Have you ever thrown away a train?

[Anonymous]

Throw away anything except for brass track is a crime punishable by death. Not really but you'll get yelled at. With the prices today and my economic situation anything that I can use later is kept. I have 5 tyco f7a shells that I will probably never use but there's always the possibilty. But to answer the question no I have not thrown anything away.
Andy

[Anonymous]

[-]3l_ l_ /\/0.

I have only 1 Locomotive and will NEVER part with it....It is like my soul now...

I lost one HO scale model that my dad gave me...it looked more like it was cast -iron instead of brass....heavy as hell it was...maybe cause I was 6 at the time? I dunno....

Personally I'd drop a bunch of money on fixing a train before I chuck it and buy another one....funny question for a thread though....

[Anonymous]

Never have, Never will throw a old train away! Who knows might need it for spare parts!

[dragenrider]

I had a girlfriend who was told by her sister that the trains would just have to go if she and I ever married. [:X] My girlfriend wisely told her sister that I would toss her out before I'd ever throw out a train! [:O]

I don't even throw away brass track. I save the rails for junk yard scenes and the old ties for track side debris in the weeds.

I've stumbled on some bargains at antique malls, junk shops, flea markets, and yard sales. Let other people throw it out, I'll keep it!

'scuse me, I gotta go browse eBay some more. [:P][:)][:D][^]

[AggroJones]

Some badly damaged Model Power and Tyco stuff. And a toy Bachmann F7 with a burnt out motor and damaged coupler pads. This was a long time ago.

[sparkingbolt]

How is it that I have had so many locos over the years, scrapped the dogs, never threw away the peices, and yet don't even have a trace of some of them?

OK, there was that shed fire in '97. Wiped out a whole boneyard worth of stuff. I don't think I've ever just put one in the trash. I'd remember. I did "set one free" once in the deep woods behind my house once (in '77) when it proved it wouldn't be tamed. Never found it. I know I'm not alone here.

See "Have you ever lost your cool on your RR" topic Dan

[krump]

nope

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Davidvd59

My EX-wife threw away $2500.00 in O gauge trains on me while I was at work because she was pissed at me. That is why she is the "EX"-wife!

Throwing away $2500 in train stuff would be grounds for . . . . . . . well you know. Thou shall not . . . . . [}:)]

Just can't say it. If you know what I mean.

Whatever do you mean officier, "Looks like my wife was run over by a train". Isn't that what happens when you make the engineer mad? [}:)] [;)]

[Anonymous]

I've thrown a car against the wall. Does that count. Don't worry it was only old tyco and missing everything but the shell which was already broken. I kept it around just for that purpose. Better than my Anthearn genisis cars.
Oh throw out a car....no never done that.
Andrew Miller

[Anonymous]

Only used track,due to a move. It wasn't worth trying to salvage.

[Anonymous]

The only thing I ever threw away was a three stall Heljan roundhouse which I had started in 1985 and never finished. I threw it out in 2002 after carting it around from place to place. I finally realized how much I hated it and figured I would never finish it, so out it went! Somewhat liberating.

[AntonioFP45]

Yep!

Much to my regret I got rid of a lot of Tyco type parts, a freight house, freight cars, etc. It was junk, but would have come in handy for scratch building now!

Live and continue to learn![:P]

[BRAKIE]

I threw away a girl friend once because she thought model railroading was childish and any adult that play with toy trains was immature..

[Jetrock]

Things I throw out:

* Horn-hook couplers. Non-Kadee knuckle couplers typically go too (I keep a few around for emergencies) but the horn-hooks don't get a second glance.
* Plastic wheelsets. Okay, I do keep a few around for emergencies but after my Great Wheel Upgrade they just seem redundant.
* Brass track.
* Sprues.
* Plastic sawn-off bits from kits and such undergo a Re-Use Feasibility process. If they fail, they go. So far more stuff gets saved than thrown, but things do get tossed.
* Chucked 1 car: an old coal hopper with a stove-in corner, and an extremely distressed 50' flatcar after I stripped it for usable components.
* Threw out a plastic G-scale trainset (plastic rails and ties, plastic body with a battery-powered non-functional electric motor) I had thrifted after determining it would take more money and time to get it working than to just buy a new trainset for the nephew I got it for in the first place.

I live in a 1-bedroom house and my garage/layout/workshop area is a whopping 140 or so square feet. I have a hard enough time keeping my stuff in order as it is, and throwing out things I really don't need and can easily replace from someone's "$1 an item junk box" at the next train show saves me valuable space.

[Anonymous]

Tonight at work I was showing some of my recent pictures of the 3985. One of the guys started talking about his HO railroad stuff. He moved some time back and threw away E V E R Y T H I N G. [:(] [V] [:(!] All he had to do was call me and I would have been happy to take if all off his hands. [:(] [:(!] [V]

[Anonymous]

Hi
By the time any of my trains hit the bin there isnt a lot left of it what goes in the bin is totaly beyond any help.
I have a big green box I call the train bin that's where all the dead ones go as they might be able to be used to save another one either mine or some one elses.
Most of mine are geting very long in the tooth now and very dificult to get parts for
so nothing but real junk goes to the tip
regards John

[Anonymous]

Hi
Hey you yes you soldier take those that threw out trains or train parts put em up against that wall and shoot them!
Never throw anything out check your railway modeling friends may be able to use it
It may save a club members favorite piece of equipment from extinction even sprue has its uses sprue rubble and a load of earth moving machienery get the picture.
[soapbox]
regards John

[Anonymous]

I throw away scrap pieces of track that don't look like they can ever be used, but mostly I throw away torn out sections of my pike if it doesn't look like a candidate for recycling. It is amazing the things that can be used again in ways never thought of. I love saving money and making do with what I have on hand...just like the real railroads do. Mostly though I just give things away to my friends if I don't want them and my friends can use them. I guess there is a difference between throwing something in the trash and giving it away to further use by a friend. At least I feel better about it. Odd-d

[newhavenguy]

I've have thrown away a Tyco. Don't know if that counts as a train though. [;)]

[Anonymous]

Sure have!

About 3.256 seconds after Atlas announced the Nscale C628, a pair of hard to find and even harder to obtain Con-Cor C636s that were scheduled to become a slug hit the trash
at only slightly less than the speed of sound...

[Anonymous]

NEVER!

"Pity the railfan that would have the nerve to throw away a train. Tyco and Bachmann standard do not count as trains." [:D][(-D]

I do have a Spectrum, Rock Island (that right there means I'll spend a lot of money on it before I'd even think of throwing it away!) Consolidation that has a cracked cab and poor running gear. I'll see if Bowser makes replacement drivers for it, and if NWSL makes replacement motors.

[skir4d]

I'll go with Mr Hacksaw and Mrs Soldering. I may not be able to salvage everything, but what I can't is not identifieable.

Jack W

[Anonymous]

Just had a thought today - it's rare to find/see train stuff thrown out over here, mainly (I suspect) due to the current rash of "Antiques" programs on TV - not sure if you have these in the US, we used to have "Antiques Roadshow", now there's loads of them! Anyway, older equipment by the likes of Hornby and Hornby Dublo is frequently featured, and I suspect as a result most people are aware that the old train set their dad left in the attic is worth something.

[Anonymous]

I work for a local family owned garbage company & you would not believe how much model railroad stuff that people throw out. My biggest find was an American Flyer set complete with track , transformer, & all of the extras. I've found alot of Lionel sets also & many HO & N sets. I usually trade off what ever I find for stuff that I need or want for my layout. Or if I find something that someone else is looking for & just give it to them. At work we usually stick together & help each other out with finding what we are looking for, One guy wants football cards, another wants remote control cars, another collects playboys , & another wants fishing poles, & I want anything to do with trains & planes. It's kind of like Christmas around here everyday. & that makes our jobs alot more fun. Whoops, & to answer your question, " NEVER "

[chutton01]

Yes, many times over the years I've throw away models: Locomotives, Rolling Stock, (Brass) Track, Poorly Designed kits (or, alternatively, poorly assembled by the teenage me), Scenic Details.
Generally none of the stuff I threw away was really salvagable (and much was throw away before eBay anyway). Many of the buildings tossed (most acquired second-hand via garage sales and Trainland's discount bins) would be a roll call of standard model buildings from the 1960s/1970s:
Bachmann Gas Station, Cathedral, Cape Code House, School House, Motel, Suburban station (None of these were very relistic looking, but they were real cheap at the time), New Car Showroom (this fell and broke beyond repair - I wanted to convert it to a Rug Showroom, and I think with some paint and weathering it would have looked good)
Lifelike Fire Station, Bank (poorly assembled by me in the 1970s, with glue stains, broken corners, etc.). Belvedere Hotel (this was just a poor kit, and I don't know why I brought it).
Revell Schoolhouse and Passenger Station (see above - I wasn't very skilled in the 1970s).
Oh, and several of the Heljan Tract Houses (which my Bachman and Lifelike People just towered over)
Also over the decades some rather expensive stuff was throw away, mostly because I managed to, well, ruin it (example, a Pirate Model RTS bus model I tried, and failed to, assemble - the fit and finish was horrible, and even after much sanding and filler it looked pitted and crappy, and when I tried to paint it - oh boy).
Most recently I had to toss an Atlas Ford Tauras, because I messed up the paint finish (the windshield and windows DO NOT come out of that thin vinyl body - at least I couldn't do it, before the body started to distort and tear). That was a pricy lesson.
In general, anything that has gone into my trash was garbage (either because I screwed up, or more often because the manufacture did a ****-poor unsavable job). On the way I do salvage any pieces which could be useful, of course.

Oddly enough, I have one of the first freight cars I ever owned, from the early 1970s, a Tyco Western Maryland Pipe Carrier Flat Car (totally unprototypical, with slots for the 'Concrete Pipe' sections). Upgraded (Kadee) Couplers, upgraded trucks, and more realistic vertical brake wheel, so it's not original, but I still like it.

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

Just had a thought today - it's rare to find/see train stuff thrown out over here, mainly (I suspect) due to the current rash of "Antiques" programs on TV - not sure if you have these in the US, we used to have "Antiques Roadshow", now there's loads of them! Anyway, older equipment by the likes of Hornby and Hornby Dublo is frequently featured, and I suspect as a result most people are aware that the old train set their dad left in the attic is worth something.

Yep, we have Antiques Roadshow on PBS. I have only watched parts of it a couple of times. I'm truly amazed at some things that are valuable. I'm beginning to think that if it doesn't smell, some one will buy it. The antique stores are full of stuff I threw out years ago (not train stuff - I never throw that out).
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

I have thrown away some train related stuff. When nickel silver track came on the market and I had a little experience using it, all the old Atlas code 100 brass track on fiber ties became an addition to the county landfill, switches and all. If I had it to do over again there would be no change, the brass track would go. Anything else train related stays. The eleventh commandment tells us if we throw away train related items there is no room for us in the great roundhouse in the sky.

Tom

[Anonymous]

There's a story about about a prototype railroad owner who wouldn't throw away anything. Wm. Sykes of the Emporium Forestry Company couldn't part with any old scrap but his sons could. While the old man was away on a business trip, they quickly loaded flat cars full of scrap & sent it off to a junk dealer. The old man spotted it sitting on a NYC siding while on the way home & wired the junk dealer to make an offer for it.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

LOL
I have so much junk organized into different boxes...wait...Is it really junk then?

[Anonymous]

The one suggestion I have for all of those who have/do throw away trains is why not give it to someone? Sure, Tyco and the like is considered to be cheap usless junk to serious model railroaders, but does that mean it should be sent to the trash? I'm sure some kid out there would probably love to have it. Instead of throwing this stuff away, why not give it to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army or somthing? Or even ask around if any other fellow model railroaders might want it for some project. If you don't want something, someone else probably will.