I guess I should do the new-guy thing and say a quick hello to everyone and introduce myself and also say how happy I am to be here and real glad there is a spot like this online! I'm DJ a 43 year old husband & father. I got into O & HO-scale trains way back when I was a small kid of around age 5 (there's a little more about that on my profile). I enjoyed my (very small) Lionel O scale & Fleischmann HO scale setup's till probably around age 10 or so than briefly got into N-scale stuff for a while, then with all the old high school, football, baseball, boy scouts, family schedules, funerals and stuff I kinda put my railroads off to the side for about 12 years, until I was able to finally introduce my own son's to all of my dusty old stuff. It wasn't too long after that that we hauled everything out of storage and when we (sort of) started on a new 4'x8' layout, that was all fun and good for a few months. Unfortunately, that layout got left stranded only partially done for almost 20 years due to everyone's work/school/sports schedules, not to mention lack of railroading funds!, (I'm sure many of you here know all too well how it goes!, Wife+Kids+Cars+Mortgage+Bills+Bills+Bills+New Washing Machine+More Bills=Bankrupt Railways! LOL) Anyhow, Not too long ago I decided to clean it all up, get 'er running again and really get going with some of my old original ideas and plans for it and finish it all up once and for all, sit back and enjoy it! Needless to say, once I started trolling around the web, (How many of us wish we had the internet way back when we were a kids huh!!), searching for some new items to fill my little town up with I was in complete shock over some of the really great new-fangled items I've come across, I mean I've always had some ideas (well, that I thought were good at the time. lol) for what I wanted to do and how I wanted everything to look, but man, after seeing so many really great items and so many fantastic layouts online my now real lame lookin' ideas kinda went right down a toilet! LOL, So I figured I would finally join up here, instead of just admiring everyone's layout photos as a guest, and hopefully meet some good folks who also like model railroading, make some new friends and probably learn or teach a new tip, trick or way to do things! I'm always open to hearing, learning and sharing about all things railroading and/or otherwise. I hope you all have a very safe & happy weekend and a very Happy (U.S.)Memorial Day
Hey DJ, Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Looking forward to helping you get from where you are to wherever you want to go.
Welcome aboard, DJmetal. I like your choice of avatars, as a former resident of NY and fan of NY Central as a youngster, and today. :happy:
Welcome to TB DJmetal You've joined the best, IMO model traim forum on the net! Lots of friendly, helpful people around here. Enjoy,and HAPPY MODELING!!
Glad to have you along. I think many of us have come and gone and come back to the hobby at various points due to funds, space, changing interests and so on. Keep on having fun!
Thank you all so very much! All of your warm welcomes really make me feel that I have joined the right home for railroading!.... Boxcab Thank you, and I love the Red Green quote!, Man, that show used to really crack me up, I couldn't go out on Friday nights till it was over! LOL.... Thanks Charlie, that is cool, did you do music programing for fun or business? Anywhere online to hear your stuff?.... Thank you Hytec, I really appreciate that, and I really could use all the help and advice I can get, especially on engine maintenance (when. where & how to oil if need be, cause I never knew they needed oiling till a few days ago and I really don't wanna kill my engines by doing it incorrectly), street lighting (brands/styles that are affordable and look good), switch track controls, (brands/types), where and how to get some, the only ones I've found so far are them cheaply made in Asia lawsuits waiting to happen on eBay! LOL, Any of you guy's read the warnings the seller from Hong-Kong puts on each of his page of lights? it kinda put me off from purchasing them. LOL, here's a sample I've copied and quoted from one of their pages to share with you guy's, enjoy this one! LOL "Please cut off every 30min for durable using." (What's durable using? LOL) "These lights cannot be lighted continuously for too long time, if not, the rubber wrapped on the bulb will melt" (Hmm, that sounds mighty safe, lights you shouldn't light! Why even make/sell these? LOL) "Note: Each lamp has 4 wires altogether. When you connect these wires with the power, please connect two long wires with one end and connect the rest two short wires with another end" (Huh?! What's another end? lmao) Ya think they're using some ol' lost 1945 WWII surplus translation handbook that probably fell outta the belly of the Anola Gay or what?! LOL..... Thanks Fitz, it's always nice to meet fellow NY'ers. How long ago did you escape NY? The Mrs and I have been kicking around the idea of moving west for a while now, It's all changed here way too much for us, and not for the better. I happily chose the NY Central avatar since I'm NY born and bred and it's a familiar logo to me, I've had a couple of really old NY Central Boxcars since I was a little kid.... Thanks 282Mike, and your right, many of you all seem very helpful and friendly already!.... Thanks Eagle, you've hit the nail on the head perfectly! I'm actually relegated to the cellar like Grandpa Munster, and only because nobody else in the family wanted the space! LOL, It's got decent floor space down there but a ceiling height of about only 5'-5", unfortunately I'm 6' even! Our entire block has really low basement ceilings, something to do with underground or high water tables when the street was built back in the 1880's.... Thanks again, and I hope everyone had a giggle or two and a very safe & very happy Memorial day!
