Construction Update #28 - RGS #42 and #40, 2nd District Op Session

 

RGS #42 First Run

RGS 42 has successfully completed it's first run on the 1st District up to Lizard Head and back.  Pictured here at Placerville the crew is awaiting orders to proceed back to Ridgway.

2nd District Operating Session

May 19, 2024

 

Train #12, a 2nd Class timetable freight on Dale Kruetzer's fabulous RGS 2nd District, northbound at Cima Summit.  I was cleared out of Durango with K-27 #455 at 8:10am and got out of West Durango with my helper at 8:35am. 

#12''s helper drifts down the grade behind #12 toward Menefee.  #20 was added on behind #12's caboose at West Durango and "pushed" all the way to Cima Summit arriving just before 11:00am.

 

 

My second assignment was helping 2nd Class freight #15 from Dolores to Cima Summit with the #268.  I ran light between Cima Summit and West Durango.  At Hesperas I backed down the coal company spur to clear the main line before heading south through Porter and tying up at West Durango at 8:20pm.

 

The Mancos Turn operates daily between Mancos and Menefee.  There is a lumber mill at Menefee that generates a significant amount of traffic.  Here the #40, and the Mancos Turn, have taken the siding for a meet with a northbound freight.

One of the great things Dale provides for operators is a Employee Timetable.  With 36 pages, it provides just about everything an operator needs to know in order to understand timetable operations; operating rules, communications (train operators and dispatcher), rules & regulations, whistle signals, job descriptions, forms, station plats and other useful information.  As can be seen by it's well used appearance, I kept my copy readily available in the back pocket.

 

RGS #40

I bought my version of RGS #40 before I knew that the first run had a couple of errors. The shape of the cab windows and the height of the cab are wrong.  I never noticed this until one of my fellow modelers pointed it out.  Sure enough, when I compared the #40 to my later run #41 and #42 I saw the difference.  Initially, I pulled the model off the layout but that turned out to be pretty silly.  I'm not a "rivet counter" so I decided to replace the WOW V4 sound system with my standard Tsunami2 and put the #40 back in service.

After disassembling the locomotive, I found the poor sound quality was due to the tiny speaker placed inside the boiler (red arrow).  The locomotive was also equipped with a strange plug/drawbar that I had never seen before. The gearbox was also dry which maid for noisy runner.

 

I fabricated a new drawbar and replaced the connector with a TCS color coded 6-pin mini connector.  TCS also makes this connector with all black wires but I find the color codes are matched to the decoder making the installation much easier to trouble shoot if a  problem crops up.  The speaker was moved to the tender where there is room to install a larger hi-base version.  The Tsunami2 and current keeper are also in the tender.  Here it is sitting on the Placerville house track following it's first run.  It sounds great, looks pretty good and after a good lube is a very smooth runner!

 

About This Blog

Several people have asked me about my blog and how it was created. I used "Blogger" https://www.blogger.com to create my RGS 1st District Blog.  It is simple to use and free.  All of my pictures have been taken with a cell phone, transferred to my laptop via email and then easily loaded onto the blog.  Currently I am using an I-Phone 14 for taking the pictures but my old Galaxy 6 did a fine job.  I use Photoshop to edit my pictures but any simple editing tool will do the job.  You can also add video.  Blogger includes a bunch of ready to use formats that are easy to use and modify.  I find creating the blog enjoyable and a good way to document my progress.

As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome.

sdepolo@outlook.com