I did the same thing, bought a Delta 12X set only to dump $200+ into decoders to make it into a Digital, and not have the benefit of the digital items that came with the starter set!

Mentioned in the forum a couple of years ago but still a great mistake:

We all make our little mistakes and when I came back into the hobby around 1994, I had bought a very gunky secondhand loco. Ok, I thought, let's do some *serious* cleanup here - so I dismounted the motor, relay and such and was left with the frame with gears and wheels. After some thinking I thought I should do it rationally and soak the whole underframe in alcohol instead of wasting a lot time with Q-tips and such... So I did that.... And was suddenly standing there with a jar of red alcohol, red fingertips and a pink BR 78 underframe after a few seconds.... Ouch...

The red paint on a steam loco frame & wheels is dissolved by alcohol, so don't use that.

Hi Everyone, As I caanot program a VCR, my dumbest mistake was buying
model r/r to start with. I have the Big Boy starter set with electric
turnouts I can't wire and a 6051 or 7051 (can't remember which) crane
I can't use and a wife who thinks it's hysterical. When I got a set
of wagons with no couplers,I sent it back to the dealer as defective,
ok Jeremy - they're are right there in the box to be installed, that
was the Cali. Zephyr set.Man take an engine apart,install a decoder?
You all are gods. Seriously thinking of going to spend a day or two
with Robert Frowenfeld to learn a few things but it will have to be
a surprise visit- otherwise he would leave town(SORRY Robert). wife
starting to get less hysterical - haven't told Carol about the the
Northlander yet. You know what, at the end of the day most fun my son
Nicholas and I have ever had. Best for last. Carol, bless her heart,
bought me an Insider Big Boy, now I have two, put it on the track,
tryed to play with it as I do with the starter set Big Boy, wouldn't
work. Back to the States for a service, nothing wrong Jeremy. UH
Jeremy you did know about the TWO decoders right? Yes well, I will
pay the postage to Marklin. As I am about to start crying I will
I will save the rest for another time. Peace everyone. Jeremy.

To quit MRR when I became 15 ... [xx(][xx(][xx(]

John

Once, back when I was a kid, I wanted to redo a part of my layout. The old layout had one big web of wires, with knots and everything. Impossible to sort out. So I decided to scrap it all, and start over from scratch.
So I took a very big cutter of some sort, one out of metal without any handles or other insulation. I just wanted to cut everything to clear up the mess, but right in there with all the other wires was the main 220V feed for the room. KaZZZZZZAPPPPPP...... The result was a pitch back room, where I was tumbling around on the floor in a lot of pain.

Did the same.Luckily I kept all train stuff and now older and wiser(hopefully [:I])I appreciate them even better than I did ever before.

Tried to do a quick repair on a reversing relay when I was 15 with a very large soldering iron [:I].The plastic parts and wire insulation didn't survive this foolish action ofcourse.

Guus

Almost gave my dad a heart attack once (so he claims).

I was 13 or 14 at the time and my Dad bought a new Fleischman turntable for the layout. He cut the hole, placed it in, got it all set up but could not read the wiring instructions to save his life! That's where I came in. He was "Financing" and I was "Engineering". So my dad goes off to bed and I get the thing wired up and working in no time. When I went to bed that night I left him a note upstairs that said something like......."Dad. The wiring went well but when I applied power, all the electrical shorted out and start some small fires. The station (Baden), turntable and roundhouse have been either severley damaged or destroyed by the internal short. Many of the tracks have melted due to the center-rail contacts. The smell of burnt wiring and plastic may take a few days to get rid of. I suffered some small burns on my hand but I'm okay. I don't know what the cost will be to repair the damage".

When he got downstairs he saw a note on the turntable.... " Just kidding. It works!!!"

You are a BAAAAAD BOY Brian!!!

Since we restarted in February 2004 I make a lot of small engineering mistakes.
Al these small engineering mistakes together make a financial gap in our budget.

That is because we don't plan anything and just start building (we pass the drawingboard stage).

Timaximus

My dumbest thing: To glue a crack in a loc housing, and picking up the housing with my glue stained fingers. CSI can now identify this loc to be mine due to the fingerprints ! [V]

See also archived topic "My worst mistake(s)"

Gregor

I bought GM stock..
Stephen

Are you selling marklin[xx(]