I have been suprised through the years by 2 things.1Is how strong some o gauge locomotives are.Some can pull a fair size trains.The other is that some of the lester known railroads had some pretty big locomotives.Comments are welcome.
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No, I've never been surprised by model trains!
I have been surprised by the weight of some O-gauge locomotives. Back in my HO days when my Dad gave me his old Lionel stuff I was immediately surprised by how heavy his 1946 2020 turbine loco was! 
Every morning I wake up, I'm surprised......
I was kinda surprised when an enthusiastic child sent a post-war Lionel steam engine flying off a train table at great speed, crashing down on the floor. Just picked it up, put it on the tracks, and ran it like nothing happened.
Just the cab roof bent a bit. Pretty cool.
Matt01 posted:I was kinda surprised when an enthusiastic child sent a post-war Lionel steam engine flying off a train table at great speed, crashing down on the floor. Just picked it up, put it on the tracks, and ran it like nothing happened.
Just the cab roof bent a bit. Pretty cool.
Was there an older gentleman crying in the back ground?
Some of the Williams engines are very strong at pulling a lot of cars. What surprises me is that the opinion of people who buy stuff at a hobby shop(southeast Florida area) want only Lionel because as soon as somebody sees a name other then Lionel the sale dies instantly.
Lee Fritz
Lee, Bill at Ready to Roll might not agree with you. I am very familiar with the SE Florida area and the great layouts that exist. I have worked on a few to wire for DCS. A good mix exists but it is not mostly Lionel.
Marty,
I am referring to a hobby shop in Lantana FL when mentioning about brands other then Lionel.
For me Williams engines work very well, have not had a problem other then starting in the wrong direction or starting in neutral. Have not had any serious problems with any MTH PS-2 engine I have, just a wire connector came loose during shipping and caused a problem until I took it to Ready To Roll in Miami and they fixed it for free.
Lee Fritz
I'm surprised how engines and die cast cars weigh
When I first had a hands on, up close and personal experience with a Lionel GG1, I was surprised at how heavy it was. That was back in 1978 at a hobby shop on the White Horse Pike in New Jersey. I cannot recall the name of the shop at the moment. The loco was sitting on a display layout, so I picked it up and didn't get admonished....LOL
Every day I am always surprised when there is not a package waiting for me on the steps from Mr. Brown, FEDEX or USPS. But it always amazes me the weight of the engines all the better for pulling long freights.........Paul
1) when i used to have access to a sizable layout (O72 min), i could pull 100 freight cars with a Williams scale, brass GG1.
2) unless you are a modeler or lived within ~50 miles of Duluth, it's likely you may never have heard of the DM&IR which certainly had some big locomotives.
cheers...gary
I am invariably surprised when the following happens:
- It's July or August and it's hot.
- I have been crawling around the tabletop or floor or moving things in the train room.
- A very thin film of perspiration has formed on my knee or on the underside of my forearm.
- I crawl or lean across the table top when the track power is on (e.g., to re-rail something) and accidentally rest my forearm or knee on the track.
- I get a slight tingle or pinch from the 15 or so volts running through the rails because the moisture makes a better contact that normal.
I am also surprised sometimes at how long it takes me to notice it's happening and wonder exactly how responsive I am to a variety of stimuli.
Steven J. Serenska
Yea I was surprised by my wife real good just last week.
I heard her tell her friend that my layout was starting look pretty good!
What surprises me is that the opinion of people who buy stuff at a hobby shop....want only Lionel because as soon as somebody sees a name other then Lionel the sale dies instantly.
Yes. Always a surprise to me, too. I like - to a greater or lesser degree - all the 3-rail manufacturers. I have preferences - but I own brass articulateds and an RMT NYC ex-Marx-tooling Bang diesel - and "everything" in between - it has to be a nice piece within its own world, though.
I recently had 4 modern, full- scale double-stack container cars for sale at a show. Good prices on all. 3 were Lionel, one was MTH. A guy walked up and looked - and bought the 3 Lionel cars. All had boxes and near-zero run time. The MTH was a bit cheaper. I asked why he didn't want the MTH and he said that he "doesn't buy Purple boxes".
Okey-dokey, then. Too weird. When the quality is known and equal (the MTH is actually a bit superior in this case), why does brand matter?
handyandy posted:I have been surprised by the weight of some O-gauge locomotives. Back in my HO days when my Dad gave me his old Lionel stuff I was immediately surprised by how heavy his 1946 2020 turbine loco was!
My GG-1 is 9 pounds plus!
I was surprised when the MTH McKeen car was canceled, unpleasantly, but can't say BTO is a problem, until something else significant like that is offered, and l order it. I am surprised that hobby shop patrons demand only one brand, and wonder if they are unknowledgeable holiday buyers, like car buyers once thought, in the Model T era, every auto was a Ford. I buy any brand that makes what l want, unless, it is, as usually, the wrong scale. I would hope all but the very newest readers of the OGRforum are aware of all the few makers remaining.
GG1MAN, if that's what I think you mean...LOL LOL LOL naughty boy!!!
I am surprised my wife still lets me buy trains. I am surprised, after all these years (65), I still don't have a layout up. LOL That really does not surprise me. LOL
Rick
A couple of years ago I was running a conventional 0-8-0 with Rail Sounds from a NYC Flyer set at a show. An overly exuberant spectator knocked the loco off the track and it hit his foot and the cement floor. I examined it and the only damage was that the side rods on one side were a little loose. I put the loco back on the track and it ran fine. I was sure there would be some damage but the loco is no worse for the wear and still runs fine.
Once. It was awful.
mwb posted:Every morning I wake up, I'm surprised......
Every day I show up for work I think they're surprised. 
As long as we're not talking trains alone, as it appears we're not by some posts here, I would say that every day I don't wake up dead, I'm surprised.....LOL
overlandflyer posted:1) when i used to have access to a sizable layout (O72 min), i could pull 100 freight cars with a Williams scale, brass GG1.
2) unless you are a modeler or lived within ~50 miles of Duluth, it's likely you may never have heard of the DM&IR which certainly had some big locomotives.
cheers...gary
Oh yes I have.They hauled iron ore.And had big steam and diesel locomotives.
Serenska posted:I am invariably surprised when the following happens:
- It's July or August and it's hot.
- I have been crawling around the tabletop or floor or moving things in the train room.
- A very thin film of perspiration has formed on my knee or on the underside of my forearm.
- I crawl or lean across the table top when the track power is on (e.g., to re-rail something) and accidentally rest my forearm or knee on the track.
- I get a slight tingle or pinch from the 15 or so volts running through the rails because the moisture makes a better contact that normal.
I am also surprised sometimes at how long it takes me to notice it's happening and wonder exactly how responsive I am to a variety of stimuli.
Steven J. Serenska
I did some thing like that such as.I had done some thing and washed my hands.I did not dry them off good enough.I reached across the table to fix a derail car.And my hand touched the track and got zaped pretty good.
I was surprised when ROW made a B&O Mallet that would run on 042 track, and was shocked to my toes when MTH made the Railking U.P. Challenger which could run on 031 for an (almost - for me) affordable price. I blew my train budget for two years to buy it because I thought it would never be made again (Hey, c'mon: did the rest of you think MTH would stay in business fighting Lionel?).
I was surprised that Mike Reagan left Lionel!
SDIV Tim posted:I'm surprised how engines and die cast cars weigh
I recall taken my first railking out the box.Great day in the morning!!!This thing reminds me of lifting weighs!
D500 posted:What surprises me is that the opinion of people who buy stuff at a hobby shop....want only Lionel because as soon as somebody sees a name other then Lionel the sale dies instantly.
Yes. Always a surprise to me, too. I like - to a greater or lesser degree - all the 3-rail manufacturers. I have preferences - but I own brass articulateds and an RMT NYC ex-Marx-tooling Bang diesel - and "everything" in between - it has to be a nice piece within its own world, though.
I recently had 4 modern, full- scale double-stack container cars for sale at a show. Good prices on all. 3 were Lionel, one was MTH. A guy walked up and looked - and bought the 3 Lionel cars. All had boxes and near-zero run time. The MTH was a bit cheaper. I asked why he didn't want the MTH and he said that he "doesn't buy Purple boxes".
Okey-dokey, then. Too weird. When the quality is known and equal (the MTH is actually a bit superior in this case), why does brand matter?
As was stated in a recent post here on the forum ....... "people buy from, people that they like."
J Daddy posted:Matt01 posted:I was kinda surprised when an enthusiastic child sent a post-war Lionel steam engine flying off a train table at great speed, crashing down on the floor. Just picked it up, put it on the tracks, and ran it like nothing happened.
Just the cab roof bent a bit. Pretty cool.
Was there an older gentleman crying in the back ground?
LOLOL
No, but it was the kid's uncle. Maybe he kept his composure until after all the family left that night. 
D500 posted:What surprises me is that the opinion of people who buy stuff at a hobby shop....want only Lionel because as soon as somebody sees a name other then Lionel the sale dies instantly.
Yes. Always a surprise to me, too. I like - to a greater or lesser degree - all the 3-rail manufacturers. I have preferences - but I own brass articulateds and an RMT NYC ex-Marx-tooling Bang diesel - and "everything" in between - it has to be a nice piece within its own world, though.
I recently had 4 modern, full- scale double-stack container cars for sale at a show. Good prices on all. 3 were Lionel, one was MTH. A guy walked up and looked - and bought the 3 Lionel cars. All had boxes and near-zero run time. The MTH was a bit cheaper. I asked why he didn't want the MTH and he said that he "doesn't buy Purple boxes".
Okey-dokey, then. Too weird. When the quality is known and equal (the MTH is actually a bit superior in this case), why does brand matter?
What I think is behind some people's thinking is the old post war mentality, if it's not Lionel it is bad quality. then there are people who are stuck on Lionel no matter what!
In my personal opinion Lionel has lost a lot of quality over the years.
I have been buying brands other then Lionel because of quality issues with Lionel and Lionel's service department not standing behind their product, major example is the Lionel switch in O gauge; #'s 6-23010 & 6-23011.
Lee Fritz
My greatest railroading surprise was walking into a hobby store in Laurel, Maryland in CY2000. In the window was a Santa Fe O-gauge passenger set with an F3 at the head end. I went into the store and noticed the window trains ran by push button, so I ran the Santa Fe set. Wow, wow wow, wow, it had sounds. A nearby clerk was amused by my reactions, so he came over to tell me about this wonderful train set.
The next big surprise was the low price of the Santa Fe train set, but my guard went up when the clerk said it was an MTH starter set. MTH??? Never heard of MTH Trains. After a visit to MTH in Columbia, Maryland I was hooked, and after a long hiatus in model railroading, I came back to our great hobby.
Today my railroad has over 30 MTH Rail King locomotives and more MTH rolling stock than a sane person should have.
Thanks to that hobby store in Laurel, and thanks to Mike Wolf and his MTH Rail King trains, my interest in O-gauge railroading is thriving.
I was surprised at a surprise birthday party.
I was surprised when my car engine dropped a valve into the cylinder head.
I am surprised everytime I don't win the lottery, buying a ticket should not matter.
I am surprised that my postwar, LTI and MPC stuff just keeps running.
I am always surprised when I hit my thumb with a hammer.
I am always surprised when my posts don't get deleted.
So, yes, life does have a lot of surprises. Some good some bad.
i'm over the surprise, but the energy in live steam still amazes me...
able to move a few tons from a volume about the size of a small jelly jar.
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At April's York meet, I was surprised to find an engine I'd wanted for a long time at a price that I thought was a steal.
Shortly after that, I was even more surprised to not find a half dozen more of them, at better prices, in the next hall!
I was keeping an eye out for them in October, too. Still none at a better price than I'd paid. How is this possible?
