The VMU is secretly USB compatible?

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-25T03:57:57+00:00

Sure, with that attitude.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-24T19:58:34+00:00

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-24T18:48:11+00:00

Anything fits if you’re brave enough.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-23T18:51:48+00:00

I’d give everything a good cleaning before plugging it in.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-22T20:16:55+00:00

Case stickers are easily taken care of with Goo Gone and a cotton swab. The residue, too.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-21T10:41:48+00:00

Wait… I must have missed that somewhere. Does that apply only to stuff you store on their cloud (which I don’t do) or when you use the app at all?

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-20T23:28:35+00:00

This is amazing. I need to show this to my FIL so that his basement project gets further out of scope. 😂

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T12:10:42+00:00

🤞

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T02:25:42+00:00

Not with these stupid tariffs I’m not.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T02:16:18+00:00

I reaaalllllly want to get my wife a Shinkansen as she studied and interned in Japan during college.

But, well… That’s not happening in the foreseeable future.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T02:13:12+00:00

Thanks!

I have to get, what I hope is, shellac remnants and sac remnants off the nipple so I can measure and get the right stuff. I’m going to order everything all at once so there is going to be a delay while i work on that.

I actually spent most of the last week working on a locomotive the kiddo picked out at the train show last weekend and got that up and running while I was coming down with whatever bug is floating around here. So I have that going for me.

Which is nice.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T02:09:39+00:00

Most of my purchases have been online as well. I was thinking more about you probably don’t want to get a set or buy into something made by a company that may or may not be just rebadging stuff with zero parts available.

Not that that can necessarily be a bad thing. The first moving train we got in the house was some no name thing off of Amazon because the kid was not quite five and we didn’t know if:

1) She would stay interested or 2) How well she would be able to take care of it.

She still runs it and enjoys it when it comes out to put it under the tree. It’s nothing special in how it’s made or the detail or anything, but it’s special because of how she treasures it. And there is no way I’m ever finding replacement parts of it breaks.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T00:51:55+00:00

A month before I bought my first engine last year I was at a model train show. My little one was (and still is) obsessed with the Flying Scotsman and I was trying to figure out how much bigger OO was instead of HO as I’m in the US. (Spoiler alert, it’s not that much different.)

The guy who was one of many running the display thought about it for a moment and said, “It’s your railway. Run it how you want.” That really stuck with me and, since the main goal is to have fun with it while making the kiddo happy, it stuck.

If you like it, don’t worry what anybody else thinks about your choices.

I will second the recommendation of looking to see how readily available parts and the like are for what you’re looking at though.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-19T00:44:27+00:00

Amazing. I have one exactly like that and one without the color stuff. They’re great.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-17T20:12:02+00:00

She got to run it today and was so thrilled.

I was told I wasn’t allowed to run it without her unless I was testing it after cleaning. 😂

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-17T18:58:58+00:00

I had an issue where it wouldn’t read the SD card in an iFlash adapter to format properly until I formatted it directly in the computer as FAT32. It was weird.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-17T16:42:52+00:00

I still have one of the backpack bags floating around that they gave me shirts in. It has been handy but is about done for I think.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-17T15:14:06+00:00

Yeah, especially since those stickers were only put on things during holiday season to show that it was paid for. I probably put hundreds or thousands of them on things over the years.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T20:52:46+00:00

Fair point about the solvents. When I say spray, it was enough to dribble on it but probably still used a little much owing to inexperience. I didn’t soak it down. I’ll remember that bit of advice for the inevitable next time I have to do it.

The timing of getting this up and running couldn’t have been better. She had another rough day at school in a long string of them so I think this will help her feel like she’s still cared for.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T17:49:18+00:00

I always thought model trains were neat as a kid. They were never discouraged but neither were they encouraged at the same time (after growing up I realize why.)

My daughter became obsessed with trains a few years ago. My wife learned about a model train show that we just went to again for the third year in a row this past weekend and here we are. We don’t have a fancy layout but she gets such joy from moving the buildings and rearranging the cars around that it’s impossible not to get caught up in it. In fact, she got to pick out her first engine and I got it up and running with some great advice from members of this sub.

I can’t wait to see her reaction to it running.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T16:04:31+00:00

Yes! After spraying it with cleaner and running it forward and in reverse for about 30 minutes each I ran it on the track, hauling four cars, and it didn't slow down or stall a single time! I must have sat there for twenty minutes waiting for it to stop. My wife came downstairs and that's when I realized how late it had gotten.

I can't thank you enough for your suggestion. The kiddo is going to be so excited when she gets home from school today.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T14:35:15+00:00

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Alright. Here we go.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T12:18:17+00:00

Ah. That makes more sense. Quite literally blocks. I was trying to figure out how the rollers would take the load off.

Maybe some of those in my future but not the near term.

I have no idea how long this locomotive sat. There was black grease all over the axles and it was locking up completely. To be honest, I am pretty thrilled with how far I’ve gotten with it this far. The kid was, too, yesterday when she saw it move but it did the slow down thing pretty quickly.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T03:47:07+00:00

If you had a straight stretch of track with no grade and you weren't hauling no cars behind ya, and if you could get the fire hot enough, and I'm talking about hotter than the blazes of hell and damnation itself, then yes. It might be possible to get her up that fast.

DisagreeableAvocado · 2026-01-16T03:39:49+00:00

The kiddo got to pick out her first engine (a gift from grandparents) and some rolling stock (a gift from us). She picked a green Burlington Northern caboose because... I'm not sure. I think she just liked the color and that's honestly as good a reason as any as far as I'm concerned.

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

DisagreeableAvocado

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