What is your most expensive model railroading blunder/mistake/accident?

[Anonymous]

Not packing my Walthers North Shore Line cars with enough padding in their boxes. By the time they survived two moves and I re-opened them, each car had at least 1 smashed end casting, which are now out of production. I've cast one of the intact ones into a rubber mold and produced urethane castings, but it's just not the same. But I guess it'll have to do.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

Before I had the safety switches in to create a dead spot at the drawbridge on my layout my Grandaughter drove a Proto E8/9 with eight Walthers passenger cars over the edge and onto the floor. I CRIED . The proto and most of the cars were junk!!

That's why little shouldn's be allowed to operate your expensive varnish! I feel your pain.


My most expensive blunder had to be my first layout. We put close to $1000 on it and it turned out to be a mess! The benchwork warped with humidity, trains ALWAYS derailed at a switch that was about half and inch from the layout's edge, there was a slanted 3% grade (not superrelevated, slanted!), the ballast would sometimes make trains jump off the tracks, the switches just didn't work, in other words, it was a mess!

[AltonFan]

I purchased a fair-to-middlin' PFM Russian Decapod. I disassemble the engine to make repairs, and find I need to acquire parts. I left the dissassembled decapod laying out for some weeks or months. Grandma got in a house-cleaning mood, took the engine and threw it in a box, not regarding the parts. Now the engine is lost among my packed-up railroad stuff, will probably never work again, and due to the appearance of a plastic Russian Decapod, is highly unsaleable.

The other mistake was buying a cantankerous brass FM Trainmaster shortly before Atlas came out with their better plastic ones.

Live and learn...

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by smyers

I've spent hundreds on HO scale steam engines for my small switching layout. Not one of them is a capable switcher, some are good road engines, but in that critical 0-5 mph speed range not one is acceptable. My worst diesel is far superior to my best steam engine. I sent my P2k 0-6-0 back to the factory some time ago and haven't heard back yet. Like my other steamers, it has a loping, hiccuping motion that's very obvious. It's been a real disappointment. After hundreds of dollars in engines, gears, motors etc and countless hours I gave it up and retired all steam, reluctantly.

smyers

Gave up on steam! Egads, no!!!

Sounds like you've just had really bad luck with steam models. I've got well over 100 steamers, from old Varneys to brand new, not out of the box yet P2K. Most of the new-generation plastic steam are great performers at slow speed, even through switches. The P2K 0-8-0 is a great switch engine, as is the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0, and the general consensus is that the P2K 0-6-0 (which you're having issues with) is the best steam switcher ever made, performancewise. I've even got an old Alco brass B-11 0-6-0 that's over 20 years old and which runs beautifully through my Peco electrofrog switches.

Switching to diesels...that's not right!

[MAbruce]

Sometimes I think my layout is my most expensive blunder... [sigh]

[Anonymous]

Not having a really good plan for a layout that provided logical locations for switchable industries. My first layout was a spaghetti bowl of track, so I tore it out. Several years later, I resurrected the left over switches and lumber, and built a copy of John Olsen's book layout, somewhat expanded. It runs perfectly with DCC and sound, but it is still plywood after 5 years. So I'm going to tear it apart and try to design an around-the-walls layout that will actually have some thought going into it!

[Junctionfan]

For me the most expensive thing was I had an old Via train set that cost $200. I stored it on the top shelf of a closet. I left the closet door open by accident and my cat knocked it down effectively turning my via train into a via wreck.

A friend of mine in my club had a Kato dash 9 catch on fire-not to sure why. Another person had a NW athearn autobox's wheels melt on the track. One time we were moving an autorack train up a hill and one of the couplers broke in the middle of the train (damn McHenry's) and sent 12 autoracks down the grade and off a trestle. Had to fix the couplers and minor cosmetic work had to be done.

[bcammack]

Taking up this hobby? [:)]

[Anonymous]

I've spent hundreds on HO scale steam engines for my small switching layout. Not one of them is a capable switcher, some are good road engines, but in that critical 0-5 mph speed range not one is acceptable. My worst diesel is far superior to my best steam engine. I sent my P2k 0-6-0 back to the factory some time ago and haven't heard back yet. Like my other steamers, it has a loping, hiccuping motion that's very obvious. It's been a real disappointment. After hundreds of dollars in engines, gears, motors etc and countless hours I gave it up and retired all steam, reluctantly.

smyers

[Big_Boy_4005]

Choosing the wrong location at the Mall Of America. Had I located the layout on the first floor near the east entrance I might still be there today. A quarter million dollar boo boo.[#oops]

[Anonymous]

The other day MarioPuzzo (Jarrett) and I were chatting on AOL AIM and he linked me to a California model club home page. There were members pics on the site. One of the pics was called "Mouse Creek". The guy said that while the resin was drying a mouse got into it. To me it looks like the mouse is still in the resin. I don't have time to find it and post a link, but maybe someone can. If not maybe I can do it later. This definately is an "accident".

[Anonymous]

when i tried weathering my C454, santa fe 40-8cw, and my brothers gp 40-2.

oh yah and when my Bachman F40PH took the free fall of death to the floor

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Heartland Flyer

My Athearn Dash 9 took the free fall of death last year.[:(]

I feel your pain.

[Anonymous]

Before I had the safety switches in to create a dead spot at the drawbridge on my layout my Grandaughter drove a Proto E8/9 with eight Walthers passenger cars over the edge and onto the floor. I CRIED . The proto and most of the cars were junk!!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY AND REMEMBER SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
BOB

[Anonymous]

My Athearn Dash 9 took the free fall of death last year.[:(]

[cwclark]

I accidently knocked over a bottle of CA glue into the gears of a brand new Athearn UP AC4000....the gears were ruined... so, I go to order the parts to replace the entire truck and the new part cost $5.00 less then a brand new engine...moral to the story?...if you take out an Athearn locomotive engine, trash it and buy a new one...Another time my 8 year old son took a 25 car train down a turnout I wasn't finished installing yet at the end of the layout in our old house...(he's on his own now and His kids are giving him the payback he gave me for the stuff i pulled on my dad)...and I looked up and the entire train was hitting the floor..one coupled car after another....it took me a month to straighten that mess up...Chuck[:D]

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

It sounds like you have your track too close to the edge of your layout if trains can fall off when they derail. You need to put plexiglass or something along the edge to prevent this from happening again.

This happened 5 years ago. Thanks for the solution - but unfortunetely, I do not have my layout anymore.

However, I'm looking for some great stories. Some times it's good to not take ourselves so seriously and have a good laugh.

[orsonroy]

I accidentally glues a Shinohara three-way switch together on my last layout. $60 bucks turned into a pile of scrap rail.

I haven't had an engine make the freefall of death.....yet!

[Anonymous]

Well, my worst was when my DB Class 103 electric took a dive off my desk.

Massive damage to a rare (In North America) and expensive electric.

I will fix it one day.

[cacole]

It sounds like you have your track too close to the edge of your layout if trains can fall off when they derail. You need to put plexiglass or something along the edge to prevent this from happening again.

[brothaslide]

I was breaking in a new Athearn SD40T-2 on my layout and had it running for a while. It was pulling a 5 car Athearn intermodal train. The engine derailed and took a dive off of the layout along with the intermodal. The intermodal was OK but the engine didn't work after that.[V]