Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Well, I guess I will go first. I started out modeling modern CSX in N scale, but after an opportunity to pick up a cheap PRR brass engine, I ended up collecting both modern CSX plastic diesels and transition era brass PRR locomotives. The problem is getting worse now as I just recently picked up two brass examples of Japanese prototypes in N scale and am getting sucked-into foreign modeling! So, somehow I ended up modeling three eras across two continents... I am sure someone has me beat, though...
My 'Guilty Pleasure' seems to be that I keep buying switchers that I do not need. My 'transition era' Milwaukee Road secondary line has a nice fleet of GP9's and a few SD7's. I also have some USRA 2-8-2's and Spectrum 2-8-0's.
I have a FM H10-44, an EMD SW7, an Alco HH660, 2 of the new SW1's and a pair of the old Walthers SW1's. Maybe seeing a small switch engine dressed up in the gaudy colors of their road 'big brothers' just looks 'cute'.
And I have a pair of BNSF 'genset' switchers as well - No hope for me!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
My Gulty pleasure, running Conrail, NS and Amtrak on my PRR layout Despite having four tracks. I've even run N&W 611 around Horseshoe Curve. Although, with the 21st Century Steam program and the imminent restoration of 611, that last one may not be so guilty after all.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
It's a reclining leather chair with an ottoman, a cold beer and a throttle in my hand. I line the switches and let a subway loop beneath the ground, popping into the station and just as quickly receding into the tunnel. I put another train on a bigger loop around the whole layout, dim the lights, turn on the street lamps and just watch the world go round and round.
When it gets to a bridge or a road, sometimes I blow the whistle.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Mine is buying HO MDC/Roundhouse Old Timer kits, even though I'm in S scale. They have been out of production for a while so I'm not finding too many. Somewhere along the way I may build a small HO layout for them.
Enjoy
Paul
I figured if some American railroads could run Chinese mikados, mine could have a Bachmann Chinese 2-10-2. ..Then, guess what...Some prototype out in Iowa buys THREE of 'em.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Collecting trains across a 25 year time frame for one RR. I guess some may just buy anything and everything but it's bad enough!.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I model GTW in the summer of 1953 and I have been doing so for many years, yet I have a weakness for the railroad that ran once ran by my house in Arkansas, that I never actually saw and that would be Frisco. Since my wife's grandpa work for Frisco, I justify it that way, but the Ozarks of Arkansas in no way look anything like Battle Creek Michigan. I have a few Frisco steam engines that will reside behind closed roundhouse doors, only to come out and run when no one else is around.
Steve
I posted this years ago (2007) under the title A Confession. Here is a cut and paste - sorry for the length.
Dave Nelson
I am a junk man ... a model train junk man. The model train junk man seeks out that elusive combination of repairable (or so he thinks) damage, a bargain price, or at least the illusion of a bargain price, and quantity. Often it's the sheer quantity that clinches the deal. Show me an Athearn boxcar at a swap meet, and I'll likely walk on by. Show me a damaged Athearn boxcar and I'll pause a moment. Put twenty damaged Athearn boxcars in a box, sweeten the pot with some rusty hopper car weights and dried-out lichen, and I'll buy it in a New York minute.
Entire hobby shops cater to us junk men. I lived near one shop, clearly on its last legs, that had a large supply of derelict inventory. The dusty old stuff on the shelves was tempting, but those cardboard boxes on the floor - ah, now we're talking gourmet junk. I remember snapping up a box of 30 seriously busted HO plastic freight cars for $10. Of the perhaps seven salvageable cars, the most promising was a nearly-mint Athearn C&NW boxcar, but it had one end smashed in. A Lackawanna car in the same color was unrepairable, but it did have one end intact. With great care I sawed and filed and sanded and glued and touched up the paint and when the project was done I proudly showed my handiwork to a friend, who pointed out the obvious: I'd just spent hours of work on an imperfect Athearn box car I could have bought new for $3.
That way of thinking profoundly misses the point.
Like Dr. Frankenstein, we pick over the cadavers of other modeler's failed projects in the hopes of bringing our own monsters to life. Like jackals and buzzards, we follow unlucky modelers around, snatching at their leavings: doomed engine conversions, abandoned craftsman kits, ill-advised superdetailing projects, laughable efforts at kitbashing - we scavenge them one and all, hoping that sweat equity will give us that outrageous bargain we live for.
We don't scavenge from fellow junk men, though. They never discard anything!
We become junk men the same way some people become drug addicts: they hook us when we're young. I blame the old Associated Hobby Manufacturers (AHM). Back in the ‘60s, AHM would advertise "Funeral Sales" of mildly damaged HO goods, three for the price of one. These were outrageous bargains, since AHM prices were rock-bottom to begin with, and for the time the quality was decent. You were all but assured of ending up with one, maybe two, perhaps even three fully working models.
If you were really in the know - AHM didn't advertise this much - they offered what they called "Roundhouse Rubble." Now this was junk, and I swallowed their bait early and often. For $10 AHM would send a big box crammed with trains so defective they were ashamed to sell them in the Funeral Sale. And if you ordered enough Roundhouse Rubble deals, eventually you might have enough fragments to create, say, a Nickel Plate Berkshire or an SP cab-forward that ran, well, almost OK, for - as you'd keep trying to convince yourself - practically nothing. The leftovers and debris and failures were so much lagniappe. AHM warned that you could not get Roundhouse Rubble trains to work unless you were "a genius." Well if AHM wanted to call me a genius who was I to disagree? I got addicted ... then my supplier disappeared.
It seems there are fewer such dangerous opportunities today. Sure, one mail order dealer advertises a handyman's special at $99 a box, but a price that high lacks the essential sensation that you've just taken advantage of someone. Besides, I ordered one and it was doubly disappointing: the price was far too high for what you got, and the trains were just not shabby enough. An Athearn F unit with a loose sideframe is junk? Since when? Maybe they're selling to junk men, but they aren't creating any new ones. [Since first posting this I also fell for a supposed box of interesting junk from Broadway Limited -- and to my dismay it really was junk, totally unusable and uninteresting.]
A couple of years ago I had the ultimate junk man's opportunity. I went to a fellow's place of business to look at his late uncle's large (check that, huge) collection of old HO trains. This uncle had evidently spent about 45 years in a perpetual state of disorganized planning for the dream layout that never came. There were 15 or more large moving van boxes and crates literally crammed with trains. At some point every container had gotten soaking wet; the cardboard felt damp and clammy and smelled sour. Not all model boxes were wet, but all smelled, and all were very dirty. Some had mildewed into black, weblike, furry stuff.
As for the trains themselves, some were new to around 1985 based on the boxes, but most were museum pieces going back well into the 1940s. The old Walthers passenger car kits, with wood roofs and floors (now warped), punched metal sides (rusted), and cast lead "details." Unbuilt or partly built craftsman kits. Tru-Scale roadbed with brass rail by the (wet) boxful. Tons of Plasticville toy structures and, oddly, just as many complex Campbell and Suydam structure kits. Metal freight car kits, with chipped paint. Those old 79 cent Kurtz-Kraft boxcar kits (astonishing in their detail when new, and still impressive today) in their cheap plastic bag packaging from well before 1960. I couldn't count how many Athearn Hustlers, rubber band drives long since disintegrated. Civil War to Amtrak era, eastern electrics to western diesels, Midwestern interurbans, Northern Pacific, Amtrak, C&NW, UP, PRR, ATSF, Milwaukee Road; this guy didn't care. Steam locomotives, often missing siderods or tenders or wheels. Rusted Marnold powerpacks; anything steel was rusted. Dozens of Gem and Tenshodo switch machines, all ruined by water. I won't even try to describe the condition (much less the odor) of the old Strombecker wood and cardstock locomotives.
It was like a dream, a very strange dream. A junk man's dream.
I didn't have much time, maybe an hour, and my hands grew filthy (and numb from the damp) as I merely skimmed the surface in going through the boxes. The nephew had one condition: it had to be sold as a unit, no picking and choosing. I knew at once that half, maybe more would have to be thrown out, including some of the most potentially interesting items. I was willing to take my chances, for here were projects enough to last a junk man's lifetime. I offered $1000 on the spot.
Which was promptly rejected. The uncle spent a fortune on these trains and the nephew wanted a good percentage of it back regardless of condition. I astonished myself by declining to change my bid and left, dejected. Had I lost my touch? Was I maybe, finally, an ex-junk man?
Nah. I bought some of the stuff at the next swap meet from the guy who did buy it.
Boxcars lots and lots of boxcars especially IPD short line 50' boxcars...
Exhibit A:
221 IPD boxcars.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
So far I have avoided mine. I model the transition era, though I'm not sure the three lines I model did it at the same time, they do on my layout. Every time I see an Amtrak FP-40 in Phase II or III, I have to keep a tight grip on my wallet to keep the cash from flowing out of it. It would only need a coach or two, maybe a cafe car, to make me happy. So far the move toward DCC has kept my thinking along those lines, rather than adding Amtrak, even if it has sound. (SIGH)
Have fun,
Richard
So would you care to share your guilty pleasure?
Mine would be: Running passenger trains on a 1971-era image of the B&O's CL&W subdivision near Cleveland, OH. This has been a freight-only line since the early 1950's; but when I saw the Walthers Pere Marquette series of fluted-side stainless steel coaches, I was hopelessly hooked. I ended up taking my 2 Proto2000 E-units out of mothballs and installing decoders in them.
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
My guilty pleasure is Amtrak. I love it very much. I love modeling the full 40+ plus years of it if I can.
Live strong Amtrak!!
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
I can't stop buying Blackstone HOn3 K-27s and C19's. As the dealers prep for the announced K-28s and K-36s release, they are dumping inventory at or near cost. Normally $450 list. The normal street price has been $399 and if you find the right dealer at the right show, $360 and lately, $340.00. I steeled myself to buy no more, but just picked up a new K-27 for $300! All include Tsunami sound.
Unfortunately, My Paradox Uravan & Placerville is a small Road hauling mineral ore in WWII and I can only explain 1 or 2 Scraped D&RGW loco's escaping the scrapper's torch so my road can have its salvaged motive power. One or two others could be claimed as rental/leased units, I suppose.
The one bright spot is I have a lot of backups and I fear once Blackstone releases the new models, they will not run any more of the K-27 or C-19s.
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed
Speaking of narrowgauge motive power, my guilty pleasure is collecting and running nearly any diesel that either was of a 3 foot gauge prototype, something close to 3 foot, or anything I can possibly convert to HOn3 and still end up with a plausible loco to run on my Rio Grande HO/HOn3 Four Corners Division. Thus, no Tunnel Motors on multiple trucks, like in Brazil...yet.
So I have a few diesels, which most narrowgaugers wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.
Sometimes there's spiffy new rolling stock, too.
Sometimes we even build it ourselves.
Some are dwarfed by steam.
Some are even talented enough to run on three different gauges.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I'm kind of on board with DKNelson. Junk deals. Except I missed the AHM Funeral sales and such, but the auction site is that place for me. Sometimes a boneyard of mis-described deals. I have some excellent runners, good deals cuz the seller had no clue whatsoever how to list. (Know what you're looking at in the picture)
I went to a hobby shop in Sacramento last summer, (7 hours from home). After some chatting about modeling and such, a fella there must have decided I was brobably bent enough to take a tour "upstairs" to a a collection he was selling privately. DK, You'da loved it! I exersized restraint, but still walked out with a haul. Too much restraint though...
Next day, I had to go back. I picked up a Kato powered Atlas RS1 $25.00. Mechanically new, but missing a side frame and a hand rail, and it had smoked an LED headlight. But runs superlatively.
This may sound stupid to some, I have wanted a Tyco "Chattanooga Choo-Choo, the 2-8-0 steamer with the slot car motor in the tender, to repower with a motor and gears in the loco. But I wanted to pick it up cheap. Well, on the auction site, after many times being outbid, last Saturday, not looking for them, I came across a deal where there were FOUR of those (2 complete), a Bachman Reading 2-8-0, (never liked those) and a bunch of misc steam engine parts. No description, just pictures. I knew partly what i was looking at beyond the Tycos. And won. (I only paid what the 2 tycos were worth to me, they alone are worth the modest price. The rest was GRAVY! When it arrived, turned out to be good wholesome junk, with potential. Hours of 'bashing and building awaits.
Hi!
I've sold most of my MR guilty pleasures on Ebay, getting my hoard of locos and cars down to just a "very large collection". That being said, I'm in the market for new "guilty pleasures"................
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
As for me, I have a thing for Proto 1000 F3's and all things Atlas Yellow Box. I started collecting the P1K's because the line I model ran a fleet of them. They're built like tanks, and pull like them, too. I won't be satisfied until I have more F3's than the prototype.
As for the Atlas engines, I think my affinity for them goes back to my younger days when all I could do was stare longingly at magazine ads for them when they were still new. Nowadays, they still run great (even the Roco-made units, and I don't mind that little growl one bit) and are a terrific value.
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Speaking of AHM, I have a case of O scale freight cars from the 70's when they got out of O scale. They were $2 each and road names were limited. I think I bought 10 boxcars all Lehigh Valley. I still have them buried in the basement - must get them out one day.
I'm just wondering, why "GUILTY"? Guilty implies people are doing something naughty! Just wondering?
riogrande5761 I'm just wondering, why "GUILTY"? Guilty implies people are doing something naughty! Just wondering?
Ah, well you see, to be a true Model Railroader you must follow all the Rules.
And this thread is about not following the Rules and the guilty pleasure of not doing so.
So when you run that GG1 with no catenary on your Sante Fe layout you must do so furtively with all your blinds closed.
IRONROOSTERSo when you run that GG1 with no catenary on your Sante Fe layout you must do so furtively with all your blinds closed.
And best done in the wee hours of the morning--like 3 AM.
I'm gonna say I don't really have a guilty pleasure anymore. Financial issues and other priorities like things my kids need or will need soon are restricting my hobby dollars, and will for a decade or more to come. I just had an epiphany and realized I can save money by replacing nearly brand new Walthers Proto engines with Atlas Trainman engines in my favorite roadname for nearly 1/3 the cost (of a Walthers Proto engine that has sound and DCC). Don't get me wrong, I love some of the higher end diesel models now available RTR (especially with the working Mars lights, etc.), it's just that I'm finally learning to appreciate the Trainman Series, and if I ever get the motivation, nice models can be made by detailing them, for cheap! It may seem almost sacrilegious, but I'll be blowing out some better engines on the evil auction site to make room for more P1K and/or Atlas Trainman releases. Best Regards to all--John
Building cars that never existed, such as a theater car for the Pennsylvania railroad,or a former crummy "kitbashed" into being a self propelled speeder/snow plow for a logging railroad. Someday I am going to have to figure out a way to justify Rio Grande Narrow gauge steamers in 1950's Pennsylvania.For example...a Theater car done for the PRR-They never had one. Built out of an AHM lightweight coach.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
riogrande5761'm just wondering, why "GUILTY"? Guilty implies people are doing something naughty! Just wondering?
Bear,
No, the "sigh" has been there a long time and is still strong. I presume it will remain so until a much larger space comes available accompanied by additional funding. Of course, if I won the Megabucks that could change space available, work habits and purchasing power, then all bets would be off. I am not holding my breath though.
I suppose there is one possible gap in the armour, that would be as the "junkies" have suggested. That would be someone selling and not know/care what they get for it, creating a very, very reasonable price.
We all can dream can't we?
Jabear:
I have visited this very entertaining thread several times but I just couldn't come up with anything that I felt really guilty about, other than having too much fun modelling maybe.
Certainly there are some things that I plan on doing that will run afoul of the purists, like running Hogwart's Express in 1950's Ontario, but I just don't care what the nay sayers think.
The only conclusion I can come to is that I am absolutely devoid of model railroading morals!
Happy (belated) Easter to everyone!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
While the SP occasionally leased to the SP&S, I do have a GS4 and Morning daylight consist #4450 was scrapped but she's still running alongside smoky alcos. I suppose mine would be the Q units even though non ran out here in washington pre BN and even then the E5's and F units were long stricken from the roster.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader