BR60103

Many decades ago one of the magazines had an article on the effects of oil on plastic bits. They would soak a part in oil for a while and then show it beside an original. The usual effect was a non-uniform swelling. Soon afterward at least one lubricant maker came out with "plastic compatible" oil. One of my school friends found a cheap (free) source of oil in his mother's kitchen. Many of his Kitmasters never rolled again.

Last project of the day was learning to fold the pop-up tent. We did iy=t after 5 tries on the last trip but SWMBO wanted to make sure we knew how. There's a video: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=folding+a+pop+up+shower+tent&docid=608011466205695356&mid=53EE35C10A190402D76153EE35C10A190402D761&view=detail&FORM=VIRE It never seems to work like that.

We were supposed to have thunderstorms over southern Ontario today. There was a small sprinkle at the end of our drive -- wipers on intermittent. We took a drive around. Passed the streetcar museum which had the gate across the drive. Went to Guelph Junction Road where we changed drivers, but SWMBO didn't want to go far enough in to see the trains. Passed the old PCC car that's been out in a field for about 25 years disintegrating. The Procrastinators Club of Philadelphia decided, a few years after their bicentennial, to check on the crack in the Liberty Bell. They learned that the foundry in Whitechapel was still in business and contacted them. The foundry agreed to take back the Bell and make it good if it were returned in the original packaging.

I just checked and I have 6x32" shelves of LPs. There is another shelf of 78s (both 10" and 12") and a couple of toolboxes of 45s. I think my first record was a 7" 78 of I've been Working on the Railroad. The first LP I bought was one with the Kingston Trio singing The MTA Song. I also have Dukedogs and the City. The record collection is an amalgam of mine, my wife's and my father's. I did not measure the CDs. We took a trip to Stratford today (located on the Avon river, the other side of New Hamburg). This was the test for our test and thunderbox. It seemed to go well -- we parked in a shaded area with not too many cars near us. Worst bit was a disagreement about how the tent folded up again. This allowed us to go to a place 1 1/2 hours away which is the farthest weve been in 5 months.

The turntable pit is a cylinder with a lip on it. The straightforward way is to glue the lip or to drill it and pin it down. The hole, IIRC, is 12".

Douglas: A couple of the Lionel bits match ones from my first Lionel set (tank, caboose, transformer). We acquired a small fold up tent today. This was ordered 3 weeks ago, with a delivery date of September, possibly from a source in the far East, through W**Mart. The intent is to provide a place to use if bathroom facilities are unavailable or unappetizing. To go with it we needed a port-a-potty (Thunderbox?). The first one we bought turned out to be a toilet seat with 3 legs and no bottom. A plastic pail was acquired but was too low and not easy to detatch without a bit of discommoding. We found another one with a larger built-in pail and some "Double Doody" bags to line it. We may now go on some excursions that take longer than 2 hours.

Isn't that about the critical mass of uranium before it explodes?

Most of our appliances came with the house which is about 18 years old. The dishwasher snapped one of the springs holding up the door. Since it was leaving scraps inside mugs we looked for a new one. Very limited supply of those with white doors. Salesman told us to run a cycle with just a cup of vinegar and that worked. We also stopped putting mugs in the corners of the rack. We have had to replace the furnace, air conditioner, and water softener. Furnace had a crack in the heat exchanger but apparently the whole thing has to go. We have a freezer that is very old -- was MiL's and I think we got it in the 80s. One of the Lionel transformers running my layout is possibly 70 years old. We used to have a stove with timer on it. It went into a warmiing mode after cooking. Dayle once cooked a roast for 6 hours at 155 degrees. She then adopted a procedure called "neutralizing the timer". We believe that the more features, the more there is to go wrong. Both newspapers predicted thunderstorms for us today. Driest thunderstorms I've seen.

This is Rudi. Taken probably in the 1980s. No longer with us, of course.

We were discussing "Best Before" dates in Early Risers. I submit that there should be 3 dates: Best Before Adequate Until Fatal After

This has been a long day. We were trying to do something about the cat who has taken to walking along the railing over the stairs to the basement. SWMBO is afraid he will go over into the abyss. We started by moving a string of bookcases to the side of the railing, but he went up on it anyways. Part of that project invlved buying and assembling another unit. (Packaging said Cinnamon Cherry but it is black.) Then I took the car in for 60 megameter servicing. I had a nice sit in my lawn chair for 90 minutes while they did that. Came back to a worried SWMBO -- cat still getting on railing. We had priced 4-foot high plexiglass but that was going to be in the $400 range. Shortage due to CoVid? But I have some pieces of hardboard. Used on the edge of a layout (3 back) and decorated with station totems. Removed from current location which meant moving 3 more bookcases to get at screws, then drilling holes so they could be fastened to the railing uprights with cable ties. Then a shopping trip as my supply of ties was not long enough. Eyelid inspection was foregone. A bunch of holes (more) in the boards and we now have about a foot of board on the abyss side of the railing. Will see what tomorrow brings. As part of this, books have been rearranged.

I tell anyone that can't get away that Best Before should be 3 dates: Best Before Adequate Until Fatal After

Is there an "I don't want to know that." button?

Simon: where did you get the painting and the poster of the patrician?

For 2 points a CDU shouldn't be necessary. And note that one CDU should do both points at the same time. A CDU will limit current flow if your push buttons stick. (We've had that happen -- I think it was due to over-enthusiastic soldering.) A CDU takes a bit of time to recharge. There are point switches out there -- TriAng lever frame ones e.g. -- that in one pass electrify the current position then do the reversed position. The CDU discharges the first time then does nothing useful the second. I think there is a switch where you push the lever against a spring to make contact and then it returns slightly breaking the contact. I have two CDUs but only use one on my layout.

Using a toggle switch is not the best idea. A two-way toggle switch will leave the power on to the point motor and eventually either burn it out or melt it and start a fire. There are specially made switches with passing contacts or other arrangements. Or push buttons. For wiring the point motors, there is a common connection on one side -- it may be 2 connectors or just one. From both motors goes to one side of the power supply. On the other side of the point motor, one connector at each end. This goes to the switch or push button which is then connected to the other side of the power supply. You should use the side of he power supply that says AC out or Accessories; not the same pins as go to the track. (Not the end that goes to the wall.) To control both motors together, tie the second set of wires together (two sets) and one set to each out on the switch. I suggest just twisting them togther to start with until you're sure that you have the right ends joined. Probably the two far ends and the two near ends. I won't talk about Capacitor Discharge unless you have one.

My local chain book store has 2 copies of MRJ that say the next issue is expected on Feb. 20.

Another forum. https://www.bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=8523 This thread is mostly current pix from Hamilton, Ontario. The rest of the forum is North American based.

My reply box contains the last reply I made quoting someone. I think it was on this thread. We finally bought a dehumidifier. It seems to produce 2-3 pails of water a day. When I was in school we did an art project using asbestos powder. I bought my own later and had a pie tin of it that I used with my soldering iron. It was missing when we cleared out my father's house; I think my sister may have chucked it without knowing the contents.

Cabooses (Vans on CPR) were offices for the non-driving crew. They were responsible for any extra work required, such as protecting the rear end when the train was unexpectedly stopped with flags, lanterns, and torpedoes. If there was a problem a crewman from each end would walk the train to locate it. To go into a siding the headend crew would turn the switch and the caboose crew would turn it back. Now some poor schmuck has to stand at the switch until the train goes by and then walk back to the locomotive. The caboose had no normal braking responsibility (all cars were "fitted") but could open the airline if necessary. Before radios this was used to signal the head end crew. Up until middle of last century (?) the caboose would also be a dormitory for crews that had to spend the night someplace else. "Foreign" rail cars are common. The railways like to keep traffic that originates on their line on it as far as possible. There are also dedicated cars on fixed routes -- there used to be some Union Pacific cars that carried aircraft wings from just outside Toronto to someplace else. CP and CN run "parallel" routes across the country, but often quite a distance apart.

I don't find the flange comes off that easily. Fortunately, I have a lot of the other type. I bought a set of metric drills (hard to find here) and used the 2.0mm or 1.9mm drill. I do have a few dimples on the cover of the axle box now. I had the same problem with some Slater's kits where the top hat wouldn't go far enough into the hole.

An old Amercan article on this recommended using mirrors with the reflective surface at the front. I don't know where you get them. Two mirrors at right angles will reflect an object back but on the other side -- a car will seem to be reflected in the other lane.

I thought the joke might be about the red stuff on the floor. I still don't get it.

I have a theory that most railway accidents require 3 separate mistakes. Discuss. One of the mistakes is often management skimping on spending for safety features.

We bought a dehumidifier today as SWMBO thinks the basement is a bit damp. There is a tag on the plug that tells us to wait 24 hours after moving it before turning it on. I visited a bookstore today. I didn't find anything but she did. The young lady that was checking us in and out asked me if I found everything. I was polite, but told her that one of the magazines I like (MRJ) had a note that the next issue would be on sale Feb. 20th. She said she'd have someone check it. I was told that the the magazine section is now run by a separate company. 20 years ago I managed to get them to carry a magazine I wanted.