Follow up to Action Figure collecting

Recently, I've been doing a lot of selling and buying on Ebay; mostly buying Batman figures and selling off stuff I've had stored away for years. I've noticed that it doesn't matter if the figure is in or out of the box. If the desired figure is rare and you can get it at a decent price, why not buy it if it's a loose item.

Today, the Batman Unlimited Deathstroke figure is selling for $50 on average, MIB. The loose figures are selling for almost the same. As long as they have all the accessories, they are still desirable to collectors. I was lucky to get one for $25.

Point being, the action figure doesn't need to be "in the box" to be valuable. So why not take them out, display them on the shelf. They look much better that way I think.
Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

Stephen

A Great Article about Collecting action figures

Collecting action figures carded or loose

Another hobby of mine is collecting action figures, mostly Batman and Star Wars. Recently I've been struggling with whether I should remove my action figures from the packaging or keep them stored in the box. Personally I like the looks of them out of the package. I've freed a few figured from the plastic prisons, and it feels good to put them out, up on a shelf. But then there's the rare and highly valued collectibles. I'm still not sure if I want to remove them from their boxes. However, after reading this article Collecting action figures carded or loose, I'm tempted.

Anyway, great article for those of you who collect. Have a read and share your thoughts if you'd like.

Cheers!

Stephen

sharky's n scale 2

A look at my layout when I first started. It's come a long way from here.

Sharky n scale (+playlist)

Real train pics (+playlist)

Here's some pics I've taken around New England made into a short video.

Model Railroading How To: Making Grade Crossings, Roads and Parking Lots

Great tutorial on making roads for your layout.

My First Train--Lionel 1061 Engine

After 48 years, I still have my very first train my dad bought for me.
It's still in great shape. Just thought I'd share. Wonder how many other model railroaders may have had this as their first train?

Model Trains: Don's Irace's Providence & Worcester Railroad

Perhaps one of the best model railroads you will find. Amazing video. Check it out!

Model Trains: Don's Irace's Providence & Worcester Railroad

Don's Irace's Providence & Worcester Railroad

Google Earth

Started piecing my layout back together last night after the move. Wanted to have a look at it from up top and snapped a pic. Here's what I imagine would be my Google Earth view of my N scale layout.

I have some detailing to do, and of course, I need to get the trains up and running. First, I better give the tracks a good cleaning. Anyway, I hope to have some new videos posted soon. Keep checking back, and please leave your comments.

Thanks

Stephen

Losing a Hero and losing interest

The day my dad died, I not only lost a parent, I lost my best friend and hero.

Unless you have lost a loved one, it's hard to put into words the feelings you go through. It's a roller coaster of emotions. Even when I knew my dad was going to die from cancer, hearing the words from the doctors mouth saying, " six to eight months," even then nothing could prepare me for how I felt when I heard him take his last breath in my arms.

It still haunts me.

Growing up, my dad never used the words, "I love you." He didn't need to tell me. He was a caring, affectionate, and loving person. The life of the party. Mr. Entertainment. He made everyone smile and laugh. Everywhere we went, he was well known in town. Everyone loved him. You couldn't help it, his personality was infectious. When he came into the room it would literally light up. So there was no need for me to hear the words, "I love you." However, after I had my children, he would say it all the time to them and to me. Ironically, those were the last words he ever said to me. Well, there might have been an "unbelievable" or "ridiculous" thrown in there as well.

As I mentioned in my first post on this blog, my dad helped me get started on model railroads. He bought my first engine: a New Haven RS-3. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. Although I love the engine, it's not my mainline.

So after I got my layout set up, I emailed my dad countless pictures and videos. Every week I sent him updates. Even when I added a few trees to my mountain, I sent him pics. It was fun. He always loved getting the emails. Always asked me for more. And it always inspired me to do more, to try to make my layout the best it could be.

Unfortunately, after my dads passing, I neglected my trains for almost two years. Just lost interest, I guess you could say. My trains just sat and collected dust. Kind of like me. I was in the biggest funk ever.

What put me in the funk, other than the loss of my hero: Taking down my dad's train layout. It was a grueling process and I hated every minute of it. The worst part was painting over the wall mural. It had been there since 1996. It just felt like a sin to paint over it. But what else could I do. We sold his condo and the new owners wanted the basement clean and painted. Putting on the final coat of paint was like another nail in my dad's coffin. My hero was gone and so was his masterpiece. Life sucked.

It wasn't until I was moving into my new house when I got my mojo back. It took some time, but it came back. First thought was: maybe I should sell my layout. Yes: sell my layout and my trains. Except for the New Haven. Second thought was: I'll hold onto everything and store it in one of the sheds. Then, for no reason at all, when I got the layout to my new place, I moved it into a small room in which I call my office. Finally, the other night I decided to start this blog. I was bored. Or was I? Come to find out, I was jonesin' to get back to my hobby. I sat for hours looking at the current layout, looking for ways to improve and make additions.

Well, now I have a new goal. I'm going to make my own masterpiece, one that I will enjoy, one that I'm sure my dad would be proud of, and one that my kids will love as well.

The hobby was always there. I just needed to find it again.

I will always miss my hero (my dad). But model trains will always be part of my life. Memories of my father will be a constant reminder of the fun we shared together. There's no denying that.

So here's to my hero and model railroading!

Cheers,

Stephen

Getting started with N-Scale model railroading

First step: rob a bank.

Just joking! Actually ... there are many first steps before you even get started. Having a little bit of money is a start. The good news is, there are so many creative ways to cut corners. But you must not dive into this hobby without a plan. That's right: a plan.
Questions:
Where are you putting the layout?
What size will your layout be?
What scale will it be?
What era?
What freight line?
DC or DCC? Study up on this one.
What kind of tracks will you use? Continuous or multiple tracks?
The list is endless. But I'll stop here on the questions.

My first suggestion is to visit a real rail yard and take pictures. Get an idea of how they function. Check out the scenery around the yard, the details. Details, details, details ... it's always about the details.

Next, sit down and sketch out your layout. How many sidings, staging areas, the elevations if any, and of course the radius. There are plenty of designs online. I love the KATO track plans: check them out here.

Once you have your track plan, it's time to build a table. I was able to build mine with some off-cuts at a local lumber yard. All material was free. You'd be surprised what people get rid of. Then after your table is built head over to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up some blue board or the pink stuff. My layout is 5' x 3' so I bought a 4 x 8 and used the scraps for mountains and the background. More on this later.

By now, I assume you have purchased your track and you're ready to get started. This is the fun part: putting it all together. I will post a more detailed blog on building a layout at a later date.

So, with your train line picked out, your tracks laid out, it's time to run those trains! Once you've tested your tracks, you can begin tacking them down or whatnot and adding details to your layout. It doesn't have to happen overnight, that's the fun part about this hobby. Over time, your layout will blossom. In the meantime, have fun!

I hope this has been insightful.

Happy railroading my friends.

Cheers!
Stephen

Sharkys n scale _P and W (+playlist)

TY'S MODEL RAILROAD: Layout Scenery Part IV - Bringing It Together

TY'S MODEL RAILROAD: Layout Scenery Part IV - Bringing It Together: I find it quite amazing how fast things sometimes come together. I’ve been working on this project for just under 3 years, and even thoug...

Model Train Fun

Model Train Layouts are more than just trains. It's about art and creativity. Dress up your layout. Fill it up with trees and scenery. Adding fine details makes it look realistic.
Last year I had a bare area on the corner of my layout. It took me forever to figure out what to do with it. I didn't want to add a building, because it would be out of place. So instead I added a Hobo scene.

Check it and let me know what you think.

Happy Railroading! 

Stephen

N Scale- KATO Unitrack

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!

When I first started, I looked for ease of set up. I didn't feel like cutting tacks and pinning things together; although you can get any radius with this method, I chose an easier route. Kato Unitrack looked easy and are easy. Enough said. However, I when I got more into detailing, I want to make the tracks look as real as possible. 

Some hobbyists paint the tracks which look realistic. But I took a different approach. 

First I buried the tracks in medium gray ballast.. Then, it's hard to see from this picture, but I added some brown umber to Scenics glue and soaked the ballast with the glue. It keeps the track secure and the ballast from going all over the place. Finally, I added a little foliage for a nice finishing touch.

Not too shabby.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Stephen

Model Trains for Generations

My first train set was a Lionel. I received it from my parents on Christmas when I was four. I rememeber setting it up with my dad, running it fast around a 4 foot loop, trying to keep it on the tracks, and loving every minute of it!

I ran the train non-stop until I eventually got tired of it going round and round, falling off the tracks, putting it back on the tracks etc.

The train set ended up in a box and stored away. Thankfully it was never given away, sold or thrown out over the years--40 years to be exact.  I still have the set and have since handed it down to my youngest son. It's funny--we set it up and I watched history repeat itself. Only difference is now the tracks are rusty, the connector pins are bent, but other than that, the train still goes round and round.

But model trains are more than setting up a boxed set and watching it go around. Even though that may be great entertainment for little kids, there's so much more when you really get into it.

Over the past 15 years before my father's untimely death, my dad dedicated his free time to model trains. His trains, which you can view here, occupied his entire basement. He started with G scale, then to switch to S and finally O scale. His layout always got better. And everyone, including town politicians, family and friends, enjoyed his grand display ... especially the grand kids.

My dad's passion for model trains was infectious. Eventually it rubbed off on me, and before you know it, I was building a model train setup in the kitchen of my small apartment. I chose N-Scale because I could do more in a confined area. HO was always intriguing, but I would need more room. So N-scale it is. You will see throughout my blog pictures and videos from concept until now.

I hope to keep this train hobby fascination alive and share with others as well as my children.

Enjoy!

Stephen