Mar 25 2009
Return of Engine 1110
Back in January after we posted some Christmas pictures in the gallery of David opening his long-hoped-for train set, the boys received an unexpected package from their Uncle Scott. In it was a complete O27 train set with two engines (Engine 1110 & Engine 1130) that we later found out was Grandpop Davis’ from when he was a boy! Talk about a big deal!
When the boys called him to say “Thank you”, Scott’s description of it included the phrase “almost an antique”. Well Scott, I hate to break it to you, but if you used to play with it when you were a kid, that makes it an antique ;) … let alone its further family history.
In the spirit of having the boys develop their own fond memories of enjoying this gift (which wouldn’t be possible if put on a shelf) and balancing it with treating the set as the irreplaceable heirloom that it is, we got around to setting it up yesterday. This included Jack & David laying out all the pieces to “see what we have to work with”, repeatedly moving things around to fit together the best layout we could with what was available, & getting accustomed to many details of scale modeling that include but are not limited to the proper alignment of track-connectors before coercing the pieces together – instead of “force fitting” anything.
After hours of this prep-work, which we all know can be an exercise in patience for us adults let alone two young boys who just want to see the thing run, they came up with a large, oblong “Figure 8″ with a remotely-switched bypass in the lower oval that also allowed the use of the remote uncoupler. We plug it in, the transformer hums away just like I remembered from my HO scale set “back in the day”, give it the power, and… nuthin’.
Things being the way they are, I go out and bring in an armful of supplies from the shop and start disconneting the layout; emerying any surface rust I can find on the connecting pins & on the track rails; paying close attention to the “pick-ups” on the underside of the engine, etc – you know the drill if you’ve ever worked on vintage anything – and Jack and David slowly gravitate over to the O-gauge Christmas gift. They set it up and are running in no time with artificial steam blowing and whistle sounding.
Over the course of the day, I become about as noticeable to them as the floor base-molding, toiling away in the corner. That is, of course, until I ask to borrow their engine (Engine 1645) for a minute – just to see if both of Grandpop’s engines have succumbed to the ravages of time.
When I put it on The 1110′s layout and give it the juice, it doesn’t move; but this one has a light and it’s lighting – a good sign. I leave the juice applied and slowly push the engine around the track. I lose my voltage indication right at the “X” piece that makes the “Figure 8″ possible. Out it goes!
The boys get their engine back and at the same time I decide to temporarily make the layout as simple as possible – removing the switch-tracks and the car uncoupler too – just to try to get some loco-motivation.
‘ put The 1110 on my simple square arrangement, hit the throttle, and it lurches along a few feet and stops! Not only do I now have a small success, I notice I also have the attention of two small engineers. I feign to be oblivious to their attention and get more detail-oriented with the non-functional track pieces, finally getting the engine around the complete loop under its own power.
David sees it hobble its way around a couple of times. The “excitement of motion ” dissipates into thin air faster than the faux steam from his engine and he exclaims, “C’mon Pokey!” and goes 100% on his transformer, the entire line of railcars whizzing around his track at break-neck speed, his brother cheering him on. LOL [That's m'boys :) ]
“N’yuk it up ‘laughing boys’.” It’s a start, but he’s also right. It’s not running as well as you’d think it should and with the track and all connections having received their due, I turn of my attention to the train’s running gear. Emery the wheels. The pickups need oil. Clean and lube the driving gear. Ee-Ii-Ee-Ii-Oh.
With each successive loop of the track and another fiddle or tweak here or there, I start to have to start throttling down – to a point where I’m now at less than 50% power and it still won’t make a corner without flying off!
Time to start adding ballast int the form of more cars… but not without first paying attention to their needs.
I can now add one ‘more complex’ piece at a time. If another one has a problem, I’ll know immediately. As for the “X” piece, I’ll take it out to the shop – hence forth referred to as “The Maintenance Building” by my resident engineer.
Guess which train is getting more attention now. ;)
Videos (*.mpg format):
Thanks for sharing the fun the boys (and you) are having with the (2) train sets. It’s nice to know that they are being used and not placed on a shelf somewhere. Please keep sharing the fun you all are having. Grammie