July 15, 2024
Gary, I thought you were modeling 1926. What is that diesel doing?
I had not cleaned any of my steam in 5 years or more, so it is standing in for testing track. I have actually ordered one to pull track cleaning cars – meant to do that years ago but never did.
John Garfield came over with 2 diesels and we tested track in Gerber, Proberta, Red Bluff, and Cottonwood. 41 problems were noted on yellow slips of paper. Probably over 75% of the errors were in the frogs. I had forgotten a very important step that I did on my previous layout. Other errors included dead sections of track, a bad Tortoise, forgetting to even put in a Tortoise in one place, one crossover with both Tortoises not working in unison.
To ensure a smooth path through the frog, a flat file was run through the frog in both directions. This also corrects and clearance problem. In a couple of #5’s, the rail was so tight the flat file would not start so I used a triangular file first and then proceeded to the flat file. Finally, a bastard file was run across the top to see there were no bumps. Sometimes the point of the frog was a hair high.
I feel this final step is really necessary once the switches have been installed and are solid. This morning, I finished ALL 56 switches in the Gerber yard, not just the ones with notes. Will check the entire layout.
Disassembled one steam loco last night, cleaned and lubed it. A good project while watching TV. Takes an hour or more.
