billboard Archives - The Silicon Underground

Skyline tin buildings

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 08 May 2020 12:00:06 +0000

In the 1940s and 1950s, Skyline of Philadelphia manufactured and marketed a line of toy train-oriented building kits. Actually, there were two lines: One was a line of building kits made of cardstock and wood, and one was a smaller

The post Skyline tin buildings appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Most valuable baseball cards of the 1980s

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 11:00:00 +0000

In the 1980s, almost everyone I knew collected baseball cards, at least briefly. When we think of the 1980s today, baseball cards aren’t what comes to mind but they probably deserve to be up there with video games, Rubik’s cubes,

The post Most valuable baseball cards of the 1980s appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Lionel train light bulb chart

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 22:41:27 +0000

Lionel used 15 different types of light bulbs in its O gauge electric trains in the postwar era, but in most cases–87% of catalog numbers, and a lot more than that in actual number of items produced–you can get by with two.

The post Lionel train light bulb chart appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The difference between local and traveling train shows

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:19 +0000

I took my family to a train show–The Great Train Expo–this past weekend. I’ve been going to shows for about 8 years or so, and while we had fun, I ended up not spending any of the money I brought

The post The difference between local and traveling train shows appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Maybe it is (or will become) legal to rip your DVDs

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:01:02 +0000

My oldest son met me at the door one day as I came home from work, holding two pieces of his favorite Bob the Builder DVD. “Daddy fix it?” he asked. I can fix a lot of things, and I’ve

The post Maybe it is (or will become) legal to rip your DVDs appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The $189 window myth

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:33:57 +0000

The other house had problems with its windows. Multiple problems. The inspector recommended not messing around and just replacing all of them.

The realtor suggested using "one of those $189 places." He didn't recommend a specific one.

As it turns out, they aren't all the same.

The post The $189 window myth appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The Kansas City Royals, where everything is wrong

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 21 Apr 2002 07:17:04 +0000

I was pretty happy that the Royals were just a game under .500 a week ago. That's good for them. After all, their closer, Roberto Hernandez, has been injured all year. Other players are nursing injuries as well. Even the team trainer, Nick Schwartz, is hobbling around on crutches.

The post The Kansas City Royals, where everything is wrong appeared first on The Silicon Underground.