Ace-Garageguy

Jobs are so unfair, 'cause food and shelter and cars and sneakers are inalienable rights under the Constitution, right?

Kinda funny how for all those decades prior to NASTF, all the service data was available globally, with no insane fees to access it, shortly after vehicles were released for production. My bookshelves are groaning under the weight of countless sets of FACTORY manuals I bought for every kind of vehicle that came into any of my shops more than a couple of times before all this craziness began, and my scan tools are up to date as far as I can go without paying out stupid money. The push against right-to-repair by manufacturers in the car industry is finally bringing the backlash to a head. The latest move by Hyundai has sparked outrage across the web among people who are actually affected by this stupidity, and I'm one of them. It's gone way beyond anything rational, parts are so moronically designed to unnecessarily interface with onboard computers that do NOTHING but add layers of complexity, cost the moon, and aren't available half the time anyway... It's time for it to end. Period. Owners of vehicles being prevented from doing basic repairs and maintenance on vehicles they bought and paid for is just plain wrong, and the exorbitant costs to smaller shops will drive many of them to the wall...in effect creating a repair monopoly controlled by the manufacturer's dealer networks. EDIT: And IMHO, NASTF is just one more layer of useless, obstructionist complication. Nothing but another NGO "regulatory agency" with no skin in the game, positioned to acquire and hold on to power, while raking off bucks for doing nothing but getting in the way. Here's one locksmith's opinion, and I rather doubt he's in the minority.

Thanks. I'd come across his "Downtown Spur" layout in one of the model mags, but didn't follow up. Thanks again.

Stew made with performing raccoons tastes remarkably like stew made with the non-theatrical variety.

Audience participation in axe-throwing exhibitions may be risky.

Looks real good. Funny...I used to think that was one of the ugliest cars anybody ever put on wheels. I bought a decent one with some big 2bbl V8 lump for $65 way back in about '1977, traded it even for a clean '67 VW Westphalia camper. Sure would like to have it now...

^^^ (OP)

Ignore the man behind the curtain.

Your frustration is understandable, and I used to get kinda bothered by this stuff too. But in the final analysis, if it's not something I need for business, waiting a few days won't really affect anything. And if it IS something I need for business, I can almost always find plenty to do while I wait for whatever thingamajig is running late. Fifteen bucks is fifteen bucks, after all. EDIT: Don't get me wrong. It DOES chap my backside when I message some clown with "You know, you've had my money for two weeks and I see my package hasn't made it to your shipper of choice yet" and all I get is crickets for 3 more days and then it pops up on the USPS tracking app. But I don't even bother with negative feedback. Why? Because someday the same guy just might have the only chrome plated 1st gen grangefluriffigur in the known universe, and he's got a $10 BIN price on it when the cheapest one I've seen anywhere else is half a mil. I can wait a few extra days.

Them possums keeps on a gittin inta tha cat's food, an I'm a fixin ta have me sum possum stew it they keeps it up.

Probably overpaid for this little guy, but I couldn't leave without him. Only $8. It's an old lower-end Model Power HO scale Central of Georgia PS-1 boxcar in the "football" livery...purple and silver, which I don't know for sure was real...in perfect condition, and somebody's upgraded the wheels to metal and mounted a horn-hook coupler on one truck to act as an adaptor car between Kadee-equipped and horn-hook cars (yes, I know; the photo is from the web and has Kadees on both ends, so sue me). Definitely a 'train set' toy-quality piece, but it's another roadname I didn't have, and with a little detail work and weathering, it'll look fine in among a bunch of other boxcars in a yard.

Excellent idea. I do most of my real-world design work in CAD (cardboard aided design), so why not model trains too?

Bought a couple of Train Miniatures "NOS" freight car kits, only to get them home and find they'd been cherry-picked for parts. Not little stuff, but the main car underframes. OK, they were cheap. Really cheap. I can scratch-build frames easily enough, and I enjoy doing that kind of benchwork. And they were CHEAP. SO...I stop by Hobby Town on the way home to get some Plastruct or Evergreen. Not a single thing I can use, stock not replenished recently. Pretty sad state of affairs when one old geek-geezer modeler has a VASTLY better stock of styrene than a major "hobby retailer".

It really depends on whether you have a mind of your own, or need someone else's opinion to tell you what to think. Allen himself supposedly remarked occasionally that he regretted the Gorre and Daphetid name. I always liked the Stegosaurus "organic switch engine" Emma, and most of the rest of the little surprises he hid everywhere. But there's a phrase in model railroading that probably sums up his position perfectly: "my railroad, my rules". There's no shortage of people trying to tell other people in the hobby (any hobby) that they're doing it wrong. I personally think that people arguing about the name of his railroad might do well to take a little more time appreciating his craftsmanship and vision.

Frames that look like this often get filled with cardboard and Bondo and covered with shiny paint just before the auction.