I got the chance to look through an old magazine the other day that had a short article about model railroading. The article was centered around a father and son that had built a layout in their garage back in the mid 1940s. They said that other than the train and track, they had built or made everything else because there wasn’t much available at that time in accessories and/but what there was was expensive.
They didn’t show but one picture of the layout, but from what I could see it had grass, telephone poles, a road bed, several buildings like a small town, a back ground with mountains, etc. They’d really put some work into it.
Don’t get me wrong, I greatly admire those that do a lot of their own scratch building, but I’m also glad I can buy most anything now a days ready built [:D]…
If it was indeed in the middle of the war there was very little of anything available because all production was needed for the war. If something was available it probably was very expensive. If you wanted something you had to make it yourself…
Ah, yes. The Jurassic Period–actually, I came along in the early 'fifties, which might be called the Cretacous Period. Brass track held to fibre ties with staples. It was called flex-track, because if you bent it (which took the strength of someone like Charles Atlas, an early body-builder), it would flex to whatever you decided. And STAY there. And God forbid you used anything ‘wet’ to secure the track to whatever roadbed you decided on, because it would warp the fiber ties and you’d end up with something that would derail your train (assuming the motor worked in the locomotive to begin with) on a straight stretch. Ah, the wonder of it!!
And the dummy couplers that came with the cars–pressing them together and that’s AFTER you installed them in the coupler boxes with those two tiny springs that just kept zinging out onto the carpet–(better have a magnet handy to find them). Then realizing that the curve you had carefully manhandled into your track went from 20" to 15" to 2" radius all in one supposedly 90-degree quarter-circle, and the couplers were so stiff that while your little Varney 0-4-0 was treading on the rail, the rest of your train was heading straight off of the plywood.
Gobs of fun!
Okay, I’m joking (sort of). But the hobby demanded a lot of you back then (as it should now) and getting things to run well took a lot of patience if you were not an expert. I never was, but by Gar, did I have a lot of fun trying to become one.
Oh, yah–the Athearn ‘Rubber Band’ diesels–if you prayed a lot and had a really good “Rectifier” on your power pack, you could almost get them down to about a 56 Scale Mile Per Hour starting voltage. Wow, that was fun, but those plastic-bodied F-7’s and GP-9’s would hit the curves at a speed that made Lionel’s “Magne-Traction” look like a garden slug crawling over a brick.
Yah, those were the days.
But I sure had a lot of fun!!
Tom [}:)][}:)]
Good evening Tracklayer,
There are still a lot of “Craftsmen” out there who scratch build their rolling stock, structures, trackwork, and scenery. However, these days you can almost “assemble” a layout from boxes.
I believe that the major difference between early model railroading and what is available now, is that early model railroaders did a lot more scratchbuilding than we do now.
There are a lot of small businesses have been born and become successful providing an incredible selection of items to use on a layout or diorama.
I also see more people crossing hobbies than I noticed before. For example, building modelling ships, cars, armor, or planes, woodworking, craft building, or metal working.
Also, it seems that there are a lot more wives and girlfriends getting involved now than even twenty years ago. I remember a lot of modelrailroaders commenting in the early 1960s that this was a “mans” hobby. I really enjoy my wife’s involvement in this hobby.
Oh, yah, who could forget the Athearn rubber band drive. Was there a modeler from that era that didn’t have one. It ran like a box-cab slot car. It was one of three working locos on the second hand 4X8 layout my brother and I bought for the sum of $75 (early 1960s). For some reason it was our favorite. When I got back into this hobby about 25 years ago, I bought a new one for sentimental reasons. And you are right. Those were the days and boy did we have a lot of fun.
I still have my first Athearn “rubber band” diesel! And I do remember that fiber-tie track! My Dad was an early 50’s HO modeler who basically scratch-built everything -and I watched! In those days engines ran herky-jerky, power packs ran hot, and I ran my own trains like the Indy 500! Many of those early modelers (my Dad included) were master craftsmen and despite all the shortcomings of materials, produced some outstanding layouts and models. That setting, and those guys are the foundation of my modelling know-how. And yeah…it sure was fun!
Wartime model railroading must have been a challenge–for a while, even Lionel was producing cardboard and paper rolling stock (and locomotives!) because of war rationing of metal. And I’m sure a lot of prewar toy-train equipment got melted down to make M-1 rifles and whatnot too…
Hi There; Remember it well. Built a 30"x 10’ yard with fiber tie flex track in an attached outbuilding. Water pipe burst & flooded layout. Looked like an earthquake had hit it. Had to scrap all the track. Well not realy I suppose I never learn - stripped all the rails off warped fiber ties & bought fiber tie strip & relaid again. Next winter same thing happened again. We moved. Also do you remember Mantus hook & loop couplers? Used a bent celluloid strip to uncouple.them.And Laconia’s cardboard sided cars. Still have a purple wine reefer.
Tom
Jetrock: My very early Marx wind-up train was donated by me (age 4) and my mother to the War Effort–I kind of like to think that it ended up melted into one of the guns of the “Missouri”, or something, LOL! And yes, to assuage me, I was bought the famous (or Infamous, if you will) Lionel “Paper Train” for Christmas, one year. No one was able to get it together, and everyone in the family was trying. The darn thing was IMPOSSIBLE! I have NO idea what Lionel was thinking of when they produced it. When the War was over, the first thing I got for Christmas was another Marx set (this time, electric), and I was off and running until I discovered HO at the age of 14. The rest has been history, but a continual experience of wonder. I’m 66 now, and pondering the expense of converting about 55 brass HO steamers that I’ve been collecting since 1962 to DCC. This hobby NEVER ceases to amaze and fascinate me!
Tom
Hey Tom … I still have a full roll of Atlas fiber tie strip, ready for track laying! It’s sitting here waiting for you man! If you are nice I’ll even throw in a Tru Scale switch machine new in its box.
Remember that odd tool that went over the rails – it had slots that fit over Code 100 rail and two sets of holes for spikes, you’d position the tool over a tie, plop the spikes into the holes (sharp side down if you were lucky) and then press the spikes in with a matching tool that had four little prongs that went into the holes. IF you were lucky you would have spiked your rail. Or more likely, one or two spikes would be correct and the others would be nowhere near the rail.
And you secured ballast with shellac as I recall because while it is wet, it does not have water. That is why I still use shellac to seal homasote (it prevents warping but, paradoxically, it also destroys much of the sound deadening properties).
What is interesting when you read old Model Railroaders – you notice that the detail on cars and engines can be crude (with some notable exceptions – there were some great craftsmen around) and scenery is often a joke by today’s standards, but the structures built back then often look great and could readily be placed on any layout today with pride. Even some structure kits back then looked good.
Dave Nelson
Those “old school” guys really were innovative in how they were able to do things.
As an example, my grandpa and my dad built a layout back before I was born. Grandpa ended up selling his house and taking down the layout, but had the foresight to keep things that were more expensive, such as the turnouts and switch machines, and send them to me.
This past January, my dad and I decided to build a layout. To save money, we were going to use the old brass track and accessories that we had from the old layout. Needless to say, we ended up not using any of it and went to code 83 nickle silver.
But, to get back to the topic at hand, I noticed that all of the switch machines were missing their articulator arms. I asked dad what the deal was, and he said grandpa, who was a machinist, made up his own under table mounts and actuators. Pretty cool…
Anybody remember the Pitman conversion for the rubber band drives? It was still rubber band drive but the pitman slowed it down and helped with the jack rabbit starts and stops…Cox 47
Well I’m an old fart now, but my close friend Henry, at 86, is just plain ancient. He showed me pieces of metal that he was able to get plenty of at his original workplace. He used it to lay track!! Cut wooden ties from the material in an old wood room divider. He also built many wonderful old steam locomotive kits when the boilers were made out of a bronze material. He’s never converted from many of the old ways. His power supply is a home built unit from a forties article. DCC is perhaps somebodies intials to him. He punches rivets using a home made setup also from an early article. It’s always been “O” Scale for him because he has always had poor vision. Coke bottle glasses. His trains run with a smooth precision that will make you cry. He is a time capsule of information, and unfortunately he is now unable to enjoy his trains because of failing health.