# A few odds and ends from the LHS...



## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

And a lesson learned. The rolling stock were $5 each. They looked good in the store but once I got them home I realized they all have their issues and will need a little TLC to get going. hwell: I should have bought the flat car w/load new in box I had my eye on. hwell: 
I bought the wrong Kadees for my stock! hwell: 
Picked up some metal wheels. Those worked! :thumbsup: 
And 2 more turn out switches to complete the layout. I know those are the right ones!  
So looks like another trip there in the AM and take a few trains so I get the right Kadees!  

Now the good part. When we pulled into the alley of the Hobby Store there was a Pit Bull puppy running at my truck!  Mrs CP Loves Dogs and Pit Bulls. We recently rescued one that has made her home here.
She jumped out of the truck and stopped a car from hitting him as he ran into the street! So I told her she had 2 days to find it a home. She said cool and we put the little guy in the back seat opened the truck windows a little and got into the hobby shop to get a few necessities I told her I had to have before I go nuts around here. 
On the way in we were greeted by the owner of the shop and then another young guy behind the counter said good morning also!  Tracy asked the Kid if she could post a flyer in the store to find his home. Pit bulls don't stand a chance in the shelters around here! 
So the kid asked Tracy if he could see the dog? Off they went to see the dog. He liked the dog and asked if he could take him. She said sure. He called his wife to come pick up the puppy! Cool deal.  
However the whole place was so excited about the puppy it left the owner of the place to man the register while everybody went outside to see the puppy and he only had a minute to get back by the trains to help me. I guess this is how I ended up with the wrong couplers! I am sure they will remember us for a while and help me get the right stuff. Its all good to me though!  We saved a dog today! 

Also had a really funny conversation while paying with the owner and a retired Southern Pacific guy! Man was that guy was funny! :laugh::laugh: :thumbsup:
And the owner of the place turned out to be a cool dude also! :smokin: 
Usually a trip to the LHS will only get me in trouble but today Mrs.CP didn't say a word about the bill!  :smilie_daumenpos:  


Lets see what happens tomorrow when I go back!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

You two are true heroes.:thumbsup:
I like stories with happy endings.

The dog looks happy too. Your lucky it did not bite you guys.




She did not say a word? you should have bought more. :laugh: shh, don't type too loud.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Great story, and congrats on saving a dog in the process.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Sniff ... sniff ...

I love happy endings!!!

(Appropriate timing, too ... I'm sitting here as we chat watchiing the movie Benji on the TV with the kids!)


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

:appl::appl::appl:
Three cheers from Us up here!!!:smilie_daumenpos:
#5 couplers work on almost everything???:sly:
Post up pics of the trucks you need to convert.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Ed, John, TJ, & Sean I am glad you liked the story of our trip to our LHS.  

And you know I put this in the beginner section for this kinda stupid crap I get myself into. :smilie_auslachen:

OK Sean here is a few pics pf my Rolling stock. Cheap stuff I know. A few are bought today and a few we already had. To be honest now that I think about I didn't even read the instructions. That are really small and my reading glasses broke. hwell: These No5s all seem to need a screw? 
How do you uncouple these type? 

First a Pic of Charlie and Barley to keep the pet theme alive. Both of these guys are Rescues!  No the Fat Cat wasn't put there. Tracy caught him watching over his Dog Pack! :cheeky4: 










A rear view of His Royal Fat ***!  










OK almost off topic. A Moderator on another Hobby Based forum Hates that and will lock Em' Up!  
Thanks to the wonderful Mods we have here for participating In a positive way and letting these threads take some interesting turns! That's for Sure! 

OK Sean, :worshippy: Help! Here's what I'm working with.  

OH Yea also the New/used stock all have nut and bolts holding the trucks on. They are sloppy wobbly loose. Even after tightened. Are these junk? 

Thanks Dudes! ..............CP............... :smilie_daumenpos:

Track cleaner!


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

OK I found this last night. Excellent photos Sean. Better than the instructions! Thank you! 

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=6940&page=2

And I think I got it!  :thumbsup: 

Wow!  These couplers are the best! I am painting on the layout right now so the Main line is closed for a while longer but, I was able to do some start and stop testing and they work perfect! 
I painted the trucks rust while they were apart. My First "weathering" attempt.  :laugh::laugh: hwell:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Nice pictures, but the scrolling takes all the fun out.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

T-Man said:


> Nice pictures, but the scrolling takes all the fun out.


What do you suggest? A slide show? 

Are the pics too big?


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

I *like* how you posted the actual pictures instead of needing to go back and forth clicking on attachments. 

Greg


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

choo choo said:


> I *like* how you posted the actual pictures instead of needing to go back and forth clicking on attachments.
> 
> Greg


Yea Greg, I tend to skip past some if it requires going back and forth!


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Sheeeeeeeeeeze, cut the poor guy some slack 
I thought the pics were great! My little wheel on the cordless mouse took me through them with ease :thumbsup:
Bob


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

OK you got 75% of the trucks right. If you think they work well now, wait till you get some Talgo adapters they take out the slack in the pin that holds the coupler in. 
Talgo adapter








Look in the center of the coupler you can see the adapter installed


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Hey Dude I realized I didn't have the adapters but got em' to work. Yea there is some lash but it is 100 times better! :thumbsup: Thanks again Man~ :thumbsup:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That's some rusty railroad, and all the rust is shiny.  Time to dull them up a bit.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

The kadee's make everything stay together so much better!
The look, feel and the tracking of metal wheels will make you alot happier with your cars too!
OK, I'm not digging the rusty trucks, but that's my opinion! Please feel free to tell me to fly!:laugh:


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

NIMT said:


> The kadee's make everything stay together so much better!
> The look, feel and the tracking of metal wheels will make you alot happier with your cars too!
> OK, I'm not digging the rusty trucks, but that's my opinion! Please feel free to tell me to fly!:laugh:


Yea I am undecided. Just thought I would try it. Maybe some dull coat to tone it down. I haven't even gotten into any other weathering yet but, I do own an Airbrush and I am not afraid to use it!  

Man~O~Man do the wheels ever make a difference!  The sound is sweet! :thumbsup: I love it! 

This hobby just got a little better!    :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

If you don't try something new you'll never know if it will work or if you'll like it!:thumbsup:
Just think how nice it will be when you upgrade to Nickel Silver Track and Turnouts!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

NIMT said:


> Just think how nice it will be when you upgrade to Nickel Silver Track and Turnouts!


I think that will break the budget!


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I think that will break the budget!


Not really John, A good friend  has already hooked me up with enough turnouts, wyes, and switch machines to build my next layout 2xs the size of the one I have now!  I just need a few hundred feet of Nickel Silver Flex. hwell: Sooner or later.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

A few hundred feet sounds expensive.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

CP,

Somewhat off-subject, but how do you take such zoomed-in photos (in focus) with your camera? I don't think I can get my older point-n-shoot digital to do that. Are those the full pics, or do you take a wider view, then crop afterwards to zoom in on the detail in question?

Just curious,

TJ


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Hey TJ I use a Canon SX120is. Always use Macro setting for little crap. And cropping helps a lot but not all of these on this thread were cropped down. 
I am looking forward to getting my layout to the point where It can be my back drop so I can play with Pics and videos as well. I use a Flip camera for video. Also I use Photobucket to host free and easy!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks, CP!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Most digital cameras have a macro setting, my Pentax actually has two different macro settings. With the second one, I can get just 3-4 inches from the subject and get real closeup pictures. Check your settings...


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

/hijack/
My camera works just fine up close if the room is well lit and I dont use the flash. If you look through all my pictures, 95% of the really up close ones were using a normal setting, no flash, and a well lit room. Every once in while I get a fuzzy one, but usually that's me shaking more than the autoadjust can compensate for.

CP, those metals wheels are the cat's meow! I finally got all but one of my standard rolling stock done, and soon enough I'll start with all the short cars I've gotten from Tankist this year. Most are two axle Euro style cars, so the wheels are a bit larger than the standard US freight cars. Something like a 40" scale wheel. But yeah that sound they make is pretty cool. A true clickety-clack like a real train. Bad part is I drilled out my trucks a bit to fit the Proto2000 wheelset in and now they roll too much. Most of my track is flat, but now its easy to tell where it isnt.


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

cabledawg said:


> /hijack/
> My camera works just fine up close if the room is well lit and I dont use the flash. If you look through all my pictures, 95% of the really up close ones were using a normal setting, no flash, and a well lit room. Every once in while I get a fuzzy one, but usually that's me shaking more than the autoadjust can compensate for.
> 
> CP, those metals wheels are the cat's meow! I finally got all but one of my standard rolling stock done, and soon enough I'll start with all the short cars I've gotten from Tankist this year. Most are two axle Euro style cars, so the wheels are a bit larger than the standard US freight cars. Something like a 40" scale wheel. But yeah that sound they make is pretty cool. A true clickety-clack like a real train. Bad part is I drilled out my trucks a bit to fit the Proto2000 wheelset in and now they roll too much. Most of my track is flat, but now its easy to tell where it isnt.


Oh yea I forgot to mention the flash part! Thanks for pointing that out too cable!  :thumbsup: I used to be big into Diecast car collecting and photography and learned to position several lights and NO FLASH!  

My cars roll really smooth and free too! I had a few roll away's on the helix last night and they rolled all the way to the bottom and then some!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have a nice photo blind that has defused lights through the white sides and top, makes very even pictures. It's perfect for high quality photos. For snapshots, I don't bother digging it out and setting it up.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

There was someone here on base that was selling a nice setup for studio pics. They had the backdrop (white satin) the rigging for the backdrop, and a pair of non flash diffused lights on 9' stands with some sort of control box. All for $200 but the gal was so flaky that I was never able to get ahold of her, and when I did, she wouldnt setup a time to meet me. Always had an excuse. Oh well.............

Hey CP, I noticed on your track cleaning car that there is a ton of what looks like lint on the trucks and wheels. I think if the cleaning pad is leaving all that behind, that it cant be real good for the locos. Or is it just schmootz from sitting on a shelf?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

cabledawg said:


> There was someone here on base that was selling a nice setup for studio pics. They had the backdrop (white satin) the rigging for the backdrop, and a pair of non flash diffused lights on 9' stands with some sort of control box. All for $200 but the gal was so flaky that I was never able to get ahold of her, and when I did, she wouldnt setup a time to meet me. Always had an excuse. Oh well.............
> 
> Hey CP, I noticed on your track cleaning car that there is a ton of what looks like lint on the trucks and wheels. I think if the cleaning pad is leaving all that behind, that it cant be real good for the locos. Or is it just schmootz from sitting on a shelf?



Either that or it is white hair from FAT CAT.:laugh:

Pumper,
Mix a little black (brown) into your "rusted" trucks too.
Plus your wheels themselves need a little "rust".


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

I didnt think of that. With the little dog and fat cat making homes in the helix, that cleaning car might be working overtime trying to keep up with the hairy inhabitants.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

cabledawg said:


> There was someone here on base that was selling a nice setup for studio pics. They had the backdrop (white satin) the rigging for the backdrop, and a pair of non flash diffused lights on 9' stands with some sort of control box. All for $200 but the gal was so flaky that I was never able to get ahold of her, and when I did, she wouldnt setup a time to meet me. Always had an excuse. Oh well.............


That seems very spendy for something unless it was really special. I bought this rig for $30 several years back. It came with the two lights, camera stand, and the diffused photo backdrop. You can change the color of the base and background from geay to blue or black. It folds up into a nice compact flat package for storage. It's big enough for most of the stuff I want to do detailed photos for, it'll handle most engines or cars. I bought it for pistol photos, worked great for them.

No, the camera isn't there, I'm taking the pictures with it!


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

Helluva set up for thirty bucks :thumbsup: 
I'll take two! 
Bob


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

The one I was looking at was about four times that size. Basically a home studio for people portraits. The lights could have used for a number of things, but the backdrop was about 10' wide, so it wouldnt have been practical for little stuff.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

They also had one of those, it was $90, but I figured I had no use for something that size. I have a pair of photo lights that I use if I deem it necessary to throw more light on the subject. This one is convenient, but not to large to stick in a corner and be out of the way.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

That little gem is an eBay seller's dream come true!
Bob


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I got it from some store that just caught my eye on one of the bargain sites.


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