Well, what do you know?  Did you have a fun summer?  If you experienced a train event on your summer vacation, drop me a line and tell me about it.  I will share it with everyone in this bulletin.  Lakes & Pines had our own train event on August 8^th when we gathered at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum for our summer picnic.  It was soooooooo hot outside that everyone took the option of eating inside.  We enjoyed sub sandwiches, salads, potato chips and drinks.  Besides that we thoroughly enjoyed the O scale layout at Bandana Square and the tinplate layouts in the chimney’s building.  We also saw photographs of the $100,000 Dunham Studios layout that was custom built for Michael Corrigan.  Today that layout is installed and operating at the museum.  I invite all Lakes & Pines members to visit the displays at the Twin City Model Railroad Museum.  Aw heck, I invite all Lakes & Pines members to also become members of the museum and run your own trains on the layouts.  You meet so many nice people when you volunteer to operate the layouts on weekends.  You can find out more information about joining by visiting the website www.tcmrm.org.

 LIONEL DISCONTINUES PRODUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL COMMAND CONTROL

Since the release of the 2010 Signature Edition Lionel catalog, Lionel has received numerous questions about their plans for continuing with the original TrainMaster Command Set.  These days, it’s a fact of life that when it comes to technology, time never stops.  Even the most advanced technology of 2001 simply cannot compare with the gadgets available today that can do things never imagined just a decade ago.  And so it goes with their TrainMaster Command Set.  When introduced in 1995, the system was revolutionary.  It allowed operators to control the trains on their layouts like never before.  In 2008, Lionel introduced the LEGACY Control System, which dramatically advanced operator control and realism.  The new system is completely intuitive to operate and has a bold read-out that allows you to keep track of what’s on track.  Best of all, the new LAGACY Control System was specifically designed to be “backwards compatible”.  It operates all of your trains, no matter what era, to their maximum capability.  What you gain with the new LEGACY Control System is incredible. 

            *  Smoother starting and stopping of Odyssey I equipped locomotive. 

            *  Expanded route, accessory, and lash up addressing.

            *  Nine user-selected remote frequencies for multi-layout operation.

            *  Quillable horns and whistles (LEGACY - equipped engines)

            *  Expanded TowerCom and Crew Talk (LEGACY - equipped engines)

            *  200 speed step constant speed control (LEGACY - equipped engines)

            *  Field upgradeable for future expansion of LEGACY products and locomotive functionality.

            *  And that’s only the beginning of what the LEGACY system will do in the future. 

So Lionel is discontinuing the manufacture of the original TrainMaster Command Set.  Like all iterations of ongoing technology, its time has passed.  Lionel has no plans to produce any more.  (The fact is many of the components are so out-of-date that producing the set is next to impossible.)  Actually, the LEGACY Control System even makes your old AC motored trains of yesteryear run even better with its 200 speed steps of speed control.  Now read the next headline. 

  LIONEL TO DISCONTINUE MAKING K-LINE TRAINS AT THE END OF YEAR

I don’t have many details about this.  Let’s see, Kader Holdings Company Limited owns Bachmann Industries and Sanda Kan.  Bachmann owns Williams Trains.  So now will Bachmann end up making K-Line trains too?  This all could become verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting!

WOW, is summer almost over?  The Twin City Model Railroad Museum (yes, them again) will be holding their Hobby Sale at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds Education Building on Saturday, September 18^th from 9AM to 3PM.  There will be over 200 tables of new and used trains, plus antiques, collectables, tools, books, videos, toys, buildings, magazines, prints, posters and photos.  There will also be multiple operating model railroad displays.  The admission is $6.  Children aged 5 and under are free with an adult.  Your hand stamp for the Sale will also admit you to their museum displays at Bandana Square on the day of the Sale.  The museum O scale railroad and the tinplate displays are open until 5PM.  To be a vendor at the Sale, call 651-647-9628.

 HOW TO DETECT A LOW BATTERY IN A MIKE’S TRAIN HOUSE LOCOMOTIVE

Even rechargeable batteries sometimes lose their charge (especially if they are stored for long periods of time) and eventually need replacing.  A bit of routine maintenance can keep your engine running properly.  The following symptoms are indicative of an undercharged Proto-Sound battery:

    *  When track power is interrupted, the sounds stop abruptly in less than the normal 10 to 15

       seconds.  There is often a sputter.

    *  While running with less than 10 volts on the track, the whistle or horn sounds distorted

        when activated.

    *  When attempting to shift from either forward or reverse into neutral, the sound sputters

        and the engine will not shift properly.

    *  When attempting to program in Reset (original Proto-Sound only), the engine will not

        Lock the changes.  

    *  When the engine locks itself into forward, neutral, or reverse, it will not unlock following

        the unlocking procedures in the operating instructions.

    *  When shifting between directions, no sounds are heard during the brief power interruption.

If you are experiencing any or all of the above problems, test the battery as follows:

Try a quick charge.  Place the engine in neutral with the throttle set at 15 volts and the smoke unit turned off for one hour.  Alternately, you can 1) plug the MTH Battery Charger (Item No. 50-1019) into the battery charging port (if your Proto-Sound 2.0 engine is equipped with one) and charge for one hour or 2) remove the battery and charge it in a battery charger that recharges at the rate marked on the battery (11 mA) for 1 ½ hours.  After the quick charge, test the engine.  If it performs better, continue to charge the battery as described above for a total of 14-16 hours to ensure a full charge.  If the quick charge does not seem to improve engine performance, test the engine with a different battery installed.  You can purchase a new NiCad battery from your MTH dealer  (Shameless Plug - Scale Model Supplies usually has MTH batteries in stock.) or buy a 8.4V 150mAh Nickel Metal Hydride battery suitable for use in MTH engines from Radio Shack (stock # 23-529). 

*Note for Locked Engines: If your engine is locked into a direction and you cannot quick charge it in neutral as described above, run the engine in the direction it’s locked into for an hour at 15 volts, then attempt to unlock the direction.  This quick charge should be enough to unlock the engine, so you can then give it a full charge in neutral.  If you have an early Proto-Sound locomotive, and the electronics have become scrambled, MTH also sells a descrambling chip to fix your own locomotive.  If you return your locomotive to MTH for repair due to a low battery, that repair will cost you at least $25.  You can contact MTH Service by filling out the Service Contact form in the Service Section of www.mth-railking.com; telephoning 410-381-2580 or faxing 410-423-0009.   That’s all folks!!!!!!

How do YOU remove paint from plastic.  You could use Scalecoat paint remover or maybe you could use this suggestion.  Try using a product called Castrol Super Clean or Purple Power.  These are both degreasers which a fellow train collector has used in stripping paint from postwar Lionel for repainting and restoring.  They will not harm plastic.  Just soak your train in either one.  The paint will dissolve.  Any left over paint can be removed with a soft toothbrush.  Wear gloves as this stuff will dry out your skin. 

That’s all for this month’s Roundhouse Rick’s Railroad Ramblings.      Rick Krenske reporting.