Florida has the best thrift stores. If we had lived there much longer, I'd have needed a whole other house to store the stuff in. I wasn't a happy camper when I had to pack it all up and put it on the moving truck.
All great places to find things. Have to be careful at flea markets. Some of them think everything model trains is gold. Found train stuff that was way over priced.
Tom, at 1:11 is that The Villages train show? Last Christmas we had 8,000 visitors over the 4 day show. This is a free show for "The Villagers and friends" Then we have Vendor shows February and August that are well attended and fully booked with vendors almost when the last show finishes. We apparently give great service to the vendors with set-up and take-downs.. Best wishes.
That's too bad Mitch. Haven't seen that here yet. The wood there was always too much, I got mine from Hobby Lobby. I get mostly art supplies there, paint brushes, paint, etc.
For me, it is very hard to beat the train shows (very hard). I live in area where the are 2 hobby shops. One multi which is 40% bigger than a 7-11 and one true train shop which is 1/4 the size of a 7-11. Now the small one does has used, but not a big selection. Now there are some good size ones somewhat nearby, but they are the same drive time as great Midwest train show (way too much good stuff) And there are some bi-yearly sales allot closer too. Now as far as online, i have scored a few neat deals though FB market place and LetGo. I also got a few at garage sales. Now as far as thrift stores hardly any train stuff, but there is some antique malls around that have a little. But it just not as good as those train shows where I can sometimes wind up with 4 banker boxes of stuff. PS, I lost taste in eBay (evilbay i call it)
I try to stay away from ebay. It's been nearly 10 years since I last purchased anything there. There are some train shows throughout south Florida organized by Regal Rails in smaller towns but the selection is limited. There is only one vendor there that is also at the larger train shows. Most of the others are locals trying to sell off their collections. We have a hobby shop here in Naples but they concentrate on RC boats and airplanes, now drones. Prices are way too high on the limited supply or MRR. I only go there when I'm out of modeling supplies.
I got blessed with all my HO train still when a lady's husband pass away was only 38 when cancer stole his life. He never got a chance to put his railroad together. Now I've had it for about 10 years and my wife finely said that I can put a small layout together for the grandkids to enjoy when they come over... My wife wasn't a very happy camper when the lady gave me everything. To her it's just stuff, to me it's something I always dreamed of having. So now in my golden years that little kid in me can be a kid... LOL
I'm so thankful that Debbie goes every where with me and supports my hobby. All I have to do is go to thrift stores and yard sales with her. I enjoy that just as much as she does. When we're out at train shows, she's taking more videos than I am.
No for something totally different... I have a Bachman Climax loco with DCC. I tested it on a DC track while I bulit section one of my layout. Today I put the loco on to test the track etc etc and all it will do is try to more forward and stops. I have control of my headlight so I do have com. I have a NCE starter DCC set and went into the programming section to find my decoder 046 value. Would you or your army for follower know if I need to reset factory defaults or some other voodoo to fix my loco? Thanks :-)
Not sure what your trying to find on CV 046. That is normally for remapping function 12. Have you tried to set the address to something other than 03? Do you get any error messages on your throttle when You try to program your decoder? You can reset to factory default, program your running number and see if you get any error messages. Do you have a section of track where you know the loco will work on DCC?
@@TomsTrainsandThings Tom Bachman decoder code 046 not CV. I hear there is a factory reset such as CV8 reset enter 8 as per nmra but can't find value for Bachman factory reset
CV 8 set to 8 will reset most decoders. You should have something similar to or a condensed version of this guide: www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/SPECTRUMSTEAMSOUNDUSERSGUIDE(TsunamiSoundDecoder).pdf
Hello I live in lakeland I'm having a hard time finding train shows in our area I'm willing to travel a few hours but am wondering what if any annual shows or anything like that would you suggest for me to go too?
Every Monday night I do a Live Stream at 8 PM, announcing train shows in Florida and around the country from chat input. Link to my last show: ua-cam.com/users/liveK0vqowW80ds?feature=share
I hope not. The last time I was there a few weeks ago they seemed to have more train sets than normal. If they ever do eliminate the train stuff, I hope I'm there when they do it. I'll find some good buys.
Went to Hobby Lobby in Naples yesterday and the one in Ft Myers today. Both stores had the HO train sets discounted $199 >$139. The N scale sets were not discounted.
Tom, I need some advice. I just received a brochure from Hawthorne Village offering a Budweiser Christmas train. It’s HO scale and DC. I have a DCC system. Do you know if this train can be converted to DCC? It comes with EZ track, but I don’t know who makes the train. Any advice would be appreciated.
Edwin, I don't know anything about Hawthorne Village and what they offer so I could't give you a good answer on that. What I will tell you is I don't buy anything from catalogs that are distributed around Christmas with Model Railroad products. If you search hard enough online, you may find the same item for a better price from a reputable dealer. I stress reputable!
Omg ,You don't appreciate that I do not model Boston & Maine. Get over yourself. People have their preferences for railroads I did not say one bad thing about it,, other than I can put decals on it to change the road name. Good grief!
harbour freight has small screwdrivers ,tools and stick on wheel weights in 1/2 oz and 1 oz cheap
That's a good place along with Northern Supply
Florida has the best thrift stores. If we had lived there much longer, I'd have needed a whole other house to store the stuff in. I wasn't a happy camper when I had to pack it all up and put it on the moving truck.
I totally agree! I down sized when I moved to Florida, until we started shopping at the thrift stores.
All great places to find things. Have to be careful at flea markets. Some of them think everything model trains is gold. Found train stuff that was way over priced.
I'm very cautious at flea markets
Tom, at 1:11 is that The Villages train show? Last Christmas we had 8,000 visitors over the 4 day show. This is a free show for "The Villagers and friends" Then we have Vendor shows February and August that are well attended and fully booked with vendors almost when the last show finishes. We apparently give great service to the vendors with set-up and take-downs..
Best wishes.
Hans, yes that's from the Villages. We missed the one this August since we were in Maryland at the time. Plan on coming up for future shows.
The picture you showed with the little boy with engineers hat on with steam engine in back ground. Have found mine at a church rummage sale.
That seems to be a pretty popular picture. I noticed DJ's Trains also has one. I got mine from a store that cleans out houses after an estate sale.
Good morning Tom: Great tips. Thanks so much!! - Dean from Minnesota
Thanks Dean, appreciate your comment and view!
I'm in Tampa bay area. This video is extremely helpful for me.
Glad I could help. If you ever see me at the Tampa train show or Largo train show say Hi!
Hi Tom our Micheal's cleared out all of model stuff the cars, plains , wood,all of it. they got rid of it all.
That's too bad Mitch. Haven't seen that here yet. The wood there was always too much, I got mine from Hobby Lobby. I get mostly art supplies there, paint brushes, paint, etc.
For me, it is very hard to beat the train shows (very hard). I live in area where the are 2 hobby shops. One multi which is 40% bigger than a 7-11 and one true train shop which is 1/4 the size of a 7-11. Now the small one does has used, but not a big selection. Now there are some good size ones somewhat nearby, but they are the same drive time as great Midwest train show (way too much good stuff) And there are some bi-yearly sales allot closer too. Now as far as online, i have scored a few neat deals though FB market place and LetGo. I also got a few at garage sales. Now as far as thrift stores hardly any train stuff, but there is some antique malls around that have a little.
But it just not as good as those train shows where I can sometimes wind up with 4 banker boxes of stuff.
PS, I lost taste in eBay (evilbay i call it)
I try to stay away from ebay. It's been nearly 10 years since I last purchased anything there. There are some train shows throughout south Florida organized by Regal Rails in smaller towns but the selection is limited. There is only one vendor there that is also at the larger train shows. Most of the others are locals trying to sell off their collections. We have a hobby shop here in Naples but they concentrate on RC boats and airplanes, now drones. Prices are way too high on the limited supply or MRR. I only go there when I'm out of modeling supplies.
Great tips Tom! Where do you put all of your finds?? -Mark
Thanks Mark. I'll have to do a video about "What's under the layout and cluttering my spare bedroom!"
Great information, we are in the same boat our here in AZ, not much for model railroading.
Thanks Joe. One good thing about where we live, NO SNOW!
I got blessed with all my HO train still when a lady's husband pass away was only 38 when cancer stole his life. He never got a chance to put his railroad together. Now I've had it for about 10 years and my wife finely said that I can put a small layout together for the grandkids to enjoy when they come over... My wife wasn't a very happy camper when the lady gave me everything. To her it's just stuff, to me it's something I always dreamed of having. So now in my golden years that little kid in me can be a kid... LOL
I'm so thankful that Debbie goes every where with me and supports my hobby. All I have to do is go to thrift stores and yard sales with her. I enjoy that just as much as she does. When we're out at train shows, she's taking more videos than I am.
thank you
Your welcome Jeff
No for something totally different... I have a Bachman Climax loco with DCC. I tested it on a DC track while I bulit section one of my layout. Today I put the loco on to test the track etc etc and all it will do is try to more forward and stops. I have control of my headlight so I do have com. I have a NCE starter DCC set and went into the programming section to find my decoder 046 value. Would you or your army for follower know if I need to reset factory defaults or some other voodoo to fix my loco? Thanks :-)
Not sure what your trying to find on CV 046. That is normally for remapping function 12. Have you tried to set the address to something other than 03? Do you get any error messages on your throttle when You try to program your decoder? You can reset to factory default, program your running number and see if you get any error messages. Do you have a section of track where you know the loco will work on DCC?
@@TomsTrainsandThings
Tom Bachman decoder code 046 not CV. I hear there is a factory reset such as CV8 reset enter 8 as per nmra but can't find value for Bachman factory reset
CV 8 set to 8 will reset most decoders.
You should have something similar to or a condensed version of this guide: www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/SPECTRUMSTEAMSOUNDUSERSGUIDE(TsunamiSoundDecoder).pdf
@@TomsTrainsandThings
THANK YOU!!!!! You Rock Tom! I really appreciate your help.👍
Tom's a bargain hunter
You taught me well!
Hello I live in lakeland I'm having a hard time finding train shows in our area I'm willing to travel a few hours but am wondering what if any annual shows or anything like that would you suggest for me to go too?
Every Monday night I do a Live Stream at 8 PM, announcing train shows in Florida and around the country from chat input.
Link to my last show: ua-cam.com/users/liveK0vqowW80ds?feature=share
@@TomsTrainsandThings thank you so much your amazing
FYI, rumor mill has hobby lobby dropping the train stuff
I hope not. The last time I was there a few weeks ago they seemed to have more train sets than normal. If they ever do eliminate the train stuff, I hope I'm there when they do it. I'll find some good buys.
check current prices of the train sets (rumor is from someone talking to manager, and supposedly you can't use their discount coupon on them)
Thanks for the info. We're going to Hobby Lobby today for some other items. I'll check out the prices.
Went to Hobby Lobby in Naples yesterday and the one in Ft Myers today. Both stores had the HO train sets discounted $199 >$139. The N scale sets were not discounted.
could have also checked website also, it usually reflects what price is in store
Tom, I need some advice. I just received a brochure from Hawthorne Village offering a Budweiser Christmas train. It’s HO scale and DC. I have a DCC system. Do you know if this train can be converted to DCC? It comes with EZ track, but I don’t know who makes the train. Any advice would be appreciated.
Edwin, I don't know anything about Hawthorne Village and what they offer so I could't give you a good answer on that. What I will tell you is I don't buy anything from catalogs that are distributed around Christmas with Model Railroad products. If you search hard enough online, you may find the same item for a better price from a reputable dealer. I stress reputable!
Being from Augusta;, Maine, I did not appreciate your comment about Boston and Maine
Omg ,You don't appreciate that I do not model Boston & Maine. Get over yourself. People have their preferences for railroads
I did not say one bad thing about it,, other than I can put decals on it to change the road name. Good grief!