But Titus found one of those too. “I did a little more search-
ing around and found a second woodchip loader visible from
street view in Prineville, OR. This one has the pulley system
in clear view.”
or:
.
“There is a pulley on both sides actually,” he said. “I believe the
mint green ‘thing’ near the loading tower is most likely a winch
that is used to position the car in both directions.”
Woodchip pickup:
– MRH
Q.
This sounds dumb, but where do I put the signals on my
model railroad?
A.
The only dumb question is one that isn’t asked. You don’t say
whether you plan an automatic block signal (ABS) or a more-
sophisticated centralized traffic control (CTC) system.
The General Code of Operating Rules (GCOR) is used by many
western U.S. railroads, and this is what it says:
Rule 300. Location of signals:
Block and interlocking signals
when viewed in direction of movement are located gener-
ally to the right of the track, but may be located to the left or
above such track. Two signals may be bracketed and located
on a supporting mast for displaying indications for two
tracks. When viewed in the direction of movement, the sig-
nal to the right governs the track to the right, and the signal
to the left governs the track to the left.
You didn’t ask about spacing, but many model railroaders
space their ABS or CTC signals about twice the length of their
usual train – if most trains are about 10 feet long, then a
20-foot block length is a good starting point. High-traffic lines
might benefit from shorter blocks, and low-density lines can
use longer blocks and still remain fluid.
Signals need to be placed where locomotive crews can see them
clearly from a reasonable distance – around a tight curve on a
tree-lined right of way would be a bad idea. Union Pacific specs
in the mid-1950s required signal masts to be located with a mini-
mum eight foot clearance from the nearest rail. Seven feet of
clearance had been allowed in the 1930s.
– MRH
Brake line repair
Every year, train models become more detailed, with smaller and
smaller parts. Some kits are harder than ever to build. Things like
safety chains and brake lines have become so thin and fragile
that removing them from parts trees has become difficult to
do without breaking them, even with a razor blade or clipper-
bladed tweezers.
When I was assembling an InterMountain kit of a cylindrical
grain hopper, I had a brake line that shattered about ½
inch from the end. The normal solution is to contact the
TIPS
MRH-Oct 2014
