So here we are again. More acquisitions? What gives? When are we going to turn our attention to track and infrastructure improvements so we can run all this new equipment? Have some patience, we’re getting there! Slowly but surely, we’re creeping up on the improvements necessary to once again run trains. But until then, I can’t pass up a good deal.
I was a bit late getting into large scale. Too late to acquire these items I wanted when they first came out. And nearly too late to grab them now, before they’re no longer available. Period. But I’m disappointed with the choices available nowadays. That’s not to say I haven’t purchased new equipment, be it Bachmann, LGB, or USA Trains. Mostly USA Trains.
I’d love to have the opportunity to purchase another GP9, with the sole purpose to convert it to an SD24, but they’re no longer available! That alone prompted me to act when the GP38s, SD40s, and F7s became available. I’d love to buy more, but the issue becomes where to store them when not operating. Not to mention that without improvements, we’re not operating. Period.
When Opportunity Knocks…
Fresh off my recent scores on eBay, I thought I’d satisfied that desire to fill the roster with more transition era steam power. We have umpteen Bachmann ten wheelers already. More than enough, to be honest. And I still have new drive mechanisms and shells yet to be assembled! The new to me Aristocraft 2-8-2 Mikado and 4-6-2 Pacific fit the bill nicely.
The added bonus of sound for both was encouraging. It’s fun to see these “antiquated” systems, still working, and still in use today! I’m working on an Arduino based I2S audio system to complement the motor/block controller system to replace all that antiquated electronics. But until the ESP32 version of DCC-EX is more mature and I adapt the motor controller to its specifications, that will have to wait.
For now, I’ve been “lurking” on some of the Garden scale forums that still exist, looking for ideas and keeping in touch with the latest in the hobby. That’s an oxymoron right there. Most of the folks in this scale are “antiquated”, just like the technology. And only folks that made it this far have the funds available to afford it! So when opportunity knocks…
Time To Join
Part of my morning routine includes reading my Facebook “news” feed. We won’t go into the political ramifications of that statement, but suffice it to say I only check in on Facebook once a day. It’s about all the “news” I can take. This particular morning though, I’m greeted by a new post on the Large Scale Central page, a new listing of an Aristocraft heavyweight B&O passenger set, including a 4-6-2 Pacific and tender!
So right away I want to know more, but can’t post until I join! The only drawback of “lurking” on a site. It doesn’t take long though and the moderators added me quickly. Quickly enough to be the first to respond to the post! That post set things in motion and led to these new acquisitions. But let’s go through the steps it took the get this new equipment to my door.
Right off the bat, the only drawback is I already have a B&O 4-6-2 Pacific #5300! I’m thinking that 3 can become an 8 real quick with one of my metallic paint pens. The number boards may take some doing too, but easily within the realm of possibility. Next are the passenger cars. Five absolutely awesome Aristocraft heavyweight passenger cars. The two coaches are duplicates, but with some renumbering, not a problem.
This Ain’t Amazon Free Shipping
Well, the name of the coach will need to change too, but… Shipping is the issue here. The price ain’t bad, $750 for the lot, but I’m thinking the shipping is going to kill the deal. At least on eBay you have an idea what you’re looking at going in. This is a total unknown. In fact, that’s how I approached the post, “I’m curious as to the shipping to 32757”.
Our first PMs back and forth are his estimates from another transaction, over $300! But he tells me he’ll get an estimate from USPS and UPS and choose the lesser unless I have a preference. As long as it’s NOT FedEx, I’m fine with whatever’s least expensive. The estimated total is somewhere between $250 and $260. So now I’m looking at a thousand dollars for something that was a deal at $750.
Now I’m wondering if I should have haggled over the price, but his reply was unexpected. The shipping came to $236.39, but he said just make it $200 for a total of $950, with an expected arrival of the day before my birthday! I thanked him for the birthday present and put the check in the mail.
Old School
Wait. What? That’s right. I said “Check’s in the mail”. I asked if PayPal was acceptable or what he had in mind for payment. His reply was “I don’t do PayPal, a personal check or bank check only”. Yep. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a check, let alone where my checkbook is. Like I said, most of the folks in this scale are “antiquated”. I even asked if he wanted a picture of the check to use his phone bank app to deposit it.
Nope. Snail mail is fine… I did manage to find my checkbook. He got my last check! Time order more? Maybe. He got my last stamp too! Definitely time to get more of those. Talking about it now, I totally forgot to get a book when I picked up my prescription at Publix yesterday. Oh well. Next time.
I was surprised that he shipped the whole kit and kaboodle without first receiving the check from me as he originally stated. I dropped the check in the mail to him, along with a letter explaining why the address and phone number didn’t match. I mean after all, those checks are going on twenty years old now. We haven’t had that landline for more than a decade, and we’ve lived here in Mount Dora at least a decade now too. Time flies…
The Unboxening
Except when you’re waiting on the package with your birthday present to yourself that is. But it gets here on time, as expected, and I am totally amazed. This packing job is definitely to be admired! Quite the work of art actually. He actually managed to fit everything into one box! And it’s all padded with precisely cut and constructed blue insulation foam inserts! Definitely a work of art.
One by one I extract each and every item, packed in their original boxes. Everything’s here. An RPO baggage car, two coaches, an observation car, a diner, the 4-6-2 engine and tender. All in the B&O “Royal Blue” livery. Time to inspect my birthday haul.
The first item is the diner. After all, he did say the sink counter was loose, so I figured I ‘d better have a look at that first. Sure enough, it’s loose and rattling around inside. Not only that, but the interior lighting doesn’t appear to work either. Time for a closer look.
The Fixening
These Aristocraft heavyweight passenger cars are somewhat complex. To get to the screws that hold the roof to the car, the car ends first need to be removed to gain access, with another set of screws that hold them to the car body. Once the roof is off, the twin power rails that line it and provide power to the four incandescent bulbs are visible, along with the spring contacts on the body that connect them.
I test the bulbs with the bench power supply and they’re all in working order. The same can’t be said for the LED table lamps in the dining area. Near as I can tell from what little I’ve found online about these cars, there’s a circuit card between the underside of the floor and the actual car bottom. And of course no user serviceable items there. The remedy is to send the car to Aristocraft for repair.
Yep. Not an option. Guess I’ll have to take my chances not screwing everything up. I decide to take the time to map out the three floor sections and create a schematic diagram of the electronics on that small, square circuit board, sandwiched between the floor and car bottom. Essentially it’s a full wave bridge rectifier and a pair of current limiting resistors.
Not What I Expected
I was thinking one of the diodes on the circuit card was either open or shorted, but that wasn’t the case. Feeding power to it in both polarities, the table lamps’ LEDs lit right up. Feeding power to the trucks, the LEDs light when the power switch is on. Hmmm… I wonder if it’s those contacts between the floor segments causing the problem? Only one way to find out.
I say the LEDs lit right up. But in actuality, the LEDs are all in series with one another. Four of them are on one floor section and the other four on another. I had to jumper them to complete the circuit to get them to light. But they did light. So everything is working. The only electrical item in question is the contacts between the floor sections.
With the necessary information collected, I reassemble the floor sections, paying special attention to ensure the contacts are in place and aren’t bent the wrong way or otherwise malformed. But even so, nothing is lit! I carefully use a jewelers screwdriver to bridge the contacts and find one that isn’t connecting, even after taking special care. Copper tape to the rescue!
Making It Work
I use scissors to cut the ¼” wide copper tape into two ⅛” pieces. Wrapping one of the pieces over the end of the jewelers screwdriver, I insert it into the gap between the two contacts. Lights on! Well, table lamp LEDs anyway. The bulbs along the roof still aren’t illuminated. After taking the roof off again and bending the spring contacts up to make contact, the ceiling bulbs are now working too.
One last issue to resolve with one of the truck pickups. Once again using the jewelers screwdriver, I identify the culprit contacts and insert the other piece of copper tape. There. Now everything works as expected. I can set the car on a piece of track and apply power to just the track and have everything illuminated.
Now for that sink counter from the kitchen prep area. I’m thinking it may look more like stainless steel with a coat of that Molotow chrome paint. Not so much though. Even so, I get out the hot melt glue gun and secure it over the two floor sections where it belongs. I don’t have much confidence in how long it will hold though since it was previously attached with hot melt glue that failed.
Checking The Rest
One by one I check out the remaining passenger cars. Both the coaches are missing windows in the vestibule door as well as the diner. Some are tumbling around, loose in the boxes, but in the end, two are totally missing. I use a toothpick to apply some wood glue along the top and bottom gaps of the windows I do have to keep them in place, allowing enough time for the glue to set up before reassembling.
The RPO baggage car is a disappointment. It must have been a newer model because those gawdy, awful looking 14V bayonet base bulbs and sockets just aren’t scale. The fact that they’re visible from the clerestory windows and it’s obvious what they are is just the beginning. Why they chose 14V bulbs instead of what appear to be 24V bulbs in all the other equipment is a mystery.
The engine is operational and all the detail parts are included and still in the original packaging. The only thing missing is the air compressor. All the plumbing to and from it is there, just no compressor. Thankfully the other Pacific has it and can be used to design a model to 3D print a replacement. Eventually. I’m thoroughly pleased with my purchase and can’t wait to get them out on the rails and running. Someday.
All About Me
That’s pretty much what everything boils down to. It has to wait on me to do it. As much as I’d love to have help, it’s just me doing most of this. Ann does a good job on the garden side of things, but ever since we took out the pond and the waterfall fell into disrepair, it’s been the opposite. She actually cut down the trees that had grown to just the right scale size, all because she couldn’t see past them!
And it’s not like I had a say in the matter. There one day, gone the next! Oh well. Without them to protect the bridge and abutments, those were soon destroyed by the pups too. Now we have nothing to replace that span. Nothing but a giant, empty gap remains! Working on a way to hide that pond and use it as a reservoir for a new waterfall and waterwheel driven mill off the end of the deck.
Still quite a bit of “imagineering” needed here though. Add it to the list of things for me to do… Someday. If this all sounds a bit depressing, to a certain extent it is. When most of my day goes toward making income and not making my dream railroad come true, it’s bound to be slow going. But even slow progress is progress!
More to come. Stay tuned.