This ever happen to you?

You know you have too many trains when.....

@RickO posted:

You know you have too many trains when.....

Yup 😄

I think I have a crazy amount (24 locomotives) but I remember everything I have. For now.

@Lou1985 posted:

I think I have a crazy amount (24 locomotives) but I remember everything I have. For now.

When I had 24 locomotives, I remembered them all, and I even knew what running condition all of them were in.  When it rockets past 100, sometimes I find stuff in the closet or shelves and it's like Christmas, I didn't know I had this!!!  Occasionally, I find a second one, OOPS!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

When I had 24 locomotives, I remembered them all, and I even knew what running condition all of them were in.  When it rockets past 100, sometimes I find stuff in the closet or shelves and it's like Christmas, I didn't know I had this!!!  Occasionally, I find a second one, OOPS!

I don't plan on going much past what I have. I'm running out of locomotives that I want. So hopefully with about 30 or so I'll remember all of what I have 😄.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

When I had 24 locomotives, I remembered them all, and I even knew what running condition all of them were in.  When it rockets past 100, sometimes I find stuff in the closet or shelves and it's like Christmas, I didn't know I had this!!!  Occasionally, I find a second one, OOPS!

I've done that with Boxcars: I collect all of the Peanuts cars, Macy's, Looney Tunes, Beer etc.

I would get home from a train show (remember those?) and find that I had picked up a twin or two. Most times I've recouped my money on the auction site.

@Sean007 posted:

Now I just need to find some matching passenger cars. I better check my other cabinets.

Sean,

    FAs were freight engines no need to buy passenger cars.

JohnB

@JohnB posted:

Sean,

    FAs were freight engines no need to buy passenger cars.

JohnB

Lionel's model is an FA2, which the prototype could have equipped with a steam generator for passenger service.  Lionel's model has the steam generator details molded into the roof, right behind the cooling fan.

Rusty

I continue to find stuff that amazes me with no idea from whence it came.  Whole trains have been lost in staging tracks.   Drawers packed with all sorts of goodies put "in a safe place".  Safe even from me!  Yesterday and today I am rummaging through piles of stash trying to find two lost bridges.    My latest river scene has four abutments with only imaginary bridges.

The nice thing about working in my own basement is that I have a pretty good idea where my home is, most of the time, :

Typical case here:  lose tape measure, buy replacement tape measure, find tape measure, lose both tape measures,  buy replacement,  find one of the lost tape measures,  repeat, repeat....

These are the unlost tapes.

@Sean007 posted:

I sure that like me, we all forget that we bought something. Then we come across it again and we remember "oh yeah, I forgot that I bought that."

In my case I have several cabinets that I use to store trains, track and accessories. There are two orange Lionel boxes In that cabinet that I never really pay attention to as they are turned around so I cannot read the end flap. I figured they were boxcars that really should be in one of the train cabinets.

Today I turned the two boxes around and I was quite surprised to see that they were two Western Maryland Alco A's: a 6-18915 Powered and a 6-18916 Unpowered Alco's. They are brand new in the box that I figure are from 1992 - 1993.

For the life of me I cannot remember buying them!

Now I just need to find some matching passenger cars. I better check my other cabinets.

Well, I certainly remember that locomotive!!  First one I bought new, ever!  I shoveled tons of snow to earn that money!

I went on a buying (and stashing ) spree for a while. I've done the same looking through a pile of stuff and had a "I forgot I bought that" moment or two. I recently reorganized my rolling stock into some new storage drawers so I think I've found everything at the moment. Still a couple of loco's hiding somewhere.

@Sean007- nice find for sure. Love the WM fireball logo.

Bob

@RickO posted:

You know you have too many trains when.....

Respectfully disagree... if you have available room to store them, you DON’T have too many trains

I've sold off roughly half my collection in recent years.  And yet...

I think the little indefinites have coat hanger DNA in them. 

Mitch

Hello, I usually remember what I have but sometimes I forget what I had ordered so when they arrive at the front door, like four Lionel milk cars did yesterday that I didn't realize were finally manufactured. I must have ordered them two or three years ago and Lionel had problems with the first vendor.

@Lou1985 posted:

Yup 😄

I think I have a crazy amount (24 locomotives) but I remember everything I have. For now.

24 locomotives. Hah! Amateur!

(Oh, I forgot: about a year ago I ran across an S scale loco that I had forgotten I bought back in the early 2000's, I guess. American Models ATSF 4-8-4. TRO. I dabbled in S then; had an S-Helper F-unit set. Ran like butter. Had my favorite locos been available/readily available, things might have turned out differently.)

@Tom Tee posted:

I continue to find stuff that amazes me with no idea from whence it came.  Whole trains have been lost in staging tracks.   Drawers packed with all sorts of goodies put "in a safe place".  Safe even from me!  Yesterday and today I am rummaging through piles of stash trying to find two lost bridges.    My latest river scene has four abutments with only imaginary bridges.

The nice thing about working in my own basement is that I have a pretty good idea where my home is, most of the time, :

Typical case here:  lose tape measure, buy replacement tape measure, find tape measure, lose both tape measures,  buy replacement,  find one of the lost tape measures,  repeat, repeat....

These are the unlost tapes.

Well I guess in this case the old Armenian adage "Measure twice cut once" has a slightly different twist!! 

I have a few 'repeat buys' of rolling stock that I forgot I had already.  Guess it's time for an inventory system!

I do that with train books. Get home from a show with a new "prize" only to discover I'd bought it 3 years ago.

Chris

LVHR

Chris, you should read some of those books, you'd remember them!

About half of my total loco inventory has been converted from factory status to some new form of wireless control. ( I counted six different systems). I created an Excel spreadsheet so I could keep track of what each loco had and how it was powered. Finally started labeling them to save time.

I have the opposite issue.  I know I have it, but can't remember for life of me of where it is.  The downside of being between houses with space for a train room.

I've had that issue as well.  I lost a Z-4000 transformer!  I knew I had it, but I went through a mountain of boxes and couldn't find it.  Finally saw it on the other side of the room shoved way back under the layout benchwork!  I forgot all about moving it there some time back.

@D500 posted:

24 locomotives. Hah! Amateur!

(Oh, I forgot: about a year ago I ran across an S scale loco that I had forgotten I bought back in the early 2000's, I guess. American Models ATSF 4-8-4. TRO. I dabbled in S then; had an S-Helper F-unit set. Ran like butter. Had my favorite locos been available/readily available, things might have turned out differently.)

I'm very specific to ATSF/SP motive power in the 1947-1951 time frame, so I have a limited number of models to pick from. Of course this past year a UP FEF, UP FA-2 set, and DM&IR Yellowstone snuck in, bumping me up to the 24 mark. Now I'm back on track of only ATSF and SP models, so I don't have many more easy to find models to buy.

I also feel like many more locomotives and I won't give them enough exercise. I usually put a locomotive on each main and run them for several hours before swapping them out. More than the locomotives I have and it might be a year or more before stuff cycles out.

@Lou1985 posted:

I'm very specific to ATSF/SP motive power in the 1947-1951 time frame, so I have a limited number of models to pick from. Of course this past year a UP FEF, UP FA-2 set, and DM&IR Yellowstone snuck in, bumping me up to the 24 mark. Now I'm back on track of only ATSF and SP models, so I don't have many more easy to find models to buy.

I also feel like many more locomotives and I won't give them enough exercise. I usually put a locomotive on each main and run them for several hours before swapping them out. More than the locomotives I have and it might be a year or more before stuff cycles out.

Though my favorite RR's are the New York Central and Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, the Santa Fe and Espee make up most of my "second string" favorites. In fact, my favorite articulated - real and model - is the SP AC-9. I have one of the earlier Lionel TMCC versions.

@Henryjint posted:

I have a few 'repeat buys' of rolling stock that I forgot I had already.  Guess it's time for an inventory system!

Henry - an inventory system would be great, especially if I could use it on my iPhone. I know that I can use the Notes app, but I would like something that had a search function.

@JohnB posted:

Sean,

    FAs were freight engines no need to buy passenger cars.

JohnB

Thanks John - that solves that problem, besides, looking around I didn't really see any Western Maryland passenger cars.