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This weekend I finally was able to complete my mainline "upgrades" to the point where I was able to run my K-27! The delay has been due to my hectic and totally unpredictable schedule (I was actually supposed to be in Denver this weekend!)
I started out with the K-27, a Bachmann Spectrum box car and an AMS coach and short Caboose. After three laps around the mainline I had determined three things: first, that the tunnel portals, while fine for 1:22.5 and smaller 1:20.3 rolling stock, are somewhat narrow for a large engine like the K-27 Mikado! Thank goodness (or more accurately "Goodson!"
" border=0>) that my K had it's front drivers shimmed so the pilot tracked properly! Even so, the track had to be moved to the left 1/2" for the pilot to clear! Unfortunately, this brought up a new problem in that the AMS coach is a big sucker! It wouldn't be a problem except that my tunnel is a curved one under my waterfall and the tunnel's sides [almost[/i] touch the car as it is halfway in (I had to look twice to make sure the paint wasn't rubbing off!) I may still have to widen the portals but we'll see...
The second was that the new turnouts that I ordered to replace the Aristocraft ones were definitely a good decision! I still have to file down an indentation that is causing a "bump" but a couple of swipes with my Dremel tool will fix that pronto!
The last and most irritating is that the freight cars empty are too light to run with the coaches without derailing on my downward grades! The Bachmann box car is extremely light and the weight of two or three coaches pushing on it downgrade seem to always derail it! The obvious answer is to add weight to the box car but what about flats? It would seem that my mixed freight trains won't be using empty flats! Has anybody else had this problem? I eventually removed the box car and just ran the train with coach and caboose.
The K-27 ran flawlessly as it has had the thorough going over by Dave Goodson that I have come to rely on. In addition to the "fixes," Dave installed RCS r/c battery with Sierra sound. The range is almost exactly what I get when I run the Connie. I opted for the #488 K-36 sound board as I just like it's whistle sound better (besides, the K-27 sound board is in my Annie and it would be weird for both engines to have the same sound.)
The only thing that went wrong was that my camera's battery died just as I was starting to take pictures! I wanted to get some pictures of the "improvements" to the grades as the K was running the layout as well as the clearance of the portals but when I went to get the back-up battery it was missing along with the battery charger! All I have are these two pics:
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I started out with the K-27, a Bachmann Spectrum box car and an AMS coach and short Caboose. After three laps around the mainline I had determined three things: first, that the tunnel portals, while fine for 1:22.5 and smaller 1:20.3 rolling stock, are somewhat narrow for a large engine like the K-27 Mikado! Thank goodness (or more accurately "Goodson!"
" border=0>) that my K had it's front drivers shimmed so the pilot tracked properly! Even so, the track had to be moved to the left 1/2" for the pilot to clear! Unfortunately, this brought up a new problem in that the AMS coach is a big sucker! It wouldn't be a problem except that my tunnel is a curved one under my waterfall and the tunnel's sides [almost[/i] touch the car as it is halfway in (I had to look twice to make sure the paint wasn't rubbing off!) I may still have to widen the portals but we'll see... The second was that the new turnouts that I ordered to replace the Aristocraft ones were definitely a good decision! I still have to file down an indentation that is causing a "bump" but a couple of swipes with my Dremel tool will fix that pronto!
The last and most irritating is that the freight cars empty are too light to run with the coaches without derailing on my downward grades! The Bachmann box car is extremely light and the weight of two or three coaches pushing on it downgrade seem to always derail it! The obvious answer is to add weight to the box car but what about flats? It would seem that my mixed freight trains won't be using empty flats! Has anybody else had this problem? I eventually removed the box car and just ran the train with coach and caboose.
The K-27 ran flawlessly as it has had the thorough going over by Dave Goodson that I have come to rely on. In addition to the "fixes," Dave installed RCS r/c battery with Sierra sound. The range is almost exactly what I get when I run the Connie. I opted for the #488 K-36 sound board as I just like it's whistle sound better (besides, the K-27 sound board is in my Annie and it would be weird for both engines to have the same sound.)
The only thing that went wrong was that my camera's battery died just as I was starting to take pictures! I wanted to get some pictures of the "improvements" to the grades as the K was running the layout as well as the clearance of the portals but when I went to get the back-up battery it was missing along with the battery charger! All I have are these two pics:
