Buy anything cool lately?

Costco Union Pacific 4-4-2 Steam Locomotive Freight Set - from 1991.

New old stock arriving next week.  Have not found any photos of contents, but based on description I have a good idea, starter set with 027 locomotive and cars, tubular track with transformer.  

Photos next week.  Although I did pre-order the F3 Santa Fe LionChief+ 2.0 set from latest Lionel catalog, I am wary of buying  expensive trains due to my experience with zinc pest.  This set was $190 plus shipping - we’ll see how cool it is.

#18622 Union Pacific 4-4-2 Locomotive and Square Back Tender, #16226 Union Pacific Short Boxcar, 16528 U.P SP Caboose, #16336 UP Gondola with Canisters, #16408 UP Short Hopper, #12730 Girder Bridge, #12706 Barrel Loader Building Kit, #12714 Automatic Crossing gates, Steam Shovel Kit, 5 Telephone Poles, 14 Road Signs, 12 Sections of 5013 Curved Track 8 Sections of 5018 Straight Track, 90 Degree Crossover for figure 8 layout, Transformer.

Made another trip to the "Roundhouse" today and did some trading for an atlas RS-3, I could stay in that place all week!...Jeff

I have been accumulating some Chicago & Northwestern freight cars but did not have a CNW engine to pull them with. I just added this little K-line switcher to my layout. Most of the freight cars are Menards with a green Williams Boxcar and a K-line hopper and K-line caboose. I also have a nice Menards CNW caboose but this run has the red K-Line caboose I got with the switcher. 

Here is a little video of it moving some freight. The freight Santa FE on track 2 is a Williams with many Menards and some AMT/KMT freight plus a AMT/KMT caboose.

Dean

Bought these sometime back just never got around to post them 

Bought an MTH GP9 last week, and a set of ex PC Lionscale hoppers yesterday.

Since my layout is in renovation mode and I’m in a waiting period, I made a small floor layout tonight to see how American Flyer S Gauge  would like by O gauge(in terms of trains). I included items I picked up the last 2 or 3 days:

AUthenticast News Stand. Authenticast/Comet Metal Products, of which I know many of you are familiar, made some beautiful Masonite structures in the 1950s. Although accounts differ, Authenticast is The name used by Comet Metal Products prior to AC GIlbert’s involvement. I thought this was some cheap knock off till I did more research. The Hire’s rootbeer sign on the side replaces Phillip Morris.

my first Menards building! The Army field hospital came in the mail yesterday. Almost cancelled my order but I’m happy I got it.

While it’s Tin- it’s also Postwar, wind-up, western German. Maker unknown although a fellow forum member said it’s either Distler or HWN. This set was called a “3 in 1”- the passenger car comes off the frame to reveal logs underneath and then a Santa Fe box car can go over that. The BuiltRite cardboard house and Union station also came with this purchase. Grade crossing is something I bought last year.

Notice the soldier’s blue helmets? Fitting with a UN Jeep. I’ve taken to painting unpainted figures and altering others. Also, the phone booth on the platform and the red (Soda machine? refrigerator?) Next to the station are from the usually overpriced Lionel Pewter City Accessory sry. Finally, many people of Middle Eastern origins are waiting for the train. As I like to add a lot of different culture to my layout, I bought a bag of 25 of them for $8. Size is pretty good and the white garments allow for customizing.

And my second Menards building which came today- the strip mall! Thing is BRIGHT. Kind of wish I would’ve went for height instead of length but I’m not disappointed. Also, the Security car was a purchase from last week(don’t recall if I posted that)

Dollar store all lit up

Bought about 8-10 of these Authenticast/Comet track workers. Doing work on the other side of this temporary layout

finally, a video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Steve, those are a lot of great purchases!  I like the field hospital.  Yes the strip mall is bright, especially in the video with the contrast with normal light.  It is a nice product for someone wanting a modern building.  There sure are a lot of strip malls everywhere, even in rural areas around here where I am surprised anyone would build.  That said, it could be plopped down on a layout most anywhere, not just in a town.

PW53inVa posted:

I have been accumulating some Chicago & Northwestern freight cars but did not have a CNW engine to pull them with. I just added this little K-line switcher to my layout. Most of the freight cars are Menards with a green Williams Boxcar and a K-line hopper and K-line caboose. I also have a nice Menards CNW caboose but this run has the red K-Line caboose I got with the switcher. 

Here is a little video of it moving some freight. The freight Santa FE on track 2 is a Williams with many Menards and some AMT/KMT freight plus a AMT/KMT caboose.

Dean

Dean- I love those K-line S-2's. Have you thought about wiring the motors in series? Judging by the handles on your KW(same as mine), your at 6 volts and that little bugger is zipping around the layout. I've re-wired all of my K-line locos and it makes a huge difference.

Bob

Finally found the KLine OScale Aluminum 21” Hiawatha Passenger Cars to go with my Lionel 261, 267 and my fantasy paint scheme engine.  They look really nice next to my Lionel cars which I just upgraded to LED’s from Gunrunner John. 

Was able to get NIB, the Baggage Car #1334, Maple Valley Parlor Car, #190, Coach #540, Superdome#55, Diner #121, and Observation Car # 188, the Dell Rapids. Took a long time to get these. 

Now maybe one more coach or super dome and it’s complete.

Love the fact that KLine populated the cars. The previous owner added a few figures to the Superdome, gotta make a few changes, but they look fantastic.

At the Greenberg Show in Edison, NJ, on November 30th, I bought two more streamlined steam engines:

Arrived early so here are photos of the Costco Union Pacific 4-4-2 starter set from 1991, which I posted about yesterday.

The tender has a sound making device that is new to me, a large wheel with a rubber "traction tire" driving a mechanical device inside the tender.  Have not run it yet, when spun by hand it sounds like marbles to me.  Overall the set is what I expected and the included accessories will help fill in the Lionel Display Layout type layout I'm building now.

Kelunaboy posted:

 

The tender has a sound making device that is new to me, a large wheel with a rubber "traction tire" driving a mechanical device inside the tender.  Have not run it yet, when spun by hand it sounds like marbles to me.  Overall the set is what I expected and the included accessories will help fill in the Lionel Display Layout type layout I'm building now.

 

The first Lionel train set we purchased for our son back in the 1970's had this mechanical sound in the tender.  We thought it was dried beans rattling around in the big wheel.

RSJB18 (Bob)

This is my first K-line switcher and I really like it. I think it is missing a little horn on the cab and maybe a bell. I might have to look for those, but no big deal to me. The 2 motors and 4 traction tires give it some pulling power. The KW you see is at present time not being used. The plan is to use it to power some of the Lionel accessories I have on the layout that still need to be wired up. I am running the main 2 loops with one ZW and the trolley line, which is storing freight cars in the picture, and a figure 8 with another ZW.

Thanks for the tip that K-lines can have the motors wired in series. I think the Williams engines can also be wired in series but I did not know that about the K-lines. I need to try that. Ready Made Toys has made a Switcher which I think is based on the K-Line but has a few more Led lights. K-Line made some great stuff for the conventional operators and I was sorry to see them go. Always enjoy seeing what you have done with your layout too. 

Thanks for looking and keep training.

Dean

It took a while and lots of research but I finally made the decision to purchase an APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens camera.  I have been using various bridge cameras for several years with adequate results but felt it was time to give an interchangeable lens camera another try.  The last interchangeable lens camera I used was a Minolta MAXXUM HTsi Plus, that I still have.

Here is what I purchased.

I do not own any Nikon "F" mount lenses to use with the FTZ adapter on the camera at this time, but the FTZ adapter, when purchased as part of this camera kit, was less than a scale boxcar.  I may never need it, but I have it, if someday I purchase an "F" mount lens.

Below is one of the first pictures I took with the Z50.  Engine #5239 is a Norfolk Southern high hood GP38-2, an engine that I do not believe I had ever seen before, although I have taken pictures of many, many Norfolk Southern engines over the years.

Received my brand new Pennsy EP-5 today.  I think Williams did a nice job.  There is one small complaint, however.  The pickup rollers hit the brass contact on my OTC contractors, causing a short if I stop the loco on one of them.  The rollers are wide without a taper.  I wonder if I can replace the rollers with tapered ones ?

Not bought but still cool. So a local guy to me gave up on DCS and is staying with Legacy/TMCC, because he likes whistle steam on his steam locomotives. He had a couple PS1 Premier steam locomotives he was going to have converted to PS3 and bought the kits for them. Guy ended up selling them before the conversion. So I ended up trading some labor for these two PS3 steam kits. He needed two ABA sets of PS1 E8s converted to ERR cruise commander and Railsounds (four powered A units). Took me about 6 hours today but I got all four done for him and got two PS3 steam kits for my labor. I have a Premier Santa Fe 3460 class Hudson and Southern Pacific GS6 that need these kits. So the trade in labor for these kits was worth it. 

PS: Don't ask me to do upgrades for you. There are plenty of people on the forum who will do that for you. I'm not a certified tech for anything, I just enjoy doing these things for myself. If you are local in the Chicago area and need some help with a ERR or PS3 upgrade (i.e. you're stuck/can't figure something out when doing it) drop me a line. I'm more than happy to help you figure it out.

Neat Lou!!  I've done one upgrade.  It isn't hard, and the directions they send are great!

Mark Boyce posted:

Neat Lou!!  I've done one upgrade.  It isn't hard, and the directions they send are great!

I've done 12 ERR diesel upgrades with Railsounds and 2 PS3 steam upgrades. Neither were very hard if you follow the directions and plan along. Just need some heat sink compound, a soldering iron, and an anti static mat. It's mostly making sure you don't pinch wires and screw something up. If you're handy you can buy old conventional stuff and upgrade for less than half the cost of a new factory Legacy or PS3 locomotive. 

Lou1985 posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Neat Lou!!  I've done one upgrade.  It isn't hard, and the directions they send are great!

I've done 12 ERR diesel upgrades with Railsounds and 2 PS3 steam upgrades. Neither were very hard if you follow the directions and plan along. Just need some heat sink compound, a soldering iron, and an anti static mat. It's mostly making sure you don't pinch wires and screw something up. If you're handy you can buy old conventional stuff and upgrade for less than half the cost of a new factory Legacy or PS3 locomotive. 

Absolutely on all counts!

I got the caboose years ago, but I have been searching train shows and the online market for years looking for the matching Norfolk Southern - Illinois Terminal heritage unit ever since. Finally, she has been added to my collection.