Lessons learned!


rem37411

Lead Caboose Polisher
I am curious what your biggest waste or regretted purchase has been so far? Nobody likes to admit they made mistakes but that is how we all learn!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I purchased a very nice looking Atlas CSX sd-60 with decoder yesterday at a great train show in Atlanta! I got it home, checked the address, set it on the track.............and nothing. I gave it a gentle tap and it started jumping bit by bit. I finally got it to run a complete lap. I am hoping that after running and breaking in it will smooth out. We shall see. Unfortunately the purchase was made from an individual set up at the show instead of a true vendor

I've made a couple other purchases on "Evilbay" (As someone on here referred to it as) that were less than stellar but not major purchases.

My lessons learned so far are that I will purchase Locomotives from no other place than a B&M hobby shop or reputable online sites (Modeltrainstuff.com is AWESOME!).

I believe, for the most part that Ebay is ok for most rolling stock and accessories.

Anyone else care to let us know what mistakes were made when you started out?? I started this thread so we could hopefully let someone on a limited budget or funding know what to avoid so they never have to experience buyers remorse!
 
cheeped out on turnouts, started out with atlas. later got the better turnouts, so ended up paying twice. also during the beginners "OHHH!!! got to buy it all!!!" stage got several items i really don't need. luckly not to much damage to the wallet.

as for engine purchase on ebay, got some before and if priced right will not hesitate to buy again.
 
We are just getting started again in the hobby.
Found a starter set at Kohl's online for the same price that it would cost us for one loco. It came with 2 complete sets. When it arrived it was made by Lifelike and the locos were cheap and actually assembled backwards. We ran it once on our layout and neither would make one full trip. We took it back to our local Kohl's and had no problem returning it.
Since then we purchased an Athearn MP15AC CSX from modeltrainstuff.com. It arrived today just before I left for work. It looks exactly like I thought it would. Will try it out tonight when I get home.
Lesson Learned,
Mike
 
Umm, well Im new to the hobby and I have made several so far. Purchasing brass snap track, eventually replaced with nickel silver flex track. "free lancing" a track plan instead of studying up first and laying a better one. HO scale on a 4x8 rather than N scale.
 
i made my first layout when i was somewhere between 6-8 and when we moved it got torn apart i havent had a true layout since then just whatever i piece together.in that first layout i learned that without putting feeder wires every so often you will loose contact. i am currently starting a new layout

i have made purchases on ebay alot and i have gotten some good deals. to expect a cheap train to work as soon as u get it is not gonna happen. the cheap ones must have a minimum of all the contacts cleaned and possibly replacing he wires or fixing solder joints. almost all my stuff is the cheap stuff because to me a train is a train but ALL of my stuff runs great after a tune up. infact the only locos i ever had problems with after the tune-up was my two bachmanns they are really slugish on dcc if i remember correctly they go faster on dc
 
Oh there are so many, where to start?
Best one off the top of my pointy little head would be that you don't have to be the "first kid on the block " to get something because it was just released. Wait a month or so and it will be much cheaper.
Also, just because it's in your roadname, you don't necessarily need it.
An oldy but a goody: "Good 'nuff for now" is bound to become a headache later on. Ask me how I know that one!:rolleyes:
 
Measure twice. cut once...

I have had trains for a very long time but haven't had a layout since I was 12 or so.

I recently started a lay out.
My plan was to have a 4x8 with another 4x8 in an L formation.

This Table would have left me with about 1' clearance to squeeze by a wall.

I measured and figured I could go to a 3' table for my L but when I started laying track... it was 2 short to complete a loop. I had to make a triangle addition to butt into the corner of the 2 tables.

Anyway. if i had measured twice before cuting I would have possibly seen my mistake.

Another lesson I learned is to add a side rail to the table just incase a car falls off the track and decides to stop on the floor...
 
lesson

I am curious what your biggest waste or regretted purchase has been so far? Nobody likes to admit they made mistakes but that is how we all learn!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I purchased a very nice looking Atlas CSX sd-60 with decoder yesterday at a great train show in Atlanta! I got it home, checked the address, set it on the track.............and nothing. I gave it a gentle tap and it started jumping bit by bit. I finally got it to run a complete lap. I am hoping that after running and breaking in it will smooth out. We shall see. Unfortunately the purchase was made from an individual set up at the show instead of a true vendor

I've made a couple other purchases on "Evilbay" (As someone on here referred to it as) that were less than stellar but not major purchases.

My lessons learned so far are that I will purchase Locomotives from no other place than a B&M hobby shop or reputable online sites (Modeltrainstuff.com is AWESOME!).

I believe, for the most part that Ebay is ok for most rolling stock and accessories.

Anyone else care to let us know what mistakes were made when you started out?? I started this thread so we could hopefully let someone on a limited budget or funding know what to avoid so they never have to experience buyers remorse!

i have purchased about ten or so dcc locos on ebay and so far only one bad one
 
Let me clarify....The loco is great..!! It's the decoder that's ...well, let's just say, it leaves something to be desired. I have 5 B'mann locos and they are good...!!
 
cheeped out on turnouts, started out with atlas. later got the better turnouts, so ended up paying twice. also during the beginners "OHHH!!! got to buy it all!!!" stage got several items i really don't need. luckly not to much damage to the wallet.

as for engine purchase on ebay, got some before and if priced right will not hesitate to buy again.


NOW I am nervous as I have about 30 atlas turnouts on my N scale layout! YIKES! all code 80! I hope I don't run into trouble!
 
NOW I am nervous as I have about 30 atlas turnouts on my N scale layout! YIKES! all code 80! I hope I don't run into trouble!

Ron,
I wouldn't worry too much.
About 2 years ago I started 2 small N scale layouts. One has 3 Atlas code 80 turnouts, the other has 3 Peco electrofrog code 80 turnouts. Guess what, I never had any problem with the Atlas turnouts, but once in a while I have electrical contact problems with the Peco ones.

The only purchase I really regret was an N scale Life-Like non Proto-N serie GP9 engine. It is very unreliable. Their Proto-N serie is a lot better , on par with Atlas N scale engines.

Jacques
 
Okay...I'll take the bait...what "good 'nuff for now" story do you have to tell. :D

Actually lots!
A common mistake I make is laying track or turnouts and deciding to fine tune them later. Later usually means when the upper level is in place and I have only 3.5 inches to work in.
Rushing to put a structureon the layout before it is finished. Later, when the scenery is all around it, I decide to finish it but forgot it has been fastened down.
There's more... how much time do you have? :p
 
keep on going i like you mistakes lol i have all day

Actually lots!
A common mistake I make is laying track or turnouts and deciding to fine tune them later. Later usually means when the upper level is in place and I have only 3.5 inches to work in.
Rushing to put a structureon the layout before it is finished. Later, when the scenery is all around it, I decide to finish it but forgot it has been fastened down.
There's more... how much time do you have? :p
 
Mistakes? OK, my biggest one to date: ASSuming I could build a full-sized layout in a 23x23ft garage without first figuring out exactly what I'd need for climate control infrastructure.:eek:

When we first moved in, I thought I could just run some extra ductwork from the house into the garage for my heating and A/C needs. So I went and splurged on all new train stuff, using up all of my share of the profit from the sale of our old house. Then when I talked to a friend of mine who's in the housing construction business about installing the ductwork, as soon as he saw my HVAC system he said it was just enough to heat the house by itself, it didn't have the necessary BTU's to heat an additional 530sqft garage. I would have to spend a few thou$and to buy new equipment for heating and cooling [+ insulating] the future train room. And since my wife had just got laid-off from her job, there was no spare money available to do this.

The upshot: I had to wait another 4 years before the extra money became available to install a 12500-BTU heat pump, then proceed with building the layout I'd been dreaming of. All my new train stuff sat in boxes during this time.
 
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Mine would be the kit bashing of several flatcars.

Not that I’m all that unhappy with the results, considering my age at the time. However, the fact that had I left them alone they might be considerably more valuable. They were AC Gilbert HO. A bit rare in this day and time…..
 
Wow, where do I start?

1. Using regular latex caulk instead of adhesive caulk to put down my track. After a couple of days to a couple of months, track bed and rails put down with regular caulk came loose.
2. Not caulking down or gluing down the turnouts. I didn't put a lot of glue or caulk on the turnouts, for fear of permanently setting the points, but have found that when adjacent track came up, it pulled the turnout up too, causing uneven track.
3. Prepainting my track. I painted some of my track before putting it down, and found that when soldering, I had to remove the paint from the ends of the rails before soldering the joiners. I thought I was being smart, since I was using Rustoelum primer to paint the track, and couldn't do so inside on the foam roadbed because the solvents in the paint would have melted the foam.
4. Soldering some pieces of track before laying them. Sometimes this is a good idea, but not always.
5. Designing a curve on a lift-out joint. When using flex track, the cut track over the joint wants to return to straight, and won't stay in gauge or aligned. I tried replacing with sectional track in one place, but the sectional track is a different radius, and doesn't line up.
6. Having 6 lift outs/drawbridges and thinking it would work.
7. Having too little space between levels to effectively see the lower level or able to work on it.
8. Having the bench work too deep (more than 32") on the upper level. It should be more like 24" at most.
9. Not leveling out the foam before laying roadbed, thinking the roadbed would even out for the rails.

I could go on, but this is a good start.
 
I think I have another regret forming. The more I look at my layout the more I wish I had gone with code 55. It looks so much better and realistic. But, My layout and room is not going to be in model train magazine nor viewed by thousands. It is strictly for my own pleasure. So I guess what I have will have to do..
 



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