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What non-auto model did you get today?


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Nice train stuff, Bill. I've always longed to do an HO layout of my own, but alas, no space. A few years back, I managed to grab quite a few railroad related books, from a giant sale at Motorbooks International, and I love them to death. I've been fascinated by trains, since I was a little kid.

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Nice train stuff, Bill. I've always longed to do an HO layout of my own, but alas, no space. A few years back, I managed to grab quite a few railroad related books, from a giant sale at Motorbooks International, and I love them to death. I've been fascinated by trains, since I was a little kid.

:D  Me too...loved trains since I was a kid. Steam was still in use then, and the highlight of my week was if my father had time to take me to watch a freight rumble through on Saturday afternoon.

A short-line railroad that's been in almost continuous operation since 1854 (seven different road names and owners, but largely the same route) runs just across the street from my front yard of the last four years. A lot of the neighbors hate it and complain about the horns, but to a little kid who loved trains (and never grew out of it) it's pretty cool. I see a high-hood GP9 occasionally, and a host of later EMD GP locomotives. Mostly covered hoppers, covered coiled sheetmetal cars, and open forest-products cars. The number of movements on this stretch of track has picked up dramatically since I've been here, and there's a small new yard a few blocks away that's usually full of hoppers and tank cars servicing the Dow coatings plant.

I think it's living so close to the trains that's sparked my interest again, and that old GP9 brought back memories of the first Lionel locomotive I had as a kid. I don't have room for a layout either, but I sometimes put a few lengths of flex track out on a couple of drafting tables pushed together, and run some short trains back and forth. I've been experimenting with some old pulse-power controllers that will get a decent engine to creep along very slowly too. 

Lotsa fun. I could go on about trains all night.   :D

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Hey Bill ! The service diorama you mentioned sounds interesting. Lots of detail could be loaded up into something like that. I hope you go for it when you move to Arizona ! :D

That's the plan...if I make it out there. The three jobs I have to finish up will now likely take me into the end of the first quarter or 2018, as I missed some work time due to a little injury, and then I have a few of my own project cars to either get back on the road, prep for moving or dispose of. Hopefully, I'll be out there within a year...realistically, maybe a little longer. :D

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I'm fortunate to live pretty near to the St Louis transportation museum, and every time I go, I make sure to crawl all over, as much as I can, 4006, one of the 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" steam locomotives;... what a monster that is. It's just too cool. I actually began to build a static display scene using the Revell 4-8-8-4 kit, but never quite finished it.

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I'm fortunate to live pretty near to the St Louis transportation museum, and every time I go, I make sure to crawl all over, as much as I can, 4006, one of the 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" steam locomotives;... what a monster that is. It's just too cool. I actually began to build a static display scene using the Revell 4-8-8-4 kit, but never quite finished it.

Wow, you are indeed lucky being close to that museum. I think the Big Boys are some of the most beautiful machines ever made, all power and purpose, but still graceful. Must be great to get to see one up close. I acquired some inexpensive built-ups of the static Revell kit that looked like they'd been a grade-school project, most of the parts painted in various bright colors with tempera...but pretty easy to strip.

There's a fair amount of video info on youtube about the restoration of  UP #4014.

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Wow, you are indeed lucky being close to that museum. I think the Big Boys are some of the most beautiful machines ever made, all power and purpose, but still graceful. Must be great to get to see one up close. I acquired some inexpensive built-ups of the static Revell kit that looked like they'd been a grade-school project, most of the parts painted in various bright colors with tempera...but pretty easy to strip.

There's a fair amount of video info on youtube about the restoration of  UP #4014.

Yep, they're gigantic, the larges locomotives ever produced, if memory serves correctly. I always take more and more photos each time, to use as reference for the Revell kit, if for no other reason. I think it's possible that we may be allowed "special access", as the brother of my roommate, works at the museum, though we've yet to try and pin him down on that.

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This is as far as I ever got with my display base, but I still intend to eventually finish it.

:D There's something very lonely about that photo, like the model has gone away to points unknown.

Is that a part of the display that came with the kit (my built-ups had none) or did you lay some track and ballast it? Looks great. Very realistic.

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Model trains....what a wonderful hobby.

I'm in Germany, the guys here are freaks.  Austria has excellent products, can we say world class?

My favorite theme was the 1950's.  Cool steam locos and interesting rolling stock. 

I did H0 and then later N scale....amazing the precision.

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:D There's something very lonely about that photo, like the model has gone away to points unknown.

Is that a part of the display that came with the kit (my built-ups had none) or did you lay some track and ballast it? Looks great. Very realistic.

If I recall, the track came with the kit. Once I finish adding more ballast, weeds and some freight yard clutter, hopefully it'll make a decent presentation of the kit itself. I did add ballast all over the place, as I was trying to simulate a freight yard scene.

Model trains....what a wonderful hobby.

I'm in Germany, the guys here are freaks.  Austria has excellent products, can we say world class?

My favorite theme was the 1950's.  Cool steam locos and interesting rolling stock. 

I did H0 and then later N scale....amazing the precision.

Yep, it can be a truly maniacal hobby. I have a good friend that runs a train decal business, and the train folks buy the heck out of his products, from what he tells me.

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I have a simple 4'x8' layout that has the bed and track down. It has been that way for several years. I look at the wiring diagram and it all looks like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. One of these days I will get back under there and give it a go. I pickup building kits and rolling stock from time to time. Sure would be nice to start using it.

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  • 1 month later...

With Christmas coming soon, I'll be setting up the Lionel train set for my 4 year old grandson and of course adding more switches and track as he is able to back the loco onto the spur and pick up or drop off the cars. He hasn't had the train leave the tracks yet, which is good news.

I've certainly given some thought to getting a train set for the tree, and may eventually do just that. Speaking of trains and Christmas, it'll soon be time for me to watch The Polar Express again. 

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I've certainly given some thought to getting a train set for the tree, and may eventually do just that. Speaking of trains and Christmas, it'll soon be time for me to watch The Polar Express again. 

We set the train up around the tree after Thanksgiving, and it is the Polar Express set. We also have some freight cars so we can leave the passenger cars on a spur. After the Christmas tree comes down I add lots more track and spurs for a few weeks. My grandson seems to enjoy it as that's why I had bought the set to begin with.

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We set the train up around the tree after Thanksgiving, and it is the Polar Express set. We also have some freight cars so we can leave the passenger cars on a spur. After the Christmas tree comes down I add lots more track and spurs for a few weeks. My grandson seems to enjoy it as that's why I had bought the set to begin with.

Sounds cool to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

2 Star Wars kits. If I get back to building again. And one non model item, but it's a good thing for me personally. This is my "get back in shape ya turd" new bike. One speed so it's all on me, and it can take the trails since it's basically a 26" BMX bike. it was on sale on Amazon and I thought what the heck. I always trusted Redline when I was a kid riding BMX so I figured I'd trust em as an older person.

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Picked up a couple more "broken" steam locomotives for cheap. I imagine sitting in my workshop, a nice wood fire to my back, and looking out the window at the snow falling as I work on these.

It'll be nice if I live long enough to realize that vision.

The 0-8-0 switcher is missing the smokebox front, and the tender. I've got both in the spares box.

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The plan for the 4-6-4 Hudson is to kitbash and up-detail her with bits from the old Revell static model. The cylinders are broken off and loose, and someone has already done a ham-handed "repair", but she'll be an easy fix (if you have a brain).

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I got these on Saturday I think my mailman hates me now! Lol the Leopold is huge the box is really big as you can tell that the other rail guns are quite a bit smaller all three of them came at the same time along with two of the new Hess trucks I got for my grandsons I got lucky on them cause the day after I ordered them I got an email saying they were sold out lucky that came the day after mine were shipped!

vince

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Just found this thread.  A couple of days ago, I got a shipment of Christmas gifts to myself:  1/35 resin stuff from Masterpiece Models in Vancouver, WA.  If you've wondered about the company, I've bought kits from them for years and never had a problem.  They make some things you just can't find anywhere else, like a Vietnam War PACV (air cushion vehicle), Tango boat, "Zippo" flamethrower boat and many others. 

In this load I got a 1/35 scale Quonset hut with extensions, a Japanese palm-log bunker and base, a pack of individual palm logs and this wrecked Zero.  The Zero comes with a sheet of photo-etch for the fabric flying surfaces:
 

 

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