[#ditto]
What are you braggin’ about, I did that a COUPLE of times![D)][D)]
Trains - I got a couple of those lovely UP yellow hoppers too!![D)]
Mine wasn’t a purchase, it was choosing the name “SteamFreak.” [sigh] I wish I could blame the liquor, but I was sober at the time…
How about a sale rather than a purchase? All of my O-gauge Lionels for a hundred bucks, back in the 1960’s. At today’s prices, those would easily fetch 10, maybe 20 thousand. I had a GG-1, and I’ve seen them in worse shape than mine asking 1K. A lot of weird, rare stuff like the Tie Ejector car or the Fire Engine car. I had both the rocket launcher that shot at the exploding box car, and the NASA-like missile complete with moving gantry tower.
Then I got an Athearn train set, some extra track, a couple of sheets of homosote and some lumber. I’ve put Kadees on every piece of rolling stock from that original set. The original power pack is now running my LEDs and the turntable. And the engine, a rubber-band drive, has been gutted and Kadeed, and it now runs behind a new geep as an “honorary” engine.
But someday, I’ll have a layout with curves big enough for another GG-1.
I bought an PSC N scale brass PRR K4s on eBay for close to $750 while I was deployed in Iraq. I had it sent to my wife to hold until I got back. I guess you could say I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time! It’s a beautiful loco but didn’t track worth a darn when it ran and then the motor burned out. Now I have no idea what to do with it. I can’t sell it for anywhere close to what I paid. Do I try to rehabilitate it with more cash? Also, it’s brass and now I’m in DCC, and brass requires special care in DCC to prevent short circuits.
I wish I could send myself a “time e-mail” to the idiot-me who thought in 2003 that I was getting a good engine.
Well, mine got to be the Bachmann Empire Builder set because first it got me this Train Bug and second, now I am stuck with EZ-Track! Miles of them. I think at least apart from the tracks and the power supply (which is actually quite handy in powering all my turnouts & accessory decoder), most of the original set was all gone including a fleet of their locos I bought later ( I thought they were bargains and who would pay 5 times more for Atlas?!). And then I was stupid enough to thought to give it another shot by buying a pair of Spectrum Dash 8-CW thinking they are ‘DCC friendly’ as it says on their website only to find that the motors aren’t even insulated! D’oh! After some research on possible mods to convert to DCC, I decide to give up because there are too many mentions of milling machines and taking the brushes out of the motor itself.
I have 4 of the silliest / stupidiest purchases.
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I was going through ebay looking for a decent SD40-2 couldnt find any in my price range that were Athearn so I found an American Diesel (I Believe that was the company). Paid for it it came and it was all there just runs like junk no flywheels so now it sits in the box never to see daylight till I figure out how to install a better motor and fly wheels maybe even new gears in the trucks.
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Bachmann Spectrum Dash 8 Undecorated I thought it was the newer line DCC ready and it wasnt. It was the old split frame thank god I only spent 19.00 total. I am sure some of you remember that.
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Revell S2 I believe its in Rio Grande Scheme I liked the look of the locomotive but no matter what I do it sounds like a wood chipper.
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Bachmann H16 I believe, has no railings and Bachmann wants an arm and a leg for them.
Other than these I will say I haveny bought anything silly.
I have two bachmann Dash 8’s that are DCC friendly tey even have the 8 pin plug in them. But I do have the same dash 8 you have that has the bulky frames an 4 screws keep it together with plastic screw holders on one side so they are dcc friendly. There is a website showing how to convert it for DCC but I dont remember the address. I would say run electrical tape over the side of the frame so they dont touch.
I purchased old Hobbytown drive with Athearn GP9 shell on EBAY. Unit arrived in poorly protected package. The plastic shell was destroyed and the end of the Hobbytown frame was broken.
I contacted seller who said she was a recent widow and did not know much about her husband’s model trains. I said I would identify cost of replacement parts but she said she would send a full refund including shipping and handling.
Later, a man contacted me who said he was helping seller with the ebay sales. He sent me a refund. A couple of days later I received full refund not once but twice. Both the recent widow and the man had sent a payment.
I contacted the seller and explained that he sent the extra money and told her I would send it back. She asked me not to send back either payment. She explained the man was her boy friend and she did not want him to know she sent me money, too. She thought the man would think that she was not good about handling finances. She was afraid he might think less of her. She was afraid that I might contact the man and asked me not to do that.
So I ended up with the two refunds.
You guys in HO are so lucky to get eerything with those 8 pin plugs! I recently got a Precision Craft E7B with those plugs just found they are the next best thing to plug–n-play decoders. BTW, I model in N. And I think you are right, I think the newer versions do have isolated motors. The problem with those older N Dash 8’s is that the motor contact is actually the motor brush holder and in order to een solder the wires to the motor tabs, you need to take the tabs out of the motor and hence the whole brush and springs got to come out otherwise the motor mount will get melted and they also said in the conversion that the spring will fly out blah blah and I just can’t be bothered anymore because you also got to modify the shell to accomondate the decoder blah blah. I think I rather spend the 3 hours required for a train operating session.
That is a beautiful engine Dave, and I think it’s completely worth it to remotor it. It looks like it has an enclosed gearbox, making the job a lot easier. NWSL has motors for N scale, and a brass engine shouldn’t pose any more short potential than a diecast one as long as all of your wiring, decoder, and motor lugs are well insulated. The cost and effort isn’t that much when you measure it against your initial investment, and the enjoyment of having such a great replica of a K4.
Gee after 55 years in the hobby where should I start? [:O] Well youth has it ignorance.My dad advised me not to buy one and I did anyway…That was the Lindberg SW1 with the spring drive…I think that tops the list.
Nelson,That is indeed a beautiful K4 and well worth the price of a new motor…
I agree that the PSC K4 would definitely be worth repairing! Have you tried contacting PSC? They might be able to repair the loco to the original specification, thus preserving any collector’s value - also they might have an idea why it doesn’t track well.
Dave–I agree with Eddie: contact PSC and explain the problem. About a year ago, I purchased one of their Rio Grande 2-10-2’s in HO, and after running it for about five hours, the wiring shorted out. I sent it back to them with an explanation, and they not only repaired it, they corrected it so that the wiring would NEVER short out again. Their service department is superb, and the locomotive runs like a Swiss Watch. And all it cost me was shipping. Had the loco back in 2 weeks.
Believe me, they stand behind their product.
Tom
Ice I didnt know you modeled in N scale I automatically thought HO for some reason. I believe the older spectrum of mine actually have wipers for contact to the frame. I really wish my desktop was up and going to get the info on this. But like you I decided the work would out weight the achievement of getting it to work on DCC so I’m using it as an static display until i decide to work on it.
Gee Brakie, you mean we have something in common? You get into the hobby and I get into the hobby and we both make the mistake of buying a Linsburg S1 spring drive as our first loco–only I did it 53 years after you did.
The entertainment value that we’ve gotten from L’il Guy has been well worth the expense. Especially since you made the investment and we got all the entertainment.
I was going to tell you that I watched your video on YouTube and enjoyed going though all the subways. But after your remark, I’m just not going to tell you.
Thanks for the advice about my K4s. Once I’ve recovered from building my H10s 2-8-0 in N, I’ll consider the K4s project.
Here’s what she looks like on my layout:
Dude, you have gotta get that running, as soon as you’ve recovered from your TCSD (Trashed Consolidation Stress Disorder) 
I would say buying a LIFE SIZE complete box car truck for $50.00. I do business with a place that rebuilds them with new wheels and rebuilds wheels & traction motors for high speed engines. They delivered it to my house, unloaded it in the back yard. After 3 years I wish it was moved, but never had the desire to get it done. Everytime i see it I could sream.