Yeah, found they cannot be lifted out of the train as other couplers! But they do add realism (when they are noticed)!
Just got this nice old (1960) Akane Mike... It runs really smooth and quiet...and is (almost) as old as I am! Mark in Oregon
Picked this up off eBay as a non working spares or repair... Looking at the wheels it appears never to have turned a wheel, detail pack is still in the box. Plugged in a decoder and it runs lovely and smooth, so much for non working This will be repainted into Burlington Northern number 5473 Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
...and now for something a little different... A Rivarossi "KPEV P10". Please note what appears to be (2) valve gear links...what's up with that!? Mark in Oregon
3 cylinder driven from the crank on the outside? I am probably wrong but that is what it looks like to me... Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
While reading in the library (you all know what that is) I came across an article in an old issue Canadian Railway Modeller about detailing a model to represent a CN NW2 Switcher. Late that evening while surfing Ebay I came across this item for sale, the exact model the article referred to. I thew in a bid and won - for $33 US and the guy ships himself, no GSP. It's a Varney set, early 1950 vintage and from the rest of the pictures is pristine condition. My winter project is shaping up.
ExactRail is having a sale on their coal cars this month so I 've filled most of the numbers I didn't have of the Rio Grande quads; I've managed to sell enough trains I don't need to cover about half of the cost. The Bethehem quads are signature cars for D&RGW.
Oxford recently released three new vehicles and being that I am an avid collector for anything that will work for the transition era, I picked up their new '55 Buick, '57 Chevy Nomad and the '38 Buick. The details on the '55 Buick and the '57 Nomad are very good. Details and paint is pretty sharp compared to some of their earlier releases. The '38 Buick is also pretty good, but not as nice as the other two. Being that I have a Chevy dealership set in 1957, I will be getting a few more Nomads as the new colors are released.
The D&RGW had some three cylinder locomotives that were drive with the two crancks on the engineer's side, and one on the fireman's side. Sent from my IdeaTab S6000-F using Tapatalk
Mm .. Ok, here's the deal. Just getting back into modeling - not even sure if I'm going to stick with it .. so .. I bought a shiny new cheap Bachmann DCC loco off Amazon. The idea is that if I stick with it, I'll be repainting, detailing and weathering it to 1960's Great Northern. And if I drop back out of the hobby again after a few weeks, I won't have that much invested. Soo .. how much Bachmann hate is there out there? I know from the "old days" 20 years ago that Bachmann was pretty cheap stuff, I'm just in hopes of getting my DCC feet wet. It's actually kinda purty .. although doesn't it look like they mucked up the handrail in this Amazon shot?
Actually the quality isn't bad. I have one of their Soundvalue Alco S4s in my switcher fleet. It runs reliably at all speeds and hardly ever stalls. If you get tired of your shiny new GP 9, let me know and I'll take it off your hands!
I have a few Bachmann locomotives with the pre-installed DCC. They run pretty good. I haven't really put any to a "test", but I don't complain about their running qualities. The detail is pretty sparse, but they do make good starter trains. If you want to start in DCC, I would suggest a simple four function decoder. You can find those for about $25. If you further upgrade to sound, I find Tsunami decoders to be much better than the Digitrax sound decoders. Buying locomotives with sound pre installed is usually cheaper than buying the two separate.
After breaking out my old stuff and finding all kinds of treasures I didn't realize I had, I have built the beginnings of a John Allen TimeSaver as a "hump yard" if you will. The Bachmann hit the track on Sunday and I'm rather pleased with it, although I can tell I'm already going to have to include sound as one of my prereqs from now on. The difference between that little "rrrrrrr" in silence and the sound of a GM diesel spinning up, bell ringing, idling at a siding - it's fairly intolerable without sound, now that I've heard one. <sigh> As a result I now have TWO FA2 Alcos coming, and an MRC sound decoder to put in my ancient SW1500 Athearn. I also joined MERG (Model Electronic Railway Group, merg.org.uk ) and ordered a DCC tester kit and some miscellaneous lighting effects kits. I'm gonna have to get a second job.
Well, there was a Train show back on the 3&4 of March, and then I stopped by the Hobby Stop and picked up the two D&RGW hoppers. I really liked the DT&I gon, and then there was someone selling scrap loads pretty cheap, so I picked up a couple of loads. The Atlas covered hopper really made me happy as I have a soft spot for that scheme. And then the AA boxcar, just seemed right. I understand that logo is called the Ferry In The Fog.
The 2nd quad looks like Walthers is doing the very first order of Bethlehem 4-bays in the 1960's with the Randy Kilowatt logo; the only series with the smaller flying Rio Grande logo. Atlas did a nice job on their covered hoppers. Any space for a layout yet?
Good buy Paul! I have some of those gon loads myself. I plan on hitting them with some rust color chalk to tone them down a bit. They look too much like aluminum or stainless. We do coil or plate steel mostly on the POCR. Speaking of which, I've made some buys here lately and will post pictures as soon as the new loco gets here and I've dirtied it up just a bit. You guys will be surprised at my restraint on a few of them! Have a good day all! Dale