Hi Dave. Still a lot of bodies on Ebay. And yes, you gotta watch for rot. I’ll buy a rotted shell if the inside is complete simply because I know I can get another shell.
Ho Seeker has some diagrams, but as we all know, toy trains are like cars, a NEW & IMPORVED model every year. Research drives one nuts. Ho Seeker doesn’t carry every version you will run into.
Thanks for the line and I hope to chat again soon.
Hi Ed,
Cool!! But they are all fun. I’ve even got some old Comet kits. I have not (knowingly) done the Athearn kit you mentioned. Lots of kit round house’s though. My wife and my Mom made my Dad and I clean out stuff this year. We dumped a 1,000 different cars and about 300 engines on an auction. So, with that many the memory gets fuzzy. My Dad and I generally had a weekend sale every year but they didn’t go well the last few years so there just wasn’t room any more. Besides, we restored them to be played with. He and I are just big kids but too many is too many.
I have the MEW switcher. It runs great. I gotta find a box for it one day though. The last box I bid on went for about $25. My wife would of killed me since I only paid $3 for a big pile of odds and ends that contained the complete switcher.
Look forward to talking again.
Randy
Hi Dave,
NICE!!!
I will get some pictures together and post them soon. As for curves, especially for old passenger cars like Varney, American Beauty, and among others bigger is always better. Especially if you got a old Gilbert or Mantua steamer pulling them.
I bought a new house two years ago and have to build a new layout. They just don’t do well for a move.
Look forward to chatting again,
Randy
Hi Mister Beasley,
I still have my first Varney engine and my Athearn Hi-Fi Rio Grande set. They are old and loved friends. I was born in 54 so I lived thru the absolute height of the orginal hobby boom.
I have not had much problem with getting motors to go again. Usually a good bath goes along way. Although I have found some interesting things stuck inside of them from time to time. And usually you can find the specs to check them out on a multimeter.
Hope to chat again.
Randy
Hello Sir Madog,
I take it you are in europe then. More likely Germany since that is where Marklin orginated. I have not done much with Marklin. I occassionally run into some on an auction or an estate sale.
They are however very beautiful. I have a friend in California that I usually sell them to when I come across any. I just can’t make room for more than one operating system.
I came across 30 prewar Marklin passenger cars, most with the complete orginalbox and wraping paper. Unfortunately, only 2 or 3 still had good trucks. That was my first exposure to Marklin. I am surprised i don’t find more of them here in WI. with it’s German heritage, but I suppouse nearly 80 years has taken a huge toll.
Thanks for showing me.
Randy
Randy,
like you, I rehab and refresh these trains. I came across an auction last year tha had several Gilbert/Varney HO diesels and cars. Ten Lackawanna F2’s and the same namer of depressed flats with transformer loads. The cars were an easy fix. The engines took a little more. All but two came alive to almost like new. The last two were just to far gone and were sold as parts. All the items sold easily, so there are people out there who use or collect these vintage trains.
Larry
You are welcome, Randy.
Marklin never really had much to offer in terms of US-prototype engines iand cars. There was a rather crude interpretation of an F 7 in the 1950´s and 1960´s, a nicely detailed USRA Mike and the ubiquitous UP Big Boy, and a handful of 40´box cars. Most of the Marklin stuff came over with GI´s returning home from their stay in Germany.
I never understood why Marklin never really took a keen interest in developing the US market for their products. Being European market leader in terms of quantity and quality seemed to be enough for them.
Marklin is still #1 manufacturer in Germany, despite their proprietary 3-rail AC system. I guess it´s a tradition to own a Marklin “train set”.
Marklin has a reputation for fine German engineering, and the items released under the Trix label are US-compatible. Their Big Boy never appealed to me because it doesn’t fit into my scheme, and I missed out on their USRA 2-8-2, which has a fine reputation. I wish the Mike would be re released. Now they have announced a UP Challenger. I might be interested, just because the engine appeals to me, but I probably won’t go for it because it looks like it will be released as a black oil burner with smoke lifters. I would want it in the passenger gray paint scheme or as a traditional coal burner, but I can’t see repainting or modifying the engine at that price.
Tom
Back in the market - see here
In only one roadname? For a locomotive that was used by 32 different railroads, and who’s later clones included even more railroads.
No wonder Trix has never gained much market share in the US, they simply do not understand this market.
Sheldon
That’s funny. True, the USRA light was used by a whole bunch of roads. The funny part is that AT&SF (the one road name being released) was one of the roads that never owned one, and BLI has announced an accurate AT&SF 2-8-2 for future release. An unpainted option would be a good idea, but I guess it wouldn’t be too hard to do a repaint and reletter on this one. I’ll have to think about it. It looks like the details on this one are a pretty close match to NYC (like the earlier release).
Tom
Sheldon,
That would be “In only one (wrong) roadname?”, I believe.
But they’re also doing B&O. Between that and the NYC they’ve done, that accounts for nearly half of all USRA light Mikes.
Ed
Yes, I know. It may account for half the quantity, but only 6% of the road names.
I don’t know much about the ATSF, and I have no problem with manufacturers doing foobies, because they simply can’t do every loco ever built.
But, but I have never understood the “random” choices of product that many manufacturers make.
But it matters not, because at over $400, with DCC and sound I don’t want, I’m really not interested. I already have most all the locos I need.
Sheldon
Well this is really a hoot, I hope they don’t really have the tender lettering like this picture:
https://www.reynaulds.com/products/Trix/22816.aspx
Because it should look like this:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/bo/bo-s4527gga.jpg
$400 locomotive and they can’t position the lettering properly on the tender?
I think I will buy a couple from Bachmann…which also has the correct headlight placement for B&O Q-3’s for most of their service…Why is it that Bachmann can pay attenton to such details and a company like Trix cannot?
Sheldon
Sheldon, don’t you remember the old cereal commercial with the rabbit “…Trix, Trix, Trix are for kids…”[swg][(-D][(-D][(-D]
Regards,
Dave
Sheldon,
I am quite sure that Trix has very little interest in the US market and therefore does not care much about the lettering being correct or incorrect or offering an undecorated version. Their market is Europe and I would put a bet on Trix selling more USRA Mikes in Europe than in the US. The average German model railroader knows very little about US railroads, just like the average US modelrailroader knows little about European railroads.
A good number of my cars are Athearns from the late '50s and early '60s. With IM wheelsets, KDs, truck weathering and a spray of Dull Cote, they are still running just great. Also have a few Ulrich and Silver Streaks as well…
Understood and agreed, that much more reason to spend my money with someone else no matter how nicely engineered the model is…but in my mind it still begs the question, especially in this day and age, why do they even bother?
Sheldon
That can be said for Athearn BB cars (except for the Railbox,ACF covered hopper and 5344 kits) since they date back to the late 50s.
As a example the RTR CN “wet noddle” 40’ boxcar looks exactly like the one I bought when it was first released back in the early 60s.
The F7 A/B hasn’t changed since Globe produce them.
Here is my Tenshodo 4-6-4. My Dad brought it home from a business trip he made to Japan roughly 60 years ago.
In this photo I ran it on my present layout a few years ago just before I converted to DCC.
