I saw a caboose! 

Yes I did! I really did! Some years back, the major railroads in this country stopped using the caboose (cabeese, cabesi?). They started using a puny little red light in some kind of metal box on the end of the train. The so called EOT device (end of train).  What ensued was a train looking incomplete and bound for nowhere. Oh well, the passing of an era. This past Saturday I decided to take a little trip to Gadsden, Alabama. Actually, first Springville, then Attalla, then Gadsden. I left about noon after finishing a little work. I went by Irondale and saw some CSX locomotives pulling some cars as well as Norfolk Southern locomotives doing the same. Next to Trussville, Argo then Springville. Checked out an antiques shop. Then I went to lunch. Next stop, Attalla. I got off the freeway at highway 77 and went over to U.S. 11 and went north. As I was getting into the downtown area I kept my eyes open for railroad activity. All while driving safely. At the stop sign I glanced right. I was astonished to see a caboose. “Wow!”, I thought. I thought those were extinct. I slowed down and looked some more. It was a good thing that there was little to no traffic. I saw the Norfolk Southern markings. I noticed the paint looked brand new. I wondered if the caboose itself was somewhat new. It looked new. I am still amazed as I write this. I wonder if anyone knows something about this caboose? Please comment and let me know. And on a previous note, I called the electronic die cutting machine help number. They could not locate a hard copy of the manual. I was not surprised. I had also entered a help ticket on the manufacturers web site. I got an e-mail telling me to use Adobe reader to use the manual. I do not have this software on my home computer. I explained this to the person on the phone. I did make a hard copy of the one suspect page at the public library at a small cost. I can read the rest on my home computer. I will not be purchasing acrobat reader. This will help keep costs down. OSR readers know I am very frugal. I am still learning to use the device. The initial trial was not successful. This was as expected. More to follow. Thrifty, omscaler

Serpent in the garden! 

Oh my! As readers know from last post, omscaler is learning to operate a die cutting machine for use on the OSR. Sadly, the manufacturer did not include a hard copy of the operation manual. What was included was a CD with said document. What happened was the CD would not load up. I tried and tried but no use. The CD would not load up. “Well”, I thought to myself, “I am going to have to go to the library and get on the manufacturers web site and download the manual.” So that is what I did.  When I got back home, I started the computer. Opened the flash drive. Opened the file with the entire manual on it. And...nothing! The computer again showed 100% processor usage. No loading. I thought the computer was “thrashing”. I began to stew. I developed a battle plan. Not to attack the manufacturer, but to solve this problem. I decided to return to the library. I use the library to get online. No web at home. I planned to download the manual in small sections. This took roughly forty-five minutes. When I got back, I was able to load all but one group of pages. Patiently frustrated (contradicition I know) I planned to return to the library. The small town library where I live is only open Saturdays from mid morning to early afternoon. I had to go to nearby other small town to get back online. This library has Saturday hours noon to four PM. Bigger town, later hours? Anyway, got there, got back online. Got on the manufacturers web site. Pulled up manual. Looked at and downloaded individual pages. When I returned home, I uploaded said group of pages. One would not work. I looked at files. Page 46, 70KB, page 48, 269KB. Page 47... 3686KB! I had found the serpent. What was in this file displayed information about scanning background images. Which is what I saw online at the manufacturers web site. What was in this section of the file was hidden from the viewer. I wondered if this was a Trojan Horse virus or some other evil viral entity. A phone call to the manufacturer will ensue. I hope this cautionary tale will alert others. Be careful! Check things out. A watchful omscaler

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Yes! I got a surprise. Two actually. I had been contemplating getting an electronic die cutting machine for several months or more. I saw the one I was interested in at $219.00 plus tax. “Great!”, I thought. That will save me almost a hundred dollars. Omscaler is very frugal as readers of this blog know. Finally the big day came for ordering the machine. I had arranged with a particular sales person to make the order when the time came. The store in question has a price match policy. We went to the order terminal. The person looked up a price match. Lo and behold! He saw it at $209.00. My frugality hormones went into overdrive. “This just gets better and better!”, I thought. Outwardly calm, I made the payment. The machine was scheduled to arrive on the date of this post. I picked it up six days early. Yes it does just get better and better. Online info indicated that there is a learning curve. I am riding that curve. “What brand machine?” you may wonder. Well, for now, since there is no endorsement agreement, I will only reveal that by request only. Your diligent learner, omscaler

What I said was “Whew!”

That's right. I said “Whew”. The reason I said it was because I had returned from a trip I took with a family member over the July 4^th Holiday. It had been a while since I had been out of town, so I did not remember how much went into traveling. I packed and packed it seemed like. We got under way the morning of the fifth. We got to Atlanta and did the perimeter freeway and got on I-75 toward Chattanooga, then onto I-575 which became Highway 515. All smooth. A little while and a milk shake later, we reached our destination, Ellijay, Georgia. We were in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. We were a little early for check-in so we headed downtown. I was pleasantly surprised that the first historic building I noticed was the old Ellijay Depot. It was well maintained and is now a gift shop. The architectural style is very attractive and the nearby scenery is as well. I am sure that back in the day, the old depot welcomed visitors to the Chattahoochee National Forest area which is why we were there as well. You should check it all out some time. Yours back at work, omscaler

Trees, trees! Where are the trees?

If you were to look on the layout proper you would ask “Where are the tree?”. Right now the place looks like a beach with white sand with a railyard sitting on it. Desolation is the theme here, right?

Wrong. The locale, if you recall is Murphysboro, Illinois. Hardly a beach, desert or polar landscape. Trees, grass, hills, buildings! So what I thought I would do is update the readers on some landscaping plans. What is being planned is naturally, 1/384 trees. The research is in progress. Grass should not be a big problem. Buildings we are expecting to be somewhat of a challenge. But that is where the fun is! A note to readers: a number of buildings have the needed documentation to be realistic, vis-a-vis, old photo copies and maps. So realism is expected on the layout. Keep positive thoughts for us. Have a good week, omscaler

The shifter rework

Welcome back faithful readers. I have previously been writing about my day trip. This week I want to give you the back story on the shifter. Firstly, the shifter was built to meet the need for locomotive power on the OSR. Secondly, the shifter was built way too quickly. Thirdly, the haste has always come back to bite omscaler in the rear end. This always happens. Over the past few weeks to couple of months, main drawbar failure was a recurring problem. Again, quick fixes didn't fix. After assessing the last failure, I decided to bite the bullet and do a major overhaul of the offending component. I reasoned that if brass shim was working for the couplers, it would work for the main drawbar between the shifter and it's tender. Removing the old hardware took a toll on the little engine and somewhat on omscaler. Patience and persistence got the work done. Drawbar in place. Structural repairs performed. Shifter working like it is supposed to. Again a relieved omscaler. And by the way, Happy Fourth of July! See you again, omscaler

A few odds and ends

This week I thought I would add some details about the recent trip I took. I stopped in Collinsville and took some pics. A one lane running board bridge, located near downtown on a side street. An old feed mill, now a Hispanic auto repair shop. And downtown including the Cricket Theatre. I did not stop at the old depot in Fort Payne. I have visited previously and their museum has some unusual displays. You should consider a visit. When I passed through Flatrock I noticed some horizontal stones at the sides of the highway bridge that did look a little flat but I am not sure that is what is referenced in the town name. When I went down into the Tennesee River valley, the grade was steep. So much so the highway department built a runaway truck escape lane on the side of the road. When you get down you drive by some mud flats by the road to the bridge. In Stevenson, the shops face the old depot. Up the street where I took the overpass pics I parked in front of a Bed and Breakfast. This was located in an old, refurbished, large Victorian home. I failed to get the phone number in case any “bed and breakfasters' '' are reading. Perhaps an online search might help. On my way to lunch, I stopped at Nickajack dam and got some pics. I also stopped at the Shell Mound Camping and Picnic area. I noticed a train moving on the far side of the lake. Thanks again to my daughter. :) Lots of people out. More pics. I believe the shellmound site is now submerged under the lake. Everything looked well kept, thanks to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Then it was really time for lunch and then home. Til next week, omscaler