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OK here is take 2 in responding to various people's comments. I was working on this yesterday. and was almost done when I punched the wrong key and wiped everything out. Maybe I will get it posted this go around. [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by dave9999 James, In a sense your youth is being wasted. In your profile you say you were born in 1982... 24 years old. You should be hanging out with the fellas and chasing girls. Even more, you should be focused on improving your finacial situation. It's really none of my business, but you aired your problems and I am just trying to help like everyone else. Also, you may be young, but you are not a kid. This is the time in your life that will reflect on the rest of your life. Building social skills as well as occupational skills are more important right now than building a layout and being concerned with the prices at your LHS. My two cents... for what it's worth. Good luck to you. Dave [/quote] Back when I started college, There were quite a few "fellas" that I used to hang out with and pal around with. We would take weekend road trips, get together at this joint called Sanford's on Friday nights. and have a merry ole time so to speak. Then one by one each of my freinds found a special someone, and got married. And now I am odd man out. And there is no interest in all of us getting together with their wives and making it a married couples thing. So here I sit all alone on a saturday because my freinds are to busy getting laid by their georgouse wives to want to hang out with their freinds. However I do feel my time is about due. Lately I have managed capture the affections of this quite well off british gal, and she has it head over heels in for me. She is quite a nice lady and I enjoy her company. and I hope we work out. I just feel embarrassed because her place is so elegently furnished I fear treading on the carpet. While my apartment, while kept clean and orderly, is small cramped, and furnashed with garage sale throw aways. She keeps babbling on about how she wants to pack me and my trains up and take me back to england with her. While that thought does excite me a bit. I also find it quite scarey at the same time. I don't even want to know what it will cost to ship all of my trains over to england. Its probably going to be more money spent on me for me than I make in a year and I just feel very akward about it. [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3 That's unfortunate, but that has nothing to do with using your credit card. ID theft can happen any time, any place, with or without using credit cards. Even if you don't have any credit cards at all, if they steal your ID, they can simply order them and trash your credit rating anyways. Not that I blame you for being super cautious with your personal info, but using a credit card to a reputable online shop is not that risky...no more than using a credit card at your LHS, anyways.[/quote] Still why take that chance? Even when I am at my LHS I pay cash. I would love to get rid of my checking account. And once the items I have reserved at Trainworld that I ordered on my card back when I was still in college finally show up. Im paying the statement off and closing it. (I had to use my card as it was the only way these items would be reserved) Once its closed I can stop wigging out. [quote]QUOTE: This is where your own personal "good enough" factor kicks in. There are many people out there that don't care about detail or accuracy (most of these people are in S and O scale - tinplaters). There are also many people out there that do care about accuracy and detail, and are willing to pay more for it. It's no big deal to me that you don't "get it", but it's hard to explain why it's important to me. It's like trying to describe color to a blind man (not that you're blind, just a figure of speech). I guess it's because I'm trying to reproduce something that really existed on a smaller scale. I have lots of books on the subject, have hundreds of magazines, and therefore I know what stuff is supposed to look like. When I see something that isn't right, I'm thinking "That's not a (blank), it's just a poorly done model", instead of "Wow, that looks just like a (blank)." Someday, when all is perfect in the world, I want pictures of my layout to look just like pictures of the real thing...that an ariel shot of a real location from 1956 would look just like my layout. That's what I want, it's what I'm aiming for. Anything that gets me closer to that goal is "good" for me. Anything that takes me farther away is "bad" for me. Wide body GP shells are therefore not "good"...for me. YMMV.[/quote] I applaud your efforts in trying to maintain historical accuracy and trying to portray something as it actually was. However I find for me that prototype modeling is filled with to many compromises to make me happy. Granted I could probably really get into making hyper accurate models of GN (Because thats the RR i am modeling)GP7s, SD45s, SD9s, GP 9s. U-33Cs, GP35s, GP30s, and the list goes on and they would be technicly correct in every possible aspect. However when it comes to recreating actual locations on my layout. I can never seem to find something that I am happy with. What I come up with is iether to short to look right. mising to many important scene elements, or somehow so horribly compromised it ends up looking nothing like what the original prototype scene did. For that reason have gone to portraying the 'theme" of what ever railroad I am trying to portray. That process has taken me on an odessy that started with a 1940s UP layout, to Modern BNSF. to Mid 80s BN and now GN. Back in the 90s when I purchased most of my Trains. I found that this "theme" approach allowed me to achieve more bang for my buck as I was able sped my money buying more less expensive but still high quality locomotives from Athearn for $35-$45 (With F Units at $29.95 even) Rather than trying to get the expensive Proto 2000, Stewart, and Atlas Locomotives. At this time I found I also enjoyed painting my own locos and I did add some extra details like wire grabs and snow plows and coupler cut levers and the like. It was only to a general extent and I never did consult the massice archive of articles I have on doing painting and detail work for specific prototypes. But I guess my point is. If it captures the right feeling. whats .083"? [quote]QUOTE: I'm in a fairly large RR club (60+ members), and there are a lot of Athearn RTR's running around... CF7's, GP60M's, RS-3's, F7's, and many freight cars. Frankly, you must have the worst luck in the world, as there haven't been any real trouble with any of the Athearn RTR in my club. We've had more trouble with BLI products than with Athearn RTR's... BTW, how would they offer RPP shells as kits? Just bare shells like RPP did? Or fully assembled "kits" like old blue boxes?[/quote] My luck must be positivly [censored]y then. I have problems with RTR anything from Any Manufacture. With the exception of old Bachmann and Life-Like. But thats probably because its substandard to begin with. I have come to view RTR as meaning "Ready To Rebuild." As for the RPP shells. Blue Box Style would be satisfactory. [quote]QUOTE: [quote]QUOTE: The law requires me to answer no.[/quote] Well, for starters there is no such law. Secondly...do you honestly think that manufacturers should be run for the "good of the hobby"? If so...when are you going give up that 6% annual raise for the good of your industry? My point is that it's real easy to tell others that they should make less money when it's not your bank account on the line. [/quote] Yes their is. It might not be an actual law, but with Georgie boy keeping tabs on the American Public now, all it takes is for someone to decide your being Un-American and report you to the FBI who will then send your name to the NSA and they will start watching you. And then if you don't do anything they can bust you for. they will plant child porn on your computer and send you to prison. As for manufactures running for the good of the hobby. I do not have an answer on that. [quote]QUOTE: Yep, you can. However, you'll only have one due to the time it'll take. Other people have money and they have the skills, they just don't want to wait...like Tony K., for example.[/quote] Actually I will have as many as I want to have and I can gloat that I built it myself. [quote]QUOTE: A "large number of static locomotive kits"? Oh, really? Just what would that be? And please don't include the Hallmark X-mas ornaments...they aren't kits.[/quote] Hallmark makes Train Christmas Ornaments? As for the static kits. Revell Germany and Esci both have had a line of European Prototype trains out for quite some time. Also back in the 60s there was a company who's name escapes me, but they came in a bright yellow box. and made plastic HO Scale Static steam locomotive kits. I have seen on E-Bay an NKP 2-8-4, B&O 4-6-2, NP 2-8-2 and a 4-4-0. If anyone knows who the company was please chime in. Then there are a large number of German locomotives in 1/35 scale. I am sure there is an enterprising individual out there who can make them run. Iether on specially scaled handlaid track or common gauge 1 track. Then Airfix also has a 4-4-0 "General in 1/24 scale. [quote]QUOTE: Me, either, but then, I don't want one. It's not NH, so I don't really care.[/quote] I also checked, I can still come out a head building a Bowser Challenger as well. [quote]QUOTE: Then I respectfully point out that if the above is true, then it's not the hobby that has a problem...it's an internal problem with your feelings. For example, a friend of mine has a couple hundred of loco...over 60 of them are brass (and good brass at that). He has them in display cases all over his house (can you tell he's not married?). When I go over, do I even feel a tinge of jealousy? Nope. But would you? If so, then it wouldn't be my friend's fault for making you jealous... BTW, this same guy also owns three cars...a Focus, a Taurus SHO, and he just bought a brand new Mustang. Do I feel jealous? Why should I? He's worked hard, he's got a good job, he has no kids. Why shouldn't he spend it on himself?[/quote] I don't know if I would be or not. If he just lets them sit on a shelf and collect dust then no. If he runs them on his layout I might be. As for spending money on his self. I just hope his retirement fund is well funded. [quote]QUOTE: The 2x4 trick does work, just remember to have two leads so you don't have to stop the loco at ever block.[/quote] I will keep that in mind. [quote]QUOTE: Geez, give the guy a break... It's "breaking your heart" to see Tony K. not scratchbuild or repaint his own locos? Just repeat this mantra..."It's just a hobby...it's just a hobby...it's just a hobby..." And why should it make any difference to you if a columnist for a hobby magazine decides to spend money instead of time? Money he has...time he doesn't. [/quote] All I ask is you practice what you preach. [quote]QUOTE: Well, he has gone for more of the operations side of the fence lately... [/quote] I hope the grass is greener over there for him. James
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