I suspect - in general - that most "life time supply" purchases end up not being as economical in the long run as purchasing "as needed". And some things do have a shelf-life - whether they are used and not.
I don't run a business so I don't see the need to stock up on something beyond the next few projects. And I don't have a ton of extra space in my abode. (If I purchase a lot of something, it has to be stored somewhere) I also don't care for clutter; nor does my dear wife.
So, "as needed" (and maybe one or two extra) is how I operate. Supplies such as LEDs, fasteners, and X-acto blades I do purchase in bulk...but in manageable amounts.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
How many will be in use at the same time?
At their age, they could be unpredictable, but I suspect with normal use they will be fine for many years.
Sheldon
Serious question on this topic:
I have decided to use the Troller Transpak 2.5 as the control packs for my next layout. I expect this layout to have a useful life of 20-25 years.
Three of these power packs will be needed to operate the layout.
I have 12 of them now, and 2 of the Troller Trakker walk around throttles.
Should this be enough to last 25 years, or should I be seeking more of these to have my lifetime supply?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I never purchased a CFL in my lifetime. Send me the 100w bulbs....
Kevin, you can't just dump those incandescent bulbs in the trash. That would be totally wasteful. Sell them on eBay, donate them, do something.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainPray tell, Kevin, how many you got?
I have 40, ten boxes of four. I have never opened any of them.
rrinker I went LED when I moved here 6 years ago, instead of CFL.
Same here. That is why all those incandescent bulbs are a waste. I have dimmable LEDs now, and they are so much better. No more CFLs in my house.
Well, they kind of are, because they have mercury in them. And not very reliable. Which is why I went LED when I moved here 6 years ago, instead of CFL. Every light, even my outside floods, are LED, and not one has failed in 6 years thus far.
Paints, at least for trains - that does not concern me as much. The real railroads varied in color, so using different brands as ones come and go is probably MORE realistic than making sure you have enough of a particualr color so that everything is painted with the same brand and color. The real shades varied over time, and even by location - a rialroad might SAY all their house cars were "standard oxide red" but one painted at the East car shops the same week as one painted at the South shops could and did look different. Between three brands of locos all factory painted the 'same' color - I have 3 variations. Life Like's color is not the exact same as Stewart/Bowser is not the exact same as Athearn's. And which I am going to use on all those undecorated Atlas locos....no clue.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
SeeYou190 I do have a lifetime supply of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs that I bought foolishly. I listened to the idiots that said that CFLs were dangerous and we needed to hoard these older style bulbs to keep our dimmer ciruits functional.
I do have a lifetime supply of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs that I bought foolishly. I listened to the idiots that said that CFLs were dangerous and we needed to hoard these older style bulbs to keep our dimmer ciruits functional.
I am currently filling the construction dumpster in front of my house.
Kind of amazing, it is mostly cheap furniture that is going inside of it. I thought there would be a lot more poor purchases that would go in.
I did a first-pass in the garage, and maybe one cubic yard of stuff I was saving that I do not need.
I honestly thought I over-bought more than I have.
These will be in the trash. That was a dumb purchase.
Eilif I've got an awful lot of paint
Well, I have a terrible relationship with paint. It seems when a line goes out of production, I am left in a mess.
When Partha Paints went out of production, there was no source for a good metallic red armor color. My 40K Orks needed this color.
Then Polly-S Fantasy went out of production. No one makes a color comperable to Ogre Flesh from this line, and it was the perfect green color for wheel well interiors on US WW2 aircraft.
Then Floquil Railroad Colors went away, and all of us were scrambling to get what we could.
Citadel reformulated all their painted about 8 years ago or so, and there was nothing comperable to Boltgun Metal in the new line. I bought every bottle I could find in Florida.
Anyway, hoarding paints that you need might just be a fact of life.
richhotrainThat is awesome, Ed. Gotta ask the brand? I love Scotch.
Thanks for asking, Rich. It is a bottle of OBAN 18 yr. old Single Malt. I enjoy a sip now and then. I'm savoring it and in two years time the bottle is still half-full.
Yes, a very thoughtful neighbor
Cheers, Ed
Never wanted to believe I'm the guy who acquires for forever, but I've got an awful lot of paint and I just bought a box of 45 turnouts when my present plan only calls for 8 more...
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
gmpullman SeeYou190 Fortunately, I have a good set of neighbors right now that know how to show appreciation and always return tools and say thank you. Ditto! I did a little excavation work for a neighbor and he graced me with a bottle of eighteen-year old Scotch in return yes, good neighbors. I'm the "new arrival" since we moved in in 1984! Cheers, Ed
SeeYou190 Fortunately, I have a good set of neighbors right now that know how to show appreciation and always return tools and say thank you.
Ditto! I did a little excavation work for a neighbor and he graced me with a bottle of eighteen-year old Scotch in return yes, good neighbors. I'm the "new arrival" since we moved in in 1984!
SeeYou190Fortunately, I have a good set of neighbors right now that know how to show appreciation and always return tools and say thank you.
gmpullmanI guess I'm looked upon by friends and family members as a Mr. Hainey from Green Acres. Well, Mr. Douglas, I just happen to have one on the truck.
You know that neighbor that every neighborhood has, where you can knock on the door and that guy has the parts and the tools... I'm that neighbor.
Fortunately, I have a good set of neighbors right now that know how to show appreciation and always return tools and say thank you.
drgwcs Model railroading can very much be a buy it when you see it because you may never see another one hobby.
True. I always buy whenever I see unique loads, detail items, problem solvers, etc. made by small companies. These probably won't be on the shelf very long.
When NWSL went away, I bought everything I could find. Same with Scalecoat, then both of these came back. Whoops.
I thought I had a lifetime supply of Floquil Railroad colors, I did not.
richhotrainI can say this. When old, dormant threads are resurrected, I always notice how many screen names appear that are now long gone. In any event, in my opinion, this forum definitely is not what it used to be. Rich
Rich, That's the sad part.. Some was banned,others left because of various reasons including quitting the hobby. Then some may have passed without our knowledge..
Of course there are many modeling and layout SIGs on face book and some may have went there because of those groups. I belong to three such groups, shelf layouts, CR modeling and model railroading..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
zugmann richhotrain How about a wet bar? maybe if the heater core goes? I get it though. I like my old explorer. 4.6L, gas guzzler, but it's a tank. I honestly don't know of anything current that I'd like to replace it with. I mean, tehre's things I'd like to have in addition (cough challenger cough), but unless I move somewhere with more parking, 2 is my max.
richhotrain How about a wet bar?
maybe if the heater core goes?
I get it though. I like my old explorer. 4.6L, gas guzzler, but it's a tank. I honestly don't know of anything current that I'd like to replace it with. I mean, tehre's things I'd like to have in addition (cough challenger cough), but unless I move somewhere with more parking, 2 is my max.
We had a couple of those in the family over the years, great vehicles as well.
I flipped a 1995 Explorer on some black ice, and I mean flipped. I was up side down, looking back the way I came. Then it righted itself and landed on the wheels in a snow bank.
I walked away with literally only a scratch.......
zugmann Do you have the in-car fridge?
Do you have the in-car fridge?
No, we have grandchildren, so we have the real back seat, not the rear bucket seats. Ours is a 2015, but I don't think the fridge has been available these last couple of model years.
We have the multi panel vista roof, most of the top of the car is glass. Not something we really wanted, but it was on all the available cars that had the other stuff we wanted.
We have the Eccoboost engine, everybody should have a 4800lb station wagon with twin turbos, 365 HP, 360 lb/ft torque, paddle shifters, and all wheel drive, that goes from 0-60 in 5.5 seconds and does a 1/4 mile in just over 15 seconds.
There is a guy on Youtube who has modified an Eccoboost FLEX and it runs in the mid 12's.
It parks itself, it has adaptive cruise control, It stops on a dime, and it is comfortable beyond most anything I have ever driven.
And while not a sports car, just like the driveline is shared with the police interceptor/SHO Taurus, so is the suspension, handles pretty good for a station wagon.
I think several things can contribute to these things. Model railroading can very much be a buy it when you see it because you may never see another one hobby. Limited runs and out of production items contribute to that. Some of us buy deals too. I'm not a hoarder but do I have too many things in some ways. I have on several occasions bought bulk deals- For example I have enough stripwood and plastic to last me a very long time even with a lot of scratchbuilding. That was a result of a couple of deals. A file box full of scratchbuilding supplies for $10 who could pass that up. That was in an estate sale. There is quite a difference between having quite a bit of supplies and hoarding. I have seen a few of those both train and not that were an absolute mess. Helped to clean out a hoarding situation a couple of times. They were a different level that a good supply of kits. To be honest I wonder if a lot of kit stashes are getting smaller right now. Just my 2 cents
When does preparedness crossover to hoarding?
I got a call from my wife's nephew about two hours ago. "My well pump quit. Looks like the pressure switch failed and all the stores that might have one closed at 6PM. My animals need water."
"I know you have shelves full of 'stuff' and wondered if you have one"?
I guess I'm looked upon by friends and family members as a Mr. Hainey from Green Acres. Well, Mr. Douglas, I just happen to have one on the truck.
Sure enough, I had a Square D pressure switch "just in case" and he just called to report that everything was back to normal with his well system. I had the 1/4 x 5" brass nipple and plenty of pipe dope, too.
Same thing happened to my nephew's furnace 24V. transformer. Burned up on Christmas eve two years ago during a frigid cold snap. Guess who had a spare? And I don't even have a furnace!
Maybe I got this way working in maintenance where we had a huge stockroom and tons of repair parts were on hand 24-7. Then a management change in the mid '80s took on this, "We can order whatever we need and have it the next day"
Well, it wasn't long before the maintenance guys started stockpiling the things we knew we were going to need on a frequent basis. There were several instances where many, and sometimes ALL of the production people were sent home due to equipment being down for lack of a simple repair part.
Sure, you can't anticipate every failure but you sure can be ready for some of the more common ones.
Regards, Ed
richhotrainHow about a wet bar?
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
SeeYou190 ATLANTIC CENTRAL In my humble opinion, from an ergonomic standpoint, most cars, The only ergonomic complaint I have about the Flex is the position of the power mirror adjuster. Its location seems very poorly thought out. -Kevin
ATLANTIC CENTRAL In my humble opinion, from an ergonomic standpoint, most cars,
The only ergonomic complaint I have about the Flex is the position of the power mirror adjuster. Its location seems very poorly thought out.
Well, our FLEX is a LIMITED, so it has memory mirrors (and seats, pedals, steering wheel postion), so I have not had to adjust a mirror in? Well, I can't remember. I know I know I adjusted it when we bought the car.
OK, I do touch it to fold them in at the car wash......
ATLANTIC CENTRALIn my humble opinion, from an ergonomic standpoint, most cars,
Sheldon, don't wait for the real estate sale. Buy it now. Keep the older one too.
richhotrain From what I read, dealers that still have them are anxious to move the 2019 Ford Flex off their lots. Better act now, Sheldon. Rich
From what I read, dealers that still have them are anxious to move the 2019 Ford Flex off their lots. Better act now, Sheldon.
I know, but my practical side says the other one is not worn out yet, it only has 85,000 miles on it. I expect it to go 250,000 like the last FORD pickup did.
The Flex is truely one of the only cars I have seen in in my life that fills the practical needs of a car as well or better than our Checker Marthons did. And remember, when I have not been busy as a carpenter/house designer, I sold MATCO tools, worked in the car business and restored old cars.....I have spend a lot of time around a lot of different cars......
In my humble opinion, from an ergonomic standpoint, most cars, and most SUV's/crossovers (still station wagons to me), today are total crap. Hard to enter/exit, too low, or too high, too bulky/bulgy for no reason other than style (not a style I like), to hard to see out of, and lack interior utility. Not to mention ride like crap due to short wheel base platforms.
But if all the houses sell soon, the wife might be convinced it was her idea.........his and hers......
zugmann ATLANTIC CENTRAL I'm so practical the last two cars we have owned were nearly identical. In 2012 we bought a FORD FLEX. It was totaled in a crash in 2015. We bought another FORD FLEX with nearly identical features and options. And for those who don't know, the FORD FLEX has not really changed in its 11 years of production. I will be sad when I cannot buy a third one........... Still some new 19s on the lots. Go grab one!
ATLANTIC CENTRAL I'm so practical the last two cars we have owned were nearly identical. In 2012 we bought a FORD FLEX. It was totaled in a crash in 2015. We bought another FORD FLEX with nearly identical features and options. And for those who don't know, the FORD FLEX has not really changed in its 11 years of production. I will be sad when I cannot buy a third one...........
Still some new 19s on the lots. Go grab one!
I have thought about it........
Right now working on selling about a million in real estate I no longer want. If that somehow sells soon, I just might invest in one last FLEX.
Easily one of the best automobiles I have ever owned.