Little Growly
Anyone who had “July 11th” as the date I would figure out why my loco was running backwards can collect their money.
This is the old, old n-scale locomotive from the old, old Revell trainset that I bought when I took up this utterly different and not-at-all like plastic model kits hobby.
Actually, it’s the old Revell/Arnold loco with a different shell and a new paint job (by me– thank you! You’re so kind!).
It’s also famous as the engine that ran backwards. I ranted about this being the result of capitalism run rampant in Western Germany but as in so many other things, I was wrong. The train ran backwards because I pulled the guts out of it to clean it and then reinstalled the guts assembly backwards. This is very easy to do with this particular old toy train because of the super primitive way it was made. You can, in this case, put it together wrong and it will work.
But what does “wrong” mean, anyway? This happy accident allows me to run two trains in opposite directions–something that would normally require some heavy hitting from somebody that knows what they are doing– but I managed it through beginners’ luck. The only downside is that the gears don’t quite mesh as well in this new, trans-directional age and so this loco, like so many other trannies, makes a sound like a cat growling. Hence the name, “Little Growly.” (Little Growly had better stop that infernal growling soon or there will be Hell to pay.)
You may be wondering about those white hockey pucks.
The most prominent feature of that portion of New Jersey situated across some river from New York are the many petroleum company tank farms. So what could be more appropriate for my Penn Central layout?
At the moment, they are just “plopped” on the layout to help determine how they should be painted and then glued.
Or maybe… just left like they are.
The ballasting was not nearly as horrible as I’d imagined, and not nearly as much fun as I’d hoped. It was moderately horrible.
Seriously, I can see why people avoid this nightmare– and yes, I did glue my turnouts shut, smartypants.
And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average!