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Are Lionel trains worth anything?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 29, 2017March 1, 2019

When people hear what my hobby is, sometimes they ask me, “Are Lionel trains worth anything?”

That’s a fair question. After all, television says they are. But there’s something else you ought to know. Back in 2003, if someone asked me that question, I could tell them to go to the library to find out what those trains are worth. Today, my public library doesn’t have a current Lionel price guide. There’s a reason for that. Lionel trains aren’t worth as much as they were in 2003, and people aren’t checking those books out anymore.

How to cut vinyl tile around door jambs

Dave Farquhar DIY September 28, 2017October 29, 2021

Cutting vinyl tile to fit around obstacles can be tricky. It’s easy to end up with an unsightly gap. Here’s how to cut vinyl tile around door jambs and how to cut vinyl tile to fit around a toilet, around a corner, or other obstacles.

With a couple of tricks and a fair bit of patience, you can get nice results.

DD-WRT advantages

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT September 27, 2017September 24, 2017

DD-WRT is a popular aftermarket firmware for consumer routers. For more than a decade, it’s been the go-to for people who want to turn a sub-$100 router into a so-called “super router.” Here’s a look at the most noteworthy DD-WRT advantages.

Advantages and disadvantages of MS-DOS

Dave Farquhar DOS, Retro Computing September 26, 2017April 29, 2024

MS-DOS was the dominant computer operating system of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was the operating system most people loved to hate, yet it remained a bestseller. It formed the foundation of Microsoft’s market dominance of the 1990s and beyond. What were the advantages and disadvantages of MS-DOS?

MS-DOS stood for Microsoft Disk Operating System. It also licensed it to IBM, who branded it PC DOS, for Personal Computer Disk Operating System. The differences between the two were relatively minor and they are more or less interchangeable, especially at versions 5.0 and lower.

1933 Goudey baseball cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball September 25, 2017February 1, 2022

1933 Goudey baseball cards are immensely popular with collectors. They weren’t the first baseball cards sold with gum, but the 240-card set was a landmark. It featured an attractive design, tons of star players, a size close to that of modern cards, and some big challenges.

It’s not hard to see why generations of collectors loved the set, and continue to do so. Collecting 1933 Goudey baseball cards takes money, patience, and imagination. Or at least two of the three. Yes, collectors of modest means who have patience and imagination can still collect Goudey, one of the most venerable of baseball card brands.

Where to buy Lionel trains in St. Louis

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 22, 2017September 12, 2017american flyer, home improvement, lionel, lionel train, Mark Twain, marx, marx trains, o gauge, postwar lionel, Prewar Lionel, Standard Gauge

If you want to know where to buy Lionel trains in St. Louis, you have a lot of choices. It’s more than possible to make a day of train shopping in St. Louis.

I’ve never seen a comprehensive list of shops, so I made my own. If you know of any place I missed, I apologize. Please leave a comment and I will add it.

Can’t afford furniture? Here are some ideas.

Dave Farquhar Saving money September 21, 2017October 17, 2019estate sales, garage sale

When you can’t afford furniture, believe it or not, you have options. It’s also a more common problem than you may think. Here are some offbeat options to help you find furniture until you can afford something better. It’s entirely possible to furnish your home inexpensively if you need to.

How to use a Commodore 64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing September 20, 2017January 29, 20191980s, apple, atari, commodore, commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is rather unlike modern computers. It has a CPU and memory like a modern computer does, but the operating system and overall user experience is alien to someone used to computers that run Windows or Mac OS. So to modern eyes, it’s not completely obvious how to use a Commodore 64.

Commodore had a dominance of the market in the 1980s that would have made Apple jealous at any point in its history, but ultimately Commodore lost, so the Commodore 64’s bloodline is extinct.

WAR in baseball statistics

Dave Farquhar Baseball September 19, 2017April 12, 2023Kansas City, kansas city royals

One of the new-school baseball statistics goes by the curious acronym of WAR. Here’s what WAR in baseball statistics means.

Essentially, WAR is an attempt to measure the value of a player more completely than traditional statistics. It’s more thorough and much harder to calculate than OPS, but these days, we do have computers readily available to help us calculate difficult statistics quickly.

How to disable a light switch

Dave Farquhar DIY September 18, 2017February 11, 2019

Sometimes you need to disable a light switch, such as when a light switch turns an outlet on or off and you want to plug something other than a lamp into that outlet. Here’s how to disable a light switch.

The good news is you can do this in such a way that it is completely reversible. If you want to replace the light switch at any point in the future, you will be able to.