It also reminds me of another event that happened a few years ago.
I was making some ajustments on a loco that was owned by a friend of mine. As I was making the final adjustments he said that he had another loco that I could take a look at.
He hauled up a Lima T-43 diesel (Swedish/SJ), that ran like a POS! It was really bad with jerky motion and a lot of gear noise. I thought what the heck, I can at least take a look at it!
After a good hour we had accomplished NOTHING! All adjustments didn´t make any difference at all, so my friend said it was a lost cause.
As the loco was sitting on the test track he gave it a BIG whack from above, and said “****”. Nothing was really damaged but as I tested it it was dead QUIET! We were flabbergasted to say the least. He hasn´t dared to disassemble it since then, in fear that it should behave bad again.
I understand your frustration and your opinion of the model. I’m not a “J” expert and you did not make it clear which Bachmann model you had, the first J or an early Spectrum model. It is my understanding the Spectrum model is a nice model, except maybe for being a little light, which is easily fixed.
But in any event, you could have simply put it in a box with a check for $20 and in about 6 weeks Bachmann would have sent you a new one. Which, if you really feel that poorly about, you could have then put on Ebay for a profit.
But, its your stuff and I’m a big believer in property rights, so smash up whatever you like.
“I took a hammer to a slot car once but never destroyed a locomotive. It does feel good doesn’t it, lol.”
Ummm, not to be a spoilsport here, but I fail to understand how not managing to control ones temper and beating a Botchman engine to death (no matter how much it deserves it) can be a good thing.
You do know that if you are honest and admit to this in public they are not going to allow you to work at the nuclear power plant or give you the launch code for the missle silo, correct?
Fascinating, all of it very fascinating. As I look at the locomotives on my railroad, all of them steam, all of them built from the bits and pieces of other’s rejects, all of them with added bits and pieces, all of them respresenting a specific prototype locomotive, all of them very detailed and excellent running locomotives, I have to smile. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
Being a good thing, and feeling good, are two different things. Yes, you end up in the long rn with a smashed engine, but you aren’t bottling up frustration from that engien anymore. Kinda like opening the pressure valve, all the pressure’s gone, and everything relaxes.
I have had the misfortune of having a few projects just not turn out right, regardless of the effort spent… I’ve even witnessed a manager (at one of my former bowling alley jobs) have a similar issue, I was working in the back (fixing the pinsetters) when he comes crashing through the door, REALLY PO’ed… Asked what I did to relieve tension, I said I usually just chuck a tool (which are my own, I didn’t use their tools) and he said great, but picked up a strainer (the type used in the kitchen to pick fried food out of the frier) and chucked it at the wall. Well, that thing wedged itself into the drywall about 3 inches, and about 8 feet off the ground! So it isn’t just a model railroading stress reliever!
Not shaking my head in disbelief, just that we’ve all been there!
“I understand your frustration and your opinion of the model. I’m not a “J” expert and you did not make it clear which Bachmann model you had, the first J or an early Spectrum model. It is my understanding the Spectrum model is a nice model, except maybe for being a little light, which is easily fixed.”
To be honest I wrote that I bought the loco over 10 years ago and I wasn’t aware that a Spectrum J was made then but to be perfectly clear it wasn’t a Spectrum version it was the older version with the motor sandwiched in between the metal weighting system.
"Ummm, not to be a spoilsport here, but I fail to understand how not managing to control ones temper and beating a Botchman engine to death (no matter how much it deserves it) can be a good thing.
You do know that if you are honest and admit to this in public they are not going to allow you to work at the nuclear power plant or give you the launch code for the missle silo, correct?"
Managing the temper was done fine- I decided to destroy a harmless inanimate object instead of punching someone in the face or something worse. Judging by the amount of replies in which other people recall doing something similar shows that I’m not alone here. If background checks were conducted on destroying small items like this then there would be a very select few that would work at either. Plus, I don’t see myself working at either in my lifetime. I can’t see being worried about someone smashing something small like a model car or a train is a problem. It’s the people that carry guns around and talk about killing people is what worries me. Taking out pent up frustration on a model (which was more along the lines of an over priced toy in this case) is somewhat of a smaller scale than a missile silo or a nuclear power plant, but I digress.
Oh boy, can I relate to this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to do something like that in just the past month, and not just with some cheap loco. Sometimes it’s been top of the line stuff or something on the layout that suddenly decides it wants to be a problem child. Derailments, electrical problems, etc. There have been times I’ve wanted to blow up the whole layout and the only thing that has stopped me is the thought of how much time and money I’ve got invested in it. So usually I end up muttering something along the lines of @#$!%&* STUPID HOBBY!!! which is usually followed by my dog getting up and sneaking out the pet door into the backyard. Just once I actually lost it and threw a small screwdriver at my shop vac. It bounced off the shop vac and stuck in my sky backdrop like a knife. I couldn’t have done that once in a hundred if I’d been trying to do that. Luckily, it was a small tipped screwdriver and the hole is barely noticeable.
Not to digress, but view this as a parable. I used to play golf with a great guy until he got down to about a 15 handicap. All of a sudden, golf got real serious for the guy and before long a bad shot or a missed putt led to temper tantrums and club throwing. I figure that while I like to play well (and model railroad well), golf’s a game and railroading is a hobby. If it gets to the point where you start throwing stuff, you need a time-out dude. Gerry S.
I’ve never done that, but OMYGAW have I WANTED to at times! [banghead]
Closest I’ve really come to it was a Custom Brass 4-8-2 Rio Grande mountain that gave me nothing but fits after I bought it. Had to take it apart and practically rebuild the darned thing and even then it jerked and clicked and stuttered.
One day it was jerking an clicking and stuttering around the layout and jerked itself off of a curve and slammed itself three actual feet down into the bottom of one of my canyons. I just stared at it and muttered, “Serves your right you little (expletive deleted).” It had dented the cowcatcher and had some other minor little detail glitches, so I put it aside on the workbench and forgot about it. About two months later, it was still sitting on my workbench and I was bored and needed a project, so I straightened out the cowcatcher, un-bent the other little brass details and just stared at it. Curious, I put it back on the tracks.
The little devil ran smooth as silk. Still does. I have no idea what the plunge down the canyon did to it, but it ‘adjusted’ everything that was ever wrong with it.
Needless to say, I do NOT recommend this as a ‘cure’, but it sure worked for me. [:P]
I had taken apart the front truck on my 611 (BLI) before and re installed it and the thing wouldn’t run right at all- wouldn’t stay on the rails, kept stalling, etc. I couldn’t figure it out till I looked at the ex. diagram and I had it on upside down. Turns out it is directional and won’t work if put on the wrong way. Works great now.
As for my Bachmann I might see if they sell the replacement parts for it (drivetrain, etc) since the shell is still fine I could rebuild it with new parts depending on the $$.
I too have had a couple of moments where I finally snapped at some particular cars that were just not cooperating. The first instance was with a couple of front runners by walthers. For those that are not aware of what they look like, they are basically an independent spine car with a trailer on them. I had three of them on the back of my intermodal train. Every operating session these stupid — cars would derail.
I tried moving them to the middle of the train, rear of the train even as the first car behind the loco and everytime the same thing derail and then take a couple of cars with it. I finally had had enough and putted the three of them. They are now in pieces and I felt great about doing it.
The second instance was with an Atlas intermodal well car. The car did the same thing of derailing for many reasons. The problem is that this car was connected to a string of well cars so whe it derailed it would topple about six or eight additional cars. after about the third time it did this during an operation session, I ripped the car off the track threw the containers at the couch so they wouldn’t get damaged and then twisted the car into a pretzel until it broke into three pieces.
Man both instances felt really good. So I understand how you felt, patience can only take you so far before something has to be done. Thanks for sharing your stories now I don’t feel like I need to see a shrink for my occasional outbursts.