Choo Choo Bob's Run Day - A special day!

It turns out, today we had a group who came to the track from signing up at Choo Choo Bob's Hobby Shop in St. Paul. Bob is a likeable fellow that really likes trains. Not only has he the shop but he also has a TV program about trains as well! Today as we were setting up in the depot area for running the trains I was asked if I had my camera available and to get it and get ready for an award presentation. I was thinking what had I done that they were about to give me another award? Turns out it was for Choo Choo Bob and I was just a photographer for the event. Darn.

The club had made up a placque that essentially reads that Choo Choo Bob is a "diamond" friend to the SCRR for his work promoting us to train fans. He has asked and gotten exhibits to place in his store to show people what kind of place we are and talked about us several times and encouraged people to join our organization. He is truly a good friend and benefactor. We wanted to signify that spirit and feeling for him by giving him something tangible. Our best wishes are nice but an award placque means we took the trouble to recognize his contributiuons and we appreciate them. I took several photos of Choo Choo Bob and Dan Bissonnette (our President) passing the placque and shaking hands over it.

I started as stationmaster with Dan and we got the ball rolling almost immediately. The rail fans were filling in the waiting line and we had trains ready so off we went. The folks who come to these events a more of the kind of people that we want to have as members. They love trains and do not realize that they cn be a part of SCRR and get to operate trains for very little money. I decided to try a different tactic to get people interested in membership. When I coould sense someones interest I would say "You really should consider joining." Usually the reply was "I can't afford it." I then would say all you need is about $7 a month to join as a member. I go on to point out they can then come out during the week as well as the weekends and after training can use the club equipment for free. They then feel it is too good a deal and it is hard to pass up. I suggest they get an application which has our contact information and talk to the Club President Dan if they want to follow it up. I talked to about eight people who seemed really interested so we will see if any do go on to become members.

One thing I do with this kind of group is give a narrated tour while we are on the train. I point out the buildings and some info about each on and explain what the signals mean and what the buttons do and that we have rules and operating standards. Since they are captive on the train it is a chance to "fan the flames" and get the people interested in considering membership.

After my last ride at 3PM, I got lunch then I took my camera and started getting as many photos of the group activities as I could. I switched to taking movies and got several train runs up to Summit on film. I told the folks on the trains that I should have a video on YouTube on Tuesday at the earliest so they can see themselves on TV! I think many of the people will really enjoy seeing their trips on the computer screen with their family and friends.

After being asked to step in on a phone call from a lost driver, I realized that we needed a sheet to help phone answerers so they have a clear message to help guide lost drivers to the location. There were three scenarios that I could readily come up with. The driver either got off of CTH F on Cove Road and simply went past our road and went to the end of South Cove Road and wound up at the boat launch landing. The driver turned wrong at the stop sign and went into Troy Burne or they missed the Cove Road turnoff on CTH F or had not got to it yet so we had to talk them to Troy Burne and Cove Road. Other than for those scenarios they had to go back to Hudson and come back down CTH F about 4 miles and and look for the South Cove Road. So I wrote it up in large type on a single sheet and I will hang it above the phone so others can help prople who are lost and call the track phone.

It also dawned on me that most of the members do not know the firestop number for emergency services of the location so if they are using a cell phone they do not know how to tell 911 where they are. I wrote up another sheet in large type with our location and firestop number and I will ut that over the building phone as well.

I spoke to Tommy at the track and we discussed the semaphore circuitry face to face and we refined his expectations and we discussed not having a display board as we presently do, to simplify things. Having all circuitry on one board and just having a single connector on the card for the pedestal wire to the wiring box below. Then he gave me three tomatos from his garden.

When I got finished at the trach with the movies I met a couple of folks that had gotten there late and I encourage the gentleman to come closer to the trains is he wanted to get closeup photos. His wife said he was a train nut and he had a train room at home and loved to spend his time there. I told him I coul give him a tour of the roundhouse if he and his wfe wanted to go and he eagerly wanted to go.

We come in the front door and the first steamer he started taking photos - about 10 and then the second many more so his wife said he couldn't take so many pictures as there were at least 40 more trains to see. I started uncovering locomotives and he snapped photos over and over and after about an hour we finished up with me pointing out detail work on locomotives and trucks which he dutifully photographed. His wife said I had made this the best day in his life so far!

It's after 2:30 AM so I think it is time to call this a wrap for the night.

8/14 Saturday

Today was a long day filled with trains and repairs. We arrived and found Chuck Park had arrived from South Dakota with sons and his friend. They brought an assortment of locomotives and cars that are beautiful.

First we wanted to inspect the condition of the inch and a half rails so we went around using Rich's Burlington locomotive and a work train and in the process found many signals not working. We were able to get some of them repaired but decided we needed to check out the inch line as well as the scope of the problem was not yet understood.

We wanted to see the inch line's condition as well. We got out the Club F7 and assembled a work train. Starting off we found the first signal not functioning then another and another. The storms during the week zapped about 20 signals so we had to replace the integrated circuits that sense the track and perform the logic to operate the signals. Don asked us to check the turnout at summit again as he had worked on it again and we found that it appeared to work fairly well. We did have a derailment but we determined that the car was not properly loaded so we gave the turnout a pass. We talked about it and decided to split up and I would do the inch line with Bob and Rich would take the inch and a half.

We decided to start working on the signals right off and dug out all of the spare chips we had and started off with out tools and work train. The idea was to put the train at Summit on the siding and work on signals that were malfunctioning in that area first. After the signal at Summit being repaired we decided to split up and we sent Bob off to disassemble signals that were malfunctioning so we could repair them faster. I started working my way back down the track checking and repairing as I went. I met Bob coming down the hill the other way and we walked together fixing signals and Bob keeping an eye out for trains and assisting me.

When it was time for lunch we had repaired many signals and still there were a few more to go. We talked with the guys and then back up the hill, this time on foot. We started back up fixing and testing and finally used up all of the ICs that we had. We did get it mostly working so tomorrow on Choo Choo Bob's run day the equipment should be working fairly well.

8/7/2010 Work Day

The SCRR gained another block in its signal system on the 1.5 inch line. Rich, Bob and I went back into Pine Grove and broke the block on the inner loop about 300 feet from the tunnel and added another pair of signals. The reason to add blocks is to give an engineer a green (or yellow) light sooner to speed up operations. The process is that we cut the rail to enlarge a gap between rails so we can isolate the electric signals. We also break the trackside cable that carries the power and the signals forward and backward to other semaphores. We wire a connection box at ground level and route the wiring into the new box. Then we add the semaphore connections to the terminals and finally test the system to ensure the signal is working correctly and sending and receiving correctly to the other semaphores. Finally we attach the semaphore, add a few mothballs to the box to keep out the ants and button it all up. Usually takes about two hours or so to install a new semaphore if everything goes as expected.

We then tested the one inch line to see if the club diesel could operate through the Summit turnout that Don and Dan had worked on last week and had a piece replaced during the week. I am happy to report that it worked flawlessly.

Work Day 7/31

Bob came along today with Richard and we got out to the track at the usual time. Jack arrived so today we started with checking out the locomotives. Doug's A-B-A set had been accidentally left on last weekend so they had run the batteries down in one of the units. The others seemed OK which means either the unit has a problem or the charger that was connected to it is bad. We decided to remove the shell and connect to the batteries with other chargers to see if the batteries would recover today while we were at the track. We checked out the 1 inch club loco and set up a work train to get going on replacing two of the semaphores with new style ones. First we wanted to take a run over the rails to see if things were working as they should. We found several places where Don and Dan had been working on the track and had improved the track and the roadbed. We ran back to the station and picked up our tools and equipment and went to the work site. We opted to replace two signals close to each other so we could work within sight and conversation range. Malfunction Junction turned out to be ideal so we set up there. Jack and Rich started on the signal at the end of the downhill trestle and I worked on the second signal in the up bound direction. We finished up with the conversion at the noon hour and after the dinner bell sounded we headed back to the station and the picnic area.

When we went past Summit we derailed at the turnout just past the trestle. After getting the train back on the track the second car came off the rails and the lead truck came off the car so we pulled the car off the train and agreed to repair it after lunch.

Public Run Day

Sunday I went over to help out on Public Run Day. Walt was there and several trains were being made up on the inch and a half line. Don and Stewart were getting their trains ready on the inch side so it was all falling into place. I talked with Walt and we seemed to have it all well in hand. Tom Prescott was there and had his train out. He told me he was parking his locos and was going to be conductor for someone else and it turned out after a few hours I was working as an conductor as well. After the first few hours the standing in the sun gets to be old. The temperature was 84 in the shade and I had to keep hydrating. When I was told we were short of conductors, I volunteered and the chance to ride with the moving air was appreciated.

During the early runs 500 had the compressor car come off the track. The car has a seat bolted in the wrong place so if an adult and child sit in the car with the adult behind, the car can derail as the second seat is back up against the compressor. This puts the weight on top of the rear truck and if the rider leans back it raises the front coupler and the car derails. IT tore up a few feet of track as well so they did a crossover back by Wellington so the trains did not use the Welling Tunnel and pass the damaged track. It made the trip 1/2 as long so they went around twice for the riders until the track was repaired and opened again.

My first time around as conductor someone apparently operated the turnout on the roundhouse lead as the conductor's car came off the track just past where bad track section was repaired. Tommy and Bob Bump were working on the damaged section replacing ties etc. and they do an excellent job. It seems that someone just pushed a remote button while our train was just about clear of the turnout but not quite. After Bill got the car back on the rails we were adventure-free for the rest of the afternoon.

About 3:30 Tommy came up to the station and asked if I wanted a break. I readily agreed and went over to the concessions area and got some lunch. Jack made me a mushroom and swiss burger with fried onions which was really great. When I went back to the station area the inch and a half was done with rides so I got my stuff and headed down to the lower lot area. I noticed that there were still quite a few folks in riding line so I got my camera out and started to take pictures and movies of the groups on the inch line. I spent about an hour with the visuals and then said my goodbys and headed home.

When I got home I showed my pictures and movies to Cindy and Michael and then felt quite tired as it was a full day. I wrote up some of Saturday on the Blog and then it was time to start cooking dinner.

7/25/2010 Work Day

We arrived and Rich started out describing what he wanted to do today. First was to check the inch and a half line for signal problems, the inch and finally install a new block near the roundhouse. We had rain Friday evening into Saturday morning and the ground was somewhat mushy in some areas. The roadbed was firm but some of the areas alongside the trackbed were squishy when you walked on them and there was some standing water. 1280 was brought out of the roundhouse with some riding cars and we discovered that the North side had considerable problems where the track was the wettest. Not only had the dirt washed down the hillsides but the track joints were not conducting well where the new track had been laid a few years ago. This is a common problem that the joints work very well when new (electrically) but as they age the resistance goes up and they need bond wires across the joints to ensure connectivity. Tommy had purchased stainless-steel tie wire used to secure pins and nuts on equipment subject to vibration for us to try in place of the aluminum bond wire we had been using. The only drawback so far is the stiffness of the wire so it is harder to shape into form for the bond.

We started by the roundhouse and put the new signal block up. The block requires a new semaphore and base box which contains two terminal strips - one for each head going in each direction. After getting Jack started with adding the track sensor connections, I went down to the North end by Twin Bridges and started adding bond wires. I had to drill quite a few holes and preform the bond wires. Of course some of the screws had to breakoff whil installing the screws in the track so it slowed me down a bit. I did get done at lunch time with about 16 locations and after being out in the sun while it is in the high 80s. We had lunch and I got a chance to talk to Fred for a while about his writing. I am trying to encourage him to write some of his tips and construction information for building his locomotives. I am a fan of his Shay as well as Trish locomotives as I love his construction techniques and details. Fred just has a gift for mechanical construction. I set him straight that he owns the rights to any story he has written unless it was covered by a contract and there was a quid-pro-quo as it is refered to in law. He is thinking of collecting his "Soup to Nuts"

Wednesday work day

Tom Prescott called me the other day and asked if I wanted to go over to the track on Wednesday afternoon. I agreed and we went out this afternoon. He had been asked if he would spray some weed control product on the right of ways. When we arrived Don Seybold was already working on cutting the grass and brush. Tom got his sprayer out and mixed the weed killer while I got out a locomotive and riding cars for the inch track. We met at the depot and discussed the plan of how to proceed. We hit on going around the route twice and spraying on one side then switching over to the other side when we came to the depot again. Going slow and steady we ran the route and stopped at Summit to refill the sprayer. We had to refill again at the depot and at the end of the run he refilled again and went off on foot to finish up. I walked around the property after putting the train away and picked up debris left over from the last run day. After about three hours we ended up and headed for the barn.

Saturday work day and run day rolled into one

Rich got here as usual and we went directly to the track. We went over what he wanted to do today and Jack showed up a little later. We got out a pair of work trains so we could check the inch line rapidly as we need both main lines to be working tomorrow as we have a large group coming. Don, Dan and Stewart were already at the track when we had arrived. Don and Dan were clearing brush from the inch line and between cutting small saplings and removing vines they were well into the work day. It was expected to get into the high 90s today so we all wanted to get our work done in the morning hours before the heat of the day.

During our checking the inch line we saw Dan suddenly fall backwards and hit the stone wall and cut a gash in his forearm. Rich went over to help and took Dan to the Hudson ER to get it looked at and if he needed stitches he wanted him to be able to get them. They gave him a tetanus shot and bandaged him up.

Jack and I worked on the signals that we found malfunctioning and got them repaired by noon. We decided to break for lunch and Rich and Dan came back while we were going up to get our lunches. After lunch we measured out where a new block was going to be created in the track by the roundhouse in an area we call Glacier (because it is where the ice melts last in the Spring each year). We got the measuring tape out and measured to the center of the existing block and prepared the site for the new hardware. Jack and I removed the splice plate from a track joint and Rich brought the Saws-All so we could remove a section of the rail to create a gap at that location for the signal system. Jack did the honors and we then used the fibre-glass track splice plates to reconnect the track mechanically again. Rich then said he was told that we needed to get the track ready as some folks from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) were coming to ride and view the facilities this afternoon. I had forgotten about it myself so we were caught unawares. I offered to get out our club diesel "4180" and Rich went to get our club F7s some riding cars. Tom got his new locos out so we had three trains ready to go in about 20 minutes. It appeared that five adults and four kids came totally, so we were readily able to handle the group.

I was able to take them on both lines so they got the full experience of the two different routes It was quite a good time as I got to pull in on the inch and a half line and transition over to the inch line and take a trip up to Summit with the same people. I narrated the trip as we went along and the kids seemed to get a real kick out of it.

July 11

Today was a private run day. Tom Prescott came by this morning and I went out to the track with him to get him in and spend some time with his new train. A few folks got there ahead of us and Bob Bump joined us as well. He remarked that his was the furthest he has driven in recent years so I told him he was doing quite well. He had wanted to bring his son out but his boy was stuck on a keyboard and could not make it he said.

The train was working quite well and Tom told me that he had not charged the train yet. We decided to run it for awhile to see how long it would run without charging and it ran for several hours. The man he got it from told him it probably needed charging because he had not charged it lately. Tom was pleasantly surprised that the train seemed peppy and was holding the charge quite well. It uses sealed gel lead acid batteries which are very durable batteries. We used to use them in security applications at the university.

Tommy and his wife showed up and while she got out her train, he sat and talked to me and showed me Chuck Hackett's semaphore head. He has the parts plastic molded and made the circuitry PCB on his Sureline mill. It had excellent resolution on the copper foil board. I hope it works out for Chuck as a commercially produced semaphore for the hobby would make it easier for railroaders who are not electrically inclined.

Tom asked Tommy about the rocking of the riding car seat and we all delved into the problem. It turns out that the seat is firmly on the platform of the riding car and it is the bolster play as well as the truck springs are too soft. Since the riding car is a one truck car, the weight of the operator is entirely on the four springs of the truck and they are compressing about 1/2 way with just his weight on the car. Tommy thinks they could be a bit firmer and this might take some of the tippyness out of the ride. Also the bolster angle could be too great so it will be looked at a day at a time.

Tom came back from a trip on the track and asked me if I wanted to go. I said sure and got to run his new train. It is fun to operate and being so large it it rode fairly smoothly. I liked the sound generator and the last owner put in a mechanical bell that has a great sound. The air horn is too loud so we are thinking about the solution to this problem. The loco actually has a horn in the sound board and we may try hooking that up again and see if it is loud enough and sounds good enough. I got to go around several times and after figuring out that the riding car was hitting a stone by Twin Bridges I removed the rock and then the trips were quiet. The car base overhangs the side of the track about 6 inches or so.

Julu 10, 2010

The SCRR was showing some signs of life when we arrived a little after 9AM. We discussed what we would do today and I pulled out my multivibrator circuit to show to Rich. In the bright sunlight it did not work as well as I had hoped so I put it away and went on to other things. Rich brought out some stuff he wanted to do and the four of us, Rich, Bob, Jack and I went out to get a work train together. We were going to survey the inch line for signal problems and get a couple of the new semaphores installed on the inch line as they just needed to get done.

What is involved is that we have to remove the old semaphore and base by opening it up and removing all the wires then physically pulling the wires out of the device and then threading the wires into the new base, wiring the terminal strip, cutting and stripping the wires to fit their new places and getting them screwed down on the terminal strip. Then the semaphore head is prepared by adding lugs to the wires and marking them with colored tape to make it easier for the next maintainer. Then inserting the lugs into the terminal strip and screwing them down. Then the box is mounted to the pole and inserted into the ground and the semaphore is attached to the box and if you wired it correctly it should all work.

We did two of these changeovers and I reglued some of the light shades on a couple of more semaphores where they had fallen off. I also tried to take some pictures as well.

Bob Bump came out with us and he was able to help me several times. I am glad he decided to come out and work with us. It is always good when we get a chance to work with more people even if it is just for company.

We went back for lunch and I got to take some more pictures back at the picnic area of the people who came out today. I wanted to get a picture of Stewart but he had to run off so I will have to get it another time - he has changed so much.

After lunch we went back to work on the signals and when we were done we came back to the main area to find Tom Prescott had arrived. Dan called out to us that Tom had brought goodies and we should come and see. We put the work train away and went down to see what the commotion was about.

Tom had a new set of locos that he had just brought back from Oklahoma. They had lived in Texas but the gent brought them up to Oklahoma to save Tom part of the trip. They were detailed with the Texas Republic Railroad which appears to be a fictious road name. The set of two locos and a riding car were in the back of his pickup and I got my camera as they were about to touch SCRR track for the first time in their lives. I started taking photos while Dan, Jack, Tommy, Karol, Tom and Bob worked and watched. I switched to taking movies and after about a half hour they had it on the track. Then Tom started to go around the track and I was thrilled that it was such a great experience for everyone.

It was time to finish up for the day and so I collected my things and finished up at the SCRR. I got home and after showing the photos and movies to my wife, I started putting them together for a show and after a few hours uploaded them to YouTube and the pictures to Picassa Web Albums. Then only the Blog is yet to do...

Saturday Report

Rich's wife had surgery last week and she came home on Friday so he wanted to care for her at home. Jack Kobler stopped by to give me a ride to the track on Saturday morning and we got there about 9:45. Dan Bissonnette, Tim Kirby, Danielle Bissonette and Barry Solomon were there working on the fence project in the area facing Croix Ridge Road.

After parking, Jack and I talked and decided to get a train out and fix the signals that were malfunctioning. Dan had brought out the repaired signal head from Rich and some other materials for us. I brought out the switch machine motor that I had repaired and showed Jack the microswitch diagram showing the modifications needed to make the switch correctly operate with the cam on the motor shaft. Jack told me he was going to help the fencing crew and I went off on the train to repair the signals.

I had noticed that someone had repaired 4180 so it was out on the rails working this morning. Thanks to anyone and everyone who got it going again.

On the inch line, the second signal showed yellow and this led me to the third signal which was stuck red. This turned out to be a bad logic chip so both signals now worked correctly after replacement of the chip. I went on and put the repaired signal from Rich in the head that it came from and it too was working properly. I went on to see if more problems were in existance and all the signals seemed to be working until I got to the trestle before Summit where I encountered some large block piled on the bridge so the train could not pass. Since I have the spinal damage I cannot lift or pull heavy weights and this made me decide to back the train down the track. I paused at the cuttoff track at Summit and decided to take it and then continue to survey the track the rest of the way. I threw the turnout and proceeded to back through the turnout but the cars derailed so I had to get them back on the track and I decided to abandon the idea of crossing over. Although the turnout appeared to be working like it should it did derail the cars so it must be acting up. I then backed down to the station and walked over to the fencing area and took some pictures of the crew. Then it was lunch time.

Jack and I had our lunch with us so we headed to the picnic area and soon Danielle came back from Hudson with subs for the guys who did not have their lunch with them. We ate and talked and had a good time. I asked Jack to drop me off at home as my neck was starting to ache. Probably the lifting of the cars was a little too much for me as I had to put a collar on at home for a few hours to relieve the ache in the neck area. I called Tommy and Dan and cancelled my participation in the July 4th get together.

This week

I spent some time this week working on the WEB site and refined some of the features. I added another photo gallery page with the latest pictures and removed the password from the forum again. Tim showed me a BBS that his ISP has available and I think it will work just fine. I just have to get the particulars from him and add it to the site.

I have been working on the LED dimmer circuit for Tommy. I just got the latest package of parts and it included the photocells that I wanted to use in the experiment. The circuit seems to be working just like it should. I will take the prototype on Saturday and see if Tommy likes the circuit.