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 Posted - March 15 2014 : 5:09:21 PM
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Left the forum because we were in the process of moving from Grand Rapids, Mi to Charlotte N c. left my beautiful H O lay out in the basement along with my work shop to the new owner, could see no way to move and didn't feel like dissaembling it and selling off.. Basements are a luxery down here.
There isn't even a decent Hobby Shop in town as far as trains. R C the big thing with Hobby Town. The model R R club is in a guy's garage which i will check out. Train swaps are in other towns. Only good source is E Bay and internet both expensive. Miss my hobby recycle shop.
Pretty bleak picture. thinking of switching to N but i'm not the most dexterous and having a drop table suspended from the garage ceiling. As it is no one parks in the garage. Will have to heat it.
Thanks for listening
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Posted - March 15 2014 : 5:26:17 PM
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aww that a shame I loved that layout too
Hopefully you took all the buildings, trains, vehicles & track with you 
Yeah I'm in the same boat as you are No hobby stores within miles of me 
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Posted - March 15 2014 : 6:35:59 PM
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Hey, FWIW, welcome to Charlotte! I live in the Greater Charlotte area, Kannapolis to be exact, which is north of Charlotte. I don't know how they compare to the hobby shops back in Michigan, but there are a couple up here, Chuck's Trains in China Grove and The Little Choo Choo Shop in Spencer. If you get up this way give 'em a look. Maybe they can make the picture a little rosier! Again, welcome!
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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Posted - March 15 2014 : 6:41:57 PM
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| hi derfberger,glad to hear from you again,hope you get to like your new surroundings,and look forward to your postings ken
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Posted - March 15 2014 : 11:07:03 PM
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 Posted - March 16 2014 : 01:03:40 AM
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The Tyco Depot
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Posted - March 16 2014 : 03:21:27 AM
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Hi derfberger,
Welcome back!
Mytyco
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Posted - March 17 2014 : 10:05:57 PM
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derf,
Welcome to North Carolina. I'm about 2 1/2 hours from you. There is a train show in late June at the Metrolina Fairgrounds. It's a decent show for buying train stuff. Also, the Hickory, NC train show, which I think is coming up in April. Don't quote me on that. A bit of a trek for you is Marion, NC. There is the Train Store. It's small, but it's packed with train stuff.
And like Gmoney mentioned, there is Spencer, NC with the Choo Choo shop and the railroad museum across the street at the former Southern Railway facility with roundhouse and backshop. Open year round, with train rides on a GP9. I don't think the steamer is running.
Sorry, you had to leave the layout behind. Yeah, down here in the flatlands with a mild climate, basements aren't too common.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - March 17 2014 : 11:16:41 PM
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Hi, Derf... Welcome back. Hope you get some trains going again soon! 
I built my layout in 5 sections that I can remove 3 larger screws to separate. Just incase I need to move it...
Walt
Luck, usually comes dressed in work clothes...
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Posted - March 17 2014 : 11:36:16 PM
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thanks guys. Sorry Microbusss but i left it all. Would have had to saw in half just to get up the basemant stairs. And then how do i pack and crate and then where would i put it. Of course had i had train on the mind would have bought a home with a bonus room/basement, but it was not my top priotity
went to the local train club tonight. In a guys garage. about 13 people there. Very impressive layout . Totally complete , against two walls and down the middle. Really cramped as far as aisles. . Two levels, No helix, just a very long incline. Modeled after the Ashville/Knoxville line. Must have had 30 engines in yards and 10 times as much rolling stock. I was given a controller and ran a train to various towns where i passed off the train to a switch yard operator who removed and added new cars. Then told the dispatcher my next destination and off i went. Guess this is O k for some, I'm a scenery person so operating trains not my thing. Got some info on hobby shops and shows. like Choo Choo in Spencer. but most buy Craigs list and e bay.
Unfortunately no second hand shop
Guy who owned the layout wasn't interested in what i left behind. and told me so. Not a very friendly person. didn't have the nerve to mention all my Tyco stuff.
Only 2 members had basements, the rest used a spare room or garage.. I mentioned N guage and they all looked at me in horror and commented on how was my eye sight.
Not sure if this is the solution for me. Going once a week to run a train is not what i'm looking for
Not sure if i will return
Edited by - derfberger on March 17 2014 11:39:20 PM
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Posted - March 17 2014 : 11:40:01 PM
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quote:thanks guys. Sorry Microbusss but i left it all. Would have had to saw in half just to get up the basemant stairs. And then how do i pack and crate and then where would i put it. Of course had i had train on the mind would have bought a home with a bonus room/basement, but it was not my top priotity
went to the local train club tonight. In a guys garage. about 13 people there. Very impressive layout . Totally complete , against two walls and down the middle. Really cramped as far as aisles. . Two levels, No helix, just a very long incline. Modeled after the Ashville/Knoxville line. Must have had 30 engines in yards and 10 times as much rolling stock. I was given a controller and ran a train to various towns where i passed off the train to a switch yard operator who removed and added new cars. Then told the dispatcher my next destination and off i went. Guess this is O k for some, I'm a scenery person so operating trains not my thing. Got some info on hobby shops and shows. like Choo Choo in Spencer. but most buy Craigs list and e bay.
Unfortunately no second hand shop
Guy who owned the layout wasn't interested in what i left behind. and told me so. Not a very friendly person. didn't have the nerve to mention all my Tyco stuff.
Only 2 members had basements, the rest used a spare room or garage.. I mentioned N guage and they all looked at me in horror and commented on how was my eye sight.
Not sure if this is the solution for me. Going once a week to run a train is not what i'm looking for
Not sure if i will return
Originally posted by derfberger - March 17 2014 : 11:36:16 PM
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We hope you'll return. We'll miss you if you don't.
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
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Posted - March 18 2014 : 06:44:02 AM
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Hello derfberger sorry we never met. No I don't think that club setup you describe would work for me either. I love the fun attitude here, get really turned off my the "that stuff is all junk" and the "follow the rules during our ops session" crowd. As always, to each his own, but geez....I am constantly amazed when I see someone on another model railroad site pose a question about a particular old Tyco or Bachmann issue and they receive a chorus of "throw it away"
Maybe you don't have room for a large layout but there are solutions for smaller spaces - fold out tables or units that lower from the ceiling. Hang around, we'll figure something out 
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - March 18 2014 : 09:46:34 AM
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you left JUST the layout Right? & took the trains & buildings?
Please say yes
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Posted - March 18 2014 : 10:16:28 PM
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| Welcome to Charlotte - traffic jams all day on 485 both directions as well as 77 and 85. Hobby town in south Charlotte has very little trains and the one in North Charlotte off Wt Harris use to have a little bit better selection - as Gmoney said Little Choo Choo in salsibury or drive to Marion to The train shop. King Mtn is getting ready to get a new Hobby shop specializing in trains opening soon. One this areas best train shows is coming up in April in Hickory at the Metro Convention center - April 12th only and the next one will be in June or July at Metrolina Fairgrounds - word of advise - Don't say up north we had this and that - you might get some nasty replies back to that depending on where you say that here. During snow and ice events here - roads do not get plowed as they do where you came from - get what you need before it hits and our snow is the icy type. Summer months -you will experience extreme humidity at times and severe storms and Charlotte floods a lot during summer storms -get ready and enjoy living here -its not bad once you adjust - The only other model train stores close to Charlotte are in the Greenville SC area 85 southbound and around Raleigh(4hrs from Charlotte) or Columbia SC =90 minutes south on 77 - dont know which club layout you visited - Belmont has one - Metrolina Model Railroaders - the one i run my christmas train on at the Southern Christmas Show
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Posted - March 19 2014 : 08:09:46 AM
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Welcome back to the forum at least, Derf. I know NC is rather barren for model railroaders compared to further north, I love my northern Virginia area, at least we have good shows if not many train hobby shops left.
Sorry your experience at the person's layout wasn't the best, some guys take a rivet-counting attitude, and just can't appreciate Tyco, Bachmann, and other toy-quality trains. I like them all. I'm not all that interested in Ops myself, I'd rather just run a train around, or experiment with scenery ( 0.01% experience with scenery right now, LOL ). At any rate, looks like you might be doing "your own thing" for awhile. maybe you can eventually build a shed in your back yard for a small layout.
At any rate, glad you're back online with us, we'll give you moral support if nothing else. Far as Hobby shops, that one near Kannapolis, if I remember correctly, has train tracks running RIGHT in front of it. It started out as more of an online-store, then morphed into a Brick-and-mortar, they have some interesting stuff, including many German type accessories, it's worth a look through. Not any vintage stuff, last time I was through there 5-6 years ago, but loads of different things you wouldn't see in most train hobby shops, as he sells overseas quite a bit.
Well, see ya 'round the house!
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 08 2014 : 10:35:33 PM
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you left JUST the layout Right? & took the trains & buildings?
Please say yes
nope, left it all. at the time figured it was a passing hobby just like my others---candle making, stained glass, model planes.
not sure how or if i'll get back into it as motivation just not there let alone finding a room and supplies to start..
Yes Bryan well aware of the traffic. One has to plan their life around them. Lived in Chicago, NY, Detroit, Driven many times in L A, Atlanta, D C. Mexico City, Guadalajara and once in Paris. Nothing is worse than Charlotte.
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Posted - April 08 2014 : 11:15:55 PM
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derfberger - One of the areas Best train shows is coming this weekend in Hickory off Interstate 40 - about 1 hr to 1.5 hrs depending whee you live in Charlotte - The Charlotte trains show will be in June at Metrolina Fairgrounds - and then no more till 2015 locally unless there are unannounced shows coming
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 Posted - April 08 2014 : 11:20:55 PM
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quote:
nope, left it all. at the time figured it was a passing hobby just like my others---candle making, stained glass, model planes.
Originally posted by derfberger - April 08 2014 : 10:35:33 PM
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You coulda sold US the stuffs
Edited by - microbusss on April 08 2014 11:21:51 PM
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Posted - April 25 2014 : 03:16:31 AM
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I just got interested in HO module railroading. Great concept: you build a six foot section of the universe according to you. I got a ton of help on the carpentry because I am truly inept with wood, a bit of help on some simple wiring, threw down some track and found this lovely station in the discard bin. It's not half done yet, but it runs.
Truth be told, some days I don't want to get out of bed. So I force myself to start to fiddle with my trains, and after ten minutes I am so absorbed with making something out of nothing that I loose track of time.
Sounds like you're in the model raid doldrums. Find a little angle and work it for ten minutes. Find a club, and find ways to give of yourself and in the process you will forget your own troubles.
My friggin' cat just toppled a trolley city scape I have cultivated and improved for 15 years. Turned it upside down and it dropped six feet to a concrete floor, splat.
Kitty is a little nervous right now. Gotta move forward.
Chops
JMcNeal
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Posted - April 25 2014 : 06:39:19 AM
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You found that station in the discard bin?? Oh my  Let me know if there's any more "discards" 
My cat is barred from the train room.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - April 25 2014 : 09:00:32 AM
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station kinda resembles the Union Station in Denver
I'll get a pic of it soon
To add sone signage to it you could get the sign thats on Union Station
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