To sleep, perchance to dream, of... "a gurglin' cracklin' cauldron in some train yard, [of] the wheat fields and the clothes lines and the junkyards and the highways, [and of] the backroads by the rivers flowing gentle on my mind." (song by Glen Campbell, written by Hartford John, lyrics copyright Sony/atv Melody)
I just won a Bachmann 70-tonner on ye olde auction site. The GE 70T is a locomotive I've wanted badly enough in N to have (poorly) scratchbuilt half of one before admitting defeat back in the day, but if I went back in time and told 15-year-old me he'd be happily driving a Kia and spending top dollar on secondhand Bachmann locomotives I'm sure he'd have gotten some unnecessarily grim ideas about the future...
2 locos on the way in. A Bachmann 4-8-4 Great Northern from a long time member here, so I feel good about it, and a Minitrix 2-6-0 that's coming in a trade.
I haven’t purchased much in the way of trains lately but here is my latest. Just dropped off in the mail box yesterday.
Got the new couplers from Micro-Trains. The 1022s for a Con-Cor SW1200 that has old hook couplers. Do I need to do the burnishing with the rounded end of a drill bit? Is that with the end of a drill bit away from the working end? Or would I need a very small wire brush tip for the Dremel? Is the reshaping contacts necessary? I won't have any long loads. I'm just a little old man. I don't see where I could tap a hole for the screws. The frame is split there. I'll probably have to pry them apart to remove the originals first. I won't be doing this tonight. I need some rest for my eyes. I do have an illuminated magnifying glass and one for one my fat head. Along with glasses. I hope my old fingers will work at this. The engine still runs good and I'ld like to have it working along with the two new ones. Richard
Not model related, but train related: A set of 3 Rio Grande service pins. Retired, 6, 22, 28 years. With option to acquire up to 12 more. Scenic Line service club pin. "Gold" Mainline thru The Rockies, employee lapel pin. Have several more of the Mainline pins coming, but what makes them interesting, is the colors and font are slightly different on EVERY pin! Should start showing up towards the end of the week. Not the best photo. Still have not figured out Macro photography with success!! All pins will eventually be placed in/on a bulletin board, so they can be seen and appreciated.
Here is a new Kato Southern Pacific F7 AB set, another very smooth runner. They are still in stock at several outlets along with the new E9 behind it. - Tonkphilip
Just got two arrivals today, An atlas S2 DCC and Sound - roughly half price and a Bachmann Light 2-10-2 for $70.00 USD missing some crankpins. (easily repaired! Anyone for an ATSF 2-10-10-2?
I promised myself no more rolling stock until my locomotive arrives, but while I was stocking up on paint I spotted a BLMA PS-4000 hopper at the LHS. This thing is so far above the clunky hoppers with logs for handrails and tuna can shaped hatches that I remember that I couldn't not buy it. It reminds me of the old Intermountain kits, except there's no assembly process for me to botch. Now I have TWO cars and zero motive power on my single Unitrack straightaway. I'm moving back up in the world!
R.J., I have some of those hoppers in Monon and they are great cars. I did pick up a slightly used Atlas B23-7 in UP that is really nice. It has the older non scale speed motor, but I plan on using it for switching and locals so it should do fine. It may even run well with my Katos but I haven't tried it yet. I remember those days when starting in N scale that I never thought I would have enough motive power to do everything I wanted, but that didn't last long. Ralph
Crazy week recently. Bright spots were the arrival of some new stuff. 1) bicycles to install in my Metra bike cars. 2) decals for my WC reefers 3) mobile home 4) MT tie loads for 50’ gondolas 5) LPG tank car 6) CEFX reefer 7) 2x NOKL coil cars 8) 2x IM SD40-2s from a fellow TB member. They’ll get patched from BN to HLCX in the near future. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I ordered a dozen Boosters to go with my CabControl system. Retired all my Digitrax equipment and donated it to my Train club.
To borrow a quote from Sheldon on Big Bang Theory; "Wow; that's a lot of b[ooster]s!" Seriously though, do you have a thread for the replacement decision and process?