More on flatcars

Since I now have one flatcar working and another almost complete, I thought I would clue in the readers on what we will be doing. The initial loads will be ties and rails. The cars were built originally built to a forty foot length. This accommodates thirty-nine foot rails. So now M&O 11013 or M&O 11025 can carry material to the railhead to further extend the line. We will be working south toward Union City Tennessee. Still busy, omscaler

Dateline: Murphysboro, Illinois

Wednesday, August, 21, at approximately 11:13 A.M., the first of possibly many flatcars was successfully brought onto the Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad property. This was followed by a great sigh of relief by yours truly, omscaler. We did bring it on without graphics due to my high state of excitement. As readers know, omscaler is easy to excite when it comes to the Very Small Railroad, also known as the OSR. Anyway, we will have graphics is short order and flatcar number two likewise. Working along, omscaler

What a difference a day makes!

Woke up early to find the sky as clear as a bell and temperatures actually pleasant. What a glorious day! So what's the catch? Well, it seems that on days like today I have to get some chores done. And then there is the siren call of sunshine and fresh air. All of this competes with OSR time. Decisions, decisions. Have you ever wanted to be two people at once or maybe hire a housekeeper. Oh well, and by the way, the first flatcar looks great. Just like I hoped. Now we can get some real work done. If that is possible on an imaginary railroad? Yours, trying not to be ambivalent, omscaler

Moving forward 

Last post I discussed the flatcar project. The cutting guide is working well and we are moving along. This cutting guide idea will, as I probably already mentioned, let me make a variety of different car types. This is important because the real railroads used different car types. Obviously, the boxcar is relatively simple to fabricate. The refrigerator car is basically an insulated boxcar with roof hatches or mechanical refrigeration machinery depending on the year of manufacture. All of this uses simple rectangles. What has just been completed, hopefully, is the flatcar project. Just a simple deck supported by side frames, right? As stated before, there is little to no room in the upper area. When I redid some boxcars, I was able to put a retaining pin up into the car body proper. Not with these babies. No room. I have to stop any intrusions below the deck or it will be unnaturally visible. Gotta' maintain realism. So care is required. Also, as I said above, side cutting guides were developed. This is because some flat cars had simple rectangular sides. The ones I am doing have angled sides. More fun, right? Actually, they are a challenge to get right. Next will be gondolas. Same thing. The first types had simple rectangular sides. Later on, angled lower ends, similar to flatcars.  Another cutting guide is called for. After that, coal/material hoppers. The sides have an upper angle extension. Down under triangle like extensions, which are recessed to boot.  Still another cutting guide called for. The bright side of this as I said before, these guides have a tendency to help speed things along. They also help with accuracy. Working along, omscaler

A little more flatcar progress 

As readers know, I have been working on flatcars for the OSR. This has been an unusually slow project. But now there is light at the end of the tunnel. Another pun. I was able to develop a cutting guide for the car sides. So far this type of car has been the most challenging due to small tolerances and little room. But as The Omega Scale Railway readers have learned, omscaler practically thrives on challenges. The cutting guide is simple but keeps specs in line. Also, the same technique can be used on other railcars as well. By the time of this post, flatcars should be on the property. Working onward, omscaler

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