Large Scale Central

Gotta LOVE free stuff!

General Discussion
#1

My old boss gave me 4 or 5 coroplast signs to make buildings with last year. I’ve managed to get quite a bit of ‘alley wood’ from Lowes (the lathe and stuff they use between the bundles during shipping), just by asking. My landlord donated a bunch of used cinder blocks and clay fill for the new layout. A couple very nice fellow G scalers sent me some R-2 curved track to finish outside and the wood (rough cut oak!) to make hangers for inside ceiling track this spring.

Today an old family friend gave me about 2-3 TONS of rocks, mostly about head sized round river rock, and some even looks like it might be pink granite… Unfortunately, I’ll have to load them myself (he’s 79 with a bum leg) and cart them 30 miles with just a minivan… so this may take a little while. I only brought home 14 (@ 30# or so each) today and I about lost the muffler getting out of his driveway. I’m guessing that 4 or 5 more trips will probably finish what I want to do…

Meanwhile, I also gave away a circle of R-1 to a 17yo kid, and an old B-mann reefer with plastic wheels to a neighbor lady for her dad.

Who says this hobby HAS to be expensive? Don’t EXPECT free things, but when it’s offered smile and say, ‘Thank you!!!’

#2

I troll Craigslist free ads every day, and get free brick, cinder block, wood, all sorts of stuff. Even got 30 yards of free fill from a local contractor.

#3

My lare father had an old greenhouse I tppk it apart. I used some of the electrical for a train barn that I’m finishing up and some of the roof is going to get used on it’s roof. But the best thing from the greenhouse was 24-inch kilm dried prime redwood from the benches which I’ve been cutting down using my late brother’s Dremel model saw! The saw works fine with a couple clamps from Harbot Freight!
recycle, Recycle, RECYCLE!

#4

Another place i get stuff from is on Yahoo called freecycle. They have them for locations all over the country. I belong to my local one and have not only acquired stuff for the railroad, but also stuff for the house we are fixing. Everything from sinks to lights. I get a lot of pressure treated lumber from old decks people have taken out. Bring it home, take out the nails and then sort out what I want to keep. then stack and store for later use.

#5

Freecycle makes a lot of sense. I work in real estate development / construction and I see a ton of usable stuff get smashed and put in a roll-off container headed for a landfill somewhere. I have to resist taking stuff home because I’m such a a pack rat and have no space left to store stuff I might use someday.

#6

That explains why we bought 2 1/2 acres! It takes awhile to fill it up!

#7

We love Freecycle. I’m on the 2 local groups. I got the cinderblocks and patio blocks that we were using at the Build-a-RR from there. We also get tons of plants. And most of the stuff we put on there is gone in a day or two.

#8

I’ll check into Freecycle. Sounds promising. I have lots of stuff too good to throw away, but not worth trying to sell.
Ralph

#9

I have a friend that do demo work. I have gotten 14 boxwood bushes and lots of rock and stone from him for free. Once he gets the ok to take down a house he will call and let me see if there is anything I need or can use. I also got a 3 gal flush torlet that works great for free.