Congrats Warflight. Let us

Congrats Warflight.

Let us know when that blog is up and running,

Glad your a part of this

Glad your a part of this Warflight, you have put up some interesting posts in the last year, looking forward to the next year.

Fried a motor...

So, I had a Norris engine (the Bachmann Pegasus) on my layout... knowing I shouldn't lave a DC engine on a DCC layout, but, I was having fun with it, and left it, believing that my short time running the layout wouldn't hurt it.

I was wrong. My plans to make it DCC, by adding a sound decoder next month are now all for naught.

I have two more Norris engines (the Lafayette, and the Prussia) I can still use (The Prussia is older, and a bit rubbish) so this is still quite upsetting, as the Pegasus was the best runner of the three I had.

So my options... replace the motor... or use one of the others. The sound files I planned to use were from the Lafayette, so it makes sense to use that, but the plastic gears are a bit rubbish on that one (seriously, the Pegasus was the best they made) but that can also be fixed.

So... there I am right now.

Nothing wrong with that, or

Nothing wrong with that, or you could find out how they set up Randy's layout blog with chapters so you could have things broken down by topic if you wanted.

I do my club blog and it goes all over the place depending on what we are doing at the time. It would likely make for a nice read.

Thanks.

I'm giving it a try... hopefully it'll be worth reading... and worth writing as well.

Bachmann has a lifetime warranty on their locomotives.

If the body is not damaged and you have not modified the chassis, contact them to see if they can fix it for you.  If it is more than 1 year old, you will need to pay postage or shipping to send it to them.

By the way, I would suggest that you keep your blog on topic about your layout.  Your other "ramblings" should just be posted as messages on the appropriate forum.

Russ Bellinis

Unfortunately...

The problem is, is it's the Pegasus... an engine they haven't made in almost 20 years. They were making the Lafayette, but that's also discontinued (and I already have that one anyway) and the parts for the Lafayette are very limited, and the motor is no longer available from Bachmann.

Plus, I have worked on this little engine for YEARS, and it has quite a bit of modification, from weathering, to a bell added, to a new coupler system so it will work with the "Oscar" I have set up with it.

As for a blog, and ramblings... that's the whole point. I was asked to make a single blog, instead of my usual ramblings, because people were complaining about me having too many topics up on the forum, and they kept seeing my name on the first page... so I was asked to condense my stuff, and not start as many topics, and post so often... so condensing my ramblings down to a single blog was supposed to be the solution. If that's not then, I have to ask what I'm even doing then.

I just want to talk trains without upsetting people by talking too much about trains.

Single blog, lots of topics in it.

My layout is small, and mostly finished, and I honestly don't talk about it much, because there isn't much to talk about. I like talking about weird cars, and engines... fantasy stuff on layouts, or in our rolling stock... history of the hobby, and products, and how some of our favorite companies came to be. I got to talk to folks at Walthers a while back about the history behind the Oscar and Piker (it's not the stories we all think they are) and plan to talk to them some more about where the "Tongue in Cheek" stuff came from.

This is the blog (the title will change soon) and I am already resigned to the idea that sticking to a single topic won't be remotely possible, but, hopefully, it will be interesting to read and comment to regardless.

Model railroading is fun... it's supposed to be fun... and I hope a rambling, meandering blog, with information I find, ideas i discover, stories I tell, and humor I share will also be fun.

Think of it like the old "Outdoor Life" magazines, where the back column was just meandering thoughts and stories, and a different topic each month (though, I will assure you, I am no Pat McManus, so don't expect my writing to be of any real quality)
 

Replace motor

@ Warflight,

Northwest Shortline will have a motor (and gear if needed) that you can use to replace the fried unit.  Contact Dave there for any special assistance needed.

Just messaged Dave.

Just sent a message... hope he has some good news for me!

Some news...

Okay, so, after removing the motor (the brushes are melted) I discovered it's the exact same motor used for the Bachmann Gandy Dancers. Unfortunately, the Gandy Dancers have a much bigger worm gear on them... and it doesn't look like the worm gear can be removed from either motor.

So, even if I can get a motor the right size from NWSL, if it doesn't have the right worm gear, I won't be able to use it anyway.

So I'm back to probably just finding a cheap Norris on eBay, and salvaging a motor from one of them.

 

Cool Blog Title

I love your "Meandering" title for your blog.  In my blog I meander all over the place too so that makes me enjoy your new blog even more. MRH blogs are perfect for the journals of model railroaders to tell all their stories.  The people that tell their stories are a fun part of this great hobby. 

OK Warflight, . . . stir the

OK Warflight, . . . stir the pot and let's have some good natured fun!     LOL  

i Bet you can find the right pitch worm

from another Bachmann engine or from Ebay, search for "Brass Worm". Millions of them out here.

NWSL may be able to assist 

Talking to NWSL now...

Just got a reply (man, they were fast... just sent an e-mail last night... still waiting on Bachmann... I e-mailed them a few days ago)

Dave is quite helpful.

Some silliness...

Question of the Day...

Yes 

Bit more silliness...

I think I might have to model this some day...

 

Okay, back to the Norris...

So, I have found that Bachmann has quite a few locos that use the same motor as the Norris, unfortunately, they all have the wrong worm gear... except one.

The motor for the DeWitt Clinton (which is available from Bachmann) is the exact motor, with almost the exact worm gear (though it's a bit too long)

The rub?

The worm gear is on the wrong side of the motor, and as I discovered today, the worm gear does NOT come off (yes, I tried using an NWSL gear puller... it ended in breaking the motor even more, and the worm gear not budging)

I think I'm going to have to just get a Norris from eBay, and salvage a motor from that. Or < shudder> strip the Lafayette that I have on my shelf.

Wow! A prototype derailer!!!

Wow! A prototype derailer!!!   

I think the word is symbiosis...

Which leads to which?  Each can result in the other...although I think model railroading has a slight edge on being the root cause...

I don’t finger type well on a

I don’t finger type well on a phone.  

I don't even have a phone.

Okay, not true... I have a land line, that leads to a candlestick phone, on my desk (and the bells under it) but other than solicitors, who am I going to get a call from? (I do have a smart phone with no service that I use for a prop, and sometimes to take pictures, but, I prefer my DSLR... I have more control over that)

I was just told, on that fire truck photo, that they had stopped the rains up the track, and someone from the fire department had put those over the track as a joke.

Few know it but that actually shows intimate knowledge of the

NMRA RP25 standards for wheel profiles...

OH NICE!

I know this video! I saw it MONTHS ago, and wasn't able to find it again.

That's awesome!