Re: McGiver would be proud...

[Guy Lynn <caboose@telepath.com>]

That's why putt-putt operators usually carried 6-Volt lanterns on the cars.  1)
for illuminating signal boxes, inspecting bridges after dark, and signalling
trains and 2) as a spare battery that will get you home if your 6 volt system
refuses to charge the battery and goes dead.  A pair of 6 volt lantern batteries
in series (12V) have been known to be enough to excite an alternator on a caboose
with a totally dead set of batteries.  The lantern batteries might not be
glamourous but they are certainly functional around the putt-putts to get down the
track.

Yours,
Guy Lynn, Caboose
Norman, Oklahoma

ShellScale@aol.com wrote:

> This past weekend we took my M19 out for an actual track inspection and after
> running well for most of the day it developed a miss while heading upgrade.
> After turning at the end (beginning actually) of track and heading back across
> the mountain it simply quit running about 4 miles into the return trip. A
> quick spark plug check (the first thing to check <g>) found it to be clean...
> no buzz from the box... Hmmmm... A voltmeter confirmed that my alternator had
> failed and the headlight, strobe, brake light, and markers had drained the
> battery. With the unappealing thought of pushing the car 8 miles back from the
> middle of nowhere we went to work on a solution. The second car with us was
> charging properly but to switch out batteries would be a chore. We soon took
> some extra wire I had taken with us and stripped off the insulation and
> wrapped it around the plug from a 12 volt camcorder battery. We then connected
> the other end of the wires to my cars electrical system, one quick crank and
> we were off... without headlights this time... holding our breath as that
> little battery gave us it's all. We made it back to the last crossing from
> home when I turned on the headlight... the ignition failed... and when I
> turned the light off the ignition picked back up.
>
> I thought this tip might save someones day in the future. It really saved
> ours!! :-)
>
> Richard D. Shell
> N&W 1411