Do You Make Impulsive Purchases of Model Trains? - MTH Premier F3s

An incredible coincidence recently occurred involving me and my good Forum friend, Melgar.

First, I will share a little background. What Melgar said in his above post is 100% true. We not only follow each other on the Forum, but we regularly and frequently speak on the phone, especially during these challenging times, which has been a Godsend. We have a lot in common and respect, even admire, our differences.

What was the amazing coincidence?  Without any prior knowledge, we simultaneously bought the same locomotive in different road names!

This is what happened from my perspective.

About 1 week ago I saw a Forum post showing, and describing in glowing terms, the new MTH Premier NY Central F3 offered for sale by one of our Forum sponsors, JR Junction Train and Hobby from Syracuse, NY.  The photos of this locomotive were stunning, it was love at first sight, and I already had a great experience with that hobby shop, so I impulsively purchased the locomotive.

What did I do next? You guessed it.  I called Melgar to tell him about my purchase.  Lo and behold, Melgar purchased the same locomotive, but in the gorgeous Maine Central livery, the very same day! We saw the same Forum post, showing the same locomotive, and purchased it, in different road names, all on the same day.

I believe my purchase was even more impulsive than Melgar’s purchase because, unlike Melgar, I did not even look at the new MTH catalogue before making my purchase.  I saw the NY Central model shown in the Forum and immediately bought it, while Melgar first perused the catalogue on-line, and then picked out the Maine Central model that worked best for his layout. Truth is, even if I first looked at the catalogue, I probably would have chosen the same locomotive because of my interest in the Put and all things NY Central.  You can see the A and B units for this New York Central model on my layout in the photos below.

Arnold

Beautiful engines guys.  I hope you enjoy them for a good long time.  Do I make impulse buys?  In a word: YES.  That's why I have way too many trains in way too many road names.  Living on Lawn-Guy-Land, as Paul would say, there were lots of train retailers over the years and visits for one thing or to just kill time often lead to an impulse buy.

Beautiful engines guys. I especially like Mel’s MEC F3’s with matching caboose. For me, my impulse buy just happened yesterday. No pics and hoping the purchase arrives “sometime”.
I have the Lionel Conrail Office Car Special and I posted a video.  One of my FB friends “let me know”....”you know Don they make a matching E8 AA set to go with that”. 3 hours later and $900 lighter, they are on the way. This morning I wondered why I did it!

Donald

Waiting until the next day to buy something you thought about to me is not an impulsive buy.  An impulsive buy is seeing something for the first time, you like it and buy it right then without considering the consequences.

I made a few impulsive buys early in my train days.  I was on a business trip back in 1990 when I saw Lionel’s scale T-1 at a hobby shop.  It was stunning and I had to have it.  It just fit into the commuter airline’s overhead.  Turned out not to have been my smartest buy.

For the last couple of decades I buy off my “list”.  Not on the list, I don’t buy it no matter how much I like it.  That has worked out well to keep things under control.

Yes, with no excuses, and no remorse. I’ve worked my butt off for 37+ years. Time to enjoy the fruits of my labor while I’m on the right side of the dirt. Perhaps a smidgeon of selfishness??....in the complex routine of my giving and providing for my family, I see this as tiny drop of water in the cavernous bucket of my life,.....😉

Pat

Yes I am prone to making impulse buys if I am in a train store. I bought my first diesel set back before I realized that all MTH engines are not equal.  This set happened to be a "pre anything" 3 piece ABA unit . Nothing but a raspy sounding horn and a cantankerous  headlight. Eventually I may try to upgrade it.

The next one was a Face book market deal (close to where I live) It also turned out to be a very early MTH unit that I can not even track down as to its existence  except that I have it  ( a 4-6-4 hudson), again just a whistle that won't shut off if I am stupid enough to activate it. 

Other than that I hem and haw and read/search for info before buying. Sometimes I wait too long and the item gets sold before I can act. I view this as "It was not meant to be" and trust in the Almighty that he guides me to the best decisions.   

Nice engines Mel and Arnold. They say “Great minds ...something, something”.

As far as impulse buys for me. To my regret yes I make them. The biggest and most impactful I have made in the last few years was my O scale Dapol A1 Terrier I bought in England on a business trip a day after seeing the prototype.

From that one purchase I have gone down a rabbit hole of British 2R O scale. My home layout (NYC Apartment) is being reworked to turn of the century prototype. I love the smaller prototype in the large scale. Things have picked up since the spring lockdown. I have joined some online groups that focus on this narrow swath of things. I am even scratchbuilding passenger cars for it.

So the impulse has led to some fun projects.

I hope you guys are well and sincerely hope that someday a post Westchester train show lunch can happen again.

The last impulse purchase I made changed the direction of my train hobby BIG TIME! I bought the Lionel R-27 subway set as soon as I heard about it. Since then, I've dismantled my N gauge layout and have had nothing but NYC subway layout on the brain.

No, I do not make impulse buys. I limited myself to a couple roads and that is all I purchase. Fortunately for me the roads I choose to model are not made often by the manufacturers, which helps me stick to my program. I model the Monon and Chicago South Shore.

When my LHS Catotin Mountain Trains and Hobbies was open almost every time I went in the store he had a new piece of PENNSY power or PENNSY Cabin Car I would leave with. I think Paul planned it that way sometimes. Now not having a LHS not so much any more. The exception to that is when we visit our daughter in Roanoke VA and I visit my old friend Jim at The Rail Yard then I have to be careful as he has a large selection of Post War that I may leave with a piece or two.

Impulse buys????? ME??????? NEVER!!!!!!!!

Well never is a long time so what the heck!

Only almost every steam, diesel, and piece of rolling stock I own!

Great minds think alike Mel and Arnold.

Bob

No impulse buys.  If I see it, want it, and can afford it at the present time, it's usually mine.

Ohh, wait, maybe that is an impulse buy!

Arnold D. Cribari Why is your F3 smoking like a chuffing steam engine?  That does not seem correct.  Could you have a fan issue?

Here was my impulse buy.  My Son and I saw these NS F-7's in person and I fell in Love with them.  I saw the ABBA for sale here on the forum and purchased them.  Soon thereafter on a trip to Nicholas Smith (Coincidentally also NS) I saw the coach cars in Premier.  Bought them on the spot.

Now truthfully they ran absolutely terrible as a DCS lash-up.  I was so disappointed I almost sold them twice.  But I recently converted them to BlueRail and flipped the switch from DCS to DCC.  They run better on battery power and are now my absolute favorite engines to run.

Have Fun!

Ron

Yes, a good portion of trains I have were impulse buys. Too me that’s the enjoyment of the hobby. I too frequented Catoctin Mountain Trains who was mega MTH dealer. Very little to no Lionel premium engines stocked. Since I’m a Lionel guy if Paul had a Lionel item he knew I would most likely take it home.

I'm rarely an impulse buyer. When I do, I blame the Forum!

I am not an impulse buyer by the strict definition.  Like @Monon_Jim, I have roads I normally buy, Monon & ATSF mostly.  However, sometimes I will see a photo, article, what have you that peaks my interest in something outside of those and will make a purchase.  I consider those to be somewhat impluse buys, though they are not immediate.

Brendan

@3rail posted:

Beautiful engines guys. I especially like Mel’s MEC F3’s with matching caboose. For me, my impulse buy just happened yesterday. No pics and hoping the purchase arrives “sometime”.
I have the Lionel Conrail Office Car Special and I posted a video.  One of my FB friends “let me know”....”you know Don they make a matching E8 AA set to go with that”. 3 hours later and $900 lighter, they are on the way. This morning I wondered why I did it!

Donald

Don,

Whether it's a pre-order or an impulse-buy, when I wake up the next morning, the first thing I ask myself is why I did it...

MELGAR

@MELGAR posted:

Don,

Whether it's a pre-order or an impulse-buy, when I wake up the next morning, the first thing I ask myself is why I did it...

MELGAR

Suggestion, ....stop doing that!!...unless the person giving you answers at least agrees with the purchase, .......I’d let whoever you’re talking to pull the wool over your eyes!...

Pat

It's 1954 and we see on the west bank of the Hudson River this oil tanker unit train gliding by with New York Central F3 A and B units on the point:

Arnold