Pards, I went nuts--I'm still shaking.

[TurboOne]

Hey chip, it is awesome with the kids having so much fun. I saw a sponge bob train layout in O gauge, and he bought a bunch of the sponge bob toys so most of bikini bottom is there next to his track. Bet his kids are having fun.

I picked up the Bachmann DCC. got it for 85 including the loco. Even if it doesn't have all the features, its $ 85 including the loco. Lights work front and back, no sound, so a friend gave us a mrc 312. It makes really loud train sounds, and it works great with all engines. (It goes under the table) Did I mention I got Bachmann DCC for $85 with the loco.

My question for you is how are you going to get that moving tree working, and where do you get a three headed dog for the layout ?

Have fun, you sound like a great dad.

Tim

[Anonymous]

SpaceMouse--

Many decoder-equipped locomotives can still run on DC, so your daughter'may be able to run her 4-4-0 at home, after all. Can't hurt to try it.

I wouldn't worry too much about accuracy, either. If you and your children are having fun, that's all that matters.

Gary

[Anonymous]

Dont worry too much about holding the attention of the kids. The trains will do that especially now that each child seems to have a dedicated train that he or she "Owns" A layout that is able to run both trains on speperate paths may reduce the sibling.. "I wanna run my train now!" DCC will be the saving grace once you address your locos.

I knew nothing about DCC until a friend showed me how to run it with my new broadway steamer and within a few hours I was up and running rather well with the swithces and all on the Digitrax. Yes it is expensive that probably will be my purchase this upcoming christmas in lieu of motive power.

The Overton cars are out of production and very difficult for me to get. I have a specific set I am looking for but not found it yet for the right price. Perhaps Harriman cars or walthers "Trainline" passenger cars may fit your needs without being too expensive.

Your club layout will probably assist in holding the kid's interest as they may have literally a "Buzz" of activity to feed on. I recall visiting the BSME as a child and as long they had at least one train running there was something to watch I was fine.

You may feel like you are going "fast" and I think you may be.. but you sound like you are having a good time with the children being involved in the trains and that is good. I hope that they will learn from you how to take care of things and perhaps be trusted in bigger (read expensive) things in the future.

I dont know of anything on the forums that has to do with how slow or how fast one should get into the hobby. I think whatever fits is good. I like it slow. But that is me.

[dave9999]

Spacemouse,
I wasn't suggesting that you were ignorant, I was simply trying to help by passing on some info.
The Standard Hobby sale IS a good deal and I was not aware that you had finialise the sale with
the guy in Ohio. Also, when you said "Frugal" I imediately thought "used loco". (isn't Frugal an auction site?)
Anyway, good luck.
Dave

[SpaceMouse]

jdavid93225,

The club I just joined is running Digitrax. I'll play with that a while and see how I like it. I'll go DCC sometime between now and when the track is layed in my house. But that seems months away.

[Anonymous]

Spacemouse,
You mentioned cowboy action shooting in one of your earlier replies. Is that another hobby of yours? One of my friends at work as well as myself are into both CAS and Model Railroading. I was just wondering if we are not alone in this? Since cowboy action shooting has a lot to do with dressing up to play cowboy, why not do something similar on the railroad with the movie town as was suggested. I am beginning to like the idea myself, although I am pretty well set for the "transition" era, at least equipment wise. As for DCC, there are several "starter sets" that are relatively inexpensive (i.e. <$200). The one I recently ordered was the MRC Prodigy Advance which I picked up for about $180. I liked the features offered for the price, and decided that on any home layout I will build in the next 10 to 15 years, wireless would not be required (it's not available on the system I ordered). As I mentioned in another reply to another of your posts, you can start with the Bachmann system for under $100, but the features are very limited. When you're ready to get DCC for your home layout, don't forget to start asking around about the opinions of those on this board if you can't find the right info anywhere else.

-Joe

[Jetrock]

It is actually pretty common, and used to be more so--do a search for the "Gorre & Daphetid", probably the classic example of a "freelanced" railroad built by one of the masters, John Allen. (Note: The railroad name is pronounced "Gory & Defeated."

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock

SpaceMouse: Not sure if you have yet encountered the concept of "freelance" model railroads, where folks essentially make up an imaginary railroad in a real place, or a real railroad in an imaginary place, or an imaginary railroad in an imaginary place.

I figure, heck, if part of your layout makes a jump in the space-time continuum to Hogwarts, it would be perfectly appropriate to populate your layout with the big chunky later-era steam you enjoy and still have a town that, due to some sort of scheduling error, just happens to be stuck in 1885. Or maybe nobody has worked up the heart to break it to the folks down there in that remote li'l town that it's actually 1929 or whatever. Or consider the suggestion of a "movie town" where a production company shoots a Hopalong Cassidy type serial.

The Overtons would still be used on a backwater branch line as late as the 1920's, they'd just be rattly and ancient.

Don't bother decorating a 1920's 4-4-0 to resemble a Victorian engine. It just won't look right.

ROFLMAO!

Consider it? Neverheard of it, but on the other hand never thougth for a moment I was going to get it "right" for a while.

[Jetrock]

SpaceMouse: Not sure if you have yet encountered the concept of "freelance" model railroads, where folks essentially make up an imaginary railroad in a real place, or a real railroad in an imaginary place, or an imaginary railroad in an imaginary place.

I figure, heck, if part of your layout makes a jump in the space-time continuum to Hogwarts, it would be perfectly appropriate to populate your layout with the big chunky later-era steam you enjoy and still have a town that, due to some sort of scheduling error, just happens to be stuck in 1885. Or maybe nobody has worked up the heart to break it to the folks down there in that remote li'l town that it's actually 1929 or whatever. Or consider the suggestion of a "movie town" where a production company shoots a Hopalong Cassidy type serial.

The Overtons would still be used on a backwater branch line as late as the 1920's, they'd just be rattly and ancient.

Don't bother decorating a 1920's 4-4-0 to resemble a Victorian engine. It just won't look right.

[SpaceMouse]

Tom,

The next thing will not be DCC, it will be passenger cars. I need three sets right away. I need at least 3 for the BLI E-7 A, I just got. I need 3 or so 34' woodsided Overlands for my daughter's 4-4-0, and get this. She doesn't want her 4-8-4 to be seen pulling freight. She wants that to pull passenger cars as well.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage

Yep! It's in the online MR ad at the bottom of Standard Hobbies web site. Spacemouse! Man, you are an absolute hoot! [(-D][(-D][(-D] Hey, so you didn't get the rock bottom price on the diesel. Even at $153, you still did BETTER than the $202.95 you saw on that other site!

I'm not familiar with Frugal. Is this BLI diesel brand new, out of the box? Has it been run by this guy in Ohio and now he wants to sell it? Is this puppy just DCC-ready or fully outfitted? Are you now going to have to purchase a decoder to go with it?

...which only leads to...

Now that you've joined a MRR club that runs DCC...and you've purchased your first presumable "DCC-ready" (if not "DCC-equipped") BLI locomotive - with sound! (hence, your inquiry from an earlier post you made today)...are you now in the market for or will you need to purchase a DCC system or throttle in order to run your diesel on the club layout? Now, there's a whole new batch of questions for you to mull over in your head. Keep those posts coming...

Tom

Yeah, I bought both the locmotives. The guy I bought it from is a dealer. I now have two DCC trains and a just purchased Tech II analog controller. The Broadway is NIB with the Quantum sound. The 4-4-0 is a Premier that has has a DCC decoder installed so both are ready to go. I don't know what the situations are with the trottles, but they seemed to be all over the place in brackets about the club. I'm sure I can borrow for the time being.

I am going to start mulling over the DCC for the home though--but my pocket book has ahd enough shock for a while. I think I'm still going to move on the MDC Mogul 2-6-0 because it is still the onlything out ther I've found that truly fits my layout theme. I'll wait to convert it to DCC until the home DCC is in place. It will be "my" train, while my son has his Hogwart's Express and my daughter has her inherited 4-8-4.

Her first question when I showed her the picture of the 4-4-0 was "Does it make sound?" Somehow, I have to get sound in all these trains. They love the sound. (So do I [:D])

Chip

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

So, are you going to get that little AT&SF 4-4-0 in the picture? It looks like an oil tender to me, at least as far as I can tell. Just a thought--if you want to see how Hollywood 'back-dates' a locomotive for a movie, get ahold of a copy of the Charles Bronson film "Breakheart Pass" and see how they 'back-dated' a 1915-era 2-8-0 to the 1870's. It's a hoot. A stubby little diamond stack on a big, chunky steamer, but somehow it works--in an endearing sort of way. Actually, on my rr, which is set in California during WWII, I have a couple of 1880-type 2-8-0's that I built as MDC kits. Do I use them? Yah, I use them as 'movie' trains, for when Hollywood decides to come up into the Sierras and film a western. You might consider the MDC 2-6-0 as something like that, if you're really more interested in 20th-century steam. Hey, guy, we can ALWAYS find some excuse for running whatever we want! Go for it.
Tom

In Cowboy Action shooting, you can either dress up as authentic or you can dress-up as B-Hollywood. I know I am throwing this together. I'll upgrade it as I go along, but frankly my kids don't know or care if it is authentic. Heck, as long as Hogwarts is a part of the layout..

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: CHECK current ad in Model Rairoader.

I know that some things seem so obvious to you that I look like an idiot for not considering them. But I have never seen a copy of Model Railroader nor would even know where I can go to purchase one. And if I had clicked one the ad here the first time I saw it--the day after Christmas, when I decided to jump a hobby before my son would go back to watching Sponge Bob all day, it would be weeks before my first copy arrived. So even if I wanted to look in a Model Railroader...

Yesterday, when joined a local MRR club, they told me of a hobby shop about 40 miles from my house. Maybe they'll have a copy there. I'll look when I go.

But on the other hand, next week when I go to my first meeting as a member, I'll have a DCC with sound locomotive that fits in with their motif. I bought the cheapest one I could find--turns out my ignorance cost me $13. I can live with that.

My son who when with me to visit the MRR club spent the whole time running around the layout, watching the trains go into a tunnel , then running around to the other side of the wall, to watch it come out... This is the first time I have ever found somethng that my son was intersted in that I could particiate with him--ever.

So if you think I am jumping into this way too fast, I am. I moving just as fast as I can. I try every day to bring home something new to keep my son's interest while I build him--and me--a layout. First a 4x8 EZ track, with piece bought a little here and a little there off eBay.---My Tech II 1400 and my SPDT switches arrived yesterday--and each night we try the new things. I just have to keep his interest while I get a larger layout down with track down that will run his train.

Quite frankly there is much more involved than a measley $13.

Tonight, I brought my daughter to my computer tonight and showed her the IHC that I threw in on impulse. I told her that this would be her new locomotive for the layout we were building. I told her that we could paint it up fancy (like jetrock said they did back then) pretty much any way she wanted. I told her that she could not try it out our home set because of the DCC. I then gave her my Bachman 4-8-4 which I got as a throw-in on a lot of Atlas flex track and pieces on eBay. She and I spent the evening driving it around the nested loop in the basement. She has decide to take on the project of building Hogwarts castle.

She wants to take the 4-4-0 to the train club next week and try it out there.

Yeah, I spent $13 too much out of ignorance.

[tstage]

Yep! It's in the online MR ad at the bottom of Standard Hobbies web site. Spacemouse! Man, you are an absolute hoot! [(-D][(-D][(-D] Hey, so you didn't get the rock bottom price on the diesel. Even at $153, you still did BETTER than the $202.95 you saw on that other site!

I'm not familiar with Frugal. Is this BLI diesel brand new, out of the box? Has it been run by this guy in Ohio and now he wants to sell it? Is this puppy just DCC-ready or fully outfitted? Are you now going to have to purchase a decoder to go with it?

...which only leads to...

Now that you've joined a MRR club that runs DCC...and you've purchased your first presumable "DCC-ready" (if not "DCC-equipped") BLI locomotive - with sound! (hence, your inquiry from an earlier post you made today)...are you now in the market for or will you need to purchase a DCC system or throttle in order to run your diesel on the club layout? Now, there's a whole new batch of questions for you to mull over in your head. Keep those posts coming...

Tom

[twhite]

So, are you going to get that little AT&SF 4-4-0 in the picture? It looks like an oil tender to me, at least as far as I can tell. Just a thought--if you want to see how Hollywood 'back-dates' a locomotive for a movie, get ahold of a copy of the Charles Bronson film "Breakheart Pass" and see how they 'back-dated' a 1915-era 2-8-0 to the 1870's. It's a hoot. A stubby little diamond stack on a big, chunky steamer, but somehow it works--in an endearing sort of way. Actually, on my rr, which is set in California during WWII, I have a couple of 1880-type 2-8-0's that I built as MDC kits. Do I use them? Yah, I use them as 'movie' trains, for when Hollywood decides to come up into the Sierras and film a western. You might consider the MDC 2-6-0 as something like that, if you're really more interested in 20th-century steam. Hey, guy, we can ALWAYS find some excuse for running whatever we want! Go for it.
Tom

[Don Gibson]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

QUOTE: Originally posted by dave9999


Standard Hobby Supply has BLI E7A's for $139 as well as numerous other BLI
loco's for up to 50% off. Dave

I just looked at Standard Hobby Supply and I couldn't find any trains by Broadway listed.

CHECK current ad in Model Rairoader.

[dave9999]

If you scroll down on the site you will see a link for their Model Railroader ad. Click the link to
view the ad. Look under Broadway Limited and you will see:

E7A (2nd run)..... Special $139.99

Dave

[SpaceMouse]

I was noticing that the last update was on 9/4/04 or some-such. Having a small-one man e-business, I know how hard it is to keep updated. (Though his database is not where near as big.)

http://www.vitaconnect.com

[dave9999]

On the Standard Hobby site, look under "Limited Production Items". They list the Broadway items
there... although, for some reason, the prices do not reflect the sale prices. Dave

[dave9999]

I haven't checked their site, but I recieved an ad in the mail. It reads:

Super inventory reduction sale...
Get Incredible savings on 2003-2004 Broadway Limited Imports HO Products!!!
Up to 50% Off

It then list the locos on sale and their prices. (while supplies last)

You may want to call their toll free number and inquire if there is any remaining stock. Dave

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dave9999


Standard Hobby Supply has BLI E7A's for $139 as well as numerous other BLI
loco's for up to 50% off. Dave

I just looked at Standard Hobby Supply and I couldn't find any trains by Broadway listed.

[SpaceMouse]

You know Jetrock, I could hear you saying that in my head just after I pulled the trigger on it.

My son has the Hogwart's. I'm going to have the MDC 2-6-0. I wanted my daughter to have something to run. We'll paint it up fancy.

I remember you saying that IHC only makes post 1900 steamers to. Still maybe I can find a stack that works. Maybe I get a turntable set up and I can hide that 4-4-0 inside. Heh-heh.

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

I was just surfing my way around the web looking to see what was available on the web--trying to find a locomotive that I could set up and use at the train club. They have DCC and I heard the DCC sound for the first time, so I was looking for a good deal on a Broadway Diesel. So i tried Frugal. And there was a guy in Ohio that had a Broadway Pennsylvania BLI E-7 A--for $152.99. The best I'd seen was $202.95 and I would have had to pay tax on it as well as shipping.

Standard Hobby Supply has BLI E7A's for $139 as well as numerous other BLI
loco's for up to 50% off. Dave

[Jetrock]

That is the turn-of-the-century (as in twentieth) 4-4-0 you have pulled up pictures of before. As I mentioned, a tender is a tender and the only difference is whether the piece of plastic in the back is filled with fake plastic coal or fake plastic logs--it is the stack that is the difference (woodburners had longer, balloon-shaped stacks.)

A "coal car" is not the same as a tender. A tender is a car stuck behind a steam locomotive that carries mostly water, along with a fuel like wood, coal or oil. A "coal car" is typically a hopper car intended to carry coal as freight to be shipped, rather than as locomotive fuel.

Are you really, really sure that you can't bear to put in a 1920's line? It seems like you prefer the more modern steam anyhow. The way things are, it is unlikely you're going to find too much in an 1880's pattern that is DCC ready.

Or you could get this locomotive and just run it on your 1880's era line. Admittedly it would be a bit like building a World War II diorama and having Huey helicopters on it, but, heck, it's your layout.

[Don Gibson]

E Bay is not a good place for 'Newbies' to shop.

Some good dealers
Some not so good deals - higher than competition
Some getting rid of previous 'dogs'
'As Is' merchandise. If it doesn't run, can you fix it?

I find some modeler's bidding over market price, or high 'Buy Now' on new items. Discontinued items - yes.

[SpaceMouse]

I was just surfing my way around the web looking to see what was available on the web--trying to find a locomotive that I could set up and use at the train club. They have DCC and I heard the DCC sound for the first time, so I was looking for a good deal on a Broadway Diesel. So i tried Frugal. And there was a guy in Ohio that had a Broadway Pennsylvania BLI E-7 A--for $152.99. The best I'd seen was $202.95 and I would have had to pay tax on it as well as shipping.



Then as I was checking out, I looked at the seller's other auctions. And he had this cute little 4-4-0 from IHC. As most of you know, I'm looking to put in an 1880's N CA Forrest line. Anyway it was only $42.99 and get this it has a decoder installed. I can't tell from the picture, but it might be a coal car instead of a wood tender, but I have a plan for that.



I know you're thinking, "Don't that boy ever learn?"

Apparently not. [:D]