Other than a hand full of Hopper derailments it pulled all 87 cars for nearly 6 hours with out a problem. [video=youtube_share;qLDdC_Aqv0A]http://youtu.be/qLDdC_Aqv0A[/video] Read more: http://azlforum.com/thread/355/hoppers#ixzz3Ijd1vvcB
That is impressive, but what really caught my attention were the wind generators in the back ground. Anyone know anything about them?
Loren The Wind Generator module was built by Robert John I can't take credit for the track work, All the modules were built by other members of the group.
Thanks Loren! The "T" module wind farm is a fun story: A few years ago we had a few members of the DC Z-Bend Track club who made some module frames, but never finished them. Back in August the guys said we really needed another "T" to connect all of our stuff at the next show, so I volunteered to finish that frame. I'm all about simple stuff, but our resident expert on animation, Art Bildman, had unknowingly convinced me that some serious motion on modules was a good way to get attention at train shows (Art also loves sound - LOUD sound, but I'm going to leave the audio extremes to him... for now) About 3 years ago Walthers had Faller N scale wind turbines on sale. We've all had a bit of luck using N scale stuff from time to time, but these things were perfect. I think they are really far too small for N - wind turbines are HUGE in real life. I see them all the time from 45,000 feet when flying out west. But they are perfect for Z scale. Anyway, the discount was big enough that I picked up 4 more of them. Then they sat on a shelf... The only thing I did not like about them was the AC motors that Faller uses. I slowed them down from 12 volts to 9 volts, and I think they look better with a slower spin. Unfortunately that seems to be on the edge of stall for that motor, so every once in a while a Jack and the Bean Stalk-esque Giant Hand reaches out and gets them spinning again. So when it came time to finish the new "T" the idea of the wind farm seemed to be a natural. Just some rolling western plains and a few windmills. Although it wasn't quite enough. So the day of the show I dug up an unused Stonebridge Models Signal Gantry. It was the perfect finishing touch on the straight side of the module, and got lots of positive comments. I think the wind farm will wind up being a regular at the shows we attend. -Rob(A) PS: Here is another video from the show. Dave did an awesome job with his GoPro - mine sucks as I was running around with an iPhone and just dumped a bunch of clips together. [video=youtube_share;WNWGaB20Yr0]http://youtu.be/WNWGaB20Yr0[/video]
Rob, Very nice story regarding the wind turbins. I agree, those would be too small for N scale, but they look very good for Z. I wonder if Faller still caries them.....will have to go looking. And one more question, do the new F units purr, or clank? ie.........are they good runners?
This is tricky because I've only worked with about half a dozen pre-production units. I don't want to see expectations too high because weird things can happen when we get into an actual production run, but I'm going to go out on a limb here because I am incredibly excited about the F units: They are not good runners. They are great runners. In fact, these are the best locomotives I have ever run. Period. I lot of people wondered why we made F units when MTL had already produced the F units. I think it will take all of about 10 seconds after you see and run our F units to understand why. All B units are powered... and the A units too!
Wowie Cazowie...........this is exciting news. Guess I better print up some more C notes...) Are lots of road names planned?
