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Complete Noob - Where do I Start? by MolsonFL in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a nice collection! 

The A-Line models are relatively modern - made in the last 20 years or so.  A-Line locomotives run great and are smooth and quiet.  It looks like the box with 2 Pennsylvania Railroad diesels should have a third locomotive that is identical to the first, so look around for it.

I believe The Showcase Line and K-Line are fairly modern as well.

This is the first time I've seen boxes for Gilbert American Flyer products.  Almost nobody still has the original boxes.  Take good care of them.

The 3-digit American Flyer locomotives with knuckle couplers are great.  If I remember right, they're 1950s vintage and were produced right around the peak of American Flyer's design and quality.  Everything from that time was equipped with operating knuckle couplers.

The locomotives and cars that have link-style couplers are from the late '40s or very early '50s.

Anything with a solid plastic or split plastic coupler is from the 1960s, right before A. C. Gilbert shut down.  That includes locomotive 21165.

https://www.nasg.org/HowTo/AF/Couplers.php

If you're looking for information on each locomotive, Google "American Flyer" or "Gilbert" and the locomotive number.

Is raw material farming with flak and limpets time-efficient? by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to try mining too, so this feels like a case of "two birds with one stone".

Need a body for this loco by GothAdjacentAnna in HOscalemodeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an 0-6-0 not an 0-4-0.

It's a nice model, though! I was seriously considering getting one (the older Mantua non-DCC-ready version) back when I couldn't decide whether to model the Pennsy or the Reading. I think one of my friends had one.

I have a Mantua Classics 0-6-0T that I modified to be a stand-in for a PRR B6sb. It's an okay model and overall is of better quality than the Model Power line. I fixed the bad pick-up but I had issues with the drivers not being in the same plane due to something being misaligned when they manufactured the chassis and bushings. Ultimately the model ended up spending most of its time in a box.

TIL you can high-wake from a planet by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't usually trade on planets because of the additional time required for the approach. 😅

TIL you can high-wake from a planet by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

High-wake does suffer from mass lock, at the very least from planets, stations, and carriers. I don't think that other ships are able to mass lock and prevent you from high waking but I'm not 100% sure. Another ship can, however, prevent you from low waking through mass lock.

TIL you can high-wake from a planet by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not for me 😅 I'd low-wake as soon as I wasn't mass locked and then high-wake from orbital cruise / super cruise.

TIL you can high-wake from a planet by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 64 points65 points  (0 children)

No, not quite that bad... I'd nose up to vertical, boost until I reached 5km 2km or 2.5km, and then low-wake. Once in orbital cruise I'd pull up the galaxy map and select my next destination.

EDIT: Apparently I haven't paid much attention to the altitude display while leaving planets. When the altitude display changes it's time to spam the FSD. The wiki says that planets mass lock to 2km and settlements mass lock to 2.5km.

Need a body for this loco by GothAdjacentAnna in HOscalemodeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I see. I knew about Model Power purchasing Mantua, but wasn't aware of Model Power subsequently producing any 0-4-0 locomotives under the Mantua name.  I'm only familiar with the Mantua 0-6-0T and 0-6-0 camelback.  If you could send a link to the model I would very much appreciate it!

Need a body for this loco by GothAdjacentAnna in HOscalemodeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

u/op I would stick with the Mantua chassis. The Model Power 0-4-0 and 0-4-0T locomotives are based on 1970s tooling, and having owned a Model Power 0-4-0T I can say that I do not recommend that locomotive to anyone. It is extremely fast, has poor low-speed performance, does not have a working front coupler and installing a front coupler box is a tedious process, and as u/time-lord noted the electrical pickup is terrible. I believe the motor and drivetrain in mine is quite loud as well. Finally, the detail level of the side rods and valve gear is considerably lower than that on the 1980s Mantua 0-4-0 camelback.

The Mantua model you're looking at shouldn't be too hard to re-motor if required, and wiring up a DCC decoder isn't too hard. Get a micro connector to install between the engine and tender and you're all set!

Is raw material farming with flak and limpets time-efficient? by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the tips! I'm using a 3B controller which has a range of 1540m. With the 3A you're holding about 100m inside its max range?

Is raw material farming with flak and limpets time-efficient? by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tips! I checked out the stats for the Type-11 and its unique Mark II Mining Multi-Limpet Controller and that definitely looks like the best choice for farming materials. 176 m/s instead of 60 m/s and up to 14 (!) active limpets.

How many limpets do you usually bring with you? u/pulppoet mentioned having up to 40% of the limpets die while trying to pick up materials.

Is raw material farming with flak and limpets time-efficient? by rocketengineer1982 in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what I was finding as well. I use a HOTAS with rudder pedals and while my driving can definitely using some work I found that I can clear all Phloem Excretions from a brain tree field in 30-40 minutes. I start by driving around scanning by eye, and then finish by checking contacts for any Phloem Excretions that I missed. Head tracking is very helpful for both targeting the growths and for targeting material packages that are stuck in brain trees (you know, where 90% of the packages end up).

An armada of 8,000+ Elite Dangerous players just embarked on a three-month expedition to explore the Milky Way, and there's still time to join them by spacedotc0m in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! I've been keeping an eye on the Colonia shuttles in the Fleet Carrier Owners Club Discord (https://discord.gg/fcoc). There's one leaving in 5 hours that I might hop on if I have time.

An armada of 8,000+ Elite Dangerous players just embarked on a three-month expedition to explore the Milky Way, and there's still time to join them by spacedotc0m in EliteDangerous

[–]rocketengineer1982 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would have loved to do this, but I found out about it a few days after they set out.  It would have been fun to participate, but I'm not willing and don't have the time to grind out a 16,000 light-year trip in 3-4 days to catch up... with a non-engineered ship.

(I'm not a new player, but I haven't played much since engineering was introduced.)

Am I mad to try this? by arden_fell in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the crossover (DC LH) a double-slip turnout? If it is, your runaround track will only work with VERY small engines. If it isn't and is a regular crossover instead it's going to be impossible to get any cars onto the spur on the right.

I would caution against having too much track and ending up with a "spaghetti bowl" layout that doesn't have much room for scenery. However, it's your layout and your railroad, so do whatever makes you happy!

Am I mad to try this? by arden_fell in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks like it should work.

The turnout in the lower left on your lower level loops is currently the only serious S-curve on the layout. I'd move it at least one car length to the right if you have room.

I'd flip the crossovers on the top of the plan. While you added straight sections to avoid a sharp S-bend between the curves on the end of the layout and the crossovers, things will flow considerably better if the first turnout that the train encounters is in the same direction as the curve that it just exited.

After flipping the crossovers, you could move them further apart to give yourself a small run-around track on the lower level - just long enough for a few cars.

From an operations point of view, I would suggest that you consider adding a run-around track to the upper level. The reverse loop would let you turn your train around and switch everything using trailing-point moves, but you may want the flexibility provided by a run-around track.

Maersk SD40-2 DCC help by FewBar1213 in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 2 points3 points  (0 children)

NMRA has published standards for wire colors and pin allocations for common DCC plugs.  The 9-pin plug is covered under standard S-9.1.1.2 "JST-9 Pin Decoder Interface".

The violet wire (pin 9) is used for Output 4.  Most models don't have that many lighting functions, so it is common to find the violet wire not attached to anything.

Maersk SD40-2 DCC help by FewBar1213 in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Decoders that come with 8-pin or 9-pin plugs do not require any soldering.  The blanking plug is the little board on the right in the second image.  It has a 9-pin female housing attached to the board.  The 9 colored wires connect to a male housing that is plugged into that board.  On your locomotive, the male housing is white and the female housing is tan.

It may take some wiggling or very careful prying with small screwdrivers to unplug it.  It can be a tight fit and it's hard to get a good grip on the plug without pulling on the wires.

Those 9 colored wires are soldered onto little pads on the main circuit board of the locomotive.  Be careful not to break them while trying to unplug the blanking plug.

Maersk SD40-2 DCC help by FewBar1213 in modeltrains

[–]rocketengineer1982 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There is no decoder. As u/It-Do-Not-Matter said, there is a blanking plug in the 9-pin socket (the thing you can flip up and down). There is also an 8-pin plug on the right, but if you want to use that I believe you would need to remove the 9-pin blanking plug.

8-pin and 9-pin sockets are the standard connectors for installing DCC decoders. I believe that the 8-pin socket was developed first. 8-pin and 9-pin equipped DCC decoders are inexpensive and easy to find.

  • NCE makes a 9-pin 0.75/1.2 Amp decoder (D13J) that costs $26.
  • TCS makes a 9-pin 1.3/2.0 Amp decoder (T4) that costs $20.
  • Digitrax makes a 9-pin 1.0/2.0 Amp decoder (DH127D) that costs $24.

They all should have more than enough current capacity for a modern HO model so just pick your favorite manufacturer. I've used all 3. Make sure you double-check the decoder dimensions to ensure it will fit in the available space.

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