galaxy wrote: ...you scratch build a scale model of your own house.....and the house you grew up in
...you scratch build a scale model of your own house.....and the house you grew up in
Oooo...that's scary! I've been planning that!
On my layout, I do have an HO scale Chevy van custom painted to look like my wifes camping van at the campground , a model of my Dad's (now mine) mid '70's Dodge pickup, and will soon have (thanks to ePay) a custom painted model of my race car on the layout.
Rotor
Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often you won't even notice ...
alconut7 wrote:.. you have a funeral for the new Proto model that you dropped... in a lake... thats twelve feet deep... but not before diving in and trying to find it.
No... you didn't?
I'd like to hear THAT story!
Inquiring minds want to know!
Your 68 Road Runner is sitting out side because your garage is full of layout! (this will be fixed)
600 watts a side stereo system is playing train sounds. (sure get some odd looks from people walking by)
You swear two years ago you would never spend over $60.00 for a engine! Then find your self with a $600.00 PCM Y-6b pulling a drag on your layout. Sure made the $300.00 BLI's seem like a steal.
You take your train tool box's to work with you for the slow times.
You have cars and engines shipped to where you work so you won't hear it from the wife!
Co worker that does not care about trains, knows what a SD40-2 looks like!
There is a test track at work in the bathroom!
There is also 2 FP-45's in the bathroom at work! Some day I will bring them home.
You have 40 + RR mags at work and the current Walther's catalog as well!
Other customers think you work at your LHS, and you help them!
You know what your LHS has in stock better than the owner!
LHS owner gives you a discount, and lets you cash your self out!
When you day dream about wining the lottery, first thing you think of is the new Train Room.
You know when you are a Train Nut when you stop listing on this post but still have 20 plus iteams in your head.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Tell your friend to buy Home Depote stock, you are getting ready to start a new bench!
That's why my locos wear water wings and only swim in the shallow end.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
When you have memorized the Walthers Reference Book...
( I know about the first 245 pages)
cbq9911a wrote: You have a transition car with a British hook and loop coupler at one end and a Kadee at the other, so that Thomas and his friends can pull your unit coal train.
You have a transition car with a British hook and loop coupler at one end and a Kadee at the other, so that Thomas and his friends can pull your unit coal train.
Or you spend 4 hours on Christmas Day trying to swap the British hook and loop coupler on THOMAS and JAMES for a Kadee #5....
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
CTValleyRR wrote: cbq9911a wrote: You have a transition car with a British hook and loop coupler at one end and a Kadee at the other, so that Thomas and his friends can pull your unit coal train. Or you spend 4 hours on Christmas Day trying to swap the British hook and loop coupler on THOMAS and JAMES for a Kadee #5....
Please let me know how you did that!!!
lvanhen wrote: CTValleyRR wrote: cbq9911a wrote: You have a transition car with a British hook and loop coupler at one end and a Kadee at the other, so that Thomas and his friends can pull your unit coal train. Or you spend 4 hours on Christmas Day trying to swap the British hook and loop coupler on THOMAS and JAMES for a Kadee #5....Please let me know how you did that!!!
Slightly OT for this thread, but here goes:
Honestly, if I'd done it on Christmas Eve, after the little dear was in bed, it probably would only have taken an hour. Between constant visits from the 4 yr old asking "Dad, are you done yet??.... Are you done YET???!!! ... NOW are you done????" and the little bumps on the arm resulting in "***, now where is that knuckle spring... do I have a spare?" or " Now I have to assemble the coupler all over again."
First, at my age, a pair of 2.5x magnifying glasses is very helpful. Also, I would have sprung for the pre-assembled #5's if I had to do it over.
I have a home-made fixture made of scrap 1x lumber nailed and glued into a U shape, into which I put scraps of foam rubber to make a cradle on which I can work on a loco upside down without holding it or damaging it.
Take a small phillips screwdriver and remove the hook and loop (sounds like Velcro, doesn't it?) coupler. If you're a pack rat like me, save the screw (a 0-40), otherwise chuck the whole thing. The screw is rather short (1/4"?), because the hook and loop coupler isn't very thick.
At this point, I had to assemble my Kadee #5; my lesson learned was to buy the preassembled version. Even though I have a jig for putting them together, it's hard to do with an impatient child checking on your progress every 2-3 minutes.
Use a longer 0-40 screw (3/8", IRRC) through the center hole of your #5 and insert it until the coupler pocket is seated against the loco frame but still has some play in it (there is only a thin strip of plastic at the rear of the loco on which your coupler is resting). There are two plastic pegs which the old coupler used to maintain alignment, but a #5 and its pocket fit neatly between them. Put a drop of CA adhesive at each side of the pocket where it touches the loco rear (NOT the screw hole) and let capillary action draw it under the coupler. CAREFULLY (unless you want your fingers to be part of the final assembly) hold the coupler straight and finish tightening the screw (pay attention, because the torque from tightening the screw will tend to turn your coupler out of its perpendicular alignment).
I originally thought I would have to reinforce these coupler mountings, but they have held up under the beatings from a 4 - 5 year old surprisingly well as is. I've converted every car in the Thomas line-up (12), including 3 locos, and have had only one failure in 18 months, and that was on one car on which I tried to re-use the original screw, which was too short.
This coupler mounting is way too low for NMRA standards (you have to bend the trip pin WAY up to clear turnout frogs), but all the Thomas pieces are the same height. Making a transition car (I used a cheapo IHC boxcar) with a standard height coupler at one end and a high-offset shank coupler at the other neatly solves this problem (I had to shim the coupler pocket down with a couple of Kadee fiber washers to get a solid mating). Thomas and Friends can now pull any car in my collection (well, 5-6 of them at a time), much to the delight of my 5-year-old.
cbq9911a wrote: I have a home-made fixture made of scrap 1x lumber nailed and glued into a U shape, into which I put scraps of foam rubber to make a cradle on which I can work on a loco upside down without holding it or damaging it.
I have 2!
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
when you look at prototype pictures of your models and compare them to the models only to find out they look way different!!!
when you look at cans of empty beer/soda and think "this would make a GREAT billboard"
or when you look at your sons new Estes rocket and thinks, "hmm i wonder if i can use this as a Saturn V rocket for my new Aviation and Rocket Science Museum"
(not that i have a son....)
or when you decide to go modern and throw away a couple of ribbed side hoppers not knowing that all you had to do was replace the bentendorf trucks to roller bearings XD
Army National Guard E3MOS 91BI have multiple scales nowZ, N, HO, O, and G.
Medina1128 wrote: cbq9911a wrote: I have a home-made fixture made of scrap 1x lumber nailed and glued into a U shape, into which I put scraps of foam rubber to make a cradle on which I can work on a loco upside down without holding it or damaging it. I have 2!
So is that like, "You're not a real modeler until you make your own jigs and fixtures!"
Useful to have, aren't they?
lvanhen wrote:CTValleyRR - Thanks a lot for the tutorial!! It's copied into my 'puter!!
If you try it and get stuck, shoot me a PM and I'll try to help out!
CTValley - Thanks for the offer, but your tutorial makes it easy even for my 10 tthumbs!!
Edit: Even the ones that can't type!!
If you just glued weights to a bottom of a car with CA then you flip it over but all the CA isn't dry so it runs down the side of the car right where your thumb is and you glue your thumb to the car right over the last of a decal you have that you put on the car not even a hour ago, then you panic and pull it off fast, whichs rips that great decal right off
Joe
cudaken wrote: 600 watts a side stereo system is playing train sounds. (sure get some odd looks from people walking by) You know what your LHS has in stock better than the owner!
I've got 320 watts/side Onkyo and get the same looks from my neighbors.
I just went into a new Hobbytown USA and had to show the owner that he actually had 5 of the 6 items he told me he didn't carry. Got the standard "People don't play with trains anymore" answer from the guy...
wow all of thse post are great and make me laugh, heres a few that all happened to me recently.. since I just moved.
#301) Before moving had multiple arguements with the wife about the location of my layout.
#302) found the house of our dreams but I didnt like it for it had a finished basement, the 2 car Garage is too small so its not an option.
#303) Had to give the misses the pros and cons of letting me have the basement for my layout instead of turning it into a family room and guest area as she wanted. ( even after she tried to bribe me with a 60" flat screen LCD TV )
#304) when my 2 year old son knows how to say choo-choo better than mommie.
#305) when my 9 year old son is waking me up early saturday morning to go to the train show 100+ miles away at 6 am in the morning, when we plan to move into our new house the next day.
#306) U sneak out of work early just to stop by your LHS and make it home before the wife knows I detoured!
#307)when the debate for your layouts placement goes from Basement.... to.... garage..... to ....I will remove the roof and build a new floor above the previous one. ( making my 2-story house into a 3-story one)
#308)When U map out the back yard for your Train .. ooops I mean "storage" shed U tell the wife about. lol
#309)when moving day comes and no one is allowed to move ANY of your train parafanalia, and not to mention your prize posesion Loco's rides in the front seat next to you.
#310) IN my case when the wife does NOT leave or give the.. ITS ME OR THE TRAINS SPEACH! like so many others have posted, My wife took the demotion. In a war she knew she wasn't going to win, SO She calls the trains my WIFE and shes the MISTRESS.
Buddah wrote: wow all of thse post are great and make me laugh, heres a few that all happened to me recently.. since I just moved.#310) IN my case when the wife does NOT leave or give the.. ITS ME OR THE TRAINS SPEACH! like so many others have posted, My wife took the demotion. In a war she knew she wasn't going to win, SO She calls the trains my WIFE and shes the MISTRESS.
The Mrs. being the mistress may not be a bad thing if . . . . . .
cudaken wrote: You have cars and engines shipped to where you work so you won't hear it from the wife!
Good one, Ken! I've seriously considered doing that before, but I've always just sucked it up and had them sent to the house anyway.
How about these?
- you've ever told yourself "I can quit buying freight cars any time I want."
- you've ever bought an unusual freight car just because you thought it looked cool. Then you bought another one or two, just so it wouldn't look lonely or out of place.
- you've ever run two cars with the same road number, and hoped that nobody would notice.
- you're exicted to see the final season of "The Sopranos" because you heard that Bobby has a model railroad layout, but when you see it you are disappointed to realize he really has a "toy train" layout, and there is a distinct difference... but nobody cares when you try to explain it to them.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
-you've ever run two cars with the same road number, and hoped that nobody would notice.
guilty. in fact my 21 car OGEX coal train still has 2 or 3 of the same numbers despite my best efforts. noody's noticed though because nobody's seen it.
Oh @#%* now all of you know
You have equipment from more than one RR. (I have some DRGW stuff now)
You spend more on trains in one day than you ever did on a girlfriend in 6 months. (guilty, I spent 180 in a day, I only spent 60 in 6 months for my ex-girlfriend)
You have more engines than your mother has shoes. (Never will be guilty, I doubt all of us put together has more shoes than her [I have 11 locomotives, she has 3 closest full of shoes, in addition to a garage of them {which is why I don't have a layout anymore, the shoes took it over}])
You spent more than 200 bucks on an engine, that isn't even DCC ready or painted. (not guilty, can't afford brass)
When you spend more on trains than you ever did on your car. (guilty, my car cost 1600, I've spent over 2000 on trains)
When you wonder if you should get payed to haul long trains on club layouts. (guilty, me and a couple of other people run trains over 30 cars long. I've gone up to 60 with with 2 engines, they hit around 50-70 with 3 or more)
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Packer wrote: You spend more on trains in one day than you ever did on a girlfriend in 6 months. (guilty, I spent 180 in a day, I only spent 60 in 6 months for my ex-girlfriend)
And now you know why she is the ex....
You run your locomotives to tease your pets( I know this is cruel, but it is funny)
lean over the layout and get senic stuff on your shirt......I hate when that happens
You scratchbuild a Locmotive then learn it is available allready built
k4driver1361 wrote: You run your locomotives to tease your pets( I know this is cruel, but it is funny)lean over the layout and get senic stuff on your shirt......I hate when that happensYou scratchbuild a Locmotive then learn it will be available allready built
You scratchbuild a Locmotive then learn it will be available allready built
The more usual case. And I;ve pulled 70 with one engine, club record is 90. How he got past stringlining I'll never know.
-Morgan
Packer wrote: You have more engines than your mother has shoes. (Never will be guilty, I doubt all of us put together has more shoes than her [I have 11 locomotives, she has 3 closest full of shoes, in addition to a garage of them {which is why I don't have a layout anymore, the shoes took it over}])
Your mother is Imelda Marcos?
You are a model railroader when you don't mind doing those honey-do's...especially if they are in the general(term used very loosely) direction of the hobby shop. " No honey, I insist....really, really, I don't mind, but you know how traffic can be, It may take an hour...atleast."
You are a model railroader when you take apart a perfectly good loco/rolling stock to "superdetail" it and it ends up as "weathered".
You are a model railroader when the train show vendors know you by name and they ask, " Are you going to get that loco that you haggled over for the last 3 years to save $4.53"?
You are a real model railroader when as you build your layout, people ask you, "How can you stand those fumes?" You reply, "What fumes?"
Finally, you are a REAL model railroader when you will deny yourself food in order to buy more train stuff. That's a hardcore modeler right there.