My train mentor gave me four N&W coal hoppers. Super kind of him! He's very generous and helpful. I sent him an Amazon gift card.
No train gifts this year. However, due to grandchildren and great grandchildren having many stops, our house was quiet on Christmas day, so, I painted the walls in the new train room. When elder son dropped in on Monday he brought me two LED lights for the new room. Progress is slow, but progress is progress.
Have fun and Happy New Year,
Richard
Well I received new shoes, socks, Peanuts throw blanket, and gift card to Walthers.
Today I ordered 2 Atlas CR Quality 8-40CW #8277, and 753, but not at Walthers. I'll be using it for something else within next year.
I was really debating whether or not to buy all three locomotives, including #747.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
I have a relative who always sends me cash that I always spend on model trains. I'm pretty flush with equipment at the moment (between an estate sale and an opportunity to buy a lot of Athearn stuff in '21). but I think the cash will turn into a pair of sound decoders and speakers for some Proto 1000 NYC C-Liners I bought a couple of years ago. That means they are cutting the line ahead of the Erie-Builts, but a club-mate has PRR Eries and I don't think I've ever seen a C-Liner (and only a few F-Ms) on our layout.
Now the big question is: ESU or Soundtraxx? ESU seems the logical choice, but most of my sound locos are Tsunami and I might go that way for compatibility as I haven't really figured out speed-matching. Hoping to mix the Cs with Fs, GPs and RSs.
Aaron
My Xmas was spread out due to circumstances. A SDL-39 from ScaleTrains.com was supposed to be here, but the delays imports are facing mean it won't be here until January-ish.
I did get a couple of Classic Metal Works vehicles, a hy-rail pickup and a Ford station wagon.
Got a copy of the latest from Mallory Hope Ferrell, "Denver & Rio Grande: The Early Years."
Also got a New Zealand railways calendar and a couple of kits for portable bungalows.
In non-rail gifts, notable are tickets to see Lucinda Williams in February, assuming the pandemic allows.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
rrebell I can buy myself what wver I want, xmas has not been a time of gifts for me for a long time.
I can buy myself what wver I want, xmas has not been a time of gifts for me for a long time.
Same here. What I buy tends to be when it becomes available or found and isn't related to Christmas. It seem daft to buy myself something and but it under the tree - a kind of head game.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
MidlandMike The closest I got to train related gifts were a couple train themed puzzles.
The closest I got to train related gifts were a couple train themed puzzles.
So rather than receive RTR pictures you got kits.
I got a can of Peanuts (the comic strip) themed hot cocoa, and a Charlie Brown mug to go with it, as well as some cotton socks.
"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -Lin Yutang
-
Happy that 'Santa' thought me nice enough to do myself some eBay shopping. Going to be some fun prep and paint challenges heading into the new year.
Regard, Peter
selectorYup, anything from a daughter is more precious than breath itself.
Oh yeah! My daughter has had a very rough year and we have had our moments. Her poem brought us closer! I'm blessed to have her!
Picked up a pair of NS SD40-2 from Scale Trains.
hon30critter selector Wife baked me mincemeat tarts Hi selector, I love mincemeat tarts! I didn't make any this year because there were too many other goodies (including my first attempts at plum pudding). Like you say, I'll have to eat salads for the next two months or more! Cheers!! Dave
selector Wife baked me mincemeat tarts
Hi selector,
I love mincemeat tarts! I didn't make any this year because there were too many other goodies (including my first attempts at plum pudding). Like you say, I'll have to eat salads for the next two months or more!
Cheers!!
Dave
I like plum pudding, with hard sauce, Dave, but it's a rarity. I think I may have eaten it perhaps six or seven times in my lifetime so far. My mother loved it, but when she passed on 20 years ago, my siblings and I were long since separated by marriage and careers, and none of us seem to have followed her tastes that way. The influence of our partners, I guess.
Salads it is. Oh look, another salad! Yay!
People don't buy me trains for Christmas anymore. I have to buy my own. I am returning a defective diesel to one manufacturer for a refund.
It is being replaced with another unit of this ST diesel, Nacionales de Mexico, two tone blue and orange:
Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2, NdeM/Two Tone Blue (scaletrains.com)
They are stunning units. Two on hand so far. Changing my mind to model Mexican railways. Already have the appropriate scenery anyhow.
Bunch of units are packed up for sale at train shows or through my local train store. I'm keeping the NdeM units plus maybe two others. Out with the old; in with the new. Other locos were fine, but I just like these better. Also, still selling off dc only units.
John
After losing an aunt to Covid and an uncle due to health issues within hours of each other on the 3rd, I was just happy to be able to spend time with my parents and my brother and his family.
From my brother and sister-in-law, I got a $25 gift card for Carle's Bratwurst back home in Bucyrus, Ohio and two $50 Visa gift cards. From Mom and Dad, I got $300 cash. I've got some things I'm wanting to get off Amazon, and then later this week I'm planning on hitting The Train Station in Columbus.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Judy took my idea of a new truck and turned it into a brand new Rack.
The way she sold me on the idea? ...She stated "We're supposed to sleep 1/3 of our life and we don't". Then she went on to say "Last time I checked we don't have a lot of life left John"
The New Rack does everything but tuck you in. Then again I haven't read the directions yet. This is our Christmas present to each other and a truck would have been cheaper
Sleeping better though
TF
Finally got my swival bench vise, Schrubstock 75MM / AT-6075 with rubber jaws, quality tool listed on AMAZON at a very low price. Bayway Terminal NJ
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Yup, anything from a daughter is more precious than breath itself.
What did I get for Christmas?
Answer No 1: record low temperatures and about a foot of snow, both somewhat rare in the PNW. So cold that I had to empty my greenhouse, which has a small blower/heater in it to keep the frost out, but it will be overwhelmed with 15 degrees F. So cold that I had to empty my garage of stored squashes and a new honeycrisp apple tree I intend to plant opposite our established braeburn as a donor of pollen (braeburns are self-pollinatingish, but they do better with a few other varieties flowering nearby). Now everything is in the train room, which is insulated and I run a Honeywell slant fin in there. And a dehumidifier. Will have to shovel more snow tomorrow. Had to bring out bricks and tie a tarp over the car to keep water from freezing the weatherstripping. We're damp and humid, and wet in the PNW this time of year, but now we have that durned record cold. Don't wanna be locked out.
Second answer: Snagged a beautiful BLI Santa Fe 4000 series 2-8-2. BLI is definitely keeping up with the Joneses with this model. Wife baked me mincemeat tarts, which, with all the other baking, I will pay for with green salads from now until next Christmas. I also have a bag of Busch firs coming from Walthers, and three UP Budd passenger cars. It's an expensive way to keep Walthers' nifty catalogs coming each month.
Nothing train related but a beautiful poem from my daughter. And that is far more important than anything else!
A BLI Union Pacific FEF northern #840, gray and yellow stripes. A beaut. Finally remembered to get one after Rivarossi first released theirs when the world was new.
On the train side, Mom paid for me to get a couple sheets of decals and two packages of Kadee couplers. I also got myself in the holiday season some decals to do a chlorine tank car (already had the car), a Front Range hopper car that will be modified with some additional parts (one is onhand and the other is on order) to represent a different prototype (The car number is for a car that is nowhere near the model as-is.), and some lights and tree armatures for a park area on the layout.
On the non-train side, I got a box of various green teas as a present from work. (Haven't taken the time to try them as of yet.)
This is a copy of the post I made in the Diner:
Santa was very generous to me. In addition to lots of chocolate and some real British licorice allsorts, I got several train items. One is a Bowser 4-4-2 locomotive kit. I'm not sure how old it is but that really doesn't matter. The box had been opened and someone had started filing off the flash on the boiler. It looks like they used a very coarse file but the scratches will be easy to fill. I hope all the parts are there.
I also got four freight cars. One is a CP mini boxcar which is a bit early for my era but it is going to be used regardless. The second was a fairly nicely detailed CP steel side box car with a car number that I haven't seen before. I can't determine the manufacturer for either of those but it really doesn't matter to me. The third is a Trueline Trains CN slab sided 10 hatch hopper car. It has been slightly weathered and they did a nice job. The fourth is a new Atlas TH&B slab sided hopper. It is very nicely detailed. The only minor problem is that it has the Canadian Centennial 1867-1967 emblem on the side which I may just paint over because I am modelling the late 50s.
I have to admit that I bought all the train stuff myself on eBay but Dianne confiscated them as soon as they showed up. I knew more or less what I was getting, but opening them and discovering how nice they all were was nonetheless very enjoyable.
NorthBritA four wheeled carriage that I shall convert into a Director's Saloon of 1890.
For us uninitiated Yanks — a directors saloon:
43909 GNR Directors Saloon by nigelmenzies, on Flickr
Everyday is Christmas at our house
Cheers, Ed
I must have been good!"
Santa brought me --
Some good quality Yorkshire cooking oils.
Some Yorkshire cheeses.
Three books. Two on Yorkshire railways, the third on Road Haulage.
A bottle of good Scotch whisky.
A four wheeled carriage that I shall convert into a Director's Saloon of 1890.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
mbinsewi TF, so you cooked those ribs for 54 hours on low heat? Or did you mean 4 to 5 hours?
TF, so you cooked those ribs for 54 hours on low heat? Or did you mean 4 to 5 hours?
Got a new Dremmel (my old one belonged to my dad and was way past needing to be replaced) and some materials for making more FastTrack turnouts.
I got several things:
1. A Small Santa Fe Keychain "Kansas City Chief"
2. A Santa Fe Railway Lighted Vintage Clock
3. A Santa Fe Wooden Plaque (Red/Yellow)
4. A Santa Fe Railway 2022 Calendar