and there was light

Last weeks I spend much time on wiring my layout. Today it is time to enjoy the lot. Several of the streetlights have been connected and the AC-DC toggle system to operate both AC (MTH, Lionel) and DC (Merkur, ETS) 3 rails zero trains needed to be tested thoroughly. Here are pictures of the fun.

Sunny afternoon thoughts

The good thing of MTH engines with protosound is that you need to charge their batteries every few months to avoid a lot of repair trouble. So, this basically means I am forced to make a temporary layout and enjoy my trains every now and then. Today, I learned that all my engines run great, but that a bulk head flat car filled with true wooden logs is truly heavy for many engines.
Furthermore, one of my JEP 042 curves has a wobbly dent that makes the cow catcher of my camelback engine hit the center rail all the times and besides some electric sparks this causes a guaranteed derailment, so I will need to buy some proper wider curves soon.

Smoking Camelback

In case you ever wonder why it is sometimes better to play outside...

Cause a Camelback MTH 30-1142-1 likes to smoke once in a while.

MTH Camelback running

This weekend I succeeded in making some good shots from the new MTH Camelback. Moreover, I also managed to blow the whistle button this time. In order to prevent the fire alarm from kicking in, the total time smoking was kept minimal, nevertheless it did smoke!

MTH Camelback

Today, a beautiful present arrived: a MTH Camelback engine with Protosound 1, #30-1142-1 from Reading railroad. Just look at it. Soon you will be able to hear its puffing and chuffing as well. The battery was a bit low, so the engine is now powered in neutral to charge itself and meanwhile it blows off steam. The green classification lights are lit as well.
Camelbacks are truely American hazardous steam engines, a unique design in many ways.
I choose this engine, since it very close to scale, has the protosound options that also function with European (230 V, 50 Hz) current, is a Reading engine and negociates the curves of 027 layout without issues.
The engine was purchased at Grzyboski trains. Just want to thank them for their service, charging realistic shipping costs and friendly assistance.