Hi Mikey, and friends of old. This is more like it!

Don't you hate changes you have no control over? I sure do. I never was able to run with the old forum once it was sold and such a large crowd of strangers seemed to take over. I felt lost in the shuffle, as I'm sure some of you did too.

I've been bumping around on one forum or another, but The Gauge was my first and for a long time the only one that I posted to. I read through the list of folks already signed on and I'm glad to see so many names I recognize.
Hi there, you guys!

Well, what can I tell you? Not much modeling going on right now around my house. I'm in the middle of installing a ceramic tile floor throughout the house. That and taking care of my Deborah, who recently got out of hospital after major surgery.

Anyway, I look forward to catching up with my old friends.

Christopher

Earlier today Mozilla Firefox went down, so I switched to Internet Explorer and logged on to Big Blue. I could browse all of the forums on i.e., but there was no
box for either posting a new topic or replying to an old one. I sent Don E-Z Days a p.m. to let him know about the problem. Now a few hours later, Mozilla Firefox is back up and I can post or reply to posts on Mozilla, but I opened i.e. to see if anything changed. I'm logged in on both browsers, but I can only post on Mozilla. On i.e. I can browse only, no posting.

True story, you can't make this stuff up.

Christmas and trains, gotta love the way they seem to go hand in hand. My parents both work for Amtrak and are not home too often, my youngest sister is also an Amtrak Conductor and rarely home, and my brother still lives at home with the folks (mans the fort and cares for the mutt while they're gone), and I am in an apartment STILL(!!) (I know, long story), so we set up a HUGE tree at my oldest sisters house. She has youngin's too, so it fits.

My wife Alicia and my nephew decided we HAD to have a train around the tree. I figure they had HO in mind as aside from an MTH O Scale DD40AX on my fireplace mantel, HO is all I have, but Kay has a 3 year old (my niece Megan, or "Pudge" as I call her). Pudge is a pretty good kid, but still, she's 3, so I wanted something a little bigger than HO around the tree. Especially since they'll want to run it all the time, and I'm not always there to re-rail it. My nephew will be 14 in two weeks, but still, he isn't a model railroader, so I figured bigger was better.

I bought a cheap Target "Disney" battery operated set to go around the tree since Kay had "Disney'd " the tree all out, and Pudge really liked it. I have a VERY hard time telling that kid "no" when she see's something she wants. That cheap Chinese Pile of waste was the absolute worst quality thing I have purchased in all my 33 years. Just JUNK. The track was literally impossible to assemble as it had 5 male tabs on the male end of the track connectors, and only 3 female ends (holes) for the 5 nubs to fit into. Goofy had been beheaded in the package (Pudge freaked out and got ALL upset when she saw it), Mickey looked like he had been on a bender for a week, and Minnie looked pure EVIL. The decor on the side of the tender was hanging half off and bent, and there were white crazy glue smears all over the side of the tender and a HUGE gob of glue on the roof of the engine. I was P.O'.ed!! I am ALWAYS VERY careful about using "authentic railroad language" around children. Especially Pudge because her and my mom are TIGHT and are always with each other when Mom is home. Pudge is her shadow and bestest buddy, so you know the old adage, "Monkey see, monkey do". Mom also likes to threaten me with her old cast iron skillet, so while I don't live in fear, I mind my "P"'s and "Q"'s.

I was so mad, I snapped. I wasn't feeling good, had a BAD ear infection, stressed from work, and had just thrown out my back lifting that huge tree out of the back of my brother in laws truck (he's deployed in Afghanistan and my New Yorker doesn't do Christmas trees). This truck is the truck from hell, it's lifted like Big Foot). I was NOT in a good mood. Finally, Alicia saw my frustration and rescued me from destroying the set while trying to rebox the thing (which was a Chinese torture puzzle) and started trying to put it back in the box. I went outside to smoke and calm down. When I came in, I was in DEEP trouble and knew it as soon as I walked back in the house. Apparently, Princess Pudge went into the Family Room where my sister was talking to my Brother in Law on the phone and both mom and dad heard their little 3 year old come in and exclaim "Take that cheap motherf---er BACK!!" *sigh*. My brother in law thought it was hillarious apparently, which only compunded the problem and got HIM in the dog house, and my sister read me the riot act for 30 minutes straight (Alicia joined in too) AFTER she sent Pudge upstairs to her room. Afterward, I went online and bought the Bachmann Northern Lights On30 set. I had it delivered to my parents house since my brother is always home to sign for it. I had always admired the Bachmann On30 stuff and decided now was the time to get one.

A few nights later, my dad called laughing hysterically. He said "You know what your niece just told me"? Fearing the worst (and the frying pan), I reluctantly asked "which one"? "Pudge". *sigh*....great....here it comes.... "What did she say??". He then lost it laughing. I knew it wasn't good. he's got as sick a sense a humor as I do. He related a story of sitting in his recliner watching TV. Pudge went into the kitchen and made herself a glass off juice in her little National Guard Dale Earnhardt Junior sippy cup that she NEVER lets out of her sight (Daddy sent it to her from work), and plopped down in Mom's (Nana's) recliner next to Dad's. Dad was trying to change the channel, and apparently the batteries were going dead. So, dad tapped the side of the remote a few times, and that is when Pudge let out a long sigh, and, still staring ahead at the TV, calmly remarked "F---ing Chinese.....". Now when Dad gets to laughing, he gets loud. Think of Ernest Borgnine when he laughs, that's my Dad. Mom meanwhile, is in her bedroom wrapping Christmas presents (why Pudge was not with her). Yep, you guessed it, she hears dad on the phone laughing and relaying this story. She then calmly picks up the phone in her room and in a low voice tells me "we're going to see what dents first, my skillet or your head. You're dead meat". Great. I didn't even answer the phone when Kay called later that night. Thank goodness for Caller ID.

Fast forward 1 week. Mom calls. She is in the kitchen baking something, and naturally, since Nana is home, Pudge is over her house and standing on a stool helping Nana bake. Mom has me on speaker phone since her hands are full baking. We're talking and I could hear Pudge trying to read a recipe and asking Nana questions. She then says "Megan, tell Uncle Tommy what came in the mail for him today". Pudge says "your train set came today! And it's not a cheap Chines piece of..." "MEGAN!!" "um.....JUNK...." Mom caught her right mid sentence and stopped me from more bodily harm I'm sure. Have you ever seen that scene in "A Christmas Story", where Ralphie drops the "F-Bomb" around his dad and his mom makes him eat a bar of soap?

Yep, That's me.

Oh well, I'll get photos of the new tree train when I get back over to Kay's (that is if I am even allowed back in the place, lol). I'll try to do that tomorrow, and post pics here. I also bought Alicia the Thomas Kinkade Christmas train in On30 that she has always wanted from a seller on E-bay and never set it up but yet, bought several extra cars for it, so I need to set that up around the tree with the other one.

Anyone interested in HO buildings? Most are old and in ok shape. I now build the new Bar Mills kits and types like it with all the details ect. If your not into that and are interested in assorted stuff let me know. I will post/pm pics but please be specific in what you want and then I can tell you if I have anything like it. These buildings are going to be plastic and plain in my opinion. I am sure fine for some who just want buildings and to run trains. No offense intended I juat am really into the details and such and know not everyone is.

Remember, older stuff cheap!!!

What a sigh of relief to see that we are back on our own again. Any way maybe i missed it or didnt look hard enuff but in order to post a pic what mega pixle is requierd?

Let me start the traction forum with some pictures of my models.
Apologies that I don't have a traction layout at this time.
       

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I am stuart Warren from Renfrew Ontario
HO scale
Canadian National is the railway of choice
but I model a leasing company so i do not have to be 100 percent correct
Imy layout is a Lshape train yard ( no longer have the space for the 200 square foot layout divorce killed my empire plans lol)
measures 8 feet long x 18 inches wide the short span is 6 feet 6 inches long by 18 inches wide
it is ashelf plan, 5/8 pressed board with 2 inches of foam on top for a base
fleet includes
Kato, Atlas, altas with kato drives, athearn blue box and RTR, bachman spectrum and bachmann plus models for motive power
since it is a leasing fleet the power dates from late 1940 NW2 models to Sd70mac, geeps 7,9,30,40,50, and 60, dd 40 ( athearn model close enough for me makes a great switcher ) Sd 40s, Dash 9
the gp 40 include some new to me units that were kitted out for CN with the saftey cab, or Canadian Cab depending how you look at it, I will not call it the wide cab as that drives some people crazy as it is not a wide load
even has true leasing powers LMS dash 8-40cw by bachmann spectrums
my personal fav as i got to tour one of them on the CN( former ICRR line thru Iowa when I lived in Aurelia Iowa before my divorce and moving back to Canada. One of the units was picking up cars at the local co-op and the crew invited me to look inside late one night ( a thrill for me at 33 years of age)

the fleet is varied and I like it that way
I now live back in Canada
In Renfrew Ontario just a few blocks from the former CN line that ran from Ottawa to Barry's Bay Ontario, and a few blocks up the street from the Ottawa Valley Railroad ( former CP main line thru Ontario to Western Canada ) around MP 58.9 give or take a 100 meters

So any other Canadian modellers here?
any CN fans or IC fans?

great site so far I enjoy this group of people
Stuart

Glad to see we are going back to basics here. Also glad to see almost everybody is here! Thank you for the invite.

Oh, and now I can do a "search" and not worry about results from random other forums, card models, etc. or click "new posts" and only get Model railroad related posts.

Again, THANKS!

Dave

tried to post pics in replies and gallery the message says that the files are too big, can some one help.

Well, after the trials and tribulations of the last couple of days...I've joined what I know will be the best train forum around....
Thanks for the invite, now let's get this train rollin'....ALL ABOARD..!!!!

Gus (LC&P).