Congratulations Fife on your new little angel!
Same me, different spelling!
Congratulations Fife!
Slow on The North Bluff and dry as toast. Farmers are freaking out at this point. We spent 2 hours at the money manager today,,why do they want me to keep gaining money and never let me spend it? They act like I am going to be around another 30 years. Not! As long as the wifey is covered the kids can get the leftovers. I am all for letting my kids earn their own.
Later,
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
cute as a button. Congratulation again
Oh, he's adorable!
(Grandmom looks pretty good too!)
Here's Grandmom and the new grandson...
Sadly I have stop buying O gauge trains, I still have more than I will probably ever run. I have been buying off of eBay when I do, but I
I'm usually careful when I do. I feel basically safe doing so as ebay has buyers back. I have yet seen where ebay has backed a seller. (Which is sad as been burnt a couple times by bad buyers but ebay believes them before they believe you it's rare I sell on ebay anymore so I really don't have a good way to sell items) Because of my PTSD shows are out for me, crowds and I do not mix.
Anyway my latest purchase is 4 standard gauge passenger cars production sample 418, 419, 431, & 490 in Mojave. This is from a seller I have bought from a few times and is actually a model railroad hobby shop out in CA. So I feel safe doing so and normally his asking price is not out of line on stuff. These are the 18" cars again but MTH version remakes of prewar cars.
I normally would not been able to buy 2 of the prewar cars of these for what I paid for these. So I'm happy.
Fife, I've done the same sometimes... can work out nicely.
Wayne, as far as I understand it's extremely rare to find a 2332 with intact, complete 'cat whiskers'- the rubber stamping simply wears off from handling. My impression was the GG-1 in the lot is pretty good as far as they go, relatively little worn away. I think later models had somewhat more durable lettering.
My plan right now (though it may change) is to keep the 2332, the passenger cars, and the N5c, and to part with the rest. The F3s are getting a full service before they go, and everything is getting a good dusting. But again... I don't even have the stuff yet. It's a bit early to have it all planned out.
As far as buying... Wayne, I imagine your guy is great, but probably upper end if not higher than my budget. I buy inexpensive projects and fix them up- for me, the ideal is always going to be junk bins and cardboard boxes going for cheap. I complain about prices, but really what I mean is "it's tough to find a box of trains fresh out of someone's garage, goin for cheap". Sometimes frustrating, but in the end, it makes it all the more thrilling when I do score a find. And for me, a lot of the pleasure is in getting to work on the stuff. It's not half as fun if stuff already works flawlessly when I buy it! But by that token, I expect to buy stuff that doesn't work, at "train that doesn't work" prices.
-Ellie
Ellie, if that GG1 cleans up (Carefully!) and if it's still a good runner or can be made to be it's worth close to the $180 you paid for the whole lot. You can flip all the other things you don't need and still make a tidy profit if they clean up as well.
I wouldn't be put off by the wear on the "cats whisker" striping on the G, the striping wasn't all that durable on the post-wars and typically was the first thing to go if the engine saw a lot of use.
I've always thought the GG1 was one cool-lookin' engine, I remember seeing the Conrail ones in the 1970s, but never had the urge to own one. Maybe one of these days, and even then it might be a good used Williams or K-Line example, if I can "steal" it!
I DO know someone who sells on eBay, he's 100% reliable and stands behind what he sells. Since he's local here I've bought things from him at our club shows and don't bother with his eBay site. His prices are VERY reasonable but he doesn't give the stuff away, if you know what I mean. His sources are usually collections that come his way by TCA referrals or word of mouth. If you're interested e-mail me and I'll give you his information.
He does other shows besides our own but the furthest north he's gone (to my knowledge) is the TCA York show and the Kutztown PA "Flash Train Meet" so he's not likely to come up to Massachusetts.
Mornin' guys and gals. Occasional rain and 60's in the Potomac Highlands. Spent yesterday at the Chapter caboose up at the WM Station, in Cumberland. If you see CRR 1072's doors open on VR, it will be me sanding away inside. Hope to finish project by next Thursday.
Ellie - Nice collection. I use ebay like the old "Wish Book", when I was a Fifeling. It also makes it easy for my kids to shop for Dad's Day.
Wayne, eBay definitely isn't the best place for buying trains. In my experience, train shows are the best place to buy trains. eBay prices are usually ridiculous, and you never know if a seller knows how to safely pack up the stuff you're buying. I don't have a ton of local shows, and flea market prices (when I've been to them) aren't always much better, sometimes much worse than what I might be able to find at a show.
Still... sometimes I get the 'itch' to get another train, and it's all too easy to pull up a web page and start scrolling.
I'd have problems with buying too much stuff, if I weren't so picky about what I'll buy. I have some strong ideas about how much is too much, and often my limits mean there's nothing much out there I'd care to buy. Maybe I still buy too much stuff, but it's hardly worse than how much I spend at a show.
Definitely going to be a modest profit if I turn one at all. I have to sell something... the question is, which do I need less- a pair of 2600 series heavyweights, or a second pair of Santa Fe F3s? Currently I'm leaning towards the latter, but I haven't even tasted the stuff yet. It's far too early to say what'll come next. All I know is if the pictures can be trusted, the paint on those 2600s look pretty damn good... and the GG-1 has most of it's stripes. At least the side they show!
smokey1 I wish I had a local show to go to.
I wish I had a local show to go to.
I'm not sure where you live Smokey (or if you've mentioned it I've fogotten) but here's two reliable sources for train shows. Mind you most of these are club-sponsored shows, the bigger shows like Greenbergs or "The Great American Train Show" may not be listed as they advertise in other places.
Never pass up a club-sponsored show, you never know what you'll find.
https://railfan.com/timetable/
https://www.railserve.com/events/
That sounds like a pretty good haul for $180 Ellie!
Keep this up and it might be worth your while to rent a table at a local train show and see if you can turn a profit on some of the things you're getting and working on.
A modest profit maybe, but it's always handy to have cash you can turn into something else.
(I don't go anywhere near e-bay myself, I hold off until we've got a show. I don't need new stuff THAT badly and besides I want to see it before I put the cash down.)
Made the mistake to poke around eBay for a few days. I ended up spying a lot that looked rather tempting. It was an auction with a 'make an offer', and a little negotiating later I was shocked to find that my upper limit was the right price in the end.
I'm not planning to keep all of it, but there's a number of treasures in it- a Santa Fe F3 A-A (looks like a 2333 or 2343), a 2332 GG-1 (definitely going to be a keeper), two 'madison' heavyweights that look to be in pretty good shape, and an aluminum coach. The rest was some misc '40s freight cars, everything looked like it was fairly light on the play wear, just dusty. Hope everything is packed well.All told I think I'm a bit over $180, but I figure I'll overhaul everything and part with as much as I can bear to let go, to make back some of the cost.
Life is seldom dull now everybody's back from college. Life's been relatively good with plenty of train repair work coming my way, mostly from one customer. It's nice to have a little disposable income... though perhaps next time I should learn to keep off of eBay as soon as I have a little spare change to play with!
Mornin' guys and gals. Good soaking rain along the Allegheny front range. Middle Princess, baby, and fam are all back home. He's little, but cute. We shall keep him. Will post a pic when I get to my PC. Big brother was very loving to the new kid in town. Had us all in tears.
sunny and 72* now.
I realign inside track at far end as it seemed to spread out at the far end, Well I guess I would to when just about every piece was either 1/8" to 3/8" between the ends of the rails. That end was not screwed down as at present this is temp as I want to put ceiling tile down, and then it will become permanent at that point, will paint the ceiling tile green, then lay track temporary and paint gray under where the track will go. Out side track is connected but needs screwing down some so I can run trains. get both of these screwed down and I will be running two again at once. Next is putting down a temporary third loop and see how it fits before doing any more. I'll put it down with screws after I get the table is completed.
Mornin' guys and gals. Sunny & 60 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. "TEAM DEUCE" (Wifey, Alexis and I) have been working non-stop to get Middle Princess castle ready. They should be home with baby today, or tomorrow. She got released on Friday, but they stayed with baby, who is doing fine, but needs to gain a little weight. I suggested lead sinkers in his Huggies. Hey, if it works in those bass fishing tournaments...
Now my attention has turned to get the chapter caboose interior painted. Got to get the walls cleaned and prepped, which will be a big job in itself. Hope to have it all done by next Wednesday. Will be there today, but can't work on it and have it open to public at the same time.
Northwoods - Normally, 4 minutes away. However, WVU In Morgantown is 90 minutes. Oldest Princess lives over 2 hours away.
smokey1Can smell the smoke but no haze from it yet anyway that I can tell.
There's maybe a slight haze from Canadian fire smoke here, hard to tell, but no smell at all. Here in Virginia we're probably too far south to be really affected.
I got an e-mail from a Canadian friend a little while ago, he's OK, but considering the fires are from the Pacific to the Atlantic which is very unusual he's suspecting they might have been deliberately started. Serial arsonist? Who knows? He DOES say if a fire starts in the wilderness it often goes undetected for quite a while. Anyway, I'm waiting for an update.
Fife I already sent my grand nephew a prewar standard gauge passenger set, track and a ZW. My luck his sister likes trains as does his mother. I sent in original boxes inside the set box a #8, 337, & 338
Congratulations to your family fife on the new addition. Its good to hear that mom and baby are both doing well. Those early arrivals can be worrisome. Our newest will be one month old already on the 10th. She is thriving. How far away are you from your daughter and her family?
Have a great day,
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
All in good time, Smokey1. I've learned to wait until I see what interests the boys first, then tailor acquisitions accordingly. Oldest grandson likes military, next grandson digs construction stuff, etc...
Congrats, now go buy him a train set
Leo (aka "Danny") said, "I'm outta here!" last night (4 weeks early). Both he and Middle Princess doin' fine. Wifey and I were nearing Baltimore, yesterday morning, to attend the grandsons' "graduation", when we got the news. So it was a bit of a crazy, exciting, day.
I finally got the brick masons and roofing crew to show up this week.
The masons started on Monday. As of quitting time today, they has put together the cut stone wainscotting, re-set the stone window sill, the stone lintels over the window and front entry door, and had completed replacing all but about 20 feet of the top 3 courses. They will get that up 1st thing tomorrow morning, finishing the restoration of the ,asomery on the front of the house. Next in line will be replacing the two broken stone Intels over the dining room windows.
The roofers installed the membrane roofing system on the new roof I built on the 10x30 foot front porch today.
Great progress on a project that has been dragging on for a couple of years. Tough to get good contractors to work on small projects. I'm still waiting for the concrete contractor who poured the new porch slab to come back and pour the front porch steps.
Train news. Not much, but I will be accepting an invitation to display our portable layout at local train show next November.
Morning all.
71* going to 82*. Can smell the smoke but no haze from it yet anyway that I can tell.
No news train wise really, decided to put the other set of prewar passenger cars under the table for now. Decide later what to do with them.
Happy hump day all.
Otherwise not much going on here, Talk to you all later.
Mornin' guys and gals. Cool and very dry in the Potomac Highlands. We spent yesterday at prego Princess's home. Wifey babysitting, and sweeping out garage, FifePops painting trim and doors in new nursery. I need to go back there today and paint the closet that I patched. Daddy-daughter dinner tonight.
64* going to 86 today.
Had a couple of DR appointments at the V.A. yesterday so by time got home I was tuckered out. It's about 2 hours each way because of construction, other wise around an hour and a half.
70+ miles each way and the truck said I got 19.3 miles per gallon on the trip, so to me a full size pick-up with 4 wheel drive, that is pretty good milage.
Hope you all have a good day, yak at you all later
fifedogYou can't expect to do the water park + main park in the same day.
That makes me think of the Durango & Silverton RR out in Colorado, you need two days, or at least a day-and-a-half to get the most out of it. One day for the train ride, one half-day at least for the museum. Both are well worth it but if you take the train ride you'll miss the museum, if you do the museum you'll miss the train ride. And if you're ever in Colorado make the time to see the D&S, you'll love it!
Mornin' guys and gals. Misting and 60 along the Patterson Creek cutoff. Not wet enough for the posies, so I still had to water them. By the way FifeMax acted last night, and the bird feeder disturbed, me thinks we had a bear visit. Will volunteer at the caboose this AM, then maybe head up the mountain to fish, and visit with my nephew. Will DVR race to watch later.
anjdevil - Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg more so, are right up your alley. You can spend as much, or as little, as you choose. Kelly was amazed at how much cash we returned with. DollyWood was gorgeous, and the merch inside was reasonable. You can't expect to do the water park + main park in the same day.
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