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 Posted - May 21 2014 : 2:47:03 PM
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Jerry's post on "you may be a model railroader if" reminded me of a post I made to Model Railroad Hobbyist a year or so back. I will give it a topic here for comments.
Model Railroad Rules To Live By
1. The object of this hobby is to have fun.
2. Buy some freight and passenger cars to go with your gross of engines.
3. Never ever tell a fellow modeler your scale is better then his.
4. At some point stop planning and start building the layout.
5. Never put perfection in front of running the trains.
6. Pay close attention to the track work it can kill the fun.
7. Meet and bring your favorite engine, and have you friends bring their favorite engines.
8. Have a plan, and an era, so you don't buy a lot of stuff you don't need.
9. Listen to the critics, and weight their suggestions, and then do what you think is best.
10. Never argue with a rivet counter, you will lose.
11. Good running engines and dependable rolling stock are required to really have fun.
12. You don't have to agree, with you fellow modelers, to be friends
13. Have a spare of all tools, for when you lose the first one.
14. Keep the lubrication supplies handy and use them sometimes.
15. Clean the track and wheels before the trains stop running.
16. Know your economic, time, and space resources and plan accordingly.
17. In this hobby "do overs" are a fact of life.
18. If you are a perfectionist, lighten up and cut the other people some slack.
19. If you are not a perfectionist, lighten up and cut them some slack.
20. Never ever forget rule one.
Regards, John **********************
Before running a friend's locomotive, locate the nearest door, and have an escape plan if anything goes wrong <> Junior
Edited by - JRG1951 on May 21 2014 3:13:00 PM
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Posted - May 21 2014 : 5:11:27 PM
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Besides Rule 1 & 20, I have found rule 17 to be a fact of life. It's funny looking back at work I did just a couple years ago and thinking "that's not gonna do it now".
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - May 21 2014 : 5:56:28 PM
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8. mine will be "anything goes" layout
10. I'm not one so I'll run my fantasy rail lines anyway
11. Tyco isn't reliable with the PTs
15. run a track cleaner car & vac before, during & after you run trains 
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Posted - May 21 2014 : 6:28:04 PM
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I have found rule #2 to be grossly incorrect (pun absolutely intended)
My problem is that I have to occasionally force myself to buy a nice locomotive or two to pull my ten gross of freight cars!
--CRC
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Posted - May 21 2014 : 6:44:05 PM
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| 21. if you're not good with detailing Farm it out to someone else
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Posted - May 22 2014 : 02:20:25 AM
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22. Remember that this is a hobby, it can't be done "wrong!" If you don't want to pull double stacks with 4-4-0s, don't do it, but keep your mouth shut when the other guy does!
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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 Posted - May 22 2014 : 4:24:33 PM
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^ If that's wrong, then I don't wanna be right.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - May 22 2014 : 4:29:16 PM
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23. For club layouts: It doesn't matter if you have ten pairs of eyes and you're the only one running anything on the whole layout, NEVER try to run two trains at once without watching both. One will pop out of a tunnel and crash into the other at full throttle the instant everyone decides to watch you. Then you will never hear the end of it, and you'll have to repair the tail end of a caboose.
--CRC
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Posted - May 22 2014 : 9:57:24 PM
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quote:23. For club layouts: It doesn't matter if you have ten pairs of eyes and you're the only one running anything on the whole layout, NEVER try to run two trains at once without watching both. One will pop out of a tunnel and crash into the other at full throttle the instant everyone decides to watch you. Then you will never hear the end of it, and you'll have to repair the tail end of a caboose.
Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â May 22 2014Â :Â 4:29:16 PM
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This sounds an awful lot like the voice of experience. 
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - May 23 2014 : 12:39:07 AM
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| I like them all but #7 is one I need to try sometime.
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Posted - May 23 2014 : 10:17:37 PM
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quote:I like them all but #7 is one I need to try sometime.
Originally posted by metalsmith1Â -Â May 23 2014Â :Â 12:39:07 AM
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I don't know that I could fit all my "favorite" engines into the car at one time to take them anywhere. It's hard to have just one favorite. For me, anyway. BL-2, my ghost powered caboose, glass German tram, Tyco Turbo Train, they're all special in their own way.  But I do manage to take a few along to shows and such when I can.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - May 31 2014 : 01:47:55 AM
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| Never build a tunnel over a turn out. Never make anything more than 2.5 feet from the edge- that is the limit of arm's length reach. Pop-ups be danged.
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Posted - May 31 2014 : 07:41:12 AM
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quote:Never build a tunnel over a turn out. Never make anything more than 2.5 feet from the edge- that is the limit of arm's length reach. Pop-ups be danged.
Originally posted by Chops124Â -Â May 31 2014Â :Â 01:47:55 AM
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Never say "never". 
I break both of those rules. It's a point of pain, but it makes the whole concept of my layout possible.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - May 31 2014 : 7:46:31 PM
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quote: quote:I like them all but #7 is one I need to try sometime.
Originally posted by metalsmith1Â -Â May 23 2014Â :Â 12:39:07 AM
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I don't know that I could fit all my "favorite" engines into the car at one time to take them anywhere. It's hard to have just one favorite. For me, anyway. BL-2, my ghost powered caboose, glass German tram, Tyco Turbo Train, they're all special in their own way. But I do manage to take a few along to shows and such when I can.
Jerry
Originally posted by AMC_Gremlin_GTÂ -Â May 23 2014Â :Â 10:17:37 PM
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I have a different problem - my "favorite" engines don't work anymore! My RDG T-1 has a decoder that's shot to hell, my GG1 has a smashed pilot, my CSX C30-7 is missing handrails (okay, it works, but still...)
--CRC
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Posted - May 31 2014 : 10:29:01 PM
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Rule 24: A duck-under sounds like a good idea, but after hitting your head on it a million times, it doesn't sound like such a good idea anymore.
If this sounds like the voice of experience, trust me, it is. 
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babuff
Little Six
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Posted - June 04 2014 : 4:04:12 PM
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John's #18
Ben's #10 say's it all
and chessie's #24 If it ain't your head it is your back, especially for us older folk
Leo
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