Over There

[E7]

This is why most of my locos are not "scale". Layout is too small for scale to look good.

Unfortunately, and unwisely, I was bit by the bigger-is-better bug. I have some Brobdingnagian locos.

Not anything that can't be reversed. I can guarantee there are tons of 3 railers out there that would gobble your big stuff up. Sell off the 3 rail and get some 2 rail consolidations, maybe a Mikado, F units. There are some real bargains on the Bay if you have patience. Pick up a piece here and there and it's fairly painless. I did the same thing when I moved out of HO.

[2railjon]

Great timing for a conversation on running engines on smaller loops!!
I’m going to add a 5th inner loop to my layout shortly. Of course the further inward I move the tighter the radius! I figure this loop will be 36 radius, the smallest 2 rail curves Atlas makes.


No nothing big will run on it as they’re all relegated to the larger loops. So I’ll compromise and run a Shay logger. Problem solved! Also got a heck of a deal on a K-Line 2Rail diecast Shay for $399. (Compared to the $$$ wanted for brass Shays!)
So some weathering, logging trucks, logs and I got something neat to run on a smaller radius.

[E7]

Jon, I read somewhere that Shays have a design flaw in that string of gears and every now and then they would bind up. I don't know if that flaw was ever fixed, and I don't know if it happens in models. I remember how disappointed I was the first time I saw the opposite side! That's when I became a Heisler fan!

Nice looking engine by the way!

[rex desilets]

Not anything that can't be reversed. I can guarantee there are tons of 3 railers out there that would gobble your big stuff up. Sell off the 3 rail and get some 2 rail consolidations, maybe a Mikado, F units. There are some real bargains on the Bay if you have patience. Pick up a piece here and there and it's fairly painless. I did the same thing when I moved out of HO.

Can't do 2-rail on account of because I belong to a 3-rail club. Selling off my B&O EM-1, my N&W Y-6b, my Pennsy J-1? N-o-o-o.

[2railjon]

The only issue I’ve ever had with previously owned Shays back in my 3Rail days was trying to run them on curves that were to tight and gearing would bind up.

[E7]

The only issue I’ve ever had with previously owned Shays back in my 3Rail days was trying to run them on curves that were to tight and gearing would bind up.

I can't recall where I read it but the prototype versions had a design flaw that made them bind up on occasion. Guessing that might have been corrected in the models. Never owned any Shays!

[E7]

Can't do 2-rail on account of because I belong to a 3-rail club. Selling off my B&O EM-1, my N& Y-6b, my Pennsy J-1? N-o-o-o.

So join a 2 rail club. All those engines have been done in 2 rail......I see them often on Feebay.

[Chris Webster]

There are some real bargains on the Bay if you have patience.

Especially if you know how to snipe!

[2railjon]

I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong, but finding a deal on EBay for a deal on brass anymore is a joke.
There’s actually some clown wanting over $1700 for a Weaver locomotive.

[E7]

I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong, but finding a deal on EBay for a deal on brass anymore is a joke.
There’s actually some clown wanting over $1700 for a Weaver locomotive.

There will always be that kind of thing. That said, every now and again there will be a great buy. Persistence, well coded searches, and a bit of luck will get results sooner or later.

[rex desilets]

I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong, but finding a deal on EBay for a deal on brass anymore is a joke.
There’s actually some clown wanting over $1700 for a Weaver locomotive.

There will always be that kind of thing. That said, every now and again there will be a great buy. Persistence, well coded searches, and a bit of luck will get results sooner or later.

Yup. You have to develop resistance to "gotta have it now." When you find something you like, decide on your price, plus maybe a tad more, wait until the auction is nearly over and if the bid price is within your limit, snipe.
The onliest things I ever paid full price for is my reservations for 3rd Rail.
Oh..BTW..if it's new stuff, wait until the reviews and complaints come out. If you miss the latest bells & whistles (I know, 2-railers eschew this gimcracky) life will go on.

[E7]

Oh..BTW..if it's new stuff, wait until the reviews and complaints come out.

You mean you 3 railers don't pre-order!

[rex desilets]

Oh..BTW..if it's new stuff, wait until the reviews and complaints come out.

You mean you 3 railers don't pre-order!

Initially, pre-ordering was all the rage. Then some folks received expensive crapola that the mfgr/importer didn't seem to be able to fix. The bloom is off, I think.
As for me, excepting 3rd Rail I don't reserve, with the understanding that doing for 3rdRail so obligates me to pay up when the product arrives. Also, all of my recent 3rd Rail models have been produced because I and a number of other folk importuned Scott to make certain things, e.g. my complete B&O Cincinnatian

[rogruth]

I am a 3 railer that had been away from having a layout for 50+ years.
Since 2005 I have pre-ordered, reserved, paid in advance only once.
That was from a dealer that I had known for some time that I trusted
and for something I wanted. I also knew that if it was not made
I would not lose my money.
Oh yeah. I also could live without it.

[bob turner]

I don't personally care for baseball. The only thing I know about it is that the Whirled Serious usually goes to seven games. So I did not bother with the NK thread on the "Washington Nationals" (they didn't change their name to Reagan Nationals?") until it got locked.

So I figured that maybe somebody mentioned the "Boos" and "Lock Him Up" chant and it excited the censors. Then I quickly scanned it. Harmless. No politics.

But unlike me, apparently some OGR frequenters did read it, and took offense that it was not about trains, and complained to management. Management locked it because they got tired of complaints!

I am honored to hang out here, where we can disagree without having to run to mommy and daddy.