What is the best way to list your stuff on E-bay? Yep another bad MRR night and threw a Athearn car I like but could not get it to roll right.
Should I list the stuff in groupes or the whole thing at one time?
I have 32 engines, 95 rolling stock, around 40 bulidings, 15 turn outs, 10 passangers cars, 14 cobosses and around 400 feet of track.
I hate to be a fly by nighter but when I starte throwing stuff, may be it is time to give up.
I know the main problem is by lack of bench working skills and tools, unless Bob Villa wants to help me it is time to sell before I throw a PK engine and I have came close.
Maybe a show called “this old train” would help.
God I love and hate this hobby, right now what I have not throwen across the room is running fine. But ever few laps I hear a Clank and I know a car derailed and rerailed it self. Just yet another mess waiting to happen.
God I love and hate this hobby, right now what I have not throwen across the room is running fine. But ever few laps I hear a Clank and I know a car derailed and rerailed it self. Just yet another mess waiting to happen.
Outside of less than perfect benchwork, you aren’t trying to run stock that is longer than your radiuses can handle?
You won’t get everything right the first time. It takes trainloads of patience. Walk away for a couple of days, and try again.
Remember this is JUST a hobby. There is nothing that has to be done on time, nobody should get hurt, and there won’t be anyone coming after you if you do mess up.
So, Ken, just hang in there, and in time, and with some work, you will be coming out like a pro.
If you go the e-bay route think in terms of a minimum value for an auction because of the effect of postage. I for one would never bid on a single freight car because shipping of $3.00 makes a $5.00 freight car not worth it. I would tend to group the freight cars and lower priced items and sell the locos individually.
Ken, I see you are in St. Louis, have you crossed the river and visited K-10 model trains in Maryville, IL?
When I was 12 or 13 years old, I sold all of my Lionels and bought HO’s. I still have them close to a half-century later, but you know what? I miss those Lionels. I wish I’d realized then that they were worth saving for the investment value alone. If I’d put them in the attic and just started fresh with HO, well, I might be a 3-railer today.
If you’ve only got a few spots where cars consistently derail, attack them one at a time. I’m sure you’ve torn down and re-built carburetors, and tracks and turnouts are a lot simpler. Likewise, if you’ve got a few cars that are always mouthing-off and giving the rest of the train a hard time, take them out of service for a while. (I had a few like that, and the solution was to replace the trucks.)
If that doesn’t work, walk away until after Labor Day. Don’t do anything drastic until the fall, at the earliest.
Ken, I agree with the idea of just closing the door and walking away for a few days. One of the best tools around is one of those NMRA track guage things. I don’t have one myself but I had a friend over the other night and he brought a steam loco… 2-10-2 (I think)… and that sucker found every piece of less- than- perfect track on my layout. Places my 2-6-6-4 cruised right over with no problem was discovered by that engine. He got out his tool and in no time found the track was a little out of guage in those spots and fixed it. No problem-o after that. I’ve got to order one, our one and only hobby shop closed. Another thing I did was take ALL the rolling stock that has plastic wheels OFF the layout and I’m slowly replacing them.
Hey, don’t be tossing those Protos around, they’re too expensive! [:)]
What? You again? Didn’t we just go down this road recently? If I remember correctly, you were given a lot of good, sound advice the first time around. Have you tried it ALL? Already? On EVERY single spot where your trains derail? At this point, if you give up on it, there ought to be a lot of pissed off people on here because they gave you advice for nothing. Hell, what do you want for all of it? I’ll buy you out in one fell swoop if you got a lot of stuff I can bash into On30. You can have a pile of money dumped into anything, like that charger for instance. But if all you want is instant gratification, it’ll never make it out of the garage.
Stop whining - this stuff takes time and effort but is also meant to be relaxing and pleasurable.
My 2 cents worth:
If the trackwork is not 101%, expect derailments - I spent 4 days laying an oval (12 X 5) and it is perfect - I use it as a test and runin track - I can leave a train on it for days unattended (record sofar 96 hours 45 minutes) and nothing comes off
If unsure about trackwork, invest in an NMRA gauge - the best $$ you’ll spend in a while - after getting the gauge, use it on every inch of track
After testing the gauge and other clearances, get a steel rule - the longer the better and check the track for vertical deflections - these can be as bad as track that goes out of gauge
Build a track test car from a block of Perspex and two spare trucks and Kadee couplers - mount a small spirit level on this - use it behind a loco as a track test car - you will see dips and the like through the perspex
Ditch all cheapie wheelsets - Kadee’s or ReBoxx are best as well as decent trucks on all rolling stock - PK’s are not always the best runners - I had two out of a batch of four that needed a weeks’ worth of tweaking to get them right - they would fall off the rails for no reason - traced the problem to a tight wheel set and a skew truck frame
PK locos ditto - I have a GP30 that is an amazing runner, my other two (GP7 and SD9) sucked big time when I first started running them - I now use the SD as my “worst” runner - if it makes it around a section of track it is perfect!
Standardize on Kadee couplers - the effors is worth it - no offense meant to the other near scale or scale couplers - they ar
Don’t expect to get anything near full value for anything that you list on e-bay. You’ve seen the posts on this discussion group, I’m sure: “I just won a Kato loco on e-bay for 95 cents including shipping!!!” People are bargain hunting on e-bay, so set your minimum bid accordingly. One way to set a reasonable price: what would YOU be willing to bid for what you’re selling, knowing recent history on e-bay.
(I’m assuming you’ve spent a little time researching model railroading related items on e-bay.)
I’d set up groups of related items in lots. You could auction off a few lots to get a feel for what you’re likely to get, and then decide, based on those results, whether to continue.
There’s no rule that says you’ve got to continue in the hobby. Besides, if you get interested again, you could always get restarted by picking up some bargains on e-bay from someone else!!![;)][:D]
-Ed
P.S. I just reread your original question. Whatever you do, DON’T offer your entire collection as one gargantuan lot. That’s just asking to lose out big time. You’ll do much better by splitting things up.
I agree with everyone above, this hobby is challenging. I don’t think it would be alot of fun if there was no challenge to it. Stick with it, get a gauge, change wheel sets, have a beer (if you are of age). I think we have all had our issues at one time or another, im currently deaing with some electric issues but thats the fun is trying to figure it out and get back to running smooth.
As far as the benchwork is concerned, there are lots of tools to help make it easier but the tape measure and especially the level are the two main ones, dont rush the construction. Picking a good flat piece of wood is also important, lots of people say to use 1/4 inch or 1/2, i use 3/4 and it is perfect. build a good frame out of 1x4’s and 2x4 cross braces. For the legs i used 4x4 posts which provide a nice strong support. If termites are an issue use PT 4x4’s for the legs.
Ken,anything you persue will have a challange, you can’t fish, hunt, play golf, collrct coins ,etc without trial and error.Why do you expect scale trains to be a walk in the park? There’s good advice from everyone here, youi admit you are no master carpenter, everything takes time, is your track work perfect? cars weighted correctly? couplers and trucks/wheelset dead on balls accurate? and guess what even then , it could derail, if you want trains to just run get some three rail lionels and let them rip, this scale stuff is fussy, quit pissing and moaning. you act like my old man…
Stick with it. It’s a hobby, your in it to have fun. I suggest you take a little time away from the hobby. I’ve been frustrated before and if you take a couple days/months it really does help.
btw you should read the caption at the bottom of the link.
Yeah…look at it this way: If it was dead easy to do, everybody would have an awesome layout. It’s what seperates the men from the boys that makes a good model railroader…or anything for that matter.
I’ve been in this hobby almost 25 years, and I still have occasional derailments and bad-order cars (ask my four-year-old son; he knows which of Daddy’s locos and cars “don’t run right!”). The trick is to use an ORDERLY approach to solving SPECIFIC problems (tossing trains across the room doesn’t meet this criterion[;)]).
If nearly ALL your trains derail in one spot, it’s probably the track. Like everyone says, check the gauge, eyeball down the rail and see if there are high spots or gaps.
If one car or loco derails in one or more specific locations, it’s probably not so much the track but the loco/car. Check the gauge on the wheelsets, check for burrs on the wheels, and make sure the trucks swing freely.
Check EVERY rain joint (EVERY, EVERY, EVERY…) and make sure that the rail is not sitting on top of a joiner. I’m sure you were careful when you first put the track down, but it happens to all of us sometimes. I had a few on my current (and fifth) layout I noticed when I went to solder the joints.
Resolve yourself to solving ONE PROBLEM at a time. Gradually, you’ll run out of problems and you’ll find yourself enjoying this great hobby all over again! But, to echo the sentiment of others here, if you’re looking for a hobby with out-of-the-box perfection and zero troubleshooting, then model railroading just isn’t it. If you want a hobby that will reward your occasional frustration and lots of diligent work with hours of enjoyment and real self-satisfaction, then welcome aboard!
I don’t understand how anyone can rebuild a race car - sand and paint - and can’t figure out how to raise a toy car with washers so the couplers match up. Something is WRONG!
Lack of talent? Braindead? or SOMEONE is not trying?
Perhaps the name should be 'Couldn’t-Wouldn’t Ken.
NOW to try and be helpful: ONE thing at a time.
PHASE ONE: Set aside all your rolling stock. You have an assortment of drek - leftovers - wannabees - and never was’s. They’ll need repairing or replacing. (YOU bought them). Don’t complain.
PHASE TWO: Replace a section of your track with KATO Unitrack. It’S simple, straightforward and reliable. Hopefully you’ll include a straight, curve, and a turnout or two, in your choice.
Buy, borrow, or steal an ATLAS engine and 2 or 3 InterMountain RTR cars.
PHASE THREE: If you’re not a total ‘klutz’, you’ll see that these pieces do not derail running on the aformentioned track, you have a DECISIONto make. SELL or CONTINUE based on your attributes.(If you sell all, at least you’ll get some of what you paid for it - and realize Life can be beautiful).
PHASE FOUR: Your ASSORTED52 cars.
With new trucks, couplers and A-line weights, you can bring those up to acceptable NMRA standards. Any cars you are not willing to invest $6-$7 in, to do, throw out.
NOW you’ll have a railroad that runs - IF that’s what you really want?
You have missed something. That is why you are frustrated. If you were to decide to stop when things were not working, rip everything apart, to reconsider a new approach, and to commence anew, you would only be the 739the modeller to have done that in the past 30 years…maybe.
I’ll bet my bottom dollar that your track has problems with one of three things: misaligned joints, out of gauge track/wheel interface, or changes in grade from join to join. The first thing that I would do is to place a good 18-24" level on top of the track and shine a light behind it toward your eyes, with both the eye and light at rail-top level. You will find your grade changes and your join misalignments that way. This assumes that your wheels have the RP 25 flange size and that the rails are not too shallow for your rolling stock.
Here’s the best piece of advice I can give you: Find a model railroader friend! Go to some of the hobby shops in your area, talk to the owners and people in the shops, put up an ad, “looking for help getting a layout started”, find a club in your area, (ask at the hobby shop), clubs welcome beginners and it’s a great place to ask questions and learn the basic skills. Have you picked up any of the Kambach books for beginners? Above all, take it slow. We all started at point zero once.
You don’t have to do everything by yourself, make some local MR friends at the hobby shops, invite them over, feed them coffee, food, etc., I’m sure you can find someone to give you some hands-on help locally. It’s not that we (the forum) don’t want to help, we do, but some situations are better handled in person, we can’t see what’s wrong, so it’s hard for us on the forum to give you specific solutions.
If I lived in your area, I’d be happy to come over and give you a hand, I’m sure you can find someone, it really is the best way.
Very often I find that I’m getting frustrated and starting not to do my best work. When that happens its time to just walk away from whatever you are doing right then and come back later. Just last night I was detailing a caboose, tedious work, I decided instead of trying to finish I needed to just set it aside. I might go back to it today and I might not, depends what I feel like. And thats the key, when you start getting frustrated you need to walk away for a while. Everyone has come close to throwing something, I know I have, but I don’t think its a good idea to sell out of the hobby just yet. Who knows you might want to pick it up again in a week, maybe a month, it doesnt really matter. If you never feel the urge to work on your trains again, then sell. But for now hold on to your stuff.
Right now, dont even think about trains, do something else, see what happens. If you are ever ready to come back to the hobby we will be here to help get your layout up to good running shape.
Sorry to hear about your trouble, I have been there also, but I never gave up, I kept trying, and kept learning. If you have rolling stock problems derailing, it could come from any of the above mentioned issues. I started with Bachmann ez track. Yes, a little lazy, a little inept. I had occassional derailments no matter what. One day I went to a LHS and asked the guy for help. I told the guy I wanted a near fool proof operation. I was told to use cork, code 83 track, and peco switches with tortoise controls, and 3/4" plywood for the top. I was also told NOT to nail anything down, but glue everything down. I had some interesting times making the curves I used 24" and 22" radius. It woked fairly well, but not perfect. I also tried using Atlas true track on 3/4" plywood and that has worked out better than my own track laying with the 24" radius. I relate to your flying stock, I had a couple with wings in my time. I read on the forums a guy who would line his kids up, and he would have a lawn mower party over his rolling stock that would derail, every so often.
If you have quality rolling stock, Atlas, Athearn rtr, metal wheels and just can’t get the trackwork right, it is time to consider some Atlas True Track or Kato Unitrack to try. Use the widest radius you can.