Do you guys have any hobby related resolutions for 2006? Layout need maintenance? Plywood need scenery? Got your eye on a new control system? No more being a serious railroader… just going to have fun?
Greg
I’ve only been in the hobby for a year, but have noticed that buying more trains is one of the most addictive things I’ve ever done. I could never understand how my wife could go nuts with a credit card at the mall until I walked into Charles Ro for the first time. Train shows filled with aisle after aisle of post-war trains is another huge temptation for me. I literally want one of everything! With that in mind, I’d like to seriously curb my spending and learn to enjoy and appreciate what I have, and learn not to covet what I don’t have.
Jim
My only resolution is to actually finish some of the things I’ve started. Since I’m involved in several scales/gauges, I tend to get started on a project then find my interest diverted to something else before I fini***he first effort. Not good!
I’m also determined to be a far more careful and prudent buyer of any new trains. I don’t need anything more around here, and I’m determined to pay even more attention to disposing of things I don’t really need or use to “lighten the load” a bit. And I expect to continue my policy of buying no new train items except with money I make selling trains that I no longer want or need. That has worked well for me the past couple of years, and I’m slowly but surely starting to see the results.
To fini***he plans for my garden railroad, and get working on the manual labor part.
Allan,
I have a similar policy of only buying trains with money made from selling other hobby items. But to be honest, I think I’m roughly $200 in the hole. I need to sell more and buy less.
Jim
I’m listing some trains on e-bay today! Have to trim the collection down a little bit to make room for trains I buy in 06.
I’ve found that when I buy something that needs a little fixing it never gets fixed. So my resolution is to buy only trains that run and are in good condition.
I plan on figuring out what I will be doing with all the HO stuff that I aquired in my youth. I have some nice stuff and it was never on rails, so the question to answer is sell it? or perhaps do a forced perspective thing and run a outside loop on the layout.
dennis
I’m planning to fini***he city on the layout and get hold of a challenger or bogboy which can run the 031 curves on my layout. I’ve seen an MTH 2-8-8-2 being able to do that and I’m planning to buy that thing fully loaded when my bank account leaves some room for it. (which is not now…)
Also I want to get hold of an MH z1000 controller to get rid of the 2 different power setups I know use. The resistor controlled powersource I made is much to heavy for the new engines with can motors, so half the engines I’m powering now out of an old Märklin transformer. I want something able to power everything I have and get rid of the humungous amount of wires, relais and resistors under the layout. I guess that’s priority no 1. Then last but not least, don’t spend a lot on things I don’t need and keep more money for trains…
I plan to finaly have a focus to my collection, 1945-1949 lionel, with the exception of a set of silver dawn series passenger cars for my 2333’s to pull. I also plan to break down and send off my F3’s shells to L&L Screen printing to be restored back to factory fresh condition like I have wanted to do for many years.
I agree with many of you about not needing to buy everything I like. I don’t have room to run it or display it so anything new I get needs to find a space. There are a few items that I could sell but that means I should prioritize what I have in my collection. I guess I will have to see where I am at this point next year.
Tom S
I am fairly new at this (only been at it for six months )and do not have that much train stuff. Only two engines, a steam and a diesel, also have about a dozen cars, a gantry crane and a Hobo Depot. So I guess my resolution is to acquire more. I hope to get a standard O steamer, some cars, and a couple of accessories. I would like to get more but my train budget is only so big. But that’s OK, because I can always get more in the years to come.
I want to finish all three levels of my layout by Christmas 2006, or before Chief starts his benchwork - whichever comes first.
My New Year’s resolution? Buy more Standard gauge. Period. [;)]
Depending on my continuing employment. My plans are to move to a slightly larger one level home.with a basement. I currently live in a three level Townhouse. It’s was fine while modeling Marklin HO. “O” Hi rail is another matter. I have dismantled my Marklin layout and am relacing it with a temporary double track layout using MTH real track O-72 and O-82 curves. It won’t be there long. This time next year, I hope to be in the early construction stages of a new layout.