All aboard the Dragon Express!

by Guest 2009-01-20, 11:04 am

Dragon Express.... what could that mean? Well guys, I couldn't even tell you, but I'll help you figure it out. Not sure if any of you know by now, but I do have a hobby besides being infatuated over dragons. :icon_wink:

Now before you read, be warned... there's a bit of reading, and some pictures.

That hobby, is actually... model train sets.

Now before you get thoughts of "Omg lol baby dragonz plays with a choo-choo..." this is something different. Model train sets have value, and take a lot of time and patience to set-up. And a lot of money too.

To start off, along with having to plan and design your layout, that being a time-consumer, you have to build the buildings as well. What, you thought those little boxes that said "House for "HO" scale train" were assembled? No. You need to put all the pieces together with model glue, and to make it more retarded... a lot of them you got to paint too.

You'll get some sets that are pre-assembled, but a good deal of them in hobby shops aren't.

But that's also a good thing, you can paint it whatever color you want, and even use some extras you got to "customize" your set even more. There's a specific term for that, but I forgot what it is.

Anyways, if you don't know there isn't one train set size for all. Each set has to have it's specific scale items.

The most work-able with, and probably realistic is the HO scale, but there is an N scale, O scale, G scale, etc.

N scale is the smallest, and I believe G scale is the largest, and O scale is after that. I think there is one more scale too, but I won't get into that.

Ok enough of scale talk, this isn't even relating to my own set is it?

Ok, my own set is an HO scale train set. I got three types of track.

The old-fashioned ones you see in displays, which are very, very, annoying to put together, and are the most prone to being broken or "Joint-breaks". They're the closest to looking real, but to link them up you need to use metal joints which slide the track together. The joints have to be bent so the track stays in place and doesn't slide off, or isn't too tight. Why? Because a tight joint will kill the circuit (The track itself is the circuit wiring! :icon_wink: ) and pretty much make it impossible to come apart, and a loose one will break-apart when the engine flies over it.

That's 1 of mine, the other two are fairly simple tracks and great for beginners. I got E-Z track and Power-Loc. They're the snap and go kind, major time-saving, but also majorly unrealistic. Power-loc is even easier than E-Z track.

The layout I have to show you, is in the old-fashioned type of track. All of my layouts are temporary, so they don't take more than 4 hours to set-up, but the big ones that are to stay permanant.... take a while....

These are some pics of my layout, sorry for bad quality:

All aboard the Dragon Express! Pictur10

So ya, I do have more as in train cars and I have a ton more track. I got a coal mine and a grass mat but they both make a mess so I didn't bother with it.

The buildings I don't have much more on though. I have more shrubs and a few more trees and some more streets and sidewalks, and a bunch more people and some more cars.

The people are unfinished and unpainted.

My model train hobby is not as strong as my liking of dragons, but it's up there pretty far.

I've started this hobby relatively close to when i started liking dragons, but unlike dragons, it didn't take me a year to start trying to find things for it.

Now you can stop reading here, or you can stay for a little bit about how my model train hobby has been so far. Unlike my dragon obsession, my model train set has a story backing it up.

My model train set hobby started off as a bit of lucky-ness really. I've liked trains a lot longer than dragons but I never really thought of owning a train set.

It started off as actually, seeing a water-slide in a store one day. I told my mom I wanted it, but she said I needed to save my own money, which is what I do for a lot of my room. (Yeah, ALL my dragons are bought by me and a big deal of my video games and things are bought by me. A good deal of my model train set has been bought by me too)

Anyways... I did, I saved up about $30 for it, in a week. Well there was this church thrift store we went to almost every saturday, and they liked us a lot. She said, we'll go get the water slide if you can behave here. Well, one of the people who ran the thrift store was apparently selling his small set he had. An oval set with an engine and 3 cars and a coal mine kit which came with a couple cars and stuff for a coal mine. I saw them and I wanted it, but I realized I was $10 short. I asked about it and they said I could have it for $30. My mom asked if I was sure and I said yeah. So instead of a water-slide... I got something I'm glad I did.... it has value and meaning.

It was a used set, but it was in great-working condition. I had fun, but after a while... a circle got boring after a while.

So eBay came in, and I bought straight tracks and more curves. My grandfather took me to the hobby shop as well and he bought me a cattle car for the set.

Now my set was expanding, but I wasn't quite done. I kept saving up, and I bought my second set, which was the E-Z track set. It was different, and I couldn't put my cars I had from before on the set, but I still enjoyed it. It came with some people, a small station, and a signal bridge.

Well I still kept saving up, and it was Christmas time. I got a new set (The power-loc) from my parents for Christmas, as well as other great gifts. This had my first trees, and shrubs, as well asa cattle ranch and of-course, new cars and a new engine. These actually worked with my original set, so I was enthralled by it.

I had a bit saved up, about $110 by then... and I went to the hobby shop with that money... and I had some fun. I bought 2 building kits, a decoration kit which included more trees and shrubs, telephone poles, cars, tractors, and 2 more buildings. Then i bought an oil tanker set, which included 2 oil tank decorations, and 2 tanker cars. Last thing I bought was a water tower, which i you hook up to the power pack on your set, lights up and flashes on the top. I bought 2 things of paint, a tube of model glues, and a good quality brush.

I was done... no money left, but I was happy. My parents thought I bought a little too much but they were happy I just didn't buy video games again.

I had fun with that for a while, but I still needed a little more. My mom had given me 2 train cars she found and I added those to my set.

After an even longer while, I bought another oval track set with a new engine and more cars.

It neared Christmas again, and I got a special edition "Saturday evening post" train set which is shown as the running engine in my layout. It came with a grass mat, a church and a building I already had, some shack things, and more shrubs. Now this was kind of a little strange boy.

It's a Pennsylvania coal engine, and I had 3 Santa Fe diesel engines and a Santa Fe coal engine. A bit strange no? I was still happy.

For a while this was the last thing I got, but I wound up getting more. We had moved, and I found a new hobby shop in Titusville, which was even better than the one by us in Orlando. I found me a new friend behind the counter :icon_wink: and I had some money on me at the time, we were at a craft show my mom wanted to see.

I bought a bridge and tier set for my layout, a road and sidewalk set, and a special car. Why is it special... it's just a train car. Well it was one I was looking for, forever. An auto-transporter, a car that's kind of hard-to find. It came with the cars to transport around and everything.

I was happy, again. But a little later on I bought a small swimming pool set from the same place.

I had a pretty big set by now, and for a year I haven't done much to it.

I got a couple houses from my grandparents this Christmas, which I added to my set pretty quickly.

Now I got a set like I show in the pictures.

But yup, that's my model train story. Hope you enjoyed, and now you know I have a hobby that's secondary to my dragon obsession.