Train99 Forum
Discussion Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: pjdog350 on January 27, 2021, 04:39:22 AM
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Got up at 6:00 AM to do my care duties for my wife. She went back to bed. I went to the mancave and ran the 675 & 224. Wonder what it is that makes one so calm watching trains go around & round? It’s like watch fish in a fish tank.
These two postwar Lionel engines have almost the same motor and they seem to run real smooth. The 224 is pulling modern passenger cars & the 675 is pulling modern freight cars.
Coffee & Ozone in the morning.
I love toys
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Switched out the MTH Z4000 for a ZW. Ran a 726 & a 675 both with liquid smoke units. Seems like the two post war locomotives where drawing to many amps for the Z4000. They run fine with a ZW? Guess I should add that both locomotives where on the same track at the same time. Maybe you can’t draw more then 5 amps on w Z4000? I’ve been looking for some information but I’m going up with nothing. The manual that came with the Z4000 does not say anything about the total amp limit?
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I never had a Z4000 but at being a 400 watt transformer I would think that would be no problem.
And for the price you would think it should be.
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A Z4000 has the power but does not like the high amp draw. I’ve done double heading with railking Mikado’s and didn’t draw many amps at all. Less than 3 amps. Z4000 is made for modern MTH motive power. Even there big steamers only have one motor. The diesels have two but they don’t draw hardly anything. 1 amp.
ZW is old school. Z4000 has lots of electronics inside so there are allot of parts to crap out??? I don’t know but I retired my 10 month old Z4000. It will make a great paper weight. I have 2 ZW’s both rebuilt. and a KW rebuilt. For my little railroad I have plenty of transformer. Also have a MTH Z1000 & MTH z750.
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100% agreement about the ZW vs MTH Z4000. About all that goes wrong with a ZW is the rollers wear and have to be replaced. A good friend in the Chicago area, years ago, was Ken Koehler, he did ebay under the name "ifixzws". He has passed now, but was the best in his time. Not only did he repair most of my ZW's and Z transformers, but also increased the voltage output on one ZW to 25v, for running Hudsons. Thanks Ken, we miss you.
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In the 1990’s I had a friend that had a huge train collection. When he passed his wife had one of his friends sell off all his trains. He had a 2400 square foot add on to his house just to hold his trains. He also had allot of parts. I got 6 ZW’s that where all apart. There where lots of different transformers. I put a Z transformer supply in a ZW case for my best friend that lived behind me. He could not get enough power to run his large layout. Turns out the Z power in a ZW case did the trick. Phil was now able to run his trains. He had Lionel Williams and MTH trains. I think it was the Williams that had the power problem that the modified ZW fixed.
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This morning I didn’t work on anything. Just got a hot cup of coffee and ran the double headed 675’s. They have proven to be a great entertainment thing for me. I love watching them pulling all the two bay hoppers. They are super smokers with the liquid smoke units. Plus they are very smooth running. I had the 2026 I got from Terry on the inside loop pulling 11 modern boxcars. Both trains had a 6457 caboose.
I got a good RR fix. Life is so hard today the trains keep my blood pressure down and get me ready for all the trouble the day will bring.
Maybe if everybody had a toy train to run rather than the TV with all the BS in the world today we would all be better off. With CV 19, the border problems that are leadership does nothing about and the Democrats & Republicans fighting in stead of running the country? Thank God for Dogs & toy trains. Maybe Cats too!
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I didn't run my trains today, but last night before bed I went down and played with track for a while. I moved the track in the front so I can fit signal bridges in.
That's my favorite thing from when I was a kid. We'd go out and get new trains or accesories, and then I'd figure out how to put them onto the layout and make them work. I had a 42 by 48 inch layout with a lionel felt tunnel and a siding. The board looked like pegboard from me drilling holes for different accessories.
I am looking forward to running a double-headed 400E with two dozen 200 series cars.
Today I have errands to run for an hour and then I get to play. Tommorrow is an hour cutting the grass and weeding, then the rest of the day downstairs.
Other than being calming like Mr. Dog said, going up and down the stairs is good excersise. I can feel it in my calfs.
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Blood pressure problems here too, and all the BS and contradictions surrounding Covid, not to mention the BS currently in DC, it is hard to manage.
My riding mower went down and I wasn't able to fix it, so it is cleaned-up and ready to load on the trailer for tomorrow. Who knows how long the grass or I should say weeds will get before I get it back. Lots of property here and have to mow my sister's yard too. With a little rhyming there could be some good lyrics to a country song here.
Running trains does help, and as PJ D and others know, having dogs has a great calming effect. Terry has a dog too.
Choo, Choo, Wuf, Wuf.
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I don’t know how I would survive life today without the trains, Benjamin, Miss Sharon.
I got my second vaccine Saturday. Been feeling hot and so tired it’s hard to get through the day. My arm is killing me. This morning with the trains, dog & coffee I felt great until I had to go to my nursing home duties.
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Hope your reaction doesn't last long, most don't. Good you have trains and your pooch to help you through it.
We get our 2nd doses on the 22nd. Only had minor arm pain from the first dose.
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Feeling good today. Shot pain is gone. Doctor said it’s good cause your body is reacting to the vaccine!
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Good that reaction did not last long.
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Had my 2nd dose of Moderna April 1. No problems & less pain than the 1st dose.
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As usual I ran the 675’s in double and the 2026 I got from Terry. It’s a good runner. I love the double 675’s.
I have switched them out and will do a modern Lionel Mikado & MTH Railking smoking green Pennsy F3’s. Later Today!
Bad news is I was going to buy Lionel 2333 Santa Fe’s and a Lionel 226E today. However I broke a tooth this morning as breakfast. Called a Dentist. He got me in and $ 1050.00 dollars later I’m good to go. Have to go back on the 29Th.
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I ran the 675’s with the new short coupler double headed on the outside loop. Worked great. The 2026’s double headed pulling two dome tank cars inside loop. Twelve tank cars. The tank cars keep derailing in one spot? I oiled the tank cars wheels again but still got the same problem. Removed one tank car. These tanks cars just don’t want to roll? I have 19 two bay hoppers that roll great but the two dome tank cars will not?
Guess I need ball bearing trucks for the tank cars? Wonder if anyone makes replacement trucks that roll well. Like K-Line trucks?
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I sell MPC freight cars for $3 each/ six or more $2 each. They have plastic needle bearing trucks that roll well with metal wheels. The MPC plastic trucks require a rivet for mounting. (I think it's actually called an eyelet?) Figure out how to mount them and you can easily get free rolling trucks.
6465 tank cars have sheetmetal steps. Check to make sure the steps aren't causing the problem.
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Can you point a few pictures of the Mac cars & trucks
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Terry:
Do you have MPC flat cars? I’d be interested in them!
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Rather than mess with the GoPro this morning I thought I’d use the IPad. I’m new to the IPad but it seems simple enough. I do wish it made the picture a little smaller however I got a great 9 minute movie of the 675’s doubled going one way and the triple 2026’s going the other. I’ve got to see how to get the IPad movie to YouTube.
Lots of times when I’m doing my at home nursing duties for my wife I’ll get the IPad out and watch YouTube movies about toy trains. I realized this morning I can make a movie on the IPad and watch it while on nursing duties. Almost like being out in the man cave playing with my O Gauge trains. If I could just get the I pad to make the smoke sent I’d be in heaven!
Trains are sure fun. I love them as much as when I was 7 years old playing with my first Lionel 224 set.
My dad really had my mom faked out as she thought that dad was buying the trains for me!
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I had some guys from the parking lot swap meet over today and ran the trains.
Some ran well, some didn't. I did manage to run a train on every loop.
Now I need to figure out what cause each problem. Most trains just need to be taken apart and cleaned and then put back together with attention to the tolerances.
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I swapped out my postwar for prewar this morning.
https://youtu.be/5odtTPpma7s
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Nice to see your prewar video, looks like you are having fun with the trains and with the gopro.
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Thanks Jim. I really like your last video. So many Marx streamliner. I was shocked to read that Marx almost always out sold Lionel. 1955 Marx 50 million. Lionel 35 million? I’ve been looking at them on ebay. Found some nice modern Marx. Just at my age to start another line of trains probably not a good idea.
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I unfortunately do not have an example of everything that we made. When we built the new house and moved I sold a lot including prototypes. I kept the 3/16" scale boxcars, a few locos, a Disney set and an Army set. Now trying to buy it back is both good and bad. Bad because it is difficult to afford, good because I am proud that our creations appreciated so well. I was able to buy-back a CTA elevated set and a red Marlines work train, 2 of my favorites. The motors on out modern Marx Trains will run through Lionel switches. Most marx, including all prewar will not, because the gear teeth are on the edge of the wheel-flange, not recessed.
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I saw a red marlines set on ebay last night. Big bucks to get it. They wanted $ 999.00!!!!!!
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The red Marlines work train is a desirable set. I was lucky to buy one back for about $300. It is one of my favorites. I will post the link to my video that shows this train. I have mixed emotions about the high price, proud it could command that much, but also sorry it is not more affordable.
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Here are some photos of my Marlines work train. It was missing the Marlines caboose, so I substituted a red CP 6" caboose.
Also link to video that shows this train running.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4UG-MgglX8&t=544s
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The vintage Marx work train, shown first in the video, is from about 1940. It was a set that I looked for at least 25 years. I finally found this nice set boxed about 5 years ago.
You will also note many dogs in this video, not to mention my pack of hobos.
Life is MUCH better with dogs!
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Hats a real nice train. But $ 999.00 is out of my comfort zone for a toy train. Unless it’s a big boy.
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I agree that $999 is too much, should be more like $300 to 400.
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3 or 4 hundred I’d buy them
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Todays fun!
https://youtu.be/KQX90eSj0JI
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Mr Dog sent me his old Gopro camera to play with. THANKS!
Here's my 3rd attempt. The first one was 3 seconds of my forehead. The second was about a minute of me trying to get the dog to do somethiong, but she wants nothing to do with the camera.
I put the camera on the roof of a 517 caboose looking backwards.
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Thanks for the video.
First - There’s a dude in a white suit with a funny black hat trying to break into your train room.
Second - The video shows that you have a very large layout which I like.
Third - Like all GoPro’s they like allot of well placed lighting. Lots of your movie is dark. I have the same problem. I’m looking into some ceiling light to help.
Fourth - How about running the caboose backwards for some where we are going shots? Just a thought.
Thanks for sharing your movie. That’s one of the things I like the most about your forum. Good people and movies! If you just served free beer?
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Good for a start, but you need more lighting on the subject. The camera may be sensing the light from the window wells and stopping-down the exposure, so covering the windows and spots on the layout would make a big difference. Try spot-lighting a corner of the layout with the camera on a tripod and run the train past the camera. I think you will like the results.
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Mr Dog, you videos have come a long way. The new camera has great clarity and you have good lighting. I like your use of a title page, text on the scenes and transitions. It looks like you have the hang of the moviemaker program.
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Thanks Jim. Working on the third video of all seven of my Lionel Streamline Jr's. Sure is fun.
I went through all my train pictures this morning and found at least 10 pictures I should have used in the M10000 video. Before and after.
I must slow down and be sure I've got the movies complete. I don't like to talk over the pictures I'd rather do text in bold over the pictures. Plus I don't my my mug shot in any of the video's. Working on that. Damn this is fun.
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I have a circuit in the ceiling for fans I plan on putting track lighting on. I don't realize how dark it is because I set the spots on the tripods aimed at where I'm working.
We're coming up on a stretch of 110-118 degree days that are perfect for working in the basement.
I did manage to clip the start of the video off so I'm learning.
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Jim told me about Micro soft HD movie maker pro. I got it for only $ 14.00. It is absolutely great. It’s allot of fun and is pretty easy to learn.
It’s a great movie editor and you can easily see what you doing. The hero 3 does not have a display screen to work with. So you must link the hero 3 to your phone to the GoPro. The hero 8 has a display screen so it’s allot easier to use.
Anyway stay with it. I love seeing your work and all you sweet trains.
DOG
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Like anything there is a learning curve. The important thing is to have fun while doing it. I usually make some mistakes and discover things that should have been included, but there is always "next time", always another video to make. I had a dog fall over in the video I am currently working on and decided just to include a caption that he was sleeping, rather than re-shoot the whole scene. I have had unexpected crashes and run-away locos, but have used these clips to add a little humor to the production.
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That's interesting Jim. While collecting videos of the 1700's this morning I had the last train (A chrome & Red) set cause trouble. Seems one of the vestibules was not free enough and causing that car to jump the track? Never had that before. It' always something.
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Someone once said when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
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I've been busy, but have managed to go down and run the trains a few times. The handheld with the O gauge is nice. I can sit on the couch and run the trains.
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Once a day lately I've been going down and doing a few laps with some items that haven't made it up to my train room.
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I had the carpet cleaner come over today for an estimate. Now I have a deadline to finish the layout trim, and get the train boxes up off the floor.