I had that mess in January, had it at exactly the same time in Jan 2022. Then, wife and I both lost our moms last year. It's been a rough last decade, to be honest. I guess my inspiration is having something to put myself into, to withdraw a little. Easier said than done, at this stage, though. I have a mountain of work before I can even get started. My goal is to hopefully be getting started by fall. Have a lot to do to that metal stand to get it ready for paint, it all has to be done outside. I'm in the south, it gets hot early in the year. I hope you can get your layout going, but go at your own pace. Make it enjoyable. Whatever you do, you know you'll always be a train enthusiast. Collecting is quite addictive and fun, as well. I believe it was you who said "do what makes you happy". Good idea
That's fine guidance. Sometime after my retirement, I also retired my 30+ year old N Scale road (as seen here) and began to plan a new one. Four years after the demolition, I'm nowhere near done with the new railroad and it's of similar size to that you see here. I have no goals for completion, having left that sort of stress behind at the office.
I ordered a few decoders and they are supposed to arrive tomorrow. So I am getting re-started again slowly. I have an Atlas S-2 (PRR) that I got without a decoder, as well as the recent S-4. Those haven't released the sound equipped units yet, but I went ahead and bought the B&O ones without sound. I'll probably get them with sound too whenever they get released. So maybe by this weekend I might be running something again.
As long as we're doing blasts from the past, how about this one from my late dad's slide collection...
Okay, so obviously I put this in the wrong thread... But it is an unsolicited advertisement for our always amusing, ever expanding "More eBay Humor" thread, right here on this same network
From 11/1981 at Taylor, PA, LV 8395. I wish my picture had been bettter. Eastern Seaboard Models Item 224402. This is a beautifully made model.
I think the picture looks fine. So cool that you've got an actual prototype photo of a production model. Looks nice all weathered up. That's my favorite of any so far. Natural beauty
Those ICG cars are really nice. I painted a GM&O boxcar (the ICG was a merger of IC and GM&O) some 35+ years ago when none were available that I knew of. I shot these IC and GM&O cars together at Tuscaloosa, AL in 03/1986.
Awesome job on that! I really want to develop skills to do some of my own cars. Structures, I have confidence in my work, but rolling stock, not so much. It's the lettering and decals that'd be the challenge. I looked at some of the IC cars with the split rail logo. They have the same design which I love, I decided on the ICG with single rail logo. I think it lived from 1972-1988 and then became Illinois Central again, with a bunch of spinoff lines during it's life. I think these look 70s up and down. They look great with my other recents. Love that bottom photo. 40' cars are just cool, I think so, anyway.
It's like a time machine to the 70's for sure! I have 416084, now I guess I need to go get 416108. And I agree with you on the 40' cars. I have a weakness for them. It's a good thing I am setting my layout in the time period that I am - I really enjoy the era when the boxcar was still king.
416108 was the 1st one I bought. I was looking at about 4 different listings and intended to buy 416084, but before realizing I had the wrong window open, clicked buy it now. It's fine, though, the car is beautiful, the case is kinda dingy and no paper insert. There is another 416108 listing still up, description says used/EC. 108 must be an older MT, all I've seen have the Kadee label. Doesn't matter to me how old they are, imo the quality of MT never changed over the years. I have several Kadee cars. Yes, sounds like you and I are into the same era, late 70s. I think of it as "dirty 70s", not exactly the most environmentally friendly period, but my time, nonetheless. Idk what it is about this ICG design, but to me it just screams dirty 70s.
It's my favorite period, coming up as a young fan. It was the last stand of railroad legacies such as jointed rail, cabooses, 40' cars, interlocking towers, first generation diesels (including Alcos), open agencies, train orders, unique signals, pre-megamergers, pole lines, branchlines to everywhere, no graffiti and open locomotive cab and caboose windows often sporting a friendly wave.
The 416108 was one of my first Kadee Micro-Trains cars... I bought the version with Rapido (!) couplers because nothing I had up to that point had Magne-Matic (Kadee) couplers. That car was released in July 1974.
Heck yeah, bro, well said. Bluford rr history lists 1992 as the year Graffiti age began. Graffiti on a railcar was a rare sight around here, even up into the late 80s and mostly on Conrail or something from up north. I miss the friendly wave. There was a caboose conductor who'd throw out candy if you were lucky enough to see him.
Microtrains must have been limited or hard to find, not widely available in early days. Maybe I overlooked them, but don't remember seeing anything besides Atlas, Bachmann and a couple other brands. They apparently have been reasonably priced since the beginning. I think one of the used Kadee boxcars I have has a $3.50 original price sticker. I sent a subscription request for your MT release report.
Moving stuff around today I added recent purchases to the train tote. Since I had everything out I snapped a pic. Not the best photo but this is everything I've collected, the good, bad & ugly. I have a couple more purchases on the way and I'm done... at least, I think I am..
That is a nice collection of Southern box cars - you can't go wrong there! Now you need to add in some B&O and some C&O. And Norfolk & Western with the "hamburger" logo. You're done? Nah. You're just getting started! I figured out when I will be done. It will be when they stop making them. I actually have slowed down though - having a more focused idea of what/when/where I want to model has helped that out a lot. But I still get the temptation to buy "just in case in the future.........". Seriously though, that is a nice set of cars. I see one caboose. If you want any more for the Southern, Bluford Shops has some very nice ones covering several eras. I have several myself and most are still pretty easy to find.
I seem to remember that it was in about 1982 when Kadee M-T suggested they would cease production of N Scale cars. I'm not sure why, but I, along with a thousand others, placed multi-car orders with Kadee M-T to get select cars direct before it was too late. Kadee M-T reversed its decision and goodness has rolled off their lines ever since.
