total disappointment, our ride was fantastic! My nephew, who is Chief Mechanical Officer at CVSR arranged for our little group to have the Saint Lucie Sound an ex-Florida East Coast observation-lounge car, all to ourselves, fully stocked, with an attendant and a full buffet!
Now for DUMB move #3! I had been shooting photos the whole time, of course. I figure about 250 to 300 clicks. At the end of our ride, four trips, actually—Rockside-Akron; back to Penninsula, back to Akron then home to Fitzwater, he gave us a quick tour of the diesel shop to see what was going on in there.
I took a few more photos in the shop and just happened to glance at the info screen and caught a glimpse of one line- No CF card present, no data saved!
I had run out of the house so fast that I never thought to check!
I usually grab the camera bag but in a moment's hesitation I thought... naw, I don't have to lug around all that STUFF!
Big OOPS! I've been kicking my self since!
Chapter Three:
Train Front!
To get my mind off THAT dumb move I decided to do a little Model RR work. Well, Friday a package had arrived with a couple of ESU Loksound Select decoders loaded with the Steam sound Collection.
I have been wanting to rip out the QSI decoder from a nice little (well, big!) Erie 2-10-2 and I thought, since it already has sound it should be a breeze.
Basically it was. Traced a few wires. Soldered in the decoder. Set her up on the test track with JMRI and a SproggII. Everything's great. Sound, nice motor movement. Let me try the headlight... PooF! Wait, what just happened... OH NO
R-e-s-i-s-t-o-r (wasn't that an Aretha Franklin song?) AND wouldn't you know, the headlight LED is buried! I mean it is the second thing installed in the boiler after the motor! Since the QSI board already was set up for LEDs and the ESU not, it really didn't occur to me (obviously)! I even took a final look in there before closing up the tender
Tonight I finally found the exploded view diagram and discovered the hidden screw UNDER the steam dome! That gets my vote as the MOST difficult locomotive to disassemble! Maybe some are worse, but this guy is right up there!
So... finally, this morning (5AM) I have new LEDs in, the engine back together and everything is fine... almost. The preliminary check of the steam sounds from that soundset is none-too-special! I am going to dig around in the ESU sound projects hoping to find something a little better. I'm a bit disappointed in these. The turbo-generator actually sounds like a gasoline engine!
Fortunately, being ESU, I'll try downloading one of the other steam projects and maybe find something a little more to my liking.
Oh well...
Next week the Nickel Plate 767 [nee 765] returns to the Cuyahoga Valley and I'm planning a few visits... hopefully I'll remember to put a memory card in the camera this time!
Best wishes to all for a better week ahead! My thoughts and prayers are offered to all those in need
My first ride behind a Nickel Plate Berk. September 8, 1968, Conneaut, Ohio to Buffalo, New York.
Oh my THOSE were the days...
Regards, Ed
