Happy Switcher Saturday everyone.
Tom's story...Once upon a time, well, yesterday really, a doofus existed and he knocked over one of his prewar switchers...knocking it from a TV stand, bouncing it off a couch, then off a blanket then to the carpet. Altogether, a distance of around 2 1/2 feet. Yes, the doofus was me...as I walked the dog in, his leash caught the locomotive and caused the calamity. Luckily, I found the broken marker light on the floor, one that I had glued on probably 4 years or so ago along with the other marker light. The locomotive arrived on my doorstep without either.
The fix...I am a big fan of JB Weld (epoxy), but I probably never give it the proper credit. What I use is actually their faster version, JB Kwik...I didn't notice until today, that I am using a package from 2004!!! Boy, have I gotten enough use out of that so far, I would estimate making at least 10 marker light repairs along with a repaired cab step. At this point the 15-year old tubes are each around half-full, they are a bit leaky (I get stuff on my hands just touching the outside), but I don't see me getting rid of them anytime soon as both still work superbly.
These are the tools needed to make such a fix:
The Duco cement is what I use if a "jewel" needs gluing. In this case, the jewels did not dislodge from the marker light. If I did need to glue a jewel in, I take a toothpick and put a drop on the tip of the toothpick and then transfer that to the hole in the marker light.
The middle package (above) has some thin metal files, used to clean off the surface of the areas to be glued together. Out of view is my wooden toothpick used to "butter" the JB Kwik onto the flat surface of the locomotive post and the bottom of the marker light. A special 5-Finger Crane (me) held the marker light during the 4 minutes or so that the epoxy sets up.
Here's is a small pair of pliers (in case the tubes don't easily open) and a plastic lid for mixing the epoxy along with a wooden coffee stirrer for mixing the 2 part epoxy. Using a copy box lid to hold everything, I made the repair at the scene of the crime, the same couch where I bounced the locomotive from, as my doggie looked on.
Here is the repaired marker light on the right:
If things look a bit wonky, this was one of my "basket cases" and the headlight casing is actually aimed slightly higher than it should be from a prior owner's accident.
Tom
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