Two boxcars for my $100 layout...

I'm old enough that I don't feel the need to receive birthday presents. My parents, however, insist on getting me one every year. It's always hard to decide what to ask for because I don't want them to spend a lot of money, but I also don't want something unless it's not a piece of junk. The past few years I've taken to asking for things they already have, like my dad's 35mm camera that he used when I was a kid. (It's broken now, but has a ton of sentimental value to me). This year though, I really couldn't think of anything. My mom announced that they'd decided to get me something for my train layout. I groaned inwardly... I couldn't think of any quality toy train stuff that wouldn't go above my self imposed price limit. My birthday came and went and I hoped my parents had forgotten about getting me something. Then at my son's birthday, my mom brought it up - "Have you found something for your layout that dad and I can get you? We really want to get you something..." <groan>... I told her I'd been looking but couldn't find anything I really needed, hoping this answer would satisfy them for at least another month. Not happening... the next night she called me and asked if I could pick something out soon because they wanted to order it before returning to their home in Bishop. <Gulp> - they want me to pick out something NOW? Where am I going to find something that I like and is also AFFORDABLE? Then I remembered Ready Made Trains. I've been kind of focusing on my HO scale Timesaver layout so O gauge wasn't even really on my radar. I do need some rolling stock for my $100 Layout (that I'll get around to building some day...) and these particular two cars actually have a family connection - my dad's uncle used to work for Western Pacific, and the Santa Fe car is just like the real ones I saw many times as a kid when we visited my grandparents in Sacramento and when I'd go on business trips with my dad in the summer to Mojave. Just as importantly, they're affordable - only $20 each which is a great price for O Gauge rolling stock. They arrived yesterday, and they're gorgeous. I'm happy with the cars and my parents are happy about getting me a birthday present. Next year though I'm going to lay down the law and tell them all I want is to spend the day together and eat some of mom's home cooking...

Related Pages:
Cheap Toy Train Layout
RMT Trains

Customer service - above and beyond.

One of my pet peeves is vendors who list an item online but don't really have it in stock. Sometimes it's a bait-and-switch, other times just an honest mistake, but it ALWAYS aggravates the heck out of me - especially when it's something I've been searching for a long time or it's being offered at a really great price. Usually the vendor issues a refund. If they're nice, sometimes the refund comes with an apologetic explanation. If they're trying to make sure I never do business with them again, the refund may not be issued until I 'remind" them. In any case, no harm no foul because I got my money back so the vendor is freed from the obligation to deliver the product.

When I ordered my BL-2, it was listed at a really great price - about half what most vendors were charging for it - as part of a blow out sale at Hobby Station. A couple days after placing my order I recieved an email stating it would be shipped the next day and that they'd send me a tracking number. Well, I didn't recieve a tracking number but I wasn't too worried about it, sometimes things fall through the cracks and based on the email I figured they had shipped it but forgot to notify me. Then about a week after the email saying they were shipping I got another email from them with the dreaded "Product Name" in the subject line. Now I knew what happened - they were out of stock, "gee, sorry for the inconvenience" and informing me of a refund. When I opened the email though I was surprised in a very good way...

Dear Ken,

I apologize for the delay on shipping your order. We actually ran out of the ones we had on special and I've been trying to get another one for you.

I will email your ups tracking on Wed or Thurs and I do hope you will come back to us again in the future.

Thank you for your business.

Instead of taking the easy way out and just giving me a refund, they took the time to find a locomotive for me - one that I really wanted - and were even willing to take a loss on it to fulfill the order. I believe them on the price - all the vendors showing this locomotive in stock are asking $165 or more. So to Hobby Station - a heartfelt Thank You and my hat's off to you for customer service above and beyond.

I hope to have some time to run it this weekend and write up a review of the BL-2.

Coming soon... my WBB BL-2 (and vendor) review...

It looks like I'll be getting my BL-2 after all:) Was having serious doubts, but I have a tracking number now and according to UPS it will be here "Monday, 06/03/2013, By End of Day." Based on previous experience with UPS it will probably arrive sooner:)

Was having my doubts about the vendor, I have a special animosity for those who advertise what they don't actually have in stock. I believe in this case though it was an honest mistake on the vendor's part and it looks like they've made it right. Can't ask for more than that:) More to follow, for now I'll just say they were willing to lose money on the transaction to fulfill the order.

Still waiting on the BL-2

I really hoped I'd have the BL-2 by now. Called the vendor yesterday, no phone answer so I left a message. Never had any luck with that style of customer "service" before so wasn't expecting much. Well, they responded via email and said it will be shipped today and they'll email me a tracking number this afternoon. We'll see:) I'm really looking forward to getting this. I think it'll be the last of my O Gauge locomotive purchases for awhile. I need to start building my freight car roster, and I'd really like to find O Gauge versions of the MDC 34' Overton passenger cars. And of course there's the SP Castro roundhouse kit from banta Modelworks that I "need"...

All Wound Up

It's really interesting to watch the different preferences and trends that come out in the different scales. For example, N Scalers seem to like to model big, modern equipment. This makes sense because N scale lets you fit more railroading into a given space than any other main stream scale. HO scalers seem to trend towards "prototypical operation." This also makes sense - HO equipment is big enough to operate well, small enough to fir quite a bit of railroading into a given space, and so much is available that you can easily model just about any era or type of railroad you want. O gaugers - as far as I can see so far - are collectors, operators (but 'operation' has a different meaning in O gauge than it does in HO scale), and the "gotta-have-its." When you look at the history of O Gauge along with what's available now, that makes sense too.

Something that cracks me up is the way certain factions get wound up about certain things. In HO scale, there is a vocal faction that claims you don't have a real model railroad unless you're practicing "prototypical operations" (as defined by them). They especially hate 4x8 layouts, because "real trains don't chase their caboose around an oval." S Scale has a very vocal faction that can't stand American Flyer and seems to think the world would be a better place if AF had never existed - or at least if AF fans would shut up and stay hidden.

What really cracks me up though is seeing O Gaugers getting all bent out of shape about something not being prototypical. I'm not talking about the Proto:48 guys, the "2 Rail Scale" guys, or even the "3 Rail Scale" crowd. I'm talking about those who like to run O27, Hi-Rail, and Classic O Gauge trains. In other words, trains that are TOYS by definition. So... they're running on track that is too wide for scale, with a 3rd rail (VERY prototypical...), and curves that are the equivalent of 13-1/2" to 18" radius in HO scale(!). The cars and locomotives have wheel flanges you could use to cut pizza and couplers that resemble lobster claws (over-size claws at that). The cars overhang on curves like you wouldn't believe, in many cases they're not correctly proportioned for scale (or may not even be 1/48 scale like they're supposed to be), and these guys get their shorts in a wad over things like incorrect reporting marks or windows that don't fit flush.

If all they did was complain it would just be funny. If they asked the manufacturers to correct the "problem" it would be ammusing. But those aren't could enough for this group. No, everyone else MUST AGREE WITH THEM that whatever they're having an issue with IS INDEED A PROBLEM and if you don't agree, you're either a "blind loyalist," you spent too much money on whatever is in question and you're "trying to justify it," or worst of all you're somehow trying to "take financial advantage" of "someone." In other words, if you don't agree with them, you're stupid, evil, or both. There was a recent thread on Lionel 18" aluminum passenger cars on O Gauge Forums and it got so bad the moderators had to delete it. I didn't have a dog in this fight so it was fun to watch... but it still bothers me that people engaged in a fricken HOBBY think that everyone else has to like the hobby the same way they do...

Related links:
S Scale Rant
O Gauge Forums

The Ugly Duckling

OK, I couldn't resist... To me, the BL-2 is just about the ugliest diesel locomotive ever made. For some reason though I have a strange fascination with it. I never thought I'd actually buy one, but just about every toy train dealer on the Internet is having a blowout sale on Williams by Bachmann locomotives, and Hobby Station has had the BL-2 for only $89.00 + shipping. At that price I couldn't resist... even though I have no use for a BL-2, none ever ran on the roads I like (Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific), and it's fugly. I bought mine in the GM Demo paint scheme which at least isn't as ugly as some of the RR paint jobs. If Hobby Station runs out, Pat's Trains has them for $99.95 plus shipping - still a good price.

(Update: the day after I ordered mine, the listed price for the demo paint went to $164 at Hobby Station and Pat's Trains now shows it as Out Of Stock)

Related Links:
Hobby Station
Pat's Trains

$100 O Gauge Layout???

Cruising the O Gauge forums lately, two things really stand out. First, Lionel seems to be going for the high-end buyers (i.e. the stuff in their new catalog is really expensive) and second, lots of people are working less hours or have lost their jobs and can't afford expensive trains. It's kind of a dosconnect for me and it got me thinking about how much I spend on trains (way too much). How much money do you need to spend on toy trains to have fun with the hobby (i.e. a nice layout with a couple of nice trains)?

I don't think I can build an entire layout for $100, but if I spend $100 a month I can probably have a pretty nice layout in a year or so, and have just as much fun with the cheap trains as I've been having with more expensives ones. So in the spirit of that, last month I bought a K-Line steam freight set in nice condition. I got it for $77.33 (there were 15 bids at end of auction) plus $15 shipping, so the total was $92.33, comfortably under $100. I didn't spend any money this month, so I'm banking this month's budget for June when I'll need to spend about $200 on track.