Iz nutz - really!

[bob turner]

Going to re-roof the train shed. Skylights have always leaked, and dry rot is setting in.

So all the trains have to be moved elsewhere. Half were already at the airport, and a good number are in display cases in the house - there are 14 locomotives in the living room alone, and most of them are articulated, as in Challengers, a Big Boy, and six Cab Forwards.

It has taken four days to move everything, and I still have a locomotive on each loop with a string of cars - in case I get the urge to clean tracks and run something.

I have always had guilt feelings when going to shows or hobby stores - I rarely buy the big stuff, selecting a can of paint or some jeweler saw blades. It bothers me that I am not sending bucks to Protocraft - the guy has SP decals and paint that make me drool. But Damn! There are a lot of trains around here. One more and my house will sink six inches without an earthquake.

So - good thing I know a psychiatrist. There has to be a cure . . .

[2railjon]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I have always had guilt feelings when going to shows or hobby stores - I rarely buy the big stuff, selecting a can of paint or some jeweler saw blades. It bothers me that I am not sending bucks to Protocraft.........

Drop by my tables at Strasburg next month and just write me a check.

[Carey Williams]

Hello Bob ...

Confucius say; man who has enough is rich .....

collecting is a careful balance between "enough" and always room for one more .......some do not know the difference ... if you can still walk across the room you've not yet crossed over to the dark side ..yet..

[Roy]

Confucius say; man who has enough is rich .....

collecting is a careful balance between "enough" and always room for one more .......some do not know the difference ... if you can still walk across the room you've not yet crossed over to the dark side ..yet..

I'm content, even if I never acquire another thing. I do feel sorry for those who approach collecting as a challenge. They'll get eveything, then sell it off, and move on to collecting something else. As if, they completed the requirements for a merit badge.

[E7]

Considering your liberal politics, maybe we should be getting some commentary from "The Greek"? I'm guessing it would be most enlightening!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Confucius say; man who has enough is rich .....

You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough. (Blake)

[Roy]

You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough. (Blake)

Apparently, Blake had no concept of satiety.

[Carey Williams]

Merit badges ?.... no trophy's?

[bob turner]

The Greek is concerned about being left with hundreds of locomotives, hundreds more cars, and boxes of fragments, and no way to unload them. I maintain that when I croak they will have served their usefulness and can be donated, trashed, distributed to friends, carefully sold individually, or any combination. I simply will not care.

For my records and your entertainment I am going to get a rudimentary count. That alone will prove my initial assertion - batshit crazy.

[E7]

The Greek is concerned about being left with hundreds of locomotives, hundreds more cars, and boxes of fragments, and no way to unload them. I maintain that when I croak they will have served their usefulness and can be donated, trashed, distributed to friends, carefully sold individually, or any combination. I simply will not care.

For my records and your entertainment I am going to get a rudimentary count. That alone will prove my initial assertion - batshit crazy.

Other than dumpsterization, most of those will require substantial effort unless you supply a viable list of outlets.

You are correct in not caring, because sooner or later, everything ends up as trash.

[bob turner]

I agree - even the donation route is fraught with problems - and I have the definitive Cab Forward collection. But that is not up to me - these things are for my enjoyment. Period.

To back up my assertion of a diseased mind:

148 steam plus 4 live steamers
75 Diesels and electrics, including B units and calves.
271 freight cars including some scattered passenger cars and cranes
71 passenger cars including 10 PSC.
AND - and -six road graders! You know, the giant steel things with Firestone tires!

And of course two convertible Mustangs of ancient vintage, three Piper Cubs of even older vintage, and a Super Decathlon.

Like Carey says, some folks actually have enough.

But the Greek is the best part. Always trying to feed any sentient creature, including me.

[bob turner]

Scratchbuilt steam - 44! I think Lobaugh would come close - rest are scattered Scale Craft, MG, USH, Saginaw, CLW. A very small fraction are Williams, Lionel, Weaver, Sunset. I better go do something else, or I will be constructing a bell curve.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I better go do something else, or I will be constructing a bell curve.

Venn diagrams

[Carey Williams]

I think we found the cause of all those tremers above LA ....it's all of Bob's locomotives pushing down on a fault line .
Bob those are some serious numbers ...I choose to ignore numbers ...reality is not a requirement in the hobby.
I once meet a follow amusement park train collector ...(15"gauge ) ...and he kept trying to impress me with how many he had , being remissed that I did not have a complete inventory of my holdings at the tip of my tongue.

Bob ..perhaps graph and charts ..like MR use to do ...listing favorite railroads and wheel arangements to help steer manufactures for future locomotive production ....or when in doubt bring out another NYC Hudson....

Buy what you like and like what you buy ......put Greg Stout's phone number in your loved ones phone ....so when you assume room temperature your collection can be recycled into the hobby for the next generation to enjoy ....plus a sizable check goes back home ....and if you know anything about the model ....label it ....best way to share your knowledge ...plus kick up the value of your items for the big auction . If you can not take the trains with you to the next station in the sky ...make sure you leave instructions before heading up.

Cheers Carey