Occasionally some members have hinted that they might not be quite perfect in the handling of these tiny trains and associated accessories which delight us so much, so I'd like to dedicate this thread to their glorious achievements.
Anyway, as the saying goes, "let those who live in glass houses cast the first stone" (or something like that), so here's my most recent sacrifice to the Almighty Murphy: while attempting to change some couplings, the coupling socket decided to shear away from the rest of the bogie (little plastic bit to the right of the lower bogie in this picture):
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/22/thumb_26520.jpg) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=26520)
By "decided" I mean "through ill-advised exertions on my part attempting to twist the existing coupling out of the socket". Learning from my mistake I dismembered the other coupling in-situ with a pair of nippers. The broken bogie is potentially fixable but I'm not sure how effective that would be, especially as it's a load-bearing connection. :(
In the last month I have burned the following components:
- 2 servo motors
- 4 IR Leds
- 2 signals... well one of them actually was working, I had not connected the feed wire correctly...till I burned it by testing it with NO resistance :veryangry:
- At least 5 digital pins from my Raspberry PI
Additionally:
- I lost the tiny inner spring of a Fleischmann point when I tried to "fix" it.
- A Rapido coupler from one of my wagons disappeared inside a tunnel ??? .... WANTED if you find it.
- The same hungry tunnel swallowed a Hall switch... not a good one, so that is not wanted.
- The layout's lights can short circuit any time, depending on how I move things around... they can actually short when a train passes by a certain place :worried:
That's it for now.. I think I missed some other incidents! so many of them ..
I refuse to contribute to this thread on the grounds that it may (for sure) incriminate me. (well, maybe later)
Quote from: deibid on June 29, 2015, 04:20:20 PM
- A Rapido coupler from one of my wagons disappeared inside a tunnel ??? .... WANTED if you find it.
Oh, so that's where it came from... If you by chance find the coupling spring from a Kato Tokyo Metro 500 type, maybe we can arrange a swap?[/list]
I see, so you mean it is here we confess our sins like:
picking up a hot soldering iron - by the wrong end! Oh well, I didn't hold it long. :-[ :'(
or putting a hot soldering iron down - with a brand new buffet car right underneath it and not noticing until a 'funny smell' of hot plastic reached me. :-[ :scowl:
or gluing all the ballast in place - only to find the points wouldn't move the next morning. >:(
driving a brand new Hornby Class 47 at high speed into the dead end siding built right to the edge of the baseboard and seeing the Duff fly off the end, in a vertical direction nearly 4 feet to the floor because the stop blocks weren't in place! :unimpressed: Perhaps that one doesn't count - it was an OO model!
Do you mean that kind of thing, Railsquid? No, I'd never do anything that silly :dunce:
Well, not TWICE anyway. :angel:
I guess you mean things like :
Accidentally dropping scatter material onto my canal before the varnish on the water was dry (try picking that off).
Tripping over wires and ripping them out of the back of the controller (More than once).
Accidentally leave the controller on full speed when the loco won't move. Walk round the baseboard to give the loco a prod only for it then to hurtle off at maximum speed into the back of some waiting wagons.
Putting a small tub of IPA into a plastic container then balancing it on the track as I clean it then knocking the lot over.
Dropping a hammer onto a scratch built building as it was waiting for the glue to dry.
Oh and yes , I too have picked up a soldering iron by the hot (very) end.
You mean those type of things ?
Another member of the "finger comes of worse than soldering iron" club right here :-[
Didn't pick it up the wrong way, just went to stop it dropping onto a rented flat carpet :thumbsdown:
Also up-turned an entire tub of acrylic paint onto the layout. Fortunately it was grey, onto the hard standing, but still a pain.
:dunce:
Skyline2uk
Only (latest) thing that springs to mind is picking up my latest Fleischmann steam loco (see the 'Latest Loco and Rolling Stock Purchase - Continental' thread) while still in its box - my hand was just away from the table, when the box came apart, leaving the lid in my hand - and the bottom containing the loco on the kitchen floor! Of course the loco bounced and the tender body came off. :o Luckily the tender clipped back on OK and the loco still runs fine - but, after paying £110 for it, I was a little worried! :doh:
Quote from: Paul B on June 29, 2015, 08:47:24 PM
Only (latest) thing that springs to mind is picking up my latest Fleischmann steam loco (see the 'Latest Loco and Rolling Stock Purchase - Continental' thread) while still in its box - my hand was just away from the table, when the box came apart, leaving the lid in my hand - and the bottom containing the loco on the kitchen floor! Of course the loco bounced and the tender body came off. :o Luckily the tender clipped back on OK and the loco still runs fine - but, after paying £110 for it, I was a little worried! :doh:
::) Join the club for those with airborne engines! At least my 47 was running in around the track (safely) until it noticed a point leading to a short siding that I didn't! :dunce:
Quote from: port perran on June 29, 2015, 07:35:28 PM
You mean those type of things ?
Quote from: D1042 Western Princess on June 29, 2015, 06:52:39 PM
Do you mean that kind of thing, Railsquid? No, I'd never do anything that silly :dunce:
It's like you're reading my mind :D
I think everyone I know in electronics has caught a falling soldering iron. The ones we used at work were a brand called Lightsold. They had a heating element covered by a coil of wire down the full length. The resulting stripe pattern on the palm of your hand was worn as a rite of passage mark.
I managed to slice my thumb open this morning with a scalpel.
Not too much blood, fortunately. :)
I an a senior moment put a hot soldering iron in my pants pocket the other day, not one of my better moves
Quote from: paulprice on June 30, 2015, 11:09:18 AM
I an a senior moment put a hot soldering iron in my pants pocket the other day, not one of my better moves
:o :goggleeyes: :-X :laughabovepost:
Quote from: paulprice on June 30, 2015, 11:09:18 AM
I an a senior moment put a hot soldering iron in my pants pocket the other day
You
are aware that's a cold-weather procedure
only, and
cannot be recommended in a heatwave ? :doh:
Well people have said I have hot stuff in my trousers..... :-[
Yeah this is great!!! :claphappy:
I have now wrecked six EUN651 decoders by bending or snapping the pins off.
I successfully caught a hot soldering iron by the wrong end, to prevent it falling on the floor, and as I slapped the iron out of my burned hand, it attacked my new Union Pacific tee shirt which I had had less than a day from an American supplier.
The best one was when I was putting down some Woodland Scenics grass powder and got too close to the container. I inhaled the powder somehow and ended up choking and having a green tongue for a day!
Stupid hobby.
:hmmm:
Andy
Well there I was cutting some foam sheets into odd shapes to place on some IKEA shelving when ooops! Drop the cutter, blade falls neatly against shin. At which point it occurs to me it might be sensible to clear the workbench of the clutter stored while I was working on the shelf.
Does being clumsy include being incapable of replacing the tiny springs on Dapol magnetic couplers or is this normal for anyone over the age of about 14!!
Managed to replace two of mine that went AWOL while fitting them to wagons and I'm . . . err. . . 40-something ;)
Paul
Quote from: yorkian on July 05, 2015, 04:33:21 PM
Does being clumsy include being incapable of replacing the tiny springs on Dapol magnetic couplers or is this normal for anyone over the age of about 14!!
That one is fairly normal.
The springs can be replaced but be prepared to sacrifice several springs in order to get one to fit.
The technique I use for Dapol magnetic couplings is to get the new spring on the end of a cocktail stick. The spring can then be gently eased onto the locating lug, then partially compress the spring as you withdraw the cocktail stick and the spring should drop into place. A little tacky wax will help keep the spring in place. You can also use glue but you have to be careful that capillary action doesn't draw the glue into the spring coils and set solid.
Will take heart from the information and give it another go! Although in my case it seems to be a combination of 'fat fingers' and 'Should've gone to Specsavers' syndrome!
Today my lovely :censored: cat dropped a huge Playmobil pirate ship over the layout.
:censored: :veryangry: :censored:
Fortunately little damage, a tunnel mouth was fractured but it went easily back into its place. I must say that cardboard buildings are a huge YES in this kind of situation.
I post this accident in the clumsy thread, but in this case the clumsy one is the :censored: :censored: :censored: CAT.
Quote from: deibid on July 06, 2015, 10:00:02 AM
Today my lovely :censored: cat dropped a huge Playmobil pirate ship over the layout.
You spoil that cat, buying it pirate ships. Ours had a little ball to play with.
Quote from: Malc on July 06, 2015, 11:01:17 AM
Quote from: deibid on July 06, 2015, 10:00:02 AM
Today my lovely :censored: cat dropped a huge Playmobil pirate ship over the layout.
You spoil that cat, buying it pirate ships. Ours had a little ball to play with.
That cat is spoiled beyond recovery already... the ship is my daughter's, I don't know why :angel: but she really likes all means of transport... trains being a big thing for her :D
:-[Clumsy is when you paint the cat head sky blue, murdering by electrocution 4 goldfish and electrocuted cat with 16volts believe me the list goes on.mike
Quote from: deibid on July 06, 2015, 11:24:09 AM
she really likes all means of transport... trains being a big thing for her :D
What? :worried: Surely you don't mean she's into O gauge when you say 'trains are a big thing for her' do you? :D
Quote from: fatso on July 08, 2015, 04:36:13 PM
:-[Clumsy is when you paint the cat head sky blue, murdering by electrocution 4 goldfish and electrocuted cat with 16volts believe me the list goes on.mike
Being a pet in your house seems a hazardous business Mike!
Greg. ::)
Quote from: D1042 Western Princess on July 08, 2015, 08:52:23 PM
Quote from: fatso on July 08, 2015, 04:36:13 PM
:-[Clumsy is when you paint the cat head sky blue, murdering by electrocution 4 goldfish and electrocuted cat with 16volts believe me the list goes on.mike
Being a pet in your house seems a hazardous business Mike!
Greg. ::)
Spent weeks in Dog house and had to at the time explain to my 10 year old and his 35 class mates how I managed to kill his fish
Remember guys what written on here stays on here Wifey know nothing about cat being painted sky blue ,mike
Quote from: fatso on July 08, 2015, 09:13:56 PM
Remember guys what written on here stays on here Wifey know nothing about cat being painted sky blue ,mike
You could always tell her you wanted a Persian Blue cat and was wondering what it might look like. :)
Or maybe not! :no:
:sorrysign:
Quote from: fatso on July 08, 2015, 09:13:56 PM
Remember guys what written on here stays on here Wifey know nothing about cat being painted sky blue ,mike
I've got a cat called Blue!
I'd
never pick up a soldering iron at the wrong end. :angel:
My most recent 'incident' is having a sneezing fit and pointing myself at a open pot of WS scatter. Messy business! :doh:
Dave G
Quote from: D1042 Western Princess on July 08, 2015, 09:34:00 PM
Quote from: fatso on July 08, 2015, 09:13:56 PM
Remember guys what written on here stays on here Wifey know nothing about cat being painted sky blue ,mike
You could always tell her you wanted a Persian Blue cat and was wondering what it might look like. :)
Or maybe not! :no:
:sorrysign:
Funny was after cleaned cat up I dried her with wifeys hairdryer she look like toilet brush told wifey she was scared by bigger cat lol
Quote from: D1042 Western Princess on July 08, 2015, 08:49:01 PM
Quote from: deibid on July 06, 2015, 11:24:09 AM
she really likes all means of transport... trains being a big thing for her :D
What? :worried: Surely you don't mean she's into O gauge when you say 'trains are a big thing for her' do you? :D
NO WAY!! :ngauge: :NGaugersRule: education is first thing, my particular Sesame Street:
Normal size -
Oversize
Sorry guys, but I'm not clumsy with my models.
Oh no ... I'm clumsy in a MUCH bigger way than that.
My clumsiest achievement yet? Well ... um ... I did once run over my own saddle with my horse lorry :doh:
Better than running over your own horse with a saddle lorry, I suppose.
I still cringe at the day I dropped a 400MB hard disk (this was around 1995, when 400MB was a lot of space and I was a poor student) in the shop while trying to return it as it didn't appear to work with my computer...
Replaced the camshaft in my sister's Cortina. Boxed it up and found water was pisflowing out between the block and head. Had to take the head off again and found I had somehow managed to turn the gasket round :doh:
Corrected the error and confidently proclaimed; "Well, at least I'll never do that again!"
..........spin forward 5 years to a blown head gasket on my escort - yep, you've guessed it. :scowl: :dunce: :confused2:
Quote from: railsquid on July 09, 2015, 04:34:36 PM
Better than running over your own horse with a saddle lorry, I suppose.
I still cringe at the day I dropped a 400MB hard disk (this was around 1995, when 400MB was a lot of space and I was a poor student) in the shop while trying to return it as it didn't appear to work with my computer...
Speaking of running over things.....
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094863,00.html (http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094863,00.html) o
:-[
I was there on the day and can attest to this happening.
Quote from: FeelixTC on July 09, 2015, 04:41:57 PM
Replaced the camshaft in my sister's Cortina. Boxed it up and found water was pisflowing out between the block and head. Had to take the head off again and found I had somehow managed to turn the gasket round :doh:
Corrected the error and confidently proclaimed; "Well, at least I'll never do that again!"
..........spin forward 5 years to a blown head gasket on my escort - yep, you've guessed it. :scowl: :dunce: :confused2:
Climb every mountain - FORD every stream :-X
I had one of those 'nearly' Strads too. I gave it to my brother who tried to fill it with a mixture of glue and cotton wool to dull it down a bit for use in a recording studio. It was while poking around through the 'f' holes that he dislodged the label inside and saw what it said. The guy we took it to for a valuation didn't even take it out of the case. It seems that the real ones didn't have labels done on a printing press... He told us what it was after one glance at the label but still charged us 35 Pounds for 2 minutes of his time.
He valued it at 'around 'alf a crown if yer lucky and can sell it to a blind man'... Just remember, glue and cotton wool ain't good for yer fiddle.....
As someone who has on a number of occasions left the shed with a bottle of glue attatched to his elbow I have a few observations as follows.
1. Superglue was originally developed to stick skin to skin (this is true by the way- for post-operative use instead of stitches). Therefore it will stick me to whatever I am glueing BEFORE it sticks the parts to each other.
2. Epoxy drying time is just long enough for the clamp holding the parts together to shift slightly.
3. Holding parts together with a rubber band while the glue sets results in the band being stuck to the part.
4. Whatever precautions (straight edges, measured angles, clamps, new blades) I take to ensure I cut a straight line won't work.
5. Peco can bend a curve better than I can.
6. Any tinlet of BR green paint will find the only shade of BR green that didn't exist in reality.
There are a whole lot more- and yet models still get made. A bit like opera where a performance is the result of a whole series of inevitable catastrophes failing to happen all at the same time........
Each of my layouts has its own thread on another forum (they aren't all N) where the disasters are documented in full.
Les
Quote from: Les1952 on July 11, 2015, 05:49:49 AM
1. Superglue was originally developed to stick skin to skin (this is true by the way- for post-operative use instead of stitches).
Still used instead of stitches, saw a Paramedic use it to close a minor head wound on a TV programme the other day :thumbsup:
Paul
I managed to bond some Ratio etched brass cattle dock railings to me fingers once :uneasy:
Quote from: Bealman on July 11, 2015, 07:53:07 AM
I managed to bond some Ratio etched brass cattle dock railings to me fingers once :uneasy:
That must have been a cow to remove, George :laugh:
The railings have gone but the coos are still there
[smg id=682 type=preview align=center width=400]
Wot!
No safety net! :jawdropping:
Dave G
They're not circus cows :thumbsup:
Quote from: Bealman on July 12, 2015, 12:26:39 AM
The railings have gone but the coos are still there
Coos ? ::) Well, I suppose it is the 'clumsy thread' :D
Since George's layout is based on Beal in Northumberland, just ten miles from the Scottish border, I'm guessing "coos" was a deliberate spelling ;)
Paul
Quote from: railsquid on July 12, 2015, 08:51:52 AM
They're not circus cows :thumbsup:
And how do you know that RS?
They may have been secretly trained and when you think about it, they
are upside down! :P
Dave G :wave:
Quote from: Sprintex on July 12, 2015, 09:06:57 AM
Since George's layout is based on Beal in Northumberland, just ten miles from the Scottish border, I'm guessing "coos" was a deliberate spelling ;)
Paul
Aye, quite reet, laddie, and no Dave, it's nowt to with them being trained or any gravitational effect of being down under.
They're super glued too :D
Quote from: Sprintex on July 12, 2015, 09:06:57 AM
Since George's layout is based on Beal in Northumberland, just ten miles from the Scottish border, I'm guessing "coos" was a deliberate spelling ;)
Paul
Isn't George's layout based on Castle Eden in County Durham as well. Famous for the Nimmos brewery. So it could be an alcohol related misspelling.
Malc you are correct... each section trying to capture a particular area.... an idea I got from Bruce Chubb's Sunset Valley layout in America, which I regard as a landmark layout much like Denny's Buckingham Branch in the UK. :thumbsup:
When I rewired my old OO layout, which was a depot layout, I had 16 isolating sections and they were laid out like this:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
But when I did the control panel, I wired the switches thus:
1 5 9 13
2 6 10 14
3 7 11 15
4 8 12 16
And so was most surprised when I flicked isolating switch 2 on the panel, only to find the loco in position 5 started to move and then when I flicked switch 5, the loco in Position 2 moved.... ??? ???
Took me all of about 30 secs to go "Oh Ballcocks" :doh: :doh: and then started to rewire the switches again....
regards
Neal.
Ooha. :uneasy:
In a similar vein to Neal's post. I had someone wire up a 512 x 512 video router starting from bottom right, instead of top left. Took 2 days to get it put right.
My latest clumsiness. I was photographing my Dapol Dummy Class 121 (Green SYP) to sell it on Ebay. I've got the un-opened bag of bits and an almost complete sheet of headcode stickers. But I managed to drop the box, luckily without the unit inside but the sticker sheet has fluttered off somewhere and can't be found. This is incredibly frustrating
>:(
Had another look - found it.
Quote from: Calnefoxile on July 12, 2015, 12:04:15 PM
When I rewired my old OO layout, which was a depot layout, I had 16 isolating sections and they were laid out like this:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
But when I did the control panel, I wired the switches thus:
1 5 9 13
2 6 10 14
3 7 11 15
4 8 12 16
And so was most surprised when I flicked isolating switch 2 on the panel, only to find the loco in position 5 started to move and then when I flicked switch 5, the loco in Position 2 moved.... ??? ???
Took me all of about 30 secs to go "Oh Ballcocks" :doh: :doh: and then started to rewire the switches again....
regards
Neal.
Wish I was as organised as that! :confused1:
Dave G
And here's one I broke earlier :D
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/21/thumb_27085.jpg) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=27085)
Got out of the shop, rearranged my purchases, and snap! What I assumed was plastic was actually foam, and by the time I got it back home half-way round the world, it was in 4 or 5 pieces.
:goggleeyes:
Looks like a piece (or 6) of Merkur walling, Squiddy :hmmm:
Quote from: newportnobby on July 13, 2015, 03:53:33 PM
:goggleeyes:
Looks like a piece (or 6) of Merkur walling, Squiddy :hmmm:
Faller, like wot it sez on the label.
At least I was able to put it back together again :D
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/21/thumb_27091.jpg) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=27091)
I shoulda gone to Specsavers :-[
8)
Soooo, I needed to drill a hole in a decorative watermelon for the Mrs. last night (as one does), and managed to drill said hole without injury. While preparing to put the drill away however, I managed to knock my craft knife off the "workbench", and was the blade put away? And of all the available floor to fall on, did it have to choose the bit occupied by my bare foot?
Ouch! we have a dangerous hobby :)
I tried to put the supplied scale coupling hooks onto the buffer beams of my new Farish 4F, they both pinged off into the stratosphere and landed on my messy workbench. I doubt I will ever see them again. I sometimes think I should model in a larger scale.
This Saturday, a friend came to ask if I could run in his latest loco and fit the decoder. Well it ran in well and then came decoder fitting time. As I was prizing off the (Farish class 31) body one of the buffers fell off. I saw it drop vertically on to the carpet. It's so light if it bounced it could not have gone far could it ?
After more than an hour of searching I found it more than a metre from the drop zone !
Smiles and a beer all round !
Quote from: railsquid on November 02, 2015, 01:32:57 AM
a decorative watermelon
I think we need to know more ??? ??? ???
Managed to electrocute myself 3 times with the static grass applicator last night! :doh: It's surprising how much of a belt you get from them considering they only run on 2 AA batteries!
cheers, Stu.
Quote from: mk1gtstu on November 02, 2015, 09:19:09 AM
Managed to electrocute myself 3 times with the static grass applicator last night! :doh: It's surprising how much of a belt you get from them considering they only run on 2 AA batteries!
cheers, Stu.
Make sure you avoid puddles or wear wellies!! :worried:
As an afterthought, PVA isn't quite so shocking!
Dave G