Scot Lawrence said:
“ROGER’S RULES FOR COLLECTING OLD IRON”
He wrote it about tractors, but most of the rules apply to pretty much any “guy hobby”
https://books.google.com/books?id=AGflFI-XBaYC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=ROGER#v=onepage&q=ROGER&f=false
Scot
LOL! That was pretty funny.
Forrest Scott Wood said:
From the “Don’t try this at home” files;
Q: “How many locomotives do you have?”
A: “Not enough to haul your quilt fabric.”
Zing! LOL!
Forrest Scott Wood said:
From the “Don’t try this at home” files;
Q: “How many locomotives do you have?”
A: “Not enough to haul your quilt fabric.”
And that’s when the fight started. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-innocent.gif)
My wife and I have reached an understanding… when a box with her name on it appears on the steps I pretend not to notice it (even though I bring it in for her) and I certainly don’t ask about it and she doesn’t ask me about my boxes (of trains) that magically appear from time to time.
Forrest Scott Wood said:
From the “Don’t try this at home” files;
Q: “How many locomotives do you have?”
A: “Not enough to haul your quilt fabric.”
Alternate ending: “… your yarn.” If she notices big boxes coming for me, that’s kinda the green light for her next yarn stash acquisition… Not a cheap hobby!
However, when asked about the loco’s (“You’ll never get them all running, why in the world would you get another one?!?”), I’ve had some traction with the “investment argument.” Like, “Honey, some folks put their money in silver, but these engines hold their value too. And with the sweet deals I hunt for, their value is even greater.” But, that only works one and a half times.
(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Over the years Ive had my fair share of sneaking the “hobby purchases” into the house. What I have found though, is that the wife is more receptive to me spending money on trains, when she sees me in the backyard playing with them. She sees the enjoyment I get, my grand kids get, the neighborhood kids get, and she is more agreeable to me making train purchases. We had a whale of an estate sale out here last month and I told her I was going to look around. I ended up purchasing 2 USA Beer Refers, 5 Asst cars (3 with metal wheels), a work caboose, x Wide turnout, a drawer unit with tons of large scale parts including metal wheels and 2 prints suitable for framing…all for $305
When I brought it all home, I told her exactly how much I spent and then told her what the retail price was…she was OK with it.
My advice…quit dickin around and get some track on the ground so your wife see your trains in action. 
Bob Frein said:
My advice…quit dickin around and get some track on the ground so your wife see your trains in action.
In all honesty my wife is a trooper with this and all my hobbies. She was quite a bug help last year getting the house sided. She also helped with the patio. She is very much on my side in this adventure. Out kids are just about at the age where they will be leaving the nest. I have never been able to have a layout in any scale. Something always comes up and I have to give up on the idea. My N layout was well on its way to being done and she brings me a present. A little stick with a plus sign on it. We weren’t going to have a second child, I ended up giving up my room. Then we built the basement and I had a new room and was going to get back into HO. That didn’t pan out. So no I am at a place where it looks like I will have a layout and am already able to run trains. For the first time I am really getting to enjoy this hobby. And she is happy I get too. So while she does give me the evil eye from time to time I have her support. She even said she is ready to move dirt.
My wife and I each had our own hobbies and for the most part we didn’t question each others purchases as we both worked and had separate checking accounts. She had a pricey sewing machine that I could always point too if she thought something I bought was too expensive. On purchases that I thought might raise eyebrows, I had them delivered to my work place and kept them in my car until a time when she was not at home and I could squirrel it away in my work shop.
My lovely bride suggested that “we” get into large scale, just as I had worked out the plans for an O gauge layout. “You can build the railroad, and I’ll do the gardening.”
Yeah, that worked out well. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Edit: to correct autocorrect.
Devon Sinsley said:
Bob Frein said:
My advice…quit dickin around and get some track on the ground so your wife see your trains in action.
In all honesty my wife is a trooper with this and all my hobbies. She was quite a bug help last year getting the house sided. She also helped with the patio. She is very much on my side in this adventure. Out kids are just about at the age where they will be leaving the nest. I have never been able to have a layout in any scale. Something always comes up and I have to give up on the idea. My N layout was well on its way to being done and she brings me a present. A little stick with a plus sign on it. We weren’t going to have a second child, I ended up giving up my room. Then we built the basement and I had a new room and was going to get back into HO. That didn’t pan out. So no I am at a place where it looks like I will have a layout and am already able to run trains. For the first time I am really getting to enjoy this hobby. And she is happy I get too. So while she does give me the evil eye from time to time I have her support. She even said she is ready to move dirt.
And you’s a writer.
Actually my mom only occasionally makes a comment about me having too many trains. But she enjoys watching then run around, and she is happy that I spend my time away from the house with my “train friends”. She even went to a train show with me where the NMRA group was set up. She liked seeing my Tyco train romp around on the NMRA set up, since she remembers me playing with those trains as a kid. (The NMRA guys, not so much)
As long as the bills are paid, and there are cloths in the closet, and food in the fridge, then we should be able to enjoy our free time and spend the few remaining dollars we have, on what we enjoy. “Honey, if I can’t enjoy life, then what is the point?”
My wife loves trains (she even had her own N scale set for a time). She also loves rocks, which as you all know are a major part of my layout. So she’s been pretty supportive of it. Besides, she’s filled almost every cubic inch of our house with her teddy bears and dolls, so she has no grounds to complain.
One nite My wife came down stairs to the “train Shop” and was a little irritated about something. I made a remark back to her and her reply was “Why don’t ya just sell those trains”… Well me being me I snapped back and said… Ok dear I will sell em all… and then I am gonna go hang out at the bar everynite after work with the guys and spend my money on beer…Like some husbands that I know… at least I can get my money back out of the trains, however the money spent on beer is never to be seen again. She had this long pause and then burned a few holes thru me with a stare and then turned around a stomped up the steps…Needless to say it was never mentioned again… ( I won!)… But seriously She goes to train shows with me and helps me find stuff. I did get her to help paint and decal some HLW short car kits last Dec. for our Christmas train. She did enjoy that… she still puts up with me…
Yep, quilting is the great equalizer.
I am reminded of an old joke…
A long time gun collector is on his deathbed. His best friend stops in to pay respects.
Man: “I don’t mind dying so much as the uncertainty of it all”.
Friend: “None of us can truly be sure of what comes after death”.
Man: “No, not that. What will become of the gun collection I spent my life building”?
Friend: “Not to worry old chum, I promise to give your wife dollar for dollar what you told her you paid for it”.
Poor man had a heart-attack.
Told to me by my girlfriends husband…He spends thousands per year on guns, she likely spends as much on Blythe Dolls. They have a very good understanding of what makes the other happy.
My wife used to be that way, till she went to a join therapy session with me to the therapist that diagnosed me on the autism spectrum. She explained that my trains were my way of coping with living in a world that both confuses and scares me most of the time. And that it was in her best interest to at the minimum tollerate and support them, and at best, join in and enjoy them with me. She is slowly doing just this, building up her own Chessie System diesel powered train to run when we go to open houses. She picks up her engine from RLD at the spring open house, Robbie is installing Revo and onboard battery power in it. Do I spend to much on trains, probably, but there are much worse things I could spend or waste money on. Mike
Chessie System - good choice! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
And now that that’s been mentioned, one of the top shots of the week at railpictures dot net,
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/610401
Remarks & Notes Yes, that’s a Chessie System locomotive at a CSX repaint facility in the year 2017. C&O No. 8272, formerly known as CSX B30-7 No. 5554 sits at CSX’s Huntington Locomotive Shops on Saturday, March 18th in its first public unveiling. The locomotive is destined for a railroad museum in Pennsylvania. CSX and its Huntington, W.Va., shop forces handled all of the cosmetic restoration for the locomotive.
looking at the couplers I see the 1:1 RR’s have issues with coupler alignment also. I also noted the height difference in the two locos overall, amazing what technology affects. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
It almost looks Photoshoped.
Over my bowl of cereal I went looking and CSX 4507 is an SD70MAC http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2330590
Found a couple references with height and the GE’s cab and SD’s hood are pretty close in height.
https://www.thedieselshop.us/DataB30-7.HTML
https://www.thedieselshop.us/Data%20EMD%20SD70MAC.HTML
Looking at couplers, I’m figuring the apparent height difference is a mix of perspective and the GE having old springs which have lost some of their return force; assuming the SD70 has not been made unusually light and therefore rides higher.
Yeah, my MTH Big Boy will arrive soon. I have one that I repaired that had broken frames. Maybe I can tell her my fix didn’t work and I HAD to buy this. Paid it off in payments a year or two ago…
