It’s not every day that I see a train car on the highway, or ever actually LoL. Well yesterday I saw this while I was parked at a highway overlook with my Atv. It was traveling on interstate 81 southbound. Pretty cool!!!
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Okay Rich, I have to ask, where along I-81 was that?
Ross
That is quite interesting, Rich! That is a nice view from the overlook!
@Ross posted:Okay Rich, I have to ask, where along I-81 was that?
Ross
Luzerne County in Pennsylvania.
@Mark Boyce posted:That is quite interesting, Rich! That is a nice view from the overlook!
Thanks Mark! I spent a few days clearing some trees last month. It’s been neglected for a few years.
Thanks Rich, thought the area looked familiar but haven’t been through there in 20 years or so.
@Richizzle07 posted:INVENTORY UPDATE!
Spent some time over the weekend updating my inventory spreadsheets with all my York purchases. The numbers are starting to get into some higher digits which is just fine with me! 😁 I also calculated my entire expenses at York and despite the few setbacks a couple of weeks earlier, this York exceeded my two other times attending. Of course the wallet will have to remain untouched for a bit following. Another thing I accomplished over the weekend was labeling a bunch of Menards boxes for the several unboxed items I had. Organization is key in this madness! LoL. I’m really happy I received all these boxes to fulfill my OCD needs! Thanks again Jim! Here’s a few of the relabeled boxes.
I have also started preparations for the fall York show. 176 days but who’s counting! LoL!
Just happened across this, months after the fact...
If you think that's OCD, my plans for a similar group of empty Menards boxes (thanks to GRJ ) include generating reproductions of the original Menards labels, but updated with (as close a match as I can get to) matching typeface and custom barcodes for the actual rolling stock housed inside (which includes some boxcars from the plastic-dome container era) 
---PCJ
@RailRide that’s definitely getting down to the details!! I was thinking about scanning the label that’s on the bottom of the plastic clamshells and printing them out for the boxes. I’m fairly satisfied with my index cards for now but we will see.
I've often wondered about the "train car on trailer" movements. Do they not realize that the rail cars can actually travel along railways, using their conveniently-equipped wheels?
@Arthur P. Bloom posted:I've often wondered about the "train car on trailer" movements. Do they not realize that the rail cars can actually travel along railways, using their conveniently-equipped wheels?
In the case of BART rapid-transit cars, they run on wide-gauge tracks, so their trucks are non-standard so far as rail delivery is concerned.
While other rapid-transit cars in years past (up to about the 1960's) were delivered on their own wheels, running in short consists attached to the rear of freight trains or towed much like the new Acela and Brightline trainsets, the practice has been for some time to flatbed them to their respective systems, either because of potenial vandalism, damage from in-train forces (slack action) or the need to remove running gear (such as third-rail collectors) that may foul standard railroad clearances, not to mention their significantly lower carbody strength compared to passenger cars (NYC's subway cars are supposedly only built to withstand up to 200,000 pound buff loads, 1/4 that of regular coaches)
----PCJ
@Richizzle07 posted:@RailRide that’s definitely getting down to the details!! I was thinking about scanning the label that’s on the bottom of the plastic clamshells and printing them out for the boxes. I’m fairly satisfied with my index cards for now but we will see.
That's something I'm considering as well. That way the text and UPC position remains consistent with factory labeling.
---PCJ
RailRide: Thank you for the explanation.
NEW TRAIN ROOM STOOLS FOR FREE!
I received three used stools from a close friend over the weekend. These will be used in the train room in various spots around the layout. Thanks again Brenda!!
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@gunrunnerjohn posted:Personally, I thought it was very amusing. I suspect most of the folks I know would have done the same thing, at least I hope they would.
Besides, I didn't want to make a bad first impression.
John,
You are a good guy!
NEW PURCHASE UPDATE! (Delayed)
I ordered a few new items from Menards in the end of June and I’m finally getting around to posting them. I’ve been extremely busy the past few weeks and I’ll have more details in an upcoming post so stay tuned because it’s going to be exciting!!!
Menards released another new Santa Fe caboose along with a Santa Fe coal hopper so I ordered one of each. Both are really nice! 
I also had my eye on a dealer pack of Army Boxcars with Shells and the inventory got down to just two left so I included it with my order. Still 1 remaining!!
Here’s a photo of this entire order.
Stay tuned for my exciting upcoming posts!! 😁
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Very nice, Rich! I didn’t expect the flashing lights on the caboose! 👍🏻
@Mark Boyce posted:Very nice, Rich! I didn’t expect the flashing lights on the caboose! 👍🏻
Thanks Mark! The lights are a nice little addition they’ve been adding to the new cabeese being released lately.
MY CINCINNATI TRIP ~ PART 1
I’ve been saying for a few months that I needed to finalize my order from the nice gentleman in Ohio that I’ve been getting the loads and loads of Menards trains from. Well, we’ve become good friends over the past year and he invited me out to Cincinnati to stay at his Airbnb for FREE!! I haven’t seen him since October so I took him up on his extremely generous offer. The Airbnb he owns is a block away from his house so it was perfect. It’s also completely train themed!! Very cozy with everything you need and there’s even real trains!! Yes, real trains!! There’s two shared Norfolk Southern and CSX lines literally about 50 yards from the front porch. I got several videos and pictures since I was a huge rail fan the entire trip. For anyone interested in staying at his Airbnb, look up Arlington Station, Cincinnati Ohio.
I arrived last Thursday evening after an 8 hour drive from Northeastern Pennsylvania which was 559 miles one way. Pure excitement so I only stopped once for gas and once at a rest area. Beautiful day driving out!!
Once I arrived, my wonderful hosts Dean and Joyce took me on a driving tour around Cincinnati. What a beautiful city!! There’s so many flowers and greenery throughout the city. We went to the Cincinnati Union Terminal and it’s gorgeous!! It was later in the evening, so we couldn’t go too far inside, but from what I saw was simply amazing!!
Here’s a few more photos from my little sightseeing tour around Cincinnati including a glimpse of the streetcar. We even went into Kentucky to take pictures of Cincinnati. Everything is beautiful in this area!!
After the tour, they took me out for dinner at Ford’s Garage Restaurant. This is one of the coolest places I’ve ever eaten at!! The atmosphere was incredible!! Amazing burger and fries too! Awesome place that I highly recommend!
I’m running out of file space LoL so there’s more to follow in the next post tomorrow. STAY TUNED for PART 2 and PART 3, followed by my final purchase out of this collection!!
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Too bad you didn't let us know in advance that you were coming to Cincinnati. You could have visited some of the world-class 3-rail layouts that we have here. You probably came down I-71 on your way into and out of Cincinnati, so you were only 2 miles from my house. 
@Bob posted:Too bad you didn't let us know in advance that you were coming to Cincinnati. You could have visited some of the world-class 3-rail layouts that we have here. You probably came down I-71 on your way into and out of Cincinnati, so you were only 2 miles from my house.
Yes Bob I did drive right down 71 😢. I’ll definitely try to set something up when I go again. We are already talking about possibly in December prior to Christmas so I can see how Cincinnati is during the holidays. Still too early to plan anything yet though.
MY CINCINNATI TRIP ~ PART 2
The following day (Friday), I was surprised with a trip to King’s Island Amusement Park. It’s been about eight years since I’ve been to one, so I had a blast!! We did a bunch of roller coasters, worked our way over to the waterpark and floated the lazy river twice until they made us exit the ride. It was 92°, so yeah floating around was extremely ideal. I even got to ride the train inside the park!! Fun amusement park!!
On Saturday I told Dean I’d do some landscaping for him in exchange for some of the trains I wanted. Great trade off IMO! I also helped him out with organizing a bunch of the trains that he still has for sale. This was the point in the trip that I realized Menards wasn’t the only brand coming home with me but more on that later. LoL
Afterwards, we went to Lindenwold Station for breakfast. Nice little place that had a train going around the ceiling. Pancakes were great!!
After the Saturday morning landscaping, train organizing, and breakfast, we went hunting down a Menards store since I had a pile of rebates I accumulated over the past year and a half and I’ve never been to one. We visited 3 Menards stores total (Loveland, Evendale, Fairfield Township) and I’m definitely jealous not having one nearby. I also found the $2.99 bin and grabbed a bunch of cars. My rebates bought me a Cripple Creek water tower, Cripple Creek switch tower, the third release of the lighted billboard, and a M&Ms track inspection set. I even found 8 empty boxes for rolling stock to take home. I had an awesome first time in person Menards experience!!
Here’s my purchases from my first ever in person Menards visit.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 3 along with what I purchased from the collection!!
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Rich, It seems you hit the jackpot, not just train items but with the trip in general. Did you say you were there a week?? You really packed a lot in.
Did come across I-80 from your home before you went down I-71? I live 30 miles from the Emlenton, PA Exit #42
@Mark Boyce posted:Rich, It seems you hit the jackpot, not just train items but with the trip in general. Did you say you were there a week?? You really packed a lot in.
Did come across I-80 from your home before you went down I-71? I live 30 miles from the Emlenton, PA Exit #42
Thanks Mark! It sure was a jackpot mini vacation! I arrived Thursday around 5:30pm and I left around 9:30am on Monday. I did take 80 out which was a pleasant drive. I really only hit traffic around Columbus and that was rush hour traffic too. I’m just thinking of all the layouts I drove past. I might have to arrange a layout-crawl (like a pub-crawl LoL) on my next trip.
I’m also just realizing that I could have bought that Woodland Scenics building you had listed a few weeks ago and picked it up in person. I could have checked on the light blue Ford pickup too LoL.
@Richizzle07 posted:Thanks Mark! It sure was a jackpot mini vacation! I arrived Thursday around 5:30pm and I left around 9:30am on Monday. I did take 80 out which was a pleasant drive. I really only hit traffic around Columbus and that was rush hour traffic too. I’m just thinking of all the layouts I drove past. I might have to arrange a layout-crawl (like a pub-crawl LoL) on my next trip.
I’m also just realizing that I could have bought that Woodland Scenics building you had listed a few weeks ago and picked it up in person. I could have checked on the light blue Ford pickup too LoL.
Rich, you mentioned a side benefit of this Forum. Folks often mention they are going to a particular city or state and ask what hobby shops are there. Layout visits and model swaps come out of those posts as well. A couple years ago, I setup a model purchase with a forum member who lives in Louisville and was traveling to Philadelphia to visit relatives. We setup a meet east of Pittsburgh and it was great to meet him and his wife in person, not to mention purchasing a delicate model.
The Ford is here. I finally broke down and purchased the dark blue Dodge Power Wagon and a ‘58 Plymouth Fury this week. The Power Wagon brings memories of riding in a friend’s ‘48 Power Wagon 40+ years ago. 😄
MY CINCINNATI TRIP ~ PART 3
Sunday was yet another surprise with a trip to the world’s largest train display at EnterTrainment Junction. Just Wow!! This place was incredible and I’m still in shock from everything. I could probably stay in there for days just taking it all in. I highly and strongly recommend!!!!
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Apologies for the videos jumping out of order from the photos. My first attempt at posting last night never worked and was a complete waste of about 2 hours of writing up a nice post. Today’s post was just photos basically but they still jumped out of order so I’m throwing in the towel since I’m over 3 hours in. LoL.
STAY TUNED FOR MY FINAL UPDATE INCLUDING MY BIG PURCHASE!!
Rich, thank you for your diligence with all your photographs and videos of EnterTrainment Junction. It is quite impressive. It seemed like you just about had the place to yourself, though I heard voices in the videos.
I forgot EnterTrainment Junction is near or in Cincy. I've never been there. Thank you again!
Rich...I thought this was supposed to be about your layout but now it is an ongoing travelog. We are moving it to the photo/video forum since the topic is no longer exclusively about the layout.
@Mark Boyce posted:Rich, thank you for your diligence with all your photographs and videos of EnterTrainment Junction. It is quite impressive. It seemed like you just about had the place to yourself, though I heard voices in the videos.
I forgot EnterTrainment Junction is near or in Cincy. I've never been there. Thank you again!
You’re welcome Mark! We got there for open so it wasn’t busy. I try not to videotape people since you never know who’s in witness protection and hiding from the mafia LoL. When we left, the parking lot was at least half full so that’s good. Definitely a sign that the hobby isn’t dying IMO. It’s about 30 minutes North of Cincinnati and 20 minutes south of Dayton off of 75. I highly recommend checking it out!
As for your earlier comment, that is an excellent side benefit of this forum. I was restricted on time though and wanted to get there ASAP LoL. I’m going to plan more accordingly on my next trip. It’s great meeting people from the forum in person!
Rich, yes I agree I don’t take photographs where I could get the public in the frame. Going early does have its benefits!
MY CINCINNATI TRIP ~ Conclusion/Purchase
The rest of Sunday evening we went through all the trains, and I made train piles in each garage he had. My purchase was way bigger than I expected!! LoL. It looked like York, maybe even more!!
Monday morning was packing day. We both didn’t think it was all going to fit but we made it happen. Both back side doors were packed and couldn’t even be opened. LoL. A Chevy Trax has very little cargo room. It’s my mom‘s car and I borrowed it since my Dodge Ram 1500 would’ve killed me on gas.
The drive back home was another long ride that took longer than the expected 8 hours but was less mileage. My gps rerouted me and I didn’t realize it until I was too far in. Only 538 miles but I definitely preferred the route I took out near Akron opposed to the Pittsburgh route. Speed limits were higher heading out LoL. I also had to deal with the Canadian wildfire smoke so it was a gloomy drive home.
It was a great trip that was basically a mini train-cation! THANK YOU again Dean and Joyce for everything!! It’s greatly appreciated!!
Finally!! Here’s the massive haul I brought back!! 97 items total! That’s not including all 16 cars in the dealer pack so technically 112 items total!! Wow!!!! A mass majority were never used and others hardly used. They all came from an extremely nice and large collection that Dean has been selling for the past year. THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN DEAN FOR EVERYTHING!!
Now to update my inventory!
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Wow! That is a big haul!
@Mark Boyce posted:Wow! That is a big haul!
Thanks Mark! It was long awaited for me to finish buying the rest of the Menards collection from him. All the Lionel I picked out were a huge bonus!!
@Richizzle07 posted:Thanks Mark! It was long awaited for me to finish buying the rest of the Menards collection from him. All the Lionel I picked out were a huge bonus!!
No words to properly define this amazing trip and purchases. A real bright spot on the forum Rich. 
( have you ever thought about financing another forum members layout ? )
@Dallas Joseph posted:No words to properly define this amazing trip and purchases. A real bright spot on the forum Rich.
( have you ever thought about financing another forum members layout ?
Dallas, you have such a way with words! 😄
I just skimmed through all 9 pages of this thread looking at the posts on your layout progress. I did that because I want to start mine soon, but I’ve said that for 2 years now. I like your triple deck approach to get more action in a limited space. Would you please post a pic showing your current layout? Also, what was the biggest problem you’ve encountered to date? Finally, do you anticipate any issues to get it completed, assuming it’s not yet completed?
An incredible trip and huge haul Rich. If we ever get out toward Cincinnati we will definitely make a day (or two) at Entertrainment Junction. Amazing what they've built.
Great updates throughout your adventure.
Bob
@Mark Boyce posted:Dallas, you have such a way with words! 😄
Thanks Mark ..........after being married since 1971 to two amazing ladys ( one still watching me carefully from heaven ) I have to be careful in using my words .
@Dallas Joseph posted:No words to properly define this amazing trip and purchases. A real bright spot on the forum Rich.
( have you ever thought about financing another forum members layout ?
Thanks @Dallas Joseph!! As for financing a forum members layout, I’d have to be able to finance mine first LoL. I keep spending my money for the layout rebuild on trains. I couldn’t pass up the deal though so had to alter my layout rebuild schedule. Now I should be more focused, then again York is approaching LoL.
@texgeekboy posted:I just skimmed through all 9 pages of this thread looking at the posts on your layout progress. I did that because I want to start mine soon, but I’ve said that for 2 years now. I like your triple deck approach to get more action in a limited space. Would you please post a pic showing your current layout? Also, what was the biggest problem you’ve encountered to date? Finally, do you anticipate any issues to get it completed, assuming it’s not yet completed?
Thanks @texgeekboy! I can get pictures for you tomorrow. As for the biggest problem, I’d have to say either installing my 2 MTH single track arch bridges that are still only temporarily placed, or the fact that I waited to paint the walls which became a bit difficult. I’m not anticipating any issues but then again I still didn’t get the second or third level running yet so hopefully it goes smoothly. The finished result looks great in my head! LoL I’ll eventually get there.
@RSJB18 posted:An incredible trip and huge haul Rich. If we ever get out toward Cincinnati we will definitely make a day (or two) at Entertrainment Junction. Amazing what they've built.
Great updates throughout your adventure.
Bob
Thanks Bob @RSJB18! Yes, definitely plan to be there awhile in complete shock and amazement!! A truly great experience!!
Fabulous trip and a great haul!
Peter
