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HELLLPPP! I know nothing and I need to get him a train....

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Posted by Guilford Guy on Sunday, July 1, 2007 1:14 PM
Bump, pics please Big Smile [:D]

Alex

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 6, 2006 10:30 PM
piccolotess,your best bet would be to check out bachmann train sets.

www.bachmanntrains.com
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 6, 2006 11:11 AM
PICTURES PLEASE [:D][^][:I][8D][:(][8)][(-D][D)][:P]
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 24, 2006 5:48 AM
hmmm...
did she give up on us
We never got picures...
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 5, 2006 7:42 PM
Tess,

I am glad Christmas worked out. Glad he enjoyed it. and glad your back.

James
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 5, 2006 3:25 PM
Go to www.wholesaletrains.com They have good deals. Also try www.modelpower.com They have neat engines, such as tank engines (not Thomas), old time "Fat Boy" Old Timers, diesel switchers, and more.
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Posted by tstage on Thursday, January 5, 2006 2:02 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess
I have noooo idea how to posts pics on here....tried to figure out the other day and it didn't work....I'm only somewhat computer literate. :-) I'll figure it out eventually. :-)

Tess,

Posting pictures is actually fairly easy. Basically, all you need to do is to find a web site that will store your pictures on their server and reference the picture's address in your post. There a number that will do it for you FREE. I use Railimages.com. Other FREE sites are Photobucket and Railpictures. We'll be glad to walk you through it, whenever you are ready to give it a try.

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 7:30 PM
QUOTE:

And if we move, those of us who are old enough will remember the immortal words "we can rebuild him. Better than he was, faster" Hopefully for less than $6 million.


hahaa!!! well good luck.....here I am just envious of people having room to start anything!!!! :-) Well, good luck with all the moving plans!
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 7:26 PM
QUOTE:

And if we move, those of us who are old enough will remember the immortal words "we can rebuild him. Better than he was, faster" Hopefully for less than $6 million.


hahaa!!! well good luck.....here I am just envious of people having room to start anything!!!! :-) Well, good luck with all the moving plans!
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 7:18 PM

QUOTE:
Glad to hear all went well with the Christmas surprise. Look forward to seeing the pics sometime.

Tom


I have noooo idea how to posts pics on here....tried to figure out the other day and it didn't work....I'm only somewhat computer literate. :-) I'll figure it out eventually. :-)
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Posted by Adelie on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 8:31 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess


do you have pics of your layout? :-)


That's a sore subject right now. The lower staging level is done, as are the helixes to and from it, the loops are done and track laid, and there is some subroadbed and roadbed down. Construction WAS proceeding nicely. However, the Tracklayer's Union is on strike while the wife and I figure out if we are moving this coming year. She's finally reached the point that I reached about 5 years ago, that I want out of the rat race. So, while we search for a panacea somewhere, probably near Asheville, NC, everything that would require disassembly is on hold. That leaves me with some structure building and weathering, locomotive painting and weathering and decoder installation. I'll enjoy this hobby in one way or another....or else!

Eventually, I will take pictures of the plywood central before I flip the reversing switch on the impact driver and start spinning screws out. Call it laziness or denial, but I've had less ambition about taking pictures of the progress as long as there is no progress on the horizon!

When I get any of the structures I've been working on finished, I will post pictures of those. Same for the locomotives and rolling stock.

And if we move, those of us who are old enough will remember the immortal words "we can rebuild him. Better than he was, faster" Hopefully for less than $6 million.

- Mark

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Posted by tstage on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 8:02 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess
How old's Daniel? Is he going to be able to afford DCC...or is Uncle Tom gonna have to help him get started? :-)

Tess,

Daniel just turned 14. He's a good kid. Right now, Daniel doesn't have much income - nor even a layout. When I finally get my NCE PowerCab (which should be shortly...please, please), I could "donate" the Bachmann to a "good cause". Maybe that might be the spur he needs to start building his own.

Glad to hear all went well with the Christmas surprise. Look forward to seeing the pics sometime.

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 8:53 PM
QUOTE:

I'd just as soon do the train shopping myself, since I'd have to not only give hints as to what I wanted, but provide the manufacturer, model number, reseller who has it and how much it costs to avoid a well-meaning disaster (like an S scale RS11 for my N scale layout!).


:-) sounds like you had a good christmas....courtesy of yourself. :-) do you have pics of your layout? :-)
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Posted by Adelie on Monday, January 2, 2006 7:34 PM
Well, yes and no o the train-related Christmas stuff. My wife got me the Sunday River video on John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid (if you haven't heard of it Tess, it is prounounced gory & defeated). Rather fascinating, since the layouts go back into the early 1950s.

I hedged my answer because before Christmas I wandered into Tony's Train Exchange's web site and their holiday sale. I wandered out with a CMX track cleaning car and a pair of DCC equipped Atlas RS1s, all in N-scale. I saved a bit of cash with the sale, and avoided having to do surgery on the locos myself to install the decoders. So, I sort of got those for Christmas, courtesy of myself!

I'd just as soon do the train shopping myself, since I'd have to not only give hints as to what I wanted, but provide the manufacturer, model number, reseller who has it and how much it costs to avoid a well-meaning disaster (like an S scale RS11 for my N scale layout!).

- Mark

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Posted by ramoutandabout on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:59 PM
Ok let me see if i can help a bit. I grew up with trains around all my life, until i out grew away from then when I was about 20. I'm just getting started with trains again, with the help of my awesome wife. If it was me, I would start out with a simple train set, which includes track, an engine, between 3-5 cars, and a powerpac, for around $200-$500. This will give him a chance to actually run a train on a loop and decide how he wants to proceed (better than just getting an expensive engine that all you can do is look at). I'd check in the Walthers catalog or at your local hobby shop. Try www.walthers.com to get ideas but if the gift was for me I'd rather get something I could run.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:36 PM
Did anyone get anything train related for Xmas????? I bet that is a really dumb question!!!!

Tess

P.S. Keith also got a train ornament from my mum. :-) Forgot that one thing. :-)
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:33 PM
so when do we get pics
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:31 PM
Hello again everyone!!!! It is WAY overdue for an update! So, Keith got his train set for Christmas. I really do need to post pics....and will eventually! Just a review of what he got. He got a DCC F7 Stewart engine....two boxcars....DCC EZ Command....2 gondolas....3 hoppers with loads....and a nice track.....he also got a "Happy Holidays" trolley so he could try out the multiple engines on one track side right away of the set. He was definitely happy! And surprised! We don't really have room for the train set right now...most likely next year we'll have more room for it to be out permanently....hopefully....but well it turned out to be a wonderful way to spend christmas evening.....Keith and my sister's boyfriend played with trains....(I did as well but I mostly videoed) Since Christmas we've gone to two hobby houses and purchased two new train books....and also purchased a tank car for the set. :-) I can't believe I didn't think of tank cars. :-) Plans are now in the works for more train rides. :-) Well, thank you all sooo much!!! You were all sooooo incredibly helpful!

How was everyone's Christmas's and new years?

Tess
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:29 PM
Hello again everyone!!!! It is WAY overdue for an update! So, Keith got his train set for Christmas. I really do need to post pics....and will eventually! Just a review of what he got. He got a DCC F7 Stewart engine....two boxcars....DCC EZ Command....2 gondolas....3 hoppers with loads....and a nice track.....he also got a "Happy Holidays" trolley so he could try out the multiple engines on one track side right away of the set. He was definitely happy! And surprised! We don't really have room for the train set right now...most likely next year we'll have more room for it to be out permanently....hopefully....but well it turned out to be a wonderful way to spend christmas evening.....Keith and my sister's boyfriend played with trains....(I did as well but I mostly videoed) Since Christmas we've gone to two hobby houses and purchased two new train books....and also purchased a tank car for the set. :-) I can't believe I didn't think of tank cars. :-) Plans are now in the works for more train rides. :-) Well, thank you all sooo much!!! You were all sooooo incredibly helpful!
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:12 PM
QUOTE:

One little trinket I am pretty sure is going to be a hit is a Bachman powered handcar I got for my six year old daughter. It's tiny, no more than an inch long, but it really ZIPS around the layout, and those two guys are just a BLUR working that bar up and down. At $20, it's already paid for itself in laughs, and the kids haven't even seen it yet. Stocking stuffer size, if your hobby store has them in stock, mine did.


Sounds fascinating!!!!! That would be such a cute addition to the set!!!!
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, January 2, 2006 6:07 PM
QUOTE:
Writing comes, not much, but a little easier for me because I can think about what I'm going to say before I "say" it, and edit and re-edit it, if need be. You can't really do that on the fly, standing in front of students. and hold their attention for long. I truly do appreciate a good teacher though.


The thing with good teachers....rarely do they start as teachers who know the tricks to hold kids attentions for long amount of times....it comes from practice.....i have the same problem as you.....I'm better at typing things rather then saying things out loud the first time.....the trick to teaching is practicing how to say things over and over and over again....making modifications and improvements every time you say something....eventually you learn different tricks..... it just takes a LOT of practice. :-)

QUOTE:
The last time they were visiting, Daniel had a chance to try DCC for the first time. All I'll say is: It's all downhill for him now. [:)] Daniel picked up on (and remembered!) how to run the trains in no time flat.


How old's Daniel? Is he going to be able to afford DCC...or is Uncle Tom gonna have to help him get started? :-)

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Posted by jeffers_mz on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 5:13 PM
A shame about your grandmother. We lost mom a year ago, in mitigation, she never quit, did things that even now amaze me, like build several hundred feet of concrete block retaining wall, one block in her little plastic garden wagon at a time, driveway to placement and back again, a whole lot of times, starting when she was about 72. She got to pick her time, the peak of fall, the place, some of the prettiest country in extremely rural NC, surrounded by generations of family, and wound up deep in the woods by the log cabin she was born in. I hope I get that much say when it's my turn.

Looking for the silver lining helps too, at least it did for us, especially around the holidays. I hope your grandmother was able to pack as much living into her time as she was able to also.

Lots to look forward to for you. As long as you give this Keith guy a little time to absorb the magnitude of what all's involved, (we can't be having GIRLS knowing more about guy stuff than us, at least not too often, anyway), it sounds like you've planned a heck of a Christmas this year, and I have every reason to expect he'll be dragging YOU to the hobby shop in no time.

NEXT year you may have to deal with the kind of thing I'm running into this year. One mention of "HO trains" in the list I made for my family who asked what my kids wanted Santa to bring, and I'm buried in train sets. I literally had to return one for my dad, because he bought two of the same set, one for each kid. That would have made four, and really, there's only so often you can drive the locomotive with Dr. Suess's "Grinch" painted on it around an 1890's mining layout before it starts to lose some of its charm.

I think, anyway. Sometimes my kids mystify me as much as they do everyone else.

One little trinket I am pretty sure is going to be a hit is a Bachman powered handcar I got for my six year old daughter. It's tiny, no more than an inch long, but it really ZIPS around the layout, and those two guys are just a BLUR working that bar up and down. At $20, it's already paid for itself in laughs, and the kids haven't even seen it yet. Stocking stuffer size, if your hobby store has them in stock, mine did.

Hope things go according to plan on your end, looking to dot some i's and cross some final t's here, and then the maelstrom begins.

Hang in there!



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Posted by Cthetrains on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 12:22 PM
that'd technically be a Tom-vasion, right?...who brought children into this?..hehehe..I AM the child in my family..(my girlfreind cannot get pregnant), so I've permanently assumed the role, along with our two dogs..I'm getting quite good at whining again..lol..I just received the email, and thought I'd pass it along, but I see I'm slow on the draw of late..Merry Christmas, anywho...
Cory "Ruler of nothing, respected by none, HEARD BY ALL, guaranteed!!!!!"
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Posted by waltersrails on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 12:21 PM
http://ztrainman.tripod.com/
I like NS but CSX has the B&O.
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Posted by tstage on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 9:51 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Cthetrains

ok..it's probably too late to mention this, and I can't vouch for the merchandise, but I just got an email from precision craft models, advertising new Reading T-1's..I'd be happy to forward it to you if you'd like...

Cory,

Tess already has a bead on that one.


Tess & Tom,

I am truly sorry for the deaths of your grandmother and brother, respectively. At this moment, I think about my father because today would have been his birthday. Sometimes there are more important things than MRRing and trains. I will keep you both in prayer during this time.


QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage


I talk to a 10-year old differently than I talk to an adult. There are some things that a child of that age is NOT going to pick up yet because his or her mind has NOT developed to think in those terms.

That does not mean I don't offer the SAME amount of help to a 10-year old. My answers are going to be worded and framed differently. The 10-year old's response to my inquiries is also going to be different to that of an adult. I know that Tess is an adult just by the way she asks the questions.


Tom,
By the way you explained yourself I would have thought you were a teacher! You must have kids if your not a teacher! Do you? If so, have you gotten them into the hobby as well?

Tess

Tess,

Thank you for the compliment and the encouragement. That actually means a lot to me - more than you know!

Even though I have had opportunities to teach, in my opinion, I'm really not much of a teacher. Writing comes, not much, but a little easier for me because I can think about what I'm going to say before I "say" it, and edit and re-edit it, if need be. You can't really do that on the fly, standing in front of students. and hold their attention for long. I truly do appreciate a good teacher though.

Regretably, no, my wife and I do not have any kids. If we did then - yes - they would probably be into MRRing like me. We do have some "adopted" nephews - i.e. kids of friends of ours. One in particular, Daniel, is a real nut about trains. The last time they were visiting, Daniel had a chance to try DCC for the first time. All I'll say is: It's all downhill for him now. [:)] Daniel picked up on (and remembered!) how to run the trains in no time flat.

And, actually, my dear wife enjoys MRRing (to a lesser extent) and is very supportive. She picks up on and is learning RRing terminology along with me, and enjoys watching some of the old footage on RRing that is now available on VHS and DVD. She also finds the "clickity clack" sound of the train going around the layout to be very soothing.

Tom

P.S. MU-HU-HAHAHAHAHA!!! We Toms are slowly taking over the forum!!...[:p] Could it be that we use all the same brand GPS system? Or, we were part of the percussion section in the band? Hmmm. (Actually, I played - and still play - trombone.)

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Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by TomDiehl on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 8:59 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tom Bryant_MR



Tess, last minute Christmas shopping idea, my little [2c] "pay it back" suggestion - how about a stocking stuffer - a subscription to MR mag? Maybe two, so that there is no ru***o see who gets to read it first? Looks like you both may have the bug.

And pics are in order right after the holiday. We all want to see what Santa brought.

Best wishes and happy holidays to both of you!

Regards,
Tom Bryant




Another Tom!!!! Is every other Model Railroader a Tom out there?!?! ::::hehe::: :-) Tess


Could be, Tess. [:D]

Well, maybe every THIRD one.
Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to. Chief of Sanitation; Clowntown
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Posted by wctransfer on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 8:03 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by ARTHILL

There are a lot of those unfortunatly. I do business with Becker's in St Paul and he takes good care of me. He would do business by phone, but that is advertising and we don't do that here. Ordering direct from Walters also works, That is my daughters way of getting me stuff.


Oh yes, Bill is a great guy. Thats where my mom will be buying my train stuff this year. Nice to meet you art, maybe ill see you there sometime.

Alec
Check out my pics! [url="http://wctransfer.rrpicturearchives.net/"] http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=8714
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Posted by Cthetrains on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 3:30 AM
ok..it's probably too late to mention this, and I can't vouch for the merchandise, but I just got an email from precision craft models, advertising new Reading T-1's..I'd be happy to forward it to you if you'd like...
Cory "Ruler of nothing, respected by none, HEARD BY ALL, guaranteed!!!!!"
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 15, 2005 4:37 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by piccolotess

DON'T you dare go any where!!!! Thanks for your understanding! :-)

:-) Tess



Scotty, Beam me up.


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