Trains from my child hood days. When I was five, my parents got me two used train sets for Christmas. A 2035 steam engine and three metal cars and a 2026 steam engine and three metal passenger cars (that's how my 'addiction' began!). When I was seven, my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said the Santa Fe super chief set with 4 passenger cars. She said they couldn't afford it as it was $90 and my dad made about that much in a week. But, as soon as I saw that big wrapped box under the tree, I knew what it was. Undoubtedly, the best (or ever will have) Christmas that I ever had. Each year, I got more accessories to add to my layout. When I was thirteen, I switched over to HO but in 1994, the 10 year old inside me put the Lionel set back up on a layout. The pictures show my original stuff but I also added stuff that I wanted when I was a kid but never got, especially, the culvert loader/unloaders. The original trains are from the late-40's to early 50's, how many toys that old still run like they are new. A tribute to the quality that Lionel put into their product (which also explains why they were so expensive). There are a few contemporary items on the layout but most of the stuff is post war. Virtually, every day, I at least turn on the layout, just for the lights, and I'm 10 years old again!
After setting up the postwar sets, I got the urge to set up a nice contemporary layout. I made a narrow L shape layout behind the couch and populated it with Lionel as well as American Flyer accessories (Lionel and MTH made). There's a few postwar pieces, ie pennsy steam turbine and a few cars, but the rest are new releases.
I ran out of table space so I started using the floor. The new 'DCC' equipped engines with their scale detail 'forced' me to buy new engines! I'm a GN fan so a lot of the engines are GN steam. The first two pictures are GN F-3's A-B-A and a Pennsy GG-1. The remaining pictures: Engines are GN S-2 4-8-4, GN Z-6 4-6-6-4, GN R-2 2-8-8-2, Santa Fe PA's A-B-B-A and Erie E-7's A-B-A. Video of MTH GN Z-6 4-6-6-4 and passenger cars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zG7zqn3kbG0 Video of MTH Santa Fe's PA's with MTH and old K-line 21" passenger cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Gxw6EblYw&feature=player_detailpage
Oh how I wish to still have my childhood tinplate. And to somehow, some day find the old family photos taken of yours truly and those trains.
Boxcab, Unfortunately, my family wasn't a 'picture taking' family (at least by the time I was born, being the 4th) so the trains serve as my 'pictures'. =========== The fourth phase: I still had train sets I wanted to run but ran out of space, at least in the living room. Down to the basement: My HO GN layout takes up the entire basement, but, wait, there's room under that layout. I cleared out all the junk under there and put some lights in and started putting down track. These are all contemporary trains, the bulk being MTH. The Burlington E-7's A-B-A are williams with MTH cars. The hudson 4-6-4 is Williams. The Erie-lackawana PA's is MTH as well as the N&W J and UP F-3's. The Northern Pacific F-3's are williams with lionel cars. The heavy weight cars for the J are MTH, they did a nice job on these cars.
View attachment 48625 View attachment 48626 View attachment 48627 The K-line Rio Grand cars are pulled by some williams F-3 A-A units. I miss K-line, I really liked their 21" long scale aluminum extruded passenger cars. Too bad that Lionel 'killed' them.
Last Saturday, I went to Dayton, Ohio's NRMA railroad flea market at Hara arena and picked up three nice scale GN reefers by MTH (differently numbered). They have 'add on' ladders, end detail, under floor 'add on' piping, etc and working ice hatches. No boxes but they were only test run and got them at half the list price. MTH sells two rail trucks so these would look equally nice on a scale O gauge layout.
I had to look up at my "2026 " to make sure it was still there ... , brings back a lot of memories , only remaining piece is the engine . I got the basic set for Christmas 1958.
Favorite steamer was a 1666E. I literally ran the side rods off of it. The screws would not stay in, no matter what we tried. Also had one of the Pennsy 6-8-6 turbines, but it lacked all the valve gear thrashing around which made watching those trains so much fun.
Yo guys, I always enjoy hearing 'train stories' from when we were 'young' (versus 'growing up' since I never did that!). ============= Buyer beware!: Wanting a 'backup' transformer, I purchased a KW a few weeks ago at the NMRA Div 7 flea market. I thought I checked it after I got home, but obviously not very thoroughly, so, today, I was using it to test out a train that was going very slowly. I connected the KW and the 'short' light came on so after much checking of the track, engine and cars, I finally narrowed it down to the transformer. Disassemble: The horn lever and two throttles are only 'snug' fitted on so those were pulled off and four screws removed allowed the top case to come off. I found one roller completely gone and the other, barely existing. There are four tabs that I had to twist 'straight' to remove the top bearing plate assembly. Then there were four screws to remove so the retaining plate could be removed and then I could remove the contact arm assemblies. One wire had to be unsoldered to gain access to the screws. Repair: Using a dremel cut off disk, the rivet heads were ground off so the new rollers and new rivets could be installed. A center punch was used to secure the new rivets. More problems: The third terminal connection from the left in the picture broke loose. The terminal nut was sturdy on the black terminal plate assembly so I soldered a new piece of wire from the back of the connection to the two wires that, original, went to that location. The rivet that holds the mechanical circuit breaker together broke off (from me rotating the bearing plate to get to those previously mentioned 4 screws). I replaced the rivet with a 4/40 hex head screw and locking nut. After testing everything, I put everything back together, gently and not very far, twisting those four metal tabs to hold the top bearing plate. I guess I can't complain, I only paid 70 bucks for it! I used greenbergs 'repair and operating manual' for reference. The manual has 'exploded' views of the item as well as an electrical schematic. This whole thing started because my ZW (the latest version that use the 180 watt 'bricks') is not operating correctly. After dis-assembly, the two outside throttles do not work where as the two inner throttles work. I'm figuring a bad circuit board. I'm only hoping that they still stock them! (I would have taken more pictures during the repair, but I didn't think about it until I was almost done).
ZW (6-32930) transformer update. I called Lionel tech and they gave me an RA (return authorization) number to send the transformer back to them. Since the brick's circuit breaker should have tripped, they also want the bricks. $60 bucks per hour for labor so I'm guessing (hoping) about $150. They don't sell circuit boards so I have to send the transformer to them. At least it will be fixed. === Boxcab: It sounds like you're into scale O gauge: in that case check out my HO GN layout: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?146284-Great-Northern-Railroad
Yes. I did see that topic. Actually, these days I am a long time N scaler. But the Lionel (also AF and Marx) of my past is a wonderful memory which always is singing a siren song. Past member TCA, TTOS. Do you have any of the Lionel ALCo diesels? Those were probably my favorites of all. I would certainly enjoy seeing a few photos!
My only PA's are from MTH premier set A-B-B-A Santa Fe with 11 K-line 21" scale aluminum cars. I love this set with those great looking PA's up front and the scale cars with interiors and passengers.
This morning I accidently stumbled onto a lousy quality old photo. So for a little fun, just uploaded it. This view captured thirty some years ago, when I was still active member of TCA and TTOS. Our living quarters were quite tiny, so almost everything of my trains were boxes, (including my N scale), and there was no place to build any real layout. Except I did have a couple of NTrak modules. I called this my "test track". I could try out new acquisitions and check units I had repaired. Or just play a little while.
Boxcab, But it rekindles memories! ============ Video of the GN S-2 4-8-4 in glacier colors. One of only 3 freight trains as I partial to passenger trains on the '3-rail'. Not the best of a 'scale' background but I enjoy watching them run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKNGEFhhJYk&feature=youtu.be
671 pennsy turbine video (amazing how much stuff you can cram into a narrow shelf!). Except of the 671 (and a few other items), everything is mostly contemporary, ie, made in the last 20 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o16O4U5BLGo The 671 puts out a lot of smoke!
As we are coming into the Thanksgiving-Christmas seasons, recalling some of these scenes makes me a bit homesick. Seeing that smoke (I can sure recall the smell!) and hearing those sounds is wonderful. WIsh i had some spare cash... I'd look for a nice 211 Texas Special pair and, and.... Oh well.
Boxcab, I think they would be a nice Christmas present for your spouse! ============ Bummer! My MTH premier Erie E8's A-B-A set (20-2236-1) stopped working (no movement or sound). I put a new battery in and tried running under a 'standard' transformer but not a peep. I think the board is shot since the hand held controller says that the engine is not on the track and another engine on the same track functioned correctly. I took the top off and didn't find any broken or detached wires. Called up MTH and 300 bucks for the repair: He said probably a new board, plus new 2.4 battery and different ohm speaker as the proto 2 boards are no longer available and a new version has to be installed. I googled the set and found Graboski has a new set for 5 C notes. I'd rather have a full set and keep the old as parts but not sure I really want to invest that much since I only paid $400 for a new set several years ago. The tech said any proto 2 board would work from 2000-2011: it would be nice to find a cheap premier engine with proto 2 sound. Any ideas, please post: thanks. ps: the old stuff lasts forever (or at least repairable by the user), the new stuff follows the usual electronic 'longevity'. ========= Later: maybe some good news. It dawned on me that maybe I could use the proto 2 sound upgrade kit. As a MTH member, I get it for $150. Presently, they are not in stock but I put my order in. The kit manual is on the web so I printed it. The speaker and new battery size appear to be already in the kit so it seems like I'll save $150, or about 1/2 the price, by doing it myself. Click on PS2 upgrades: http://www.protosound2.com/
