A desert mystery

Somewhat off the subject of BULLFROG SNOT traction tires for model railroads is a mystery on the desert of southern California known as the "Desert Megaphone"

See http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3469672

What is it and how and why did it get there?

The Megaphone sits atop of a rocky hill near a small pass where once ran the Tonopah & Tidewater RR, south of it’s UP connection at Crucero. The T&T got started late, and the boom was over before it was completed, never reaching either Tonopah or Tidewater. The route from the Santa Fe connection (the Tidewater part) at Ludlow to Crucero ceased operation in October of ’33, and the tracks were removed for the war effort in ’43. This would represent the last time heavy equipment would have been in the area, except for the daylighting of the tunnel in Afton Canyon in May of ’57.

It’s heavy steel, welded together. It makes no apparent sounds and points to nothing in particular. It has the look of 30’s or 40’s ‘Buck Rodgers’ spaceships, and is anchored firmly in the rocks. Someone when to a lot of effort to put it there, but no body seems to know it’s history. It could be from the crew tearing up the tracks in ’43, but they don’t seem like they’d be the type to do this.

So it’s a mystery. Have any ideas?

Shorttrack RR

We were invited to visit the Shorttrack RR club in Vista, Ca www.shorttrackrr.org. The club has a facility on the grounds of a museum with a large collection of steam tractors, farm tractors and industrial equipment.

Shorttrack has two layouts. One is made up of N-Trak modules which they would display at various shows. And the other is an under-construction of SP’s Donner Pass. And that is going to be one impressive layout when it is finished. The trackwork alone is spectacular, I was in awe of the handlaid switches, each controlled by DCC’d Tortoise machines. Large yards, beautiful Sierra scenery, and an Nn3 section. Wow!

We did a few BULLFROG SNOT traction tires installs, demo’d some SNOT’d steamers on the modular layout with the B-Mann lt. Mountain hauling 35 cars easily.

And they offered a lunch of grilled hot dogs. A very friendly group. I’d recommend following their web site for open house dates. The layout and museum are well worth the travel time to visit.

Much thanks to Pete and the Shorttrack RR crew!

Eat the frog?

"Mark Twain said if you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day. So, start your day by tackling an important task, especially if it is a task you aren't crazy about."

We do not recommend eating any BULLFROG SNOT – although it is non-toxic. BULLFROG SNOT is for traction tires, not sandwiches. It makes great traction tires. It also makes a good shaft coupling helper. Say what? Yep, we deal with shiny metal shafts stuck into plastic or flexible tubes as drivelines for locomotives and switch machines. Instead of Loctite or ACC, try a dab of BULLFROG SNOT. It will grab, yet remain flexible enough for future disassembly and maintenance.

BULLFROG SNOT universal, easy, liquid, traction tires. Don’t eat it.

Get more from the Model Power 4-4-0

I applied BULLFROG SNOT to the Model Power American 4-4-0, to both driver sets. SNOT transformed into a great little puller, now hauling 10 car mixed trains up hill. This is a good looking and strong engine, with a major weakness. The tender pick-up design is many years out of date. It has wheel wipers like those on the early Atlas steamers, with one conducting wheel and one insulated. As a result, it would frequently stall over dips in the track, switch frogs, and other mysterious random spots. Tapping the tender generally got it going.

This was frustrating, since BULLFROG SNOT gave it great traction, but it remained unreliable for regular use. I tried soldering wires to the wipers, leveling the trucks, releasing the tender drawbar tension. Still had the stalls.

I had B-Mann canteen, the Norfolk & Western prototype, that had a working light. Why just a light? It has nice 3 axle side wiper trucks. These were removed an replaced by an easy rolling set of Micro-Trains passenger trucks. The six-wheeled trucks were migrated under the tender of the B-Mann 2-6-6-2, except that the conducting tab bumps weren’t quite a match and resulted in the same stalls. This was remedied by soldering wires to the tabs and hard-wiring the trucks to the tender conductor strips. If you try this, remember to disassemble the trucks and remove the metal tabs for soldering.

The 2-6-6-2 now has 6 wheel tender trucks. Combined with the tender doghouse, it looks like something a low budget shop, like my all steam fictional road name "SHORTBUCK" would do with their small fleet of hand-me-down steamers, as they are able to collect cast-offs from the anthracite roads due to diesel conversions.

Pondering another conversion for the 4-4-0, I purchased Mikado tender trucks from Kato parts. But now I had a set of B-Mann side conducting trucks which seemed better suited to the 4-4-0. I hated to remove the MP arch bar tender trucks since SHORTBUCK’s limited freight car roster has all arch bars. No interchange traffic for these clunkers.

Wire leads were soldered to the tabs, and holes cut in the tender floor. The leads were soldered to the proper connections, and a test run was made. Perfect. No stalls, no stutters, just smooth running lap after lap. Mixed trains are running again behind the 4-4-0.

It’s a bit of effort, but worth it for all of you that want more from the MP 4-4-0, and don’t forget the BULLFROG SNOT for your traction tires.

Questions and/or comments?

More user comments

Well as I gotta say is, BULLFROG SNOT is "UNREAL" !
I used one of my Lifelike Berkshires as the test engine.
I have a set of eight heavyweight passenger cars on the layout. I have quite a lot of Lifelike Berkshires so I took several and all spun their drivers and couldn't budge the cars.
My test steamer I put the Bullrog Snot on the back set of drivers and let it dry overnight. Took it downstairs this morning and hooked it to the same eight heavyweight passenger cars. At first when I started it, it started pulling all the cars with just a touch of wheel slip. Within just less than a minute this engine pulled those cars with no effort, could have added more. No more driver slippage just great pulling power.
Before applying the BullFrog Snot I ran the drivers and used a cotton swab with isopropyl alcohol and made sure the driver surface was clean. When this BullFrog Snot drys theres no way for it to come off as it sticks to the metal surface like nothing i've ever seen.
Now to do all my other Lifelike Birkshires, Lifelike Y3s, Bachmann 2-6-6-2 Class H5s and many others.
One thing that I did other than the instructons said was while I had my transformer turned on 3/4 speed while the steamer was upside down in a foam cradle with drivers turning, I applyed a decent sized drop of BullFrog Snot to the end of a round pointed toothpick and while touching the driver face I used the sharp tip of the toothpick and lightly moved it back & forth applying a very even coat. Then turned the transformer on full throttle for about a minute then set the engine on the table untill dry.
Have one of my Bachmann H5s now drying to test pull with it. On all articulateds i'm applying BullFrog Snot to each set of back drivers.
This is something that everybody needs to have.
As far as the price, with what it does i'm glad I got it. Theres more than enough in the jar to do 100s of engines, and then some !
The "REAL" answer to all those non-pulling steamers as well as diesels.
Just a side note, make sure the edge of the bottle and inside the lid are clean before putting the lid on as this stuff sticks like glue.
Ernie

The legend of BULLFROG SNOT?

The following was written by someone with too much idle time, and not affiliated with BULLFROG SNOT ..........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In some folks opinion It may have been created in lab somewhere. But in my opinion, and as some folks believe, it was created as a specialized concoction from the sweat off a Bullfrog's, hum, lets just say his special appendages.

I believe it came from the fluids found on a planet called Galentous. For those of you who are truly seekers of the truth, Here it is. My fictional account of How I believe it all began.........

A LONG LONG TIME AGO IN A FAR AWAY GALAXY CALLED
FIAGALANTOS
----------------------------------------------------
Most species in the galaxy are male or female. However, some species, such as the Huttoos, could adopt the sexual characteristics of either gender, and were classified as HERMANSHUMITS. Other variable species, like the MYDING'ALINGS, changed gender periodically based on hormonal cycles.

Some alien races like the
INSECTCELEBERTOIDES had over 180 different sexes, presumably due to variations in compatible genitalia. Finally, some species, like the FILORFROGA, were asexual, with individuals being able to reproduce (could this be the ultimate self love?) on their own. The Fneasimians race also had a previously undocumented gender called Thrum who beat their own drum on a variable pitch basis. What exactly being a Thrum meant is still unknown.

The Fneasimians (singular, Fneasimian) were the species native to planet Galentous and adapted to the environment by building water-proof buildings made of the rich sticky liquids found on the planet. A peaceful species, the Fneasimians communicated through expressive hand and arm gestures, and referred to the Milky Way Cluster as "The Multitude."

During the Black Yevethia Crisis, the Fneasimians were threatened. But defended by the Old/New Republican Defense Force. After the crisis, the Fneasimians joined the Old/New Republican Defense Force.

During the Yuazdemocratic Vong War, The Leading Chief of State, Bosamask Feylia ignored the pleas of the defenseless Fneasimians.

Hopeless, the Fneasimians left the Old/New Republic Defense Force. And struck a deal with the Yuazdemocratic Peace Brigade in the hopes of avoiding the invaders' wrath.

They allowed the Brigade to mine the rich Liquid resources from Galentous and voluntarily disabled the Old/New Republic Defence Force communication network.

And in exchange the Yuazdemocratic Brigade utterly destroyed the Old/New Republic Defense Force. Then turned their interest to the various other species of Galentous. This betrayal of communications allowed the Fneasimians to avoid quick death at the hands of the Yuazdemocratic Peace Brigade. And instead they suffered a very slow and painful political end.

McBabeaCain and JoSerabath KmPailenox were two famous Fneasimians.

Galentous was the second planet in the MeRepUnot system on the WidekntDC Bypass, near the Koome Cluster. Its first contact with the galactic community was quite ancient, as at least one Fneasimians. was said to be Jedi , forty years before the First Great Yuazdemocratic Schism.

The planet's surface was covered in smooth, pale green gelatinous bodies with continental islands. During large storms, the surface of Galentous would roll and shift. Because Galentous' crust was severed into drifting tectonic plates, the islands were wracked with regular seismic vibrations known as BullgelFrogquakes. Like many other planets in the Farleftlax Sector, Galentous became rich with Insectcelebertoides deposits.

The gelatin was an organic substance which provided life-giving nutrients to all Yuazdemocratic life on the planet, including the indigenous sentient Fneasimians who became addicted to it.

And on the streets of all cities and towns it was known as "Bullfrog Snot."

Every four years the planet Galentous was also in the throws of a planet wide cycle which includes being directly struck or hit glancing blows from Polpotrocks That circle the universe on its courses. PolPotrocks that are direct hits are simply absorbed in the green gelatinous mass and do no damage. But do reappear on a four cycle.

The near misses dip into the green gelatinous mass scoop up a load of "Bullfrog Snot" and continue on it's circuit through the universe.

To protect their cities, the Fneasimians built reinforced structures and developed a transportation system built on balloons to avoid BullgelFrogquakes. sensitive roads. And Despite their ingenuity, the Fneasimians were so addicted to Bullfrog Snot they preferred the gelatin and only took to the landmasses to interact with outsiders.

Several of these PolPotrocks are known to have impacted the third rock, in a nine or 10 rock solar system. from a Sun in the Milky Way galaxy. The third Rock from the Sun was not protected and the Meteorites (as they are known) that hit this planet Earth over the eons have left tons and tons Insectcelebertoides deposits on the planet Earth.

The Earth’s American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) an aquatic frog and a member of the family Ranidae, or "true frogs", native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, lakes, where it is usually found along the water's edge. On warm rainy nights, bullfrogs along with many other amphibians, go overland and may be seen in numbers on country roads.

Bullfrogs have been widely adapted to organic substance, Insectcelebertoides, "BULLFROG SNOT" and it's smooth, pale green, almost white gelatinous fluid can be found on any and all American Bullfrogs.

In some folks opinion there is no need to pay a high price for "Bullfrog Snot." Instead you can go to your local water source on a warm rainy night, catch a bullfrog or two and scrape the fluid from his snout into a jar and you have your very own Bullfrog Snot. You can let the Bullfrog go or take him home and have frogs legs for dinner.

So in conclusion, and in my opinion, Bullfrogs Snot, or it's true name, "Insectcelebertoides" came to us from the heavens and a long forgotten planet named Galentous.

See ya
Ron