Santa got me coal...
...hoppers!
Well, technically I bought them for myself, but I'll call it a holiday gift. Decided I wanted a PC (and maybe early Conrail) coal train, so went out looking for budget 3- and 4-bay hoppers. Found a nice deal on some PRR H21s on eBay, and as I mentioned in another post, found a 6-pack of Stewarts in NYC and a couple of Bowsers for cheap at my LHS.
So, within a few weeks of starting, I'm up to 18 cars, and that's without hitting a single train show or my top-secret model-train honey hole in Chicago. On our club, I probably need 30 to 35 cars to really make it look convincing, so I'm well on my way. Thanks, Santa and Harry!
Aaron
With the money my kids gave me I ordered the workbench I need for the basement from Amazon. Not sure what I am doing with the rest. Maybe a couple of Tsunami 2 decoders for some DC locos I have.
Good Luck, Morpar
I got nothing, which is tradition in our family. Only children get presents.
This is a good system for us. I only had to buy presents for about 15 people this year.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Coal
For my steam locomotives, of course
I got a new tablet computer. The old one is old and I think the big software companies have all gone along with the practice of unnecessarily upgrades until the memory is exhausted and we need another computer. So, the old one now does the old Blue Screen of Death thing.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Very disappointing.
Only really desired one thing.
Woke up this morning with one of these on my head:
Obviously Santa and I have had a failure to communicate.
You've never heard of the Christmas Bunny? (Had my landlady's grandsons VERY confused when I told them about the Christmas Bunny and that reindeer bring candy at Easter. Yes, I'm evil)
Got some goodies. My wife picked me up a couple of kits a Proto tank car kit a Gore and Dapheted boxcar. She also got me a couple of pictures for the train room. Then my eldest got me a great railway journeys DVD and a couple of vintage framed train prints. Plus I got a couple of tools.
Cool day Jim
BEAUSABRE You've never heard of the Christmas Bunny? (Had my landlady's grandsons VERY confused when I told them about the Christmas Bunny and that reindeer bring candy at Easter. Yes, I'm evil)
No, not the Xmas bunny. I wanted hair.
SeeYou190 I got nothing, which is tradition in our family. Only children get presents. This is a good system for us. I only had to buy presents for about 15 people this year. -Kevin
My wife, in-laws and children do not buy me trains for Christmas or any other time. Those toys I end up buying myself.
This year, a couple days before Christmas, my latest acquisition arrived: one BLI postwar (Indian Red) ATSF E1a #8.
The E1a looks great and lights great, but the BLI Paragon 4 sound and dcc electronics are both absolutely terrible and need to go. The speaker vibrates so much and produces so much static that it literally drowns out the sound. To get rid of the static I have to set CV133 down to 32 or less, and which point why have any sound at all? I have 3 different E1a units and they are all the same. Changing accel/decel CV settings does not really help them run that smoothly.
The Paragon 3 E6 sounds better than the Paragon 4 units.
BLI needs to give up on their own decoders and just use Loksound or really anything else.
I love the appearance of the engines and am planning on keeping them, but their electronics and sound have to be the worst in the entire industry.
John
Got a new Dremel Battery Motor Tool, the batteries on my old one gave up the ghost and they are no longer available. Also got some new paint jars for spraying and wire cutters. Got a couple of new books, the ACF Boxcar History 1960-1982 and the railroads around Detroit. Non-Railroad wise the book "Shattered Sword" the story of Midway taken from Japanese records and shows an entirely different aspect of what we "learned" from history. It is now taken as the diffentive take on the Battle of Midway.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
dti406 Non-Railroad wise the book "Shattered Sword" the story of Midway taken from Japanese records and shows an entirely different aspect of what we "learned" from history. It is now taken as the diffentive take on the Battle of Midway. Rick Jesionowski
Non-Railroad wise the book "Shattered Sword" the story of Midway taken from Japanese records and shows an entirely different aspect of what we "learned" from history. It is now taken as the diffentive take on the Battle of Midway.
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
"Men Who Loved Trains" isn't for anyone with a weak stomach, it's about the PC bankruptcy
Don't discard your old computer, down load Linux! Surprise yourself!
Linux has a much smaller footprint than bloted windows and will bring many an old computer back to life...check out the Mint distribution, it's free and what have you got to lose?
My son gifted me a nicely framed print of his recent artwork. Was thinking about hanging the print near the layout, but too slow on the draw, my wife has already commandeered it for the living room. Regards, Peter
Our Christmas was delayed because the weather made it unsafe for our kids to travel from Barrie. We didn't get to open our presents until today. Dianne had been telling me that she bought me something for my model trains for days but gave no hint as to what it was.
It turned out to be a 'grabber'. That's a pole with a pair of jaws on one end and a pistol grip and trigger on the other. It's about 3' long. It works quite well. It even has a magnet built in to the business end.
I think it will come in very handy. Numerous times when I have been working on the layout I had to get up and walk to the opposite side of the layout to retrieve a tool or a bottle of glue. My back and legs don't like standing up.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I am very interested in accurate tellings of history.
My uncle worked for Mellon Bank. He and his wife had a very poor view of particularly the Pennsylvania Railroad management side of Penn Central, and the way in which they raped the railroad, only interested in getting a good retirement for themselves. They said the history would eventually come out.
I am also very concerned about the revisionist history that is being taught in America today, and its high degree of inaccuracy.
Respectfully submitted--
BEAUSABRE "Men Who Loved Trains" isn't for anyone with a weak stomach, it's about the PC bankruptcy
Funny this should come up... I'm about 2/3 of the way through The Wreck of the Penn Central, which was written pretty soon after the bankruptcy. No Way to Run a Railroad (written in the early 80s, I believe) is up next. Both available used and pretty cheap.
I'm terrible when it comes to matters financial, but it seems to me that there were folks in charge who simply didn't consider that the railroad could be profitable. They pursued other avenues using RR money that could make them profitable, but meanwhile the railroad was falling apart -- the operation types (Perlman) and the financial types (Bevan, Saunders) were on two different planets, and no one was willing to knock their heads together. Also, and not meaning to get political here (and for the record, I'm not much of a libertarian), the ICC certainly seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help -- and of course there's the fact that the trucking and aircraft industry were effectively subsidied by the gov't (taxpayer-funded roads and airways infrastructure) while the railroads were on their own.
Certainly it didn't seem to help much that Penphil, Bevan's "private invesetment club", seemed to be using the gravitational force of Penn Central's investments, which he oversaw, to make money for himself and his friends. Holy insider trading, Batman.
Of course, I'm just getting to the chapter about what happened when Perlman was ousted and Gorman came in, so I reserve the right to change my opinion! :)