Preserve, Restore or Customize Post-war trains?

[CliffhouseNY]

Wondering how people feel about customizing vintage trains from the post-war era? Assuming something is not a real collectible piece or in better than average condition, is it ethical to modify or customize as suits your needs? Or, is there an obligation to first be good stewards of the 60-75 year old engines and rolling stock we add to our collection?

I’ve been reluctant to mess with anything pre-war, but honestly that’s because they are less appealing for modifications. Pretty much painting or modifying anything common from the modern era seems like it would need to be in excellent/mint condition with a box before I got a case of the guilts. But for some reason tweaking post-war trains sometimes has me questioning my moral character.

When I first started messing about with O gauge pre-war/post-war trains, they were all my dad’s childhood trains. I felt a real obligation to do nothing more to them than a gentle “preservation” – gentle cleaning, tune-ups and repairing/restoring/replacing damaged parts.

Now that I’ve been accumulating things at shows and E-Bay, I have a variety of pieces that have no sentimental value and can often be on the rough side.
It started innocently enough by restoring various cars and engines in a more traditional way – putting 1130 motors into 6110 cast metal shells, swapping out coil couplers for magnetic, adding grab rails and whistles on locomotives, installing chimneys and ladders to lower end cabooses, etc.

However, recently things have started to get more extreme as my wife has gotten into the act with our holiday theme trains – Xmas, of course, but also St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Halloween trains so far. She claims she’ll stop there, but I’m not convinced… can Arbor Day and National Hamburger Day trains be far behind?

My philosophy has been that if something from the Post-war era is relatively common, has some condition issues, and is listing for under $10 in Greenberg’s Price Guide, it’s totally fair game. Case in point – the 6465 tanker that is now Kelly Green and waiting for a label from our local pub. (St. Patrick’s Day train, of course.) It was rusty, had poor decals, was missing the grab rails, and there’s one in just about every lot of assorted cars I buy. And I figure there’s always paint stripper.

Still, I was really feeling guilty the other day as I was painting an old 6424 car carrier a pinkish-raspberry color. Yes, somebody had removed the center support and swapped on some beater couplers, and of course the autos were missing. It’s now sporting a baby blue Corvette supplied by my grandson and a couple of Easter bunnies are glued to the deck…

So how do you feel about what limits there are to customizing ordinary, vintage rolling stock? Should I stop my evil ways or start looking for good candidates for my Cinco De Mayo Express?

[pennytrains]

I draw my line at “some light scratches and a tiny amount of rust”. At that point I decide it’s good enough for some future owner’s first postwar train and they should have the right to experience the same thrill I did. Bigger better locomotives such as a 736, 2333 and 700 are gray areas at best in my book, but they’re your trains. There’s no toy train police.

Rusty junk is more fun to work on in my opinion. Take for example my prewar Standard Gauge #8.

Someone had restored it to it’s original olive green sometime in it’s past. But then they let acid leak all over it, etching the brass, destroying the wheels, melting the wire insulation and a lot of other damage. But, the shell, frame and motor were sound which made it a good candidate for restoration. I decided to paint it in colors Lionel never used so there would presumably be no doubt in a future owner’s mind that this is NOT a “rare variation” or “factory prototype”. I also painted 2 #35 passenger cars and a #36 observation to match.

[Flintlock76]

As far as I’m concerned it’s no sin to restore or customize Post-Wars (and maybe some Pre-Wars) in shabby exterior condition, especially as so many are coming on the market now as their Boomer owners downsize. Literally it’s “supply and demand” at work and prices are dropping, the exceptions being the examples in TCA C-9 or C-10 condition.
For example here’s a custom job I did. I took a common Lionel 2065 Hudson like this:

And turned it into THIS:

So by all means indulge yourself!

[pennytrains]

A beautiful loco in any color!

[Flintlock76]

Thanks Becky! High praise indeed coming from you!

[Woke_Hoagland]

Does it have the ‘Bullet’ sign on the front?

[Flintlock76]

Dang! I KNEW I forgot something!
Gotta figure out how to do it. I’ll think of something!

[CliffhouseNY]

The #8 is terrific!

@pennytrains

I draw my line at “some light scratches and a tiny amount of rust”.

So it sounds like avoiding very good or better condition and sticking with the more common trains and cars… which is certainly where I am focused with my projects.

I agree that restoring the rusty junk is more fun – very satisfying to take a rusted wreck from the bargain bin and bring it back to life.

Thanks for easing my conscience!

[CliffhouseNY]

That is a fantastic look – certainly encouraging to see such a nice custom project.

When you say shabby I think C-4 or below, and Penny was making it sound like C-6 or above starts giving her pause. And I guess C-5’s are a toss-up…

[Flintlock76]

Thanks! And whether to repaint or not is really going to come down to a judgement call on your part. I made my choice with really two things in mind:

1. Prices on Post-Wars are dropping and it’s unlikely they’ll rise again so you’re not destroying value on the shabby ones with a repaint.
   (Oh, that 2065 in the “before” photo? It actually looked worse in person.)
2. It’s MINE and it’s going to be for a long time. And considering I got a surprisingly good response from two repainted locomotive shells I sold at a train show I think I’m on pretty safe ground.

[pennytrains]

@CliffhouseNY

The #8 is terrific!

Thank you! I’ve been very happy with how it turned out considering where it came from! () It does wobble a bit and it has to have 24 volts to operate well but, knock wood, she’s been going strong for years with only minor issues. A true tribute to Lionel’s engineers and the quality of workmanship they demanded.

Here she is with her matching cars:

I use a bit of an unusual lighting arrangement for the cars. It’s based on the lighting kit Lionel produced in the early Standard Gauge era. There’s a terminal post on the back of the locomotive that is wired to the #8’s center rail rollers. Early era locos like the #33, 53, 42 etc. usually had this post mounted high on the rear hood. I used a vent in the shell. The cars get their positive current by being connected in series (actually in parallel) with quick connects on each car end. The negative connection is made through the metal shell, frame, trucks, axles and wheels.
The system works well and I didn’t have to find 100 series rollers and/or complete trucks for all 3 cars. Also note the Blue Comet drumhead.

[palallin]

Love the SG set, Becky! Repaints on these pieces aren’t easy–I’ve had to do a couple. I did a #332 baggage that turned out OK (since sold) and a #438 Switch Tower, which I will get around to posting a pic of sometime.

Your comment about bench seats is funny but not wrong

[pennytrains]

It would probably be more accurate to call them subway or commuter coaches. They sure ain’t Pullmans!

[Flintlock76]

Superb job Becky!

[Woke_Hoagland]

Transient open sections?

[pennytrains]

Is that like the “Hoboken Hobo Express”?

[palallin]

Just as long as the conductor ain’t Shack. . . .

[Woke_Hoagland]

You’ve heard of Touralux sleepers? These are Therenobux accommodations…

[Flintlock76]

Oh brother, don’t go there! I found Ernest Borgnine’s Shack character so terrifying I only watched “Emperor Of The North” once and never again.
But just to show what a good actor he was all who knew him said Ernie was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet, and then some!

[pennytrains]

He was definitely a character actor. Of course his characters always had a healthy dose of Ernie in their personalities, but he was excellent at defining his characters. Shack has plenty in common with Ernie’s character in Bad Day at Black Rock and maybe a little with Harry Booth from The Black Hole, but not a lot of Shack shows up in Quinton McHale or Rogo.