Don
LOL...this reminds me of another philosophical statement..."money can't buy you happiness". Maybe not, but it sure HELPS, and try existing WITHOUT it!!!
Every time I open a train catalog I spot something else I'd like to have for a gazillion different reasons. While I am limiting myself to Pennsy/NYC (right now), there are a TON of other road names that I think are really cool. Too many trains? I don't think so. That would be like having too much money
Dep
Virginian Railroad
dbaker48 wrote:Since everyone is satisfied with their current collection, I am expecting to see a huge inventory of stuff sitting and prices should start falling for clearance sales, and will I take advantage of that!
Don:
By selling all of your post war trains to me, you will be able to take advantage of even more of the modern bargains which seem to be calling your name.
Deputy wrote: Every time I open a train catalog I spot something else I'd like to have for a gazillion different reasons. While I am limiting myself to Pennsy/NYC (right now), there are a TON of other road names that I think are really cool. Too many trains? I don't think so. That would be like having too much money Dep
I went to the local hobby shop today and saw the new Lionel Hiawatha in person. It is I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. If I had the curve radius (O-54) to run it, I would buy it.
Frank53, I once witnessed a O scale Coal Fired Turbine for the C&O at a show and I think the price was around 2500 dollars. I dont know the minimum radius for such a monster but it was a beauty. I probably would have bought the durn thing and made it work.
I say more trains does not equal happiness.
I also say a chosen roster of engines and rolling stock for operation and a variety of situations across a range of eras like the late 1800's all the way to the modern era is the best way to happiness. I look at them as several trainsets instead of one large collection.
Run em if you got em what makes you happy.
What makes me happy in this hobby is having the skills and a little bit of time and what little funds Im allowed to spend to enjoy model trains.
If you happen to see my PRR J1 steam pulling a heavyweight past a modern modular city, I hope you enjoy it and not get all messed up about wrong era, wrong equiptment etc...
LOL.
Frank53 wrote: Don: By selling all of your post war trains to me, you will be able to take advantage of even more of the modern bargains which seem to be calling your name.
dbaker48 wrote:Frank, I would but they are old, probably dusty, and I wouldn't want to impose, I really do appreciate your compassion however, to assist me.
Don - it would really be ok - I know they are old and dusty, but it pains me to see a fellow train nut such as yourself weighted down with all that old junk. I will gladly lighten your load and consider it to be my good deed for the day. After all, I am an Eagle Scout.
Hope Santa sends a Hiawatha your way!
If Santa sends me a Hiawatha, I would either have to send it back or dismantle my layout and move it into a larger room to accommodate the cruves - which I think is a G-R-E-A-T idea.
The Hiawatha doesn't light my fire. But that MTH UP #80 Coal Turbine sure does!!! Unfortunately, I'm not that big a UP fan. But the loco is AWESOME!! And only $999.95
I'm happy and my inventory seems to increase daily. I've got to get back on the wagon. Dennis W, James A and I are members of TTBA. We all have fallen off the wagon. [TTBA= Toy Trains Buyers Anonymous].
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Personaly, i have a feeling that if i had an all year layout i may feel the same way. I have some feeling that i may, at one point loose intrest in it.
But as for buying new locos, sure, it makes me happy, but after a few months, that loco is not new anymore, and u feel u need another.
For me, i only setup for Christmas, and i cant get enough of my trains in that one month. I make one major purchase a year before Xmas, and ill tell you, even the next year last years purchase still feels brand new, cause i only used it for a month, and i havent seen it in 11 months.
I guess for some people , there can be too much of a good thing..... But for others, such as the many members on this board, there is no such thing as too much train time :)
Definitely NOT. Any professional will tell you this. In fact, if you have more than 1 GG1 , 1 Hudson (of any manufacturer), 3 Plasticville kits, and 40 feet of any type of 3 rail track you are in great risk of becoming a problem to society. But you can save yourself. Just pack up those excess locos, rolling stock, kits, power supplies and miscellaneous equipment and ship them to me, Marxalot, aka Jim, in the Midwest. Contact me via e-mail and we can work out the details. I may be willing to share in the shipping costs! No, no, you do not have to say thanks, it is all part of my crusade to save people from the excesses of their hobby...... as long as their hobby is trains.........
Now seriously....... while I truly enjoy my trains of today I think those memories of my youth and trains are better. Great thing to share any train time with your family members. You mothers and fathers and uncles and aunts are making memories that will be highly regarded by someone younger.
Hi, I'm Kurt and I have a problem...I just recently started down this slippery slope (June of this year)...
I dusted off the Lionel 224, and the Pennsy tinplate caboose, that my father and I purchased when I was 12, Im now 41 with a 2-year old, and second due in January. I've been purchasing track, and rolling stock over the last few months, all early post war (before 1950) and acquiring the 'stuff' is exciting, and all but I have only been able to run the trains on the Kitchen table, as I am in the process of completing the Christmas layout on benchwork. I don't even look at new stuff..$80 for a Christmas present dump car????I'll wrap my own presents, and put them in a gondola, and whala! I'll even add a coal load (charcoal filter carbon) for the bad kids!
My enjoyment has come from my daughter's excitement. TRAINS, TRAINS! she yells as I pull track and trains out of the closets, mostly to work on them or assemble track. I have a few collectable pieces, but I have been purchasing more to play with..so SHE can play with them...(GASP..early post war is not for playing! HEATHEN) If I can spend $10-20 on a car it's a plaything gondolas are great! under $10. Try and buy anything Thomas for that! I'll equip the ZW with a rheostat and she can run this stuff all day, or at least until she breaks off the throttle lever.. FULL..OFF...FULL...OFF.. she doesn't get the cause and effect yet...but she will.. and she loves the whistle, toot-toot.
Kurt
kpolak wrote: My enjoyment has come from my daughter's excitement. TRAINS, TRAINS! she yells as I pull track and trains out of the closets, mostly to work on them or assemble track. I have a few collectable pieces, but I have been purchasing more to play with..so SHE can play with them...
My enjoyment has come from my daughter's excitement. TRAINS, TRAINS! she yells as I pull track and trains out of the closets, mostly to work on them or assemble track. I have a few collectable pieces, but I have been purchasing more to play with..so SHE can play with them...
EXACTLY! My 'daughter' (isn't but might as well be) has the same reaction. Almost every day she comes into my bedroom and says "Trains, Mike?" in a hopeful voice.
Also she'll sit still for at least half an hour and thats good for a 4 year old, just watching me working on making or repairing something. Its such a good hobby for teaching kids without them realising it. My wife said "the other day I got the trains down for her while you were out and I couldnt figure out the way it went together but she taught me! That stuff is complicated and she's remembered everything you've told her, its like hearing you explain it."
That, my friends, is happiness knowing that you've actually gotten through. No matter how her life goes she'll remember the simple geometry lessons - start with a circle, break it into two semi-circles, put a straight in on each side, now its an oval...
Well, you know.
Well I have no kids. I'M the KID
I like buying the new stuff as well as some of the old. The advancements made by Lionel and MTH are amazing. The "immersion effect" has increased dramatically since the old days, especially with TMCC and DCS. I know some folks don't like the new stuff...that's okay. There's room for EVERYONE in this hobby. I'm not sure which is more fun...building the layouts, running the trains, or BUYING them and seeing them go together into a workable, believeable consist.
palallin wrote:I don't know about *more* trains, but some people seem to be convinced that that *more* COMPLICATED trains equate to more happiness. some folks are satidfied by nothing less than all the features that can be miniaturized and stuffed into them. ONLY the latest will do, with all the "bells and whistles" (pun intended). Anything else is passe', sorry, unacceptable, even laughable. So soon as some new feature is introduced, some of these folks will sell off whatever they currently have in order to maintain the cutting edge. That this trend parallels the computer field is no accident: featuritis seems to afflict many aspects of current consumer thinking.
LOL...still driving that Model T Ford are we ? I won't sell off the older stuff, but I certainly will do an upgrade with new featrues if at all possible. If I have an old Lionel 681 loco, I'll happily run a Trainsounds boxcar behind it to make it seem more realistic. Modern toy trains are complex only when compared to OLD toy trains. What they are now installing in Lionel and MTH has been around for a LONG time and been used by HO for many years. More features means you are getting more for your money and adding to your enjoyment. I doubt very much that people would still be buying toy trains if they were identical to the whistle/horn-only trains of the early 50s. Of course, for palallin, there is still the good ol' WINDUP train
Deputy wrote: LOL...still driving that Model T Ford are we ? I won't sell off the older stuff, but I certainly will do an upgrade with new featrues if at all possible. If I have an old Lionel 681 loco, I'll happily run a Trainsounds boxcar behind it to make it seem more realistic. Modern toy trains are complex only when compared to OLD toy trains. What they are now installing in Lionel and MTH has been around for a LONG time and been used by HO for many years. More features means you are getting more for your money and adding to your enjoyment. I doubt very much that people would still be buying toy trains if they were identical to the whistle/horn-only trains of the early 50s. Of course, for palallin, there is still the good ol' WINDUP train Dep
*sigh*
'69 Chevy 4x4 pickup, actually, and, yes, I am not only still driving it, I prefer it to anything else.
More features do not necessarily add to the enjoyment if they are frustrating to use and prone to failure. You vastly overestimate to market for the new features. By far, most of the trains in use are nearly identical to the '50s trains. In fact, huge numbers of them ARE the '50s trains. And MANY new trains sold fit into that category, too. You seem to believe that I am some sort of oddity in the hobby (and thus an easy mark for your sarcasm), but the numbers suggest that I am rather in the majority. (I refer you to any number of brianel027's posts for further reference.)
My point is that MANY (maybe even MOST) people don't need the latest gimcracks in order to enjoy the trains. Less really can be More in this context as well. Derision directed at those whose interests don't match you're own helps the hobby not one whit.
Hmmm...someone needs to reduce his sensitivity levels. I was kidding...not deriding. And the fact that many folks USE "stripped down" toy trains without all the "bells and whistles" (so to speak) is not really conclusive. It may also mean that many folks CAN'T AFFORD strate-of-the-art trains. That's a major difference. This can especially be true of those that are married and have families and large bills every month. SOMEONE is buying those supernice loaded-with-options trains, or MTH and Lionel's premium stuff wouldn't be so difficult to obtain. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that many or most folks would get the latest options IF they could afford them. Then again, we live in an instant gratification society and I'm sure it extends to toy trains. People gotta have one NOW, and if they can't afford a loaded train, they'll settle for a stripped down version.
Dep...with a TMCC control in one hand and a DCS in the other
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