I went hunting for Christmas decorations in the barn loft and came down with two crates of my dad’s old train set. I have memories of his town, the airfield and the beautiful train that ‘never ran on time’. From what I can tell, there are five engines? (Please forgive me if I don’t have the terminology yet) and many cars, along with planes, trucks, cars and buildings from the forties and fifties. The trains have rust and are dusty and I’m afraid to do anything with them until I know more. I am not interested in selling but am interested in restoring them, as well as the memories. My son now works for the railroad and I can envision this set being handed down to his son. Can someone recommend required reading on O model trains, their care and restoration? Any help will be appreciated. I will be heading to a hobbyshop in Jacksonville at the end of the week.
By your description, I’d take some pictures, upload them to a photo sharing site like Photobucket, and head over to the Classic Toy Trains forums, as they deal in that particular section of modeling railroads.
Taking them to a train shop is a good first step. Some “hobby” shops have train guys, but others simply regard trains as another merchandise item. You might check around for train clubs, particularly O-gauge clubs. You’ll certainly find the expertise there.
You’re doing a great thing by caring for these old trains. Thanks.
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. As I mentioned, I do want to take at least one to a hobby shop later this week. I’d like to go with a little bit of knowledge though. Is the original paint easy to destroy? Can I take a damp cloth and wipe these down? They are definitely not functional in their current state. Will I completely ruin them if I purchase replacement parts and repaint? I live in a very rural area and there are no local clubs, so my best shot is to find some sort of reference book before I make the hour + drive to Jacksonville. It isn’t the value that makes me want to do a good job, but the legacy. And my dad would want only a quality job that would enhance the value of his toy. I’m in a quandary here! Thanks for your input!
Never, never, never repaint – that destroys the collector value of old trains like you have. Wiping dust and dirt off with a soft, dampened cloth should not hurt them or their paint, but don’t repaint or try to replace parts without first knowing about their value.
You’ll get much better advice by going to the Classic Toy Trains forum.
Tracey, let me offer you this advice. Go to you local Barnes & Noble, or similar large book and magazine store and purchase a copy of either Model Railroader, or Classic Toy Trains, magazine. At the back of the magazine you will find a listing of hobby shops. Make a list of those nearest to you and call each asking if they are a Lionel Service Station, or have an associate that repairs Lionel trains for them…many do.
I would strongly recommend not touching, or attempting to clean your models, at this point. I never recommend any novice attempt to make their own repairs on vintage model trains. Too often it can result in more damage than in improvement, unless the models are in pretty good condition to begin with. Yours don’t sound like they are.
Don’t even bother to clean the locomotives up (you can try cleaning the cars, as there is little to harm on them). Just take one or two into the hobby shop you choose. The repaiman will service and clean the models for you and return them in their best possible condition, probably along with an estimated value if you ask for one. However, remember this is the Christmas Season and the repair people are going to be backed up with work, so getting to your model(s) is going to take some weeks.
First, let me thank those of you who have replied. CNJ831, this was exactly what I was looking for. Even though the dollar value is not AS important to me, I don’t want to devalue these in any way. I also didn’t want to approach a hobby store without having a little bit of knowledge. All I’ve done is to take a soft brush and brush off the locomotive I plan on taking with me. If I can figure out how to attach a photo for you, I will. Otherwise I will post a link as was recommended earlier. I’m having trouble with snapfish, so I hope I can post the link after I get that straightened out. Again, I don’t yet have the terminology, but here are a few of what I’ve unboxed:
Locomotive 2018 (In something I read the rail color was important, some have a Silver hand rail)
Well, Tracey, going on the assumption that your trains are indeed Lionels, I can offer a bit of background on them based on the locomotive numbers.
The 2018 would be a 2-6-4 and was produced between 1959 and 1961. The 2025 and 2026 are rather older. Being of 2-6-2 or 2-6-4 wheel arrangement, they date from the 1947-53 era. All are fairly common locomotives and based on recent eBay sales, none seems to command more than $100 in the marketplace, in spite of being nice, durable models.
I commend you for wanting to keep those trains in your family and bring them back to life. When I was very young I got to watch my brothers play with a Marx O train set. Of course at three years of age I was forbidden from touching anything! Talk about frustrated! Much later in life I came across the same train set at my parent’s place and of course they let me have it. The original engine had been burned out from lots of use but I was luckily able to find a near exact replacement drive system at a train show for very few dollars so I was able to get it up and running again. What a buzz! I love the sparks from the third rail as it bounces along the track. I hope you and your family have as much fun as we did setting up the old tracks and running the trains.
Dave, we seem to share the same type of memory. Being a girrrrrlllll, I drove my dad insane! After seeing the note from CNJ with an idea of the dates, I’m sure that he unpacked his old train set and probably bought the new locomotive around the time my baby brother was born. <Big, big smile here.> Big Jeff and I are on our way to a hobby shop in Gainesville, just to pick up the magazines and see what we can see. A train guy will be in a store in Jax tomorrow and so armed with a little knowledge (a dangerous thing?) we will go visit him.