World's Longest Model Train attempt 10-9 thru 10-13-08

[Jim Banner]

I am impressed by the numbers of cars they can move.  I can barely manage to nurse 40 cars around my layout using four locomotives.  Do you think that 18 radius helices with 3-1/2 % grades might have something to do with it?

[Tim]

Jim

You need flange lubricators on those curves, heh heh.

Tim L. Anders
Souderton, PA

[RAM]

Jim, The mention of flange lubricators on those curves reminded me of the first steam fan trip out of
Kansas City on the CB&Q.  They had a long train powered by a 4-8-4.  There was a junction with
a wye that enabled the train to return to Kansas City by a different route.  This was a very sharp
curve for a 4-8-4. Word was sent out to section crew lubricate the side of the rides.  They went
out and lubricated the side and top of the rail.  Needless to say the locomotive was unable to pull
the train around the sharp curve.  They had to cut the engine loose and run in back and forth
several times to clear the grease off the rails and enable them to pull the train around the curve.
I was on the next  days trip and they had no trouble pulling the train around the curve.

[pdlethbridge]

A fan trip I took 20+years ago behind N&W J 611 had a similar problem on the wye at conneaut junction. He had lots of wheel slippage on that wye to turn the train for the return to buffalo, I think he had a sander problem though. He'd go a few feet, slip, go a few feet, slip, It was that way until he got to straighter track. It was awesome to hear that engine run back to Buffalo at 65 mph pulling 25 cars

[Jim Banner]

Tried oiling the flanges.  Now it takes 14 locomotives to pull one caboose up the helix.  What size shovel should I use to spread sand on the rails?

[pdlethbridge]

Is the second unit a Fairbanks / morse? Thats the problem

[grumpy]

A good coal shovel should do it .
Jim
I think my beard is nicer looking than yours
Don

[Jim Banner]

When I was a kid, I was taught that "Grey Beard" meant "older and wiser."  Now that my beard is grey, I have found that it just means "older."  Or maybe having learned that, I am a tiny bit wiser too.

This is the time of year that I let my beard grow from "keep out the mosquitoes" length to "keep out the cold" length.  When shearing times comes around next spring, I'll borrow the clippers and knock it down to summer length.

When I was younger and worked in the bush, I used to use the lumber jack method.  You know, hammer the whiskers in with the back of an axe and chew them off from the inside. 

Good eyes, Paul.  The second unit is indeed an FM Baby Trainmaster (H16-44.)  The second last unit is an FM Trainmaster (H24-66.)  There is a third H16-44 plus a CLC C-Liner A-B set somewhere in the tunnel as well.  The CPR liked them, although a friend that drove Trainmasters absolutely hated them.  He grew up in steam - smoke over your head, fresh air in your face.  When the Trainmasters came along, they were run long hood forward.  That, together with unpressurized bodies, meant a cab continually reeking of diesel fumes.  And another good engineer took early retirement.

Now where did I leave my coal shovel?  

[Atlantic Central]

Jim,

On a slightly more serious note, I have done a fair amount of work on improving the rolling qualities of freight trucks and it has lead to vastly improved pulling power.

I can pull 40 cars up a 2% grade with two Bachmann 2-8-0's. All but my lightest diesels pull 25 cars, or more, per powered unit up 2% grades. Forty car trains are no problem for most any two mainline locos on my system.

My free rolling truck secret is slightly expensive but effective - Intermountain wheel sets installed in Kadee trucks, with a very small drop of oil in each journal when they are installed. The porous nature of the metal truck casting holds the oil for a very long time with no mess and no need to re-oil.

In rolling tests this combo is more free rolling than any other truck or truck/wheelset combo I could find.

I have always prefered sprung/equalized trucks as my experiance has shown them to track better with less derailments - especially with long trains. I prefer the metal trucks because it puts the weight at the bottom, where it belongs. Normal train lengths here are 35-40 cars.

Sheldon