QUOTE: Originally posted by tatans How true, Garbage in, Garbage out, sounds typical, I met a guy who thought nothing of buying a $1200.00 brass loco and would hunt around construction sites rummaging for wood scraps, until he was at a construction site that was guarded by a dog, 10 stiches later and new pants and almost a big fine for theft and trespassing, he finally quit doing it, but he is still a cheapskate (being a cheapskate is NOT a compliment, by the way), By the way what is homosote?? sounds like something strange.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
QUOTE: Originally posted by ConrailJim Homosote is a soundproofing board that is sometimes used as a train board over plywood in areas such as San Francisco, Key West, and Greenwich Village in New York City. JIm
ChuckAllen, TX
QUOTE: Originally posted by kchronister Too bad that _HE_ spoiled it? I'm gonna concur with Brakie and say I don't think he's the one that spoiled it... First off, the $50 you mention he saved with his non-homasote roadbed is a lot of money to some folks, yours truly included. TONS of people, again including your author here, don't use it at all, but use cork instead, which also doesn't "grab" spikes. Are we all cheapskates too? Are we imposing terrible burdens on folks who might help us out? I don't know your buddy or his financial situation. Nor yours. Which means it's no more or less likely that he's a "cheapskate" than it is that you are a "spendthrift"... Regardless, a little more respect for his viewpoint on the value of a buck might be in order. You complain that he won' t run the dehumidifer, but were you ready to pay his electric bill? You complain he doesn't use homasote, but did you bring any of yours over and offer it to him? It's not like he was forcing you at gunpoint to eat glass shards or anything... I mean c'mon already.. Doncha think it sounds a little whiny to be saying "oh, we had to dip each spike in glue, the agony, the agony"...??? Seriously... Look at it the other way: There are endless discussions on this board of ways to save money, and many meet with thanks and praise. Few meet with derision and catcalls of "you cheapskate!"... In fact, if your buddy came on, posted about the material he uses and said "for 3 seconds extra to dip each spike in glue, you can save $XX per linear foot of track" he'd probably get a bunch of responses saying thanks and they were going to try that... If you're right that the griping over his cheapness drove him out of the hobby... That's a real shame no matter what. But I'm not ready to say for sure that his cheapness was the problem rather than the griping. You always had the option just to quit coming over, or come less, or come only in the winter, or whatever allowed you to "grin and bear it" for someone you call a "friend." I try to be a little more understanding (or at least tolerant) of my friends' quirks and foibles. God knows they have to be so of mine, and I'm grateful for that.
QUOTE: Originally posted by cefinkjr The very worst thing about Homosote is the unbelievable amount of fine gray dust produced when you saw it.
QUOTE: First, my friend had bought the cheap shop lights to mount over his layout. These $5.00 double flourescent fixtures come with the cheapest ballast available and the result is that the lights give off a "flutter" that can drive your eyes crazy and give you a headache. I did some research and because of his mistake, I bought fixtures at Lowe's that cost arount $25.00 each and the light is great...no flutter and no headaches.
Tom
QUOTE: Originally posted by cmrproducts Yes, this is supposed to be a hobby but if you don’t want to do a good job on building a layout then you will end up wasting a lot of money and time and will be frustrated that the layout does not operate smoothly. The hobby is supposed to be relaxing not get you upset each time you run it due to the poor performance of the final product.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Tom Bryant_MR QUOTE: First, my friend had bought the cheap shop lights to mount over his layout. These $5.00 double flourescent fixtures come with the cheapest ballast available and the result is that the lights give off a "flutter" that can drive your eyes crazy and give you a headache. I did some research and because of his mistake, I bought fixtures at Lowe's that cost arount $25.00 each and the light is great...no flutter and no headaches. Timing is eveything and am I glad I saw this post. I am working on lighting and power for garage right now and last evening I went to Walmart and bought 3ea 4 ft fluor fixtures - $8 each. I am now going to test the things and may return them in favor of an 8 ft from Home Depot for $23.
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QUOTE: Originally posted by mondotrains QUOTE: Originally posted by Tom Bryant_MR QUOTE: First, my friend had bought the cheap shop lights to mount over his layout. These $5.00 double flourescent fixtures come with the cheapest ballast available and the result is that the lights give off a "flutter" that can drive your eyes crazy and give you a headache. I did some research and because of his mistake, I bought fixtures at Lowe's that cost arount $25.00 each and the light is great...no flutter and no headaches. Timing is eveything and am I glad I saw this post. I am working on lighting and power for garage right now and last evening I went to Walmart and bought 3ea 4 ft fluor fixtures - $8 each. I am now going to test the things and may return them in favor of an 8 ft from Home Depot for $23. Hi Tom, I was hoping someone would pick up on the lighting issue and it appears that you have. There have been many articles in MR magazine about using both flourescents and incandescent lighting but I found that using a good 4 foot flourescent fixture (with a better ballast) with GE "Kitchen & Bath" 4 foot light bulbs produced wonderful soft light very similar to incandescent lighting. Go to a lighting store that deals only in lighting and they will show you the difference in different bulbs and they will have the better fixtures. However, like I said before, I did find better fixtures at Lowe's Home Improvement. Hope this helps. Mondo