# Time on my hands so got question



## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

Good sunday morning to all: Do Ihear groans inthe audience Grandson not around this week end so ya'll get to entertain ole paw:laugh: Question: which locos i you were buying from flea markets garage sales ect, do you recommend in the dc class that will be easily converted to dcc possibly have room for sound on board also?? Springis coming, and down in texas they have big.big, flea markets and going to make a few of these ya know. I am not into the steam locos,just the diesel elctrics. In thepast i have seen a few of these go for 5 or 10 bucks in running condition. last yr saw 3 or 4 guy said were athern locos all working, for 7.50. dont know my brands and dont know if was good deal?? so what sayyou all?? i'm all ears for the knowledge:thumbsup:


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

What scale are you thinking of? Kato and Atlas would top my list for HO and N scale within the "mid range" modern engines (built recently. I also have a bunch of older Rivarossi steam engines I realy like. Athearn makes good engines. Bachmann Spectrum series. Life Like are cheap for a reason, but some run quite well. I guess it all depends on the amount of detail and all your looking for. In my opinion, for smooth operating, it's hard to beat Kato and Atlas without moving up to say an MTH or Broadway Limited, although Broadway limited has a cheaper "blue box" version I believe.


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Hi John: I am ho only, the 3 locos i have are all bachmann. one is a 3500 -dc the others are dcc came in a basic digital commander e-z command set. these locos to me seem a lot smaller in physical size to the dc one which is 2 yrs old now, is that possible?? I am unfortunately not well versed yet on locos so forgive me for sounding stupid. :laugh:If we are talking honda gold wing bikes or computers i can get down with it:laugh: just wait till I grow up here I appreciate your response and any advice you or any other member offer,i know it will likely save me from making many mistakes as others who have gone before me have great wisdom:thumbsup:


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Gandy dancer,

I am not familiar with the 3500 series locos, but a quick google search would indicate it should be larger than the ones that came with the EZ Commander set. I have the HO EZ Commander set and it came with a SantaFe FT A and GP 40 I believe.


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Hey John: I am just going by the numbers on side of loco, sorry about my ignorance, I have looked all over and cant find any other I D, I lost the darn paper work to it also some onesaid and dont hold me tothis it might be a gp-40 or gp-35?? what ever that means. gosh wish could remeber what set it came from, bought 2 x-mases ago at hobby lobby had a little steam loco with tender in set also, steam loco took a dive off table and bent one of the driver rods to the wheels havent sent it in for repairs as not really into steam. this loc is yellow and blue has santa fe on it, is pretty heavy little unit.i call it a freight loco as what is see in real life around here used by farm rail!! I guees I need to find a book showing locos so I can identify them


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

My blue and yellow Santa Fe engine is numbered (engine #) 3507. Three fans on the rear section of the roof, one fan near the center.


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

Hey john I think I found it> Gp 40 looks like it??


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

I have similar, 3 fans on rear, 4 th toward cab,and square looking hatch right on top of cab. aint this a hoot, I own 3 trains and dont know what the heck they are. Probably coundnt get a job on a real railroad, all icould tell them they are big and pretty and i like them


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

GP 40 should be it. My FT A is silver and red "warbonnet" paint, engine #is blank. FT A is slightly smaller than GP 40, two fans on rear roof, two fans on front roof.


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Perhaps you could post pics? How many axles does each have?


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on hands*

Hey john: The 3500 has 4 axles up front and 4 to the rear. the digital commander set says one is a gp-40 and one is an fta?? they both are 4 front and rear. one loco is is santa fe red and silver it has the rounded nose, what i call a passenger loco from my child hood the ones that came through my home town in texas. the other is a santa fe freighter done in the yellow and blue. and i did take a ruler and for some reason they are both considerably smaller than the dc loco??? I would send pics, but at the moment maws camera on charge, we have 3 grnds and she uses it a lot, so it had to go down for a charge. I havent set up the digital commander yet as in process of moving trains from one room to another, have the dc set up for grnd son, he spend hrs watching it. itis is first train, and no body but he and I can touch it!! he will let his maw reconnect the cars if one comes unhooked, but she is not allowed to touch the controller, his story is girls are not allowed to run trains He is still learning too


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

4 axles fore and aft????? Sounds like the GP 40/FT A set I have, 2 axles (4 wheelsplaster ) fore and aft. You'll have to post a pic of the DC loco. Some locos are much larger as in 6the axle (3 fore and aft). How old is your wise old engineer?


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on hands*

Hey John: all of them have 4 wheels up front and 4 in back?? My chief engineer and operating partner will soon be 4 yrs old. The wife and I have basically raised him while mom was in school and dad is in air force and over seas a lot. As usual in his age bracket he has laid claim to a lot of stuff My pick up his his the train is his ect, he is a comedian and just doesnt know it yet I am medically retired vision problems so he is my eyes, and some times my hearing too, and makes wife laugh when he says he will have to check with paw first when she tells him something Hey between him and the trains and the board here and all its fine folks,it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble, my wife says thats a good thing, she says at my age i could be dangerous


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Gandy dancer,

Staying out of trouble with the mrs. is always a good thing! Thanks to your son for his service. Almost 4 is a good age to start out right. My grandson just turned 5 last month, unfortunately he's 1500 miles away.


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Hey John: Sorry to hear your sidekick 1500 miles away. Actually my son in law in air force, cant bad mouth him too much,as i was inair force too. They do things different now days though, guess sign of the times of course i wouldn't admit to maybe getting old, and not keeping up with modern ways of the younger generation Any way i got into model rail because of the grnd son, started out with the one dc set, just to entertain him figured new wear off pretty quick. Yep sure thing there bubba:laugh: its getting worse on both our parts, he watches videos with me of the really elaborate sets with all the gizmos and pc control and sound, we have to stop doing that, its addictive really bad when you get a champagne taste on a soda pop pocket book:laugh: but hey its fun, and it has actually help me meet new folks here and broaden my horizons now ifi can do something about my broadening middle:laugh:


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Gandy dancer,

Fortunately for me, my significant other realy likes my locos with sound!  I know what you mean about the "doing things diferently" generation. Navy man myself, going on 36 1/2 yrs with the DOD. Seen LOTS of changes, not many for the good in my opinion, but hey, that's life in general.


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## [email protected] (Jan 30, 2012)

I was born in the USAF (Vance AFB, Enid OK). We lived at Skulthorpe RAFB, Whiteman AFB, Anderson AFB, just to name a few.

I joined the submarine service (but I wasn't very silent).

I don't run DCC yet. I am taking baby steps. I have made a couple of good analog scores this year. Any working engine for $5 is OK by me.


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Good Morning John:Hope you have the dayoff for holiday. The wife and I were talking, she works for DOD (AFEES) division and she tells me what all the troops are doing, she is currently at the air base in altus, ok but will be transfering to bigger base, Fort Sill (army)at lawton,ok this week. so new experience for her. My son in law tells me, He has a civilian boss over him Was unheard of in my day I have noticed a lot of civilian contractors being put in charge of our troops in various aspects,My personal opinion not a good thing!! All of our troops are well trained men and women, we couldnt do without them,but throwing civilians in the mix and giving them positions of authority over our troops, thats just wrong you know!! I am too old to re-up now, but if could,dont know that I would,couldnt handle their so called progresive thinking Hope you and the Mrs had a good weekend, and good week this week, I think I'll just hang out on theforum,and play with my trains


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*Time on my hands*

Good morning Tdeuwaite my neighbor to the north: See youre an OKIE I am married to one, :laugh:I am originally a texan by birth, got here and cant find my way back south, river has been up:laugh: I spent time in kansas many many moons ago at Elkheart, was connected with law enforcement there worked 3 states kansas, colorado, oklahoma. back in the days when the FREE MEN were rattling their sabers and threatening a lot of the judges I got into this hobby since retiring basically because of my grandson,didnt think it would go far,but stuff happens ya know I am slowly but surely branching out in to the DCC world, soi am right ther with ya!! Currently all my locos have 4, are bachmann, but starting to look at those flea market specials and trying to learn which ones are best to (cheaply) convert to DCC:laugh: we will see where it goes:thumbsup: We are currently under construction here, tracks are on 5/8 inch mdf, but trying to put hands on the extruded foam board want at least 4 inches worth, and am being told by the big box stores cant have it here in OKLAHOMA:laugh: any way youre on the best forum there is and will meet some of the best folks here:thumbsup:


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## [email protected] (Jan 30, 2012)

Hello Gandy! We've got people your way, in Burleson. I worked in OKC the year before the tragedy, lost a friend/co-worker. I tell people that I am from Missouri because we lived in Liberty when I was kid (where the James Gang did their first bankjob). From there we moved to Guam (Isla de Ladrones [Island of Thieves] Magellan said). My wife is the Kansan. She's hard as nails on the outside and pink/fuzzy on the inside. I am so glad that I fould this forum and its people. 

Richard


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Hey Richard: It could be worse, you could have been born in Arkansas:laugh: Better get my flame suit on People tell me us texans talk funny, have family moved to california yrs ago, they talk funny:laugh: I have a buddy in tuscon arizona, born in oklahoma, but claims texas as was raised there, wont dare tell any body he is okie Of coures i remind him every so often:laugh:
I printed him up a certificate making him an honorary texan, he proudly displays it over his computer desk at home:laugh: with me where ever i hang my stetson,is home:thumbsup: It is sad I have been back home several times ,ranch community, has dried up most of my chums have died off,ones that are left are in worse shape than I am lot of truth in saying "You cant ever go home"


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## [email protected] (Jan 30, 2012)

The only dudes at the train show were PawPaw and Junior, being chased around by various mothers of all ages...(the only ones I care to talk to these days). I like getting old. I feel like I'm on my farewell tour...


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## gandy dancer#1 (Jan 21, 2012)

*time on my hands*

Good Morning T.D.:Enjoyed the photos very much gather that youre paw paw?? I can relate to being on farewell tour, kinda like ole ray price, merle haggard and willie, they did a tour a couple of yrs called the "legends" ole ray price was basically doing a farewell tour in that. I just dont seem to draw the crowds and money like they do:laugh: Hope your tour doing better


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