Buy anything cool lately?

                         I see...

                   we both got tanked this weekend...             nice car Bob !!

Another UP Heritage Locomotive. MTH did a really good job. Unfortunately, I couldn't pull a train with it as i'm out of Kadees.

AGHRMatt posted:

Another UP Heritage Locomotive. MTH did a really good job. Unfortunately, I couldn't pull a train with it as i'm out of Kadees.

Do you like garish? Holy cow.

Not at all like the refined, elegant paint schemes of PRR...

RSJB18 posted:

Added some more rolling stock to the fleet.

The Yuengling tanker and the box car came from a forum member. The D&H car from Trainz.

Those are some excellent cars, Bob!

I picked up my new NYC Hudson a couple of days ago - WOW!!! As has been noted on another thread, this is a beautiful engine. I choose the 5418 with the standard tender which I find reminiscent of the conventional 783 and 785 in my collection. The applied detail is impressive, the engine runs nicely, and the sounds are excellent. If I have any complaint, it is that the various switches are back under the cab... while this isn’t a major issue, it does somewhat complicate the programming since you need to take the engine off the track after you do the programming to switch the engine to Run. I prefer when the switches are under a hatch on the top of the engine.

That's a beauty Paul. The Hudson is my favorite steamer. I have a nice HO Rivarossi that I've had since I was  kid. It's a little worse for wear and on its second motor but.....

Mark- Thanks- starting to build a beer train.

A Menards early single dome black tanker, need more with oil company logos.

Hey Bob, your Hudson was the subject of a Gil Reid painting years ago, titled "79 MPH", NYC Hudson 5405

http://gilreid.com/product/79-mph/

Rusty

I finally got my Bachmann trench locomotive, it just showed up today. It has the best sound system I've ever heard out of a ready to run locomotive.

https://youtu.be/oPs1xkBu0zo

It's definitely going to need to be broken in, though.

I bought another project from my secret source. MTH Premier Santa Fe 3460 class Hudson 3464. It's never been run but is missing all the electronics and smoke unit. It just has the 9434 Pittman motor and drivetrain in the shell. It's a combination of 3464's shell and front truck with 3463's drive wheels and rear truck, which don't have white wall tires. No matter as I'll be removing the white walls from the front truck. This is going to be a Frankenstein project with the tender shell being from a Lionel 3751 class Northern (the final rebuild 3751 class Northerns used the same 20k gallon water capacity tender as the 3460 class Hudsons) and the chassis, trucks, and toolboxes coming from a MTH Premier Blue Goose Hudson (the Blue Goose was a streamlined 3460 class Hudson). Everything will be PS3 controlled when it's done. I'll be taking pictures as I go through the project and I'll start a post with all the pictures when it's done. Should be a fun project after the holidays. This is my 3rd Premier Santa Fe 3460 class Hudson. I already have 3463 and 3460 (The Blue Goose). Needless to say I like this model.

p51 posted:

I finally got my Bachmann trench locomotive, it just showed up today. It has the best sound system I've ever heard out of a ready to run locomotive.

https://youtu.be/oPs1xkBu0zo

It's definitely going to need to be broken in, though.

Very nice Lee. Looks and sounds great! It needs a engineer and fireman. I assume your expert weathering is on the to do list too?

Bob

Lee, I am with Bob!  That is a great looking and sounding engine!  I’m sure you will get it detailed just right!

RSJB18 posted:

p51 posted:

Very nice Lee. Looks and sounds great! It needs a engineer and fireman. I assume your expert weathering is on the to do list too?

I don't know if I'd call what I do to poor unfortunate rolling stock as 'expert,' but thanks for the kind words.

Yeah, once I break this in, I'll be putting WW2-era Army markings along the side tanks ("USA" only, not "USAQMC" as was common for US Army Quarter Master Corps as I'd be explaining that every time anyone looked at it) and then a road number under cab side windows. I've settled on 5069, as that was a road number for one of the original Baldwin class 10s, and I recently turned 50, born in 1969 (and this was intended as a birthday present to myself, belated by two weeks due to Bachmann).

Then, yeah, some light weathering. they didn't go nuts with letting these things go even back then, so it'll get weathered about as lightly as my Whitcomb diesel.

At Fort Benning, they ran a small fleet of Davenports, copies of the Baldwin Class 10s. I'm using this and photos of them as a guide as to how to make them look. Note how they're clearly not OD green, even from the b/w film, unlike how the one on display at the Infantry/Armor museum there is now painted:

https://youtu.be/-BTtncKnS9k

I want to get a solider into the cab wearing herringbone twill fatigues or a coverall and what they called a "Daisy Mae hat," which sort of looks like a sailor's hat in dark color with the bill turned downward. Maybe he'd have a fireman with a steel pot on or not. But I need to find some 1/43 scale GI's to put inside this to show how small they really were! I'll also replace the plastic molded 'coal' bunker with real crushed coal and spill lots of it onto the cab deck.

One of the few Diesel locomotives I've always really liked is the GG-1. For years there was one parked on the tracks just to the east of Lancaster, Penna. I'd pass it whenever I took the train out to Lancaster to go to my printer, Science Press, located in Ephrata PA. 

There are lots of versions of this available, in all price ranges. I display them only, don't run them, so all the bells-and-whistles—literally!—don't interest me. 

Andrew,

Nice pics, and I like GG1's too (the traditional Lionel/Kline selectively compressed ones, the scale models just look wrong to my nostalgic eye), but they are electrics, not diesels

Lionelski posted:

Andrew,

Nice pics, and I like GG1's too (the traditional Lionel/Kline selectively compressed ones, the scale models just look wrong to my nostalgic eye), but they are electrics, not diesels

Yes, as a friend pointed out to me, electric. What was I thinking?

BTW, has anyone here ever bought anything from a place in Melbourne, Florida, "All About Toy Trains"?

Well, I didn't actually buy it. The guy threw it in with what I did buy!   LOL

Thinking I might electrify it with a smoke unit too and make it a smokin' rat rod loco.  LOL

          Andy,  like it ...  " smokin' rat rod loco "         gotta see it !

Lionelski posted:

We were at the Kennedy Space Center last week (we actually saw a rocket launch to the International Space Station - way cool!) and I bought these items  in a play set that I'm gonna detail and add to Cape Warrenaveral. More pics will follow when I get around to that.

I also picked up some cool 1:48 Star Wars figures in EPCOT, and a robot from South of the Border in SC that I will work on. 

The items from the children's play set purchased at Kennedy Space center have been detailed. The Lunar Rover is on the trailer that came with the pickup set I bought at Tractor supply last month. The Star War Storm Troopers purchased at Epcot are being thwarted by the good guys from the U.S. Army.

All this is now happening at Cape Warrenaveral. 

Wow guys, I see some great finds, congratulations and Merry Christmas. Some of my BTO items finally arrived at my hobby shop. Also, I finally visited Menards and found a cool sign, one that was advertised in OGR The Magazine. 

Not super exciting but something I've been looking to get for a while. Been in need of more small gauge wire for projects/ engine repair. I found a nice set of 6 colors 20 ga X 25' stranded wire. The dispenser box is a nice bonus too.

Well Wednesday made my monthly safari to "Wally World."  And as somewhat normal took the path down past the die-cast toy cars.  I picked this up, not sure why.

Ron 

RSJB18 posted:

Not super exciting but something I've been looking to get for a while. Been in need of more small gauge wire for projects/ engine repair. I found a nice set of 6 colors 20 ga X 25' stranded wire. The dispenser box is a nice bonus too.

That's what I have been using for the last couple of years, the silicone coated insulation variety - love the stuff. But.... sooner or later, that will look like a ****'s Angel's hair hanging out from under his helmet after a 4 hr ride! They tangle pretty easy. 

Somebody shared their suggestion on how to keep the tangling to a minimum where this type of box dispenser is used - with a stick running through the spools. Danged if I can find it again, but sure wish I could. 

How about it, anyone remember that post?

GeoPeg posted:

RSJB18 posted:

Not super exciting but something I've been looking to get for a while. Been in need of more small gauge wire for projects/ engine repair. I found a nice set of 6 colors 20 ga X 25' stranded wire. The dispenser box is a nice bonus too.

 

That's what I have been using for the last couple of years, the silicone coated insulation variety - love the stuff. But.... sooner or later, that will look like a ****'s Angel's hair hanging out from under his helmet after a 4 hr ride! They tangle pretty easy. 

Somebody shared their suggestion on how to keep the tangling to a minimum where this type of box dispenser is used - with a stick running through the spools. Danged if I can find it again, but sure wish I could. 

How about it, anyone remember that post?

Many years as a licensed electrician has taught me to never let the tension off the spools. As soon as that happens the spool looks like a slinky after a bad fall down the stairs.

I totally agree with Bob!  Also, if you want to straighten a wire, tighten the end in a drill chuck and slowly run the drill in reverse while adjusting for tension until straight.

Looks like I've got an early Christmas present this year!

Junk sale bargains yesterday! They will all appear in future train lay-outs.

First "under the tree" set-up in over 50 years.......

Finally got my cars for the Christmas set 

Lou1985 posted:

I bought another project from my secret source. MTH Premier Santa Fe 3460 class Hudson 3464. It's never been run but is missing all the electronics and smoke unit. It just has the 9434 Pittman motor and drivetrain in the shell. It's a combination of 3464's shell and front truck with 3463's drive wheels and rear truck, which don't have white wall tires. No matter as I'll be removing the white walls from the front truck. This is going to be a Frankenstein project with the tender shell being from a Lionel 3751 class Northern (the final rebuild 3751 class Northerns used the same 20k gallon water capacity tender as the 3460 class Hudsons) and the chassis, trucks, and toolboxes coming from a MTH Premier Blue Goose Hudson (the Blue Goose was a streamlined 3460 class Hudson). Everything will be PS3 controlled when it's done. I'll be taking pictures as I go through the project and I'll start a post with all the pictures when it's done. Should be a fun project after the holidays. This is my 3rd Premier Santa Fe 3460 class Hudson. I already have 3463 and 3460 (The Blue Goose). Needless to say I like this model.

 

And I thought NYC had some big hudsons.They got nothingon the santa fe locomotives.I have a railking santa fe northern ps3.I like santa fe steamers where oil burners.Being I am in the south east part of the country.There were a few railroads on the eastern seaboard that had oil burner steam locomotives.One that I know of Seaboard Air Line had a few that served my home town of monroe n.c.Its now CSX.I sure some one say a few other railroads.But I am only speaking Seaboard here.I have a few Mohawks(mountain type in the southeast)I am going to do some work on the tenders to oil tenders.

While Lionel's 1958 Scout Locomotives are apparently not in high demand, This set was in such pristine condition and at such reasonable price, I had to give myself a present!

Merry Christmas

Peace on Earth Goodwill to Men

Tim

Peter Araujo, nice passenger car, and have you tried the sounds out? My dealer is placing people in my car which I plan to pick up next month and I’m hoping Lionel did a great job in the car. It’s beautiful. FL9TURBO2, your Christmas Diesel is Beautiful to, wow. There’s lots of nice purchases showing up today. Merry Christmas Everyone. I heard that Santa is on the move....Happy Railroading 

New Lionel Legacy J3A Hudson #5410

I'm the only one on this forum to have one of these on his train lay-out.

          It fires images of pirates in four directions, and then you try to shoot the pirates with a flashlight pistol before they disappear. It will be part of my "Knights of Atlantis" lay-out in January. I'll probably replace the skeleton with smaller pirates, though.

PART 1: Splitting this into 2 parts based on when they were purchased. Everything below is in the 10 or so days before 12/27. A lot to catch up on here- finally "made the leap" to buying a Proto 3 diesel! Bought some new rolling stock to go with my engine, some accessories(after the NJT pics), some more military items to add to add to the layout and a postwar passenger car by a lesser known postwar manufacturer. Well- just see below and I hope enjoy the pics and videos! Due to the amount of pictures/videos, I'll split it into two posts. This one focusing on my main purchase- an MTH Premier NJT P40 cab #4300.

Leading off, my first Proto 3 engine of any kind. Bolted down to Nick Smith's on the 23rd, hadan idea of what I wanted but ended up getting something totally different. :

On the Christmas day temp carpet layout

Christmascarpet layout. First time enjoying using command control of2 engines on the same track. My 1st command engine, Lionel TMCC Amtrak Dash 9, is on the siding. Other new items pictured are a Flyer 15b  transformer(off to the right) , Lionel Yard Lights, and an MTH workhouse(both by the siding)

I've found out, afterwards, finding rolling stck/NJT passenger cars is going to be rather difficult. For now, this guy will be leading Amtrak or Long Island Consists

2 LIRR K-line passenger cars I picked up on consignment at an LHS. Gotta go back for the 3rd one. 

NJT video

MTH workhouses, Flyer 15b, and a really cool pick-up for anyone who likes adding a little military theme- boxed Corgi WW2 1:50 scale diorama with 3 diecast soldiers and a tank. There were 5 othersuch dioramas made.

The Corgi Diorama unboxed

Finally, the end part 1, here's an American Model Trains/Auburn Model Trains Santa Fe Observation car with a fluted roof. I have 3 other AMT Santa Fe passengers already(2 are the same)- a coach, combine and now this Obs. Car which is the first one I have that has the Fluted roof:

PART 2: 

My post Christmas purchases as I still prep for expanding my layout. Let me preface by saying on top of my day job, I referee basketball so that really padded my spending money prior to Christmas. Let me also preface with a description of the hobby shop from where I bought the pieces below this past weekend. The main shop has a bunch of new MTH and Lionel trains, accessories, transformers, track, etc... But that's not why I went, I went because I heard tales that this shop has "sheds" that are open only on Saturday with new, NOS, or used discounted items- this tale turned out to be true AND there was an extra 25% off sale! Prewar, postwar and modern. N, HO, S, O, and Standard Gauge. Lionel, MTH, K-line, plasticville, industrial rail, Williams, OLR, Intermountain, Marx, Atlas O and more. Engines, buildings, kits, operating accessories, track, RTR sets in the box, prewar engines in OB and not in box, MTH Proto 2 or 3, spent a good 3 hours in those sheds. 

Leading off is an unexpected purchase, but likely my favorite- An MTH 30-1167-1 PRR 6-8-6 Bantam Steam Turbine with Proto Sound 2. Wasn't boxed or in a case like the other engines that were in that shed. As I was looking at it, a worker passed by and said he'd take 50% off. Tested it out and it's been running on my layout ever since! While it is older(2000) and NO WHERE NEAR SCALE(same size as my postwar 2056), it's a real switch-up for me as I rarely run steam engines. That said, I really enjoy running it!

Chugging down the mainline.

12-wheel Pennsy tender

Running a Bethlehem steel consist. The depressed flat car in the back is something I purchased there as well. Was very happy that it had the "Bethlehem Plant" name.

Video of this steamer running:

Now on to the other items. Another shot of the Corgi diorama. The soldiers are new and are O-line Repro soldiers from ebay.

Hobby shop purchases: The building to the right is a large MTH Public Works building. Rather plain but plan on adding some detail, and, it''s plain exterior leaves it's function open to interpretation(military depot?). The tan jeeps are K-line "Operation freedom", Red Horse Van is a Dinky Toy, then the fastrack grade crossing. I really like the grade crossing and missed the opportunity to buy it on the cheap about 1 year ago, so I definitely had to snag this one.

Next 2 pictures: Older MTH premier National Cab Company reefer(cupler is a little 'loose' so I'll gave to fix that) and a working Lionel FasTrack operating track section. MTH Realtrax O-31 operating turnout. A Postwar European Bridge/viaduct by Kibri(1949--1956) that has some neat detailing underneath with what I assume are clouds. On top of that is a prewar AF o gauge coach.

Haven't had the chance to play around with the realtrax turn-out yet but it is my first non-tubular operating turn-out. Have the perfect spot for it too.

Kibri Viaduct, the boxes for the 2 RMT cars( Bethlehem Steel Depressed Flat and Navy Caboose) in the background.

RMT Bethlehem Steel Depressed Flat and U.S. Navy light blue caboose(Pearl Harbor commemorative edition) with marker lights.

Sorry, I don't have any better pictures of the big Public Works Building. Very happy and fortunate to have been able to find these at such great deals. 

Got this off ebay.

I'd ridden the railroad in 2003, but they didn't have hats like this back then.

stevefrompa - you have a very eclectic collection.  I like it.

AGHRMatt posted:

Another UP Heritage Locomotive. MTH did a really good job. Unfortunately, I couldn't pull a train with it as i'm out of Kadees.

I really like the UP Powered By Our People engine. I am looking forward to seeing the Lionel version. Nice addition 👍

I had a very good Christmas this year! I picked up my second MTH PS-3 engine. A PRR Trainmaster on eBay  several days before the holiday. It’s a smooth running engine. Then on Christmas Eve I found a Chicago RR Club PS-1 boxcar at a great price on eBay. And a Christmas gift from my wife was a PRR CoupolaCam Caboose. It works pretty well right out of the box. But I want to play with the settings.