Altoona N Scale Weekend has been canceled due to venue location issues. But if it weren't that the pandemic would have probably canceled it.
No word yet on the Ohio event which is only six weeks away. I sent in our club's application for the Greenberg show in July but I'm thinking it may not happen. Any purchases we make now will have to be on line as I doubt if hobby stores are considered essential services.
A lot of shows have been cancelled until the end of May. Looks like they WANT to start up in June. I hope that is the case but deep down inside I'm not so sure about that. It's April already and this thing hasn't even peaked yet in the NYC area, let alone the rest of the country. http://trainshow.com/schedule/
I just got a Kato Master 2 untrack set new in the box for 60.00 from person selling up the road from me. what a deal!
Bought three dz123 decoders so I can DCC convert the Tomix Type 500 Eva. gonna run one in each end car as a “bipolar” for the headlight taillight board... and then the one in the motor car as normal.
Received yesterday two decoders for my Model Power FP7's. This will be my first attempt to hardwire a locomotive. I saw the video and it appears to be a straight forward installation with no disassembly of the mechanism other than to take the shell off. I just hope I have the right size of heat shrink tubing.
Just arrived yesterday - Royale Models N scale Dry Bulk Tank Trailer. Good service and a cool looking kit.
Used Vintage Pola train station. nice little kit, will need some cleanup and the usual interior lighting, floors, etc. I think I can make a passable SoCal looking station out of it, I’m thinking paint the roof tiles reddish Orange, and paint the Red brick Ends To OffWhite would be a good start.
Picked up a few items via mail. The wife has informed me that they should clear quarantine this evening.
BTW, I'm curious how long is your wife's quarantine period. Mine has a 24 hour hold on in coming mail.
Technically, you really need to quarantine the outside packaging for a day or so, according to this paper: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973 You could just open and dispose of it without touching the items inside, because those items inside have already been under a quarantine as they were inside the main box and no one has handled them for at least several days (unless you get your items somehow overnight).
My wife set a quarantine period of 24 hours + for the incoming box. Then she will use gloves to open the outer box and then wipe down the packaging inside the box and that has to sit at least another 8 hours. It's worth it to hopefully not get sick and it makes her happy too.
Of course, use your discretion and the most conservative estimate. A day or two of extra wait won't lessen the enjoyment of the hobby.
Incoming packages are sprayed with a disinfectant spray recommended for Covid 19 and then let sit for a day then the package is sprayed again upon opening while wearing gloves. The sprays made by Lysol and Chorox are among the effective ones and the easiest to get or were. Generally the items in the packages have been there for a month or more. It is the outside that has been recently handled that one should be cautious about.