Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
My husband says he thinks I'm more into the trains than the boys
My husband accuses me of being more into the trains than the boys. Maybe he's right. Being any type of artist or creative person, having a child, the ultimate act of creation, surprising stunts your ability to create anything else! I'm a singer and a writer, and having all this pent up creativity has opened other interests I wouldn't have pursued. One is photography. After taking a bazillion photos of my son, and a lifetime of having taken travel photos, I decided to go whole hog and get a decent SLR. And having such willing and captive subjects, I went from 0-60 in about 4 months. Pictures that people complimented originally, make me cringe now! I eventually went pro, and now when I'm not mommying or singing, I'm taking portraits.
But I can't have a camera every second, and the 3 year old will no longer even look in my direction if he sees one, so my next creative endeavor became train tracks. My dad had said something once about mechanical engineering as a possible career for me (more based on HIS strengths and the money aspect), but it took me until now to figure out that perhaps he was onto something. Building things and having to figure out the mysteries of angles and how things to fit together is great. But somehow, I think I enjoy Thomas the Train more than I would've enjoyed a career in mechanical engineering!
Leave comments below on how and why you got into wooden trains. I'd love to hear other stories.
But I can't have a camera every second, and the 3 year old will no longer even look in my direction if he sees one, so my next creative endeavor became train tracks. My dad had said something once about mechanical engineering as a possible career for me (more based on HIS strengths and the money aspect), but it took me until now to figure out that perhaps he was onto something. Building things and having to figure out the mysteries of angles and how things to fit together is great. But somehow, I think I enjoy Thomas the Train more than I would've enjoyed a career in mechanical engineering!
Leave comments below on how and why you got into wooden trains. I'd love to hear other stories.
Cool DIY Link about making your own train playboard
Found a cute blog while researching how to make a train playboard yourself. I doubt I'd do it, since I like the rugs that I've found, but the blog looks interesting.
http://idmommy.blogspot.com/2010/09/id-mommy-projects-make-your-own-train.html
http://idmommy.blogspot.com/2010/09/id-mommy-projects-make-your-own-train.html
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Before you try nails of glue, try Suretrack Clips to hold your track together.
When I first considered a train set for my son, the thought of having to put the tracks back together again every twenty seconds was daunting. I noticed that most of the toy store train sets were glued together or nailed down. I considered doing that. Luckily I didn't. Firstly, your resale value goes out the window. Genuine Thomas tracks keep a very high percent of their purchase price, and even generic still resells easily. But if it's glued down, it's even hard to unload on Craigslist.
Secondly, when your child is very young, say under 2 1/2, a stationary set is great. But when they get older, closer to 3 1/2, they'll want to build their own sets over and over again. So before you glue, before you nail, consider SureTrack.
For building spiral layouts, for building elevated layouts, or building anything with a younger sibling, the Suretrack clips are a Godsend. They aren't a 100% panacea, but they really help. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I call the one year old lots of nicknames, among which Mayhem and The Deconstructionist are my favorites. He loves to destroy whatever we build. These clips keep things together. He can still rip the tracks apart, but it slows him down substantially. What he used to be able to trash in 5 minutes, now would take him a lot longer. And even then he can only destroy one section at a time.
The only downside is that they are slightly homely. But for those of us who really need them, the tradeoff is welcome. They fit best on generic track, like Imaginarium or Orbrium, etc. Genuine Learning Curve Thomas tracks are slightly wider and thus a little harder to et the clips on. I've heard that these clips can stretch and become looser over time. I have a feeling that those complaining of this were using Thomas tracks. I usually start securing the generic pieces first and then do the real Thomas track last. We bought two packs and that would be plenty for most people, but I think we need one more set if we'd want to secure every single piece in some of our larger layouts.
Secondly, when your child is very young, say under 2 1/2, a stationary set is great. But when they get older, closer to 3 1/2, they'll want to build their own sets over and over again. So before you glue, before you nail, consider SureTrack.
For building spiral layouts, for building elevated layouts, or building anything with a younger sibling, the Suretrack clips are a Godsend. They aren't a 100% panacea, but they really help. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I call the one year old lots of nicknames, among which Mayhem and The Deconstructionist are my favorites. He loves to destroy whatever we build. These clips keep things together. He can still rip the tracks apart, but it slows him down substantially. What he used to be able to trash in 5 minutes, now would take him a lot longer. And even then he can only destroy one section at a time.
The only downside is that they are slightly homely. But for those of us who really need them, the tradeoff is welcome. They fit best on generic track, like Imaginarium or Orbrium, etc. Genuine Learning Curve Thomas tracks are slightly wider and thus a little harder to et the clips on. I've heard that these clips can stretch and become looser over time. I have a feeling that those complaining of this were using Thomas tracks. I usually start securing the generic pieces first and then do the real Thomas track last. We bought two packs and that would be plenty for most people, but I think we need one more set if we'd want to secure every single piece in some of our larger layouts.
Beginners Tip: How to avoid mismatched ends
Sometimes it's inevitable. You build and build and get to the last needed piece and it's two female pieces or two male pieces and you have to get an adapter to convert one of the sides.
But I've finally figured out (duh) that if you start building something from two different ends, say try to build a rounded square and you start the left side and the right side independently, and then try to just bridge the top and bottom of the square together at the last moment, you are guaranteed to get two matching ends which you don't want (I guess you could call them mismatched, as well, right?).
I've done it before, and it's worth it just to undo the second side (after, you've now got them equal lengths and have all the right pieces out, so all isn't lost) and flip the pieces to continue what you're doing from side one and voila, all of a sudden the exact same pieces now end in the correct male/female scenario.
Another common thing that causes mismatched ends is the mountain tunnel bridge that has male ends on both sides of the overpass. One side is going to need an adapter and the other side will be fine. You just need to sequence it so that you don't need an adapter on a curve, although I have found curved adapters....but that's another post!
But I've finally figured out (duh) that if you start building something from two different ends, say try to build a rounded square and you start the left side and the right side independently, and then try to just bridge the top and bottom of the square together at the last moment, you are guaranteed to get two matching ends which you don't want (I guess you could call them mismatched, as well, right?).
I've done it before, and it's worth it just to undo the second side (after, you've now got them equal lengths and have all the right pieces out, so all isn't lost) and flip the pieces to continue what you're doing from side one and voila, all of a sudden the exact same pieces now end in the correct male/female scenario.
Another common thing that causes mismatched ends is the mountain tunnel bridge that has male ends on both sides of the overpass. One side is going to need an adapter and the other side will be fine. You just need to sequence it so that you don't need an adapter on a curve, although I have found curved adapters....but that's another post!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Our first foray into mix and match - Craigslist lady #1
Sometime during the first week, we got braver and wanted more options, realizing what pieces were missing and why they'd be nice. We had no risers or anything, so I looked on Craigslist, and some lady was selling pieces ala carte at quite reasonable prices. I went with a budget of $40 and left having spent $60. That said, the resale prices on just one of the bridges alone made it worthwhile. We got three stacking risers, which normally could be found for between $20 and $30 total on ebay, for $5 apiece, some other generic risers for perhaps a dollar apiece, a couple of bridges, the Thomas Mountain tunnel - I'm wigging out on the name right now, I'll come back and fix it with the right name later. But the risers were precious. And even better were the adapta-track converters which have ends on that flip to convert to male-male or female-female, for those times when you get stuck and can't use a normal male to female piece. Trying to use the normal block underneath the ascending track pieces is a pain, and with a crawling baby in the way, it was sort of futile.
Here's one of our first layouts made up on our own.
Here's one of our first layouts made up on our own.
The beauty of buying from other people is that you accidentally benefit from someone else's knowledge. Whether you appreciate how expensive these things are, or what pieces you might need at that moment is sort of irrelevant. You'll buy it and later think you're genius.
If you have the budget, I'd even suggest just possibly getting a sub >$100 large lot from ebay. But I didn't think we'd spend that much. I didn't know how much we'd like it and how much it all costs and how much things keep resale value.
Whatever you spend, you're going to get a nice chunk of it back when you sell, especially if it IS the official Learning Curve Thomas brand stuff. So if you buy genuine Thomas stuff used, when you resell it, you may very well get 100% of your money back. Think of it as a toy rental!
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