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Post by petehuse on Jan 4, 2023 13:30:34 GMT -8
Looks like your end ladders have curves in them....shouldnt they be straight?
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Post by petehuse on Jun 9, 2022 13:29:53 GMT -8
I had long given up on having an LHS in Denver area after Caboose demise... until I saw the ad in RMC for Rocky Mountain Train Supply in Arvada. Formerly known as "N Scale Supply". It has been around for several years actually, but I had never been there. As an HO modeler, I was pleased to see they are building up their HO stock - and worth a visit.
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Post by petehuse on Sept 28, 2020 13:20:31 GMT -8
Has anyone tried these new Genesis models on DC only? On my DC only layout, the red LED warning light only seems to light up on the forward end of the caboose, not the back end! If you switch around the orientation, it still lights on the forward side... very strange. (ATSF model)
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Post by petehuse on Jul 28, 2020 8:05:47 GMT -8
Just a follow up to handrail dimension discussion from thebessemerkid... Cloth tape is a clever way to measure the "perimeter" of a tube size, not the diameter. Of course then the diameter is perimeter/pi. So the 5.5" measurement of the perimeter would be 1.75 inches diameter. If someone is using 5.5 inches as a handrail diameter, it is 3x too thick!
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Post by petehuse on Jul 6, 2020 11:49:50 GMT -8
More Caboose news, from FB on July 2: CABOOSE BECOMES AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION, and CHRIS PALOMAREZ JOINS CABOOSE AS GENERAL MANAGER. LAKEWOOD, COLORADO JULY 2, 2020 – Now, more than ever, we as a society are called to true community, one that works for all of its participants. We at Caboose therefore stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of color, firm in the conviction that Black Lives Matter, in calling for an end, once and for all, of systemic racism on the part of our public institutions and individual citizens. Cultivating community has always been central to our purpose at Caboose, where we have been sharing our passion for trains since 1938. We are therefore proud to announce, effective June 1, 2020 that Caboose is now a 100% employee-owned public benefit corporation. Public benefit corporations are chartered around a larger, overarching purpose to balance stakeholder interests and make a difference in the world. The public benefit purposes, as stated in our corporate charter are “to serve the worldwide community of train enthusiasts in the enjoyment of our shared passion for trains; to empower our employees through majority employee ownership; and to do so in a manner that creates a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole.” To that end, we are pleased to announce that Chris Palomarez, former brand manager at Athearn Trains, has joined the Caboose team as its general manager, also effective June 1, 2020. “Ever since we purchased the iconic train store Caboose Hobbies in 2016, it has been our purpose to be a beneficial presence in our local and worldwide communities, and to make a profound positive difference through employee ownership,” said Caboose PBC President and CEO Kevin Ruble. “Immediately after we closed our store location in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we set the intention of re-launching even greater than before, with fresh inventory, a new enterprise resource program (“ERP”), and new e-commerce presence to provide our valued customers the world-class experience they so clearly deserve. We are pleased to have Chris join our team at this momentous point in Caboose’s rich 82-year history, and look forward to his playing a critical role in this re-launch and future success.”
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Post by petehuse on Sept 30, 2019 8:02:24 GMT -8
So to resolve this I went to my LHS Friday and the store employee was able to rewire the engine, and of course the lights were then opposite of motion, so the lights had to be reversed too. He seemed surprised I wanted to do this. However, he demonstrated what I saw at home on my layout that other DC engines ran opposite - and to clarify I mean this engine ran towards or away from another DC engine on the same track depending on the "direction" button on the powerpack. Obviously I couldnt run more than one engine together so I needed it reversed. I just dont understand why this would be intentional - sure it showed the "F" on the long end, but on a DC layout you just flip the engine around on the track to make whichever end you want to go "forward" compared to other engines on a multi-engine setup. We did not open another GN GP9 engine to see if it was the same or a fluke.
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Post by petehuse on Sept 25, 2019 7:02:39 GMT -8
So I only run in DC mode, and therefore there is no way I could have caused this to happen, and I have not opened up the engine for any reason (yet). All my other engines are also DC-only. Obviously it does not matter which way I run it (long or short forward). The engine did not appear to have been opened prior to my purchase either. I got out of the habit of having it test run at the LHS, but perhaps I should in the future. However, unless you run 2 engines simultaneously, not sure it would have been apparent that it was running backward.
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Post by petehuse on Sept 24, 2019 14:00:32 GMT -8
This was a new one for me! Recently bought a new Genesis GP-9, Great Northern, from my LHS. This a DCC-ready, non-sound version. When I did a test drive on my layout, it ran the opposite direction of my other engines! Obviously an incorrect internal wiring, but how can that happen? Perhaps a simple dip-switch or something? Before I dig into it, I plan on returning it to my local store and having them check it out.
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Post by petehuse on May 15, 2018 10:38:04 GMT -8
I received my lighted bus yesterday, and tested it on my layout near lighted buildings. It is quite bright, even driving it at around 7 volts. I think I need to insert a resistor to dim it down to match my other lights. The detail is outstanding.
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Post by petehuse on Apr 11, 2018 8:23:00 GMT -8
I have one to add. About a year ago (or is it two now?), I started to build one of those wooden trestle kits from JV, to make a better curved trestle to replace the straight plastic one I had for years. So I stained all the wood parts, removed the old plastic trestle... and never got around to building it. Its a pile of nicely stained wood parts on my workbench. I was actually even considering buying a pre-assembled wood one!
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Post by petehuse on Jan 10, 2018 17:20:03 GMT -8
Here is something I don't recall reading about. I have a scene on top of a building with some sunbathers, and want to have a few beach towels laying on the ground. So far I cut a few out of paper, and even made them from photos of beach towels. But they don't look very realistic, more like cut pieces of paper. Perhaps I just don't know what they would look like in reality from the vantage point of a human about 50 feet up in the air... Maybe that would help, look for aerial images of a beach with sunbathers.
Anyone done this with good effect? What material do you suggest?
thanks for the ideas
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Post by petehuse on Mar 15, 2017 13:15:08 GMT -8
Excellent ideas folks! I will investigate some of these options. thanks everyone
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Post by petehuse on Mar 14, 2017 13:55:38 GMT -8
Anybody have an idea how to model an HO-scale beach towel, laying flat. I have a few sunbathers on the roof of a building... So far my cutouts of colored paper do not look convincing!
thanks
Pete
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Post by petehuse on Feb 28, 2017 14:48:06 GMT -8
As of Saturday they had not completed price marking their items yet (which is one reason the lines were so long).
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Post by petehuse on Feb 27, 2017 16:02:19 GMT -8
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Post by petehuse on Oct 13, 2015 8:34:38 GMT -8
Thanks for the review! I didn't even know these were coming... Caboose shows them as on-order.
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Post by petehuse on Aug 3, 2015 12:25:59 GMT -8
Ok- so I picked up one of these cars last Saturday (1 Aug). I was able to reserve one a few weeks ago, and apparently got one of the few that Caboose received somehow. So, my first impressions are very mixed. First, the details are fantastic, the fine printing, the fine grab irons and "wires", and brake parts are all very well done. Second however, it is not meant to be handled by human hands! The instructions do say to use 2 fingers to pick it up, one on each end of the top of the tank - and they really mean that. Anywhere else, the fine parts seem to easily pop out of their molded pinholes. The longitudinal walkways are a fairly soft plastic, so they are not quite straight, and the supports for them don't seem to attach well. At this time I have decided not to superglue everything in place, but I feel that is what is needed (but it would surely not look great with little shiny specs of cement). So I am a little disappointed, since I have many of their boxcars that are fabulous models. Since they only issued one so far, perhaps they have some bugs to fix?
If anyone else has opinions, sure would like to hear them.
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Post by petehuse on Jul 22, 2015 15:47:19 GMT -8
No, I don't know anything about whether they are American made or imported. I just hope they haven't given up and gone the Chinese way. I could not see any particular mention of it on the announcement.
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Post by petehuse on Jul 22, 2015 10:54:24 GMT -8
I wonder if they will be American made? I think that is an advantage right there!
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Post by petehuse on Jun 2, 2015 12:54:08 GMT -8
I have DC only...do the strobes work in that mode too (I hope!) thanks
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Post by petehuse on Sept 25, 2014 8:31:22 GMT -8
This same problem happened to me. I had preordered two from Caboose Hobbies long ago and when I checked on the status after noticing them out on ebay, they admitted that there was a shortage from BLI and I was not getting any. According to them, the BLI shortage was due to problems with quality control and they were unable to fill every pre-order. I am also waiting for one to appear on ebay now. Caboose did indicate there would be another shipment in December
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Post by petehuse on Jun 16, 2014 7:09:12 GMT -8
Nebrzephyr....your examples are exactly what I am planning on doing. I now have the Plano kits, and I'll tell you that strip of etched mounting bars is damn intimidating, but don't see away around using those to elevate the walkway above the surface, since there are no built in ribs left on the shell. Did you use the supplied hole puncher to mount those tabs or did you drill the holes? Your models turned out great.
thanks
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Post by petehuse on Jun 12, 2014 7:37:38 GMT -8
Thanks to everyone for their responses! I have also used the Kadee plastic see through roofwalks for 40 & 50 ft boxcars on various blue box cars, they fit nicely.
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Post by petehuse on Jun 10, 2014 8:29:53 GMT -8
Has anyone retrofitted covered hoppers with Plano etched metal walkways? I have several Athearn blue box cars that really need improvement, especially if I want to run them next to the new Tangent models with some degree of respectibility. Cost per car is reasonable, and the main trickiness is cementing them down with CA.
thanks for you thoughts!
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Post by petehuse on Mar 11, 2013 8:45:47 GMT -8
White Castle night lighting. Added 1.5v bulbs in tiny brass tubing over the windows. Actually looks more like a White Tower. Attachments:
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Post by petehuse on Mar 5, 2013 16:22:08 GMT -8
How about the Con-Cor Union Pacific M-10000. I have the CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr and it is incredibly smooth operating.
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Post by petehuse on Mar 5, 2013 13:35:56 GMT -8
I would be interested in adding some of my recent buildings...
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Post by petehuse on Feb 20, 2013 9:21:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the comments. I added a night shot. All the interiors are scratch built. The building layout has a retail section in one area (that I made into a jewelry store), and on the other side where the double white doors are is the lobby entrance. I confess the neon sign is where it is mainly because it is a one-sided lighted sign, and the way the town is laid out I cannot see the far side of the sign! This is more obvious in the night photo. I like SCL1234's description! The white doors probably should be weathered a bit. For the brick mortar I have a product called "mortar" in a little white jar but there are different ways to do that. Attachments:
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Post by petehuse on Feb 19, 2013 15:19:05 GMT -8
Just finished my hotel. What do you think? This is the Walthers Daily Examiner building. Added lights and interiors, signage to match the neon sign. Attachments:
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Post by petehuse on Jan 28, 2013 15:59:52 GMT -8
Ok here is how the low voltage power supply worked out. LESSON LEARNED coming!!!! So this is a 5 amp, 0-15v variable voltage unit, with one knob turning power on and increasing in voltage as the knob is turned. I tested one of my 1.5v (40mA) incandescent bulbs and it worked fine. So I connected my 40 or so bulbs and set it to about 1.5v, and the indicated current was about 1.2 amps. (It has separate volt and amp vumeters). Worked fine! Lots of reserver power for more bulbs. However, I have a toggle switch to cut the output current to my bulbs, an easy way to just turn on and off the lights. When I do this toggle, the power supply is still powered on, but now without a load increases to around 6v at the knob setting (with no current draw now). So then I toggle my lights back on, and WHAMMO, the 6v setting immediately burns out about 35 of the 40 bulbs on the circuit! Apparently the device takes time to balance out the load on the circuit at the setting I had, but unfortunately these 1.5v bulbs are too delicate to withstand that power surge. So crap I now have a big job to re-bulb many of my buildings. I was not happy to witness this. In the future, I will not use that toggle, I will just use the knob on the power supply to turn on/off the lights. I had mounted the power supply down below the control panel, hoping to keep it away from unauthorized fingers, and just use the toggle switch. Someone suggested I stick in a zener diode in the wire to the bulbs, but the voltage is so low and the amperage fairly high, I couldnt locate the proper diode easily.
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