Happy New Year!

It is time for a new beginning. Time to dust off the dust of last year and start anew. Omscaler actually begins planning for the next year in November. Saves last minute rushing. At this time, we like to reflect on what did and did not get accomplished and set our goals anew. As of now, The Omega Scale Railway has sixteen goals, some with sub-goals pushing us above twenty in actual number. The work before is plentiful but joyful. We are expecting great rewards for great effort. The last week of twenty twenty-one saw the completion of a dual rod flaring tool. This should speed up production of coupler/retainer rods. A pretty good way to end the year for omscaler and The Very Small Railroad. The current project underway is a group of ten open-top hoppers. Busy, busy, busy, omscaler

 

It’s about the details

Omscaler did a bill of materials on the recently completed covered hopper project. Also, one was done on the just completed M&StL boxcar. This rail car is a landmark project due to the fact that it represents a historic mid-west railroad. In addition to the history a number of innovative methods were used to build the car. The new methods are believed to save time and parts. The boxcar itself is of an older type featuring wood sheathing with incised individual boards, end horizontal boards and a vertical brake wheel stanchion. The inspiration for the car is from a railway museum which has restored a car of this type. Even though the car is of an older era, omscaler decided to make one anyway. We are always flexible on The Omega Scale Railway. It is more fun! Just to complete the details, the parts for the boxcar numbered fifty-eight. The covered hoppers may be one hundred and eight per car. Omscaler needs to double check this. Have a fun New Year, omscaler

It’s that time of year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Belated Holidays! We are posting this late due to not setting up a memory jogger and Holiday excitement. Omscaler is reviewing this past year and planning the next. The anticipated wood sheathed boxcar is almost finished. The boxcar needs a brake wheel and stirrup steps. Otherwise, we are done. Omscaler is still working on an improved rod flare tool as well. The next project? We need module maintenance. There has been a little wear and tear. Always something to do on The Very Small Railroad. Omscaler has a standing to-do list of things. This does keep us on our toes. Omscaler hopes everyone is safe and travels to their destinations likewise if you are traveling. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Omscaler

 

Sad time for many

As omscaler begins to write this blog post, he is mindful of the tragedy that recently came about. The powerful tornado system that took lives, injured many people and destroyed buildings seems unprecedented. What an awful time for those affected. Christmas is not going to be the same for these folks. Please take a moment to remember our neighbors and help out if you can.

  Right now on The Very Small Railroad we a still wrestling with a reporting marks printing problem. Color rendition from the computer to print is a little off the mark. Also, the previously mentioned part that was thought to be too short was not. A happy misunderstanding for omscaler. We take all the breaks we can get around here. Omscaler was able to develop a new production tool last week. This tool lets us make a needed part with a better profile as well as preventing burned fingers. A definite win-win. Omscaler loves it when this happens. This past Saturday a further improvement was conceived for this same tool. Should double output for rail equipment running gear. A win-win-win? It just gets better and better. Well back to work, omscaler

 

A typical day

Readers may wonder what a typical day on The Omega Scale Railway is like. A recent occurrence may shed light on this question. Omscaler had geared up to make a new boxcar for The Very Small Railway and was busy making the needed parts. Omscaler began to ponder the question, ” Wouldn’t it be good to make some of the needed parts for the next project”? As often happens at times like these, omscaler decided to deviate a little from the project at hand and make enough parts for ten additional rail cars. This did indeed eat into the time needed for the current project. Fortunately, the time used was not too long and will benefit the next project that uses these parts when the need arises. One thing omscaler has learned is that the temptation to get sidetracked often presents itself on The Omega Scale Railway. (Pun intended.) As has been state before, part of the reason is due to a large backlog of potential projects. Omscaler just lives with it and moves on. Right now, omscaler has to deal with the fact that one of the current project parts was cut too short. Fortunately, this has become a somewhat rare happening and will be easily remedied.

    Another peculiarity of The Very Small Railroad is the power system. We now live in a time when locomotives are often equipped with Direct Command Control. If readers are familiar with this feature, they know how sophisticated model locomotives have become. DCC is the wave of the future for many modelers. Due to the locomotives on The Omega Scale Railway being attached to a subsurface cord, omscaler often explains that we have DCC also. “Direct Cord Control” that is. Always time for a little humor on The OSR! Chuckling along, omscaler

 

Will we do it?

Yes. That is the question. Our efforts on The Very Small Railroad consists of two main efforts right now. First. A new drive linkage is being developed. Omscaler thinks it will be operational by the end of this week or sooner (we hope). The old one worked but gave us problems going through turnouts. This new one should perform better. Second. We have an older type boxcar in the works. Details to follow. Management of the GM&O Murphysboro division was both proud and happy to receive the first group of covered hoppers. A customer in Tennessee, The West Tennessee Sand, Gravel and Cement Company, has won a bid with the Illinois State Highway Department to supply material as a secondary supplier. It seems that the demand in Chicagoland and elsewhere has exceeded supply as far as state suppliers go. Lots of new road building and maintenance going on. However, still more new cars will be needed. Omscaler plans to rise to the challenge. Gearing up for success, omscaler

 

Just a little more

Just a little more information regarding the covered hoppers that is. Some of omscalers readers always want the nitty gritty details. Omscaler will share a few (or more). The covered hopper project began on September thirteenth and concluded on November seventeenth. Each hopper consists of ninety-six components all of which had to be fabricated. Just to be precise, the Frisco hopper is not the correct color. The color came from the previous Frisco covered hopper which had been scrapped. Apparently omscaler felt compelled to use the same color before a good prototype photo was located. By the time it was, we were so far along that no color change was made. Se la’ vie. As a matter of fact a number of improvements were used to make the project more realistic. While we realize that there are still flaws present we feel that this effort has indeed reached a milestone. The next time even better methods will be used. Some salient points in this regard. The car end frames will be improved. Omscaler thinks the current ones are still too bulky. The under frame is a little wide and could use some refinement as well. A more uniform hatch treatment will be used also. What else? Nothing comes to mind but we will see. The next project. Right now an improved drive linkage is in the works. A very interesting M&StL outside braced wood boxcar is a strong contender for first place. Then what? That as they say will sort itself out. Readers, please feel free to share your ideas in the comment link. It says “no comments” or has a short phrase of someone else’s. Omscaler knows this is counter intuitive but just click on it and type away when you get to the comments page. It will be reviewed by me and posted. Curious and busy, omscaler