Big Model Trains: Clickety Clack Amtrak

I thought I would do something a little different in this model train video. Normally, I run my model trains with the built-in digital sound effects turned on. Each locomotive has a speaker that produces realistic train sound effects... including diesel engine noises, horns, and bells. This time around, I decided to leave the sound effects turned off on all the trains so that we could just enjoy the clickety clack sounds of the trains going down the tracks. It's a sound I actually enjoy listening to, and I thought you might, too. There's something so genuine about the sound the wheels make as they roll over each segment of track. This is actually the way I often run the trains when I'm just "playing" with them and not making a video. The engine and horn sound effects get a little annoying over time. Sometimes I just like to hear the clickety clack! A few notes about things you might notice at certain points in the video: At the :30 point (and again at several points later) notice that I had some of the trains in the garage circling around our luggage. No cruises for the next few months... so the luggage gets to rest for a while. Also, notice all the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) stacked up in my garage and also under a portion of the tracks. That's all leftover after the demolition of our old Puppy Palace from when we were fostering puppies for our local humane society. We're not going to be fostering any more puppies at this house, so I dismantled the Puppy Palace and saved all the wood for future projects. At the :45 point you might notice the custom-made door screen I built a long time ago to use in situations like this where the trains are going through the front door. It helps keep the bugs out of the house. At the 1:00 point you can see a little yellow locomotive running in that room. It's the Piko Clean Machine... a little battery powered track cleaning locomotive. I wanted to have a train running in a small loop in that room, and this little battery powered locomotive saved me from having to provide power to that section of tracks. At the 1:20 point (and again later) you can see some oranges almost ready for harvest from my orange bush. I love growing my own oranges here at our home in California! The fresh juice is really great at breakfast. Speaking of the garden... notice what a lovely day it was. February in California, and we had all the doors of the house open for trains to run in and out. Can you do that in February where you live? This definitely ends when we move up to our new home in Washington state, later this year! At the 2:25 point notice the loud CLUNK noise. You'll hear this each time the locomotive hits that particular spot on the track. I didn't realize until I watch the video back that this was happening. There was a very tiny gap between two sections of track right there. Really tiny... like maybe 1/16 of an inch, or less. But it was just enough to make a sharp CLUNK every time the wheels of the locomotive hit that little gap. There was also another tiny gap in the tracks in the hallway. You can hear a bit of a clunk when the locomotive hits it at the 2:54 point. That one was not as loud since the camera and microphone were not physically attached to the locomotive at that point. Nice closeup of the little guy in the locomotive, starting at the 3:40 point. I hope you enjoy the video! If you do, please click the thumbs up button. That tells YouTube's algorithm that this is a good video that they should recommend to other people. If you'd like to interact with me on social media, join my Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/831976203803181/

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