RMT Statue Of Liberty

Hi Everyone - in the past I've put up several posts of my visit to the Statue Of Liberty.  Perhaps Lady Liberty is one of the greatest artistic representations of America's values for all time.  It also happens to be largely made out of metal and tinplate.  Go figure.  

RMT/Aristocraft has created a wonderful model of Lady Liberty for toy train layouts.  Typically if you go to Liberty Island there are more models of the Statue then you can shake a stick at.  There are quite a few that are spot on for Standard Gauge and Tinplate layouts, however getting them off the island can represent some challenges and shipping them can be costly (and they are delicate). 

Hence this RMT Model:

http://www.readymadetoys.com/buandac8uma8.html

It is lit, it is accurate and it is the right price.  The model above is not an accurate representation of the RMT product, go out to their link (above) and check it out.  It is as solid a Christmas gift as you can get for any train nut.

Marc

More Iron Monarch Youtube

A little bit more of the Monarch with a new streamliner on the pike as well.  Ya, I know the train room is a mess.  I'll clean it up later!  

Marc

Youtube of the Iron Monarch Set

Here is my first shot at a Youtube for the Iron Monarch set from MTH/American Flyer.  Let me know what you think!


Marc

Iron Monarch from American Flyer

As many people know, I am not a box saver.  However this new Iron Monarch set from MTH may make me use some of my meager closet space to save these wonderful little holders.  The graphics and quality of these boxes is really outstanding, they were a major surprise when opening up the set.

Now I am just shooting a few shots of the set because it I have some Youtube videos I would rather post.  This set is really nice.  I have an original Hamiltonian set and the cars are almost spot on.  The red color is bright and vibrant and the engine cranks out more smoke than my train room can handle.  This isn't an official review, I just like the set.  It's by far one of the nicest sets I own.

I know, I just haven't had much time this year to  really do much posting.  The recent weather here in the Northeast hasn't exactly helped either.  I am still posting this off of a mobile broadband access point (no fast internet here).  Been a hectic and tough year.  I am really looking forward to 2012.

I am uploading the Youtube videos now.  Looks for me to post them sometime this Sunday.  I wills start posting more as we head into prime time toy train season.

Marc

Buddy L

Just fishing through some of pics from Sacremento...

Art In Tinplate

This is No. 1 gauge, not Standard gauge. I posted it because to my eye this is really beautiful tinplate. It's a professionally restored Karl Bub 2260 cataloged between 1927 and 1935. It's a pretty good representation of the Bavarian S 3/6, even though the 4-4-2 (Atlantic) wheel arrangement does not match the S 3/6 (Pacific 4-6-2.) Bub didn't make a triple coupled loco in No. 1 gauge.

Tom Sefton's Collection

Some of the shots from the amazing Tom Sefton Collection at the CSRM. This is just a "wow" when you see it. Take a look at the pics and layout, you'll get it.

Marc

PHOTOS: Howard/Voltamp Repro Set

Here are photos of the set showing detail and the quality of these hand made trains. The loco, in the style of the early 2 inch gauge Howard mining loco, has hand embossed riveting, is beautifully built on a wooden undercarriage like many early American electric toy trains, it's beautifully painted and decaled, has an authentic looking reverse lever and wooden encased headlamp, and overall it is authentic looking, as you can see by comparing it to the photo of an original Howard loco included in the current Ebay listing for a similar set (110724417466.) The cars are patterned after the rare Voltamp/Boucher dump cars. The well made hoppers are mounted on a strong wooden car base just like originals, the paint job and decaling is superb, and the cars and loco have Voltamp/Boucher style couplers.

Gotta love this...

I know, not a huge layout by any means, it just caught my eye as a unique little opportunity... Race cars and trains do fit together oh so nicely!

Marc

STANDARD GAUGE HOWARD LOCO

New acquisition: in the style of Howard and Voltamp/Boucher, this is a scratch built set in Standard gauge.

And more CSRM

Tell me if you are getting tired of these pics.... I'm still on the first floor. I'm not even near the Sefton collection. The Cab forward (coming up next) is really amazing in person.

Marc

CSRM - Details...

Some details just cannot be missed. Steps like this say "class, style, comfort and attention to detail". This is the Virginia and Truckee car at CSRM.

Marc

CSRM Virginia & Truckee Car

How nice is this car? It's even better on the inside! Somehow I don't feel like we've taken too many steps forward in transportation! Sure, I can get to the coast in 6 hours (not including the TSA, time to the airports, parking and so on). This just looks so much more civilized.

Marc

CSRM Cont.

Ever see this on a Lionel 300 series car? Standard Gauge is great however I've almost never seen this kind of artwork on any toy train!

Marc

More CSRM

Another shot of the amazing engine you see when you walk into the main area of the museum. Just amazing.

They have these wonderful models all over the place. Check this one out. By the way, they also have quite a few folks walking around the museum in period railroad outfits that are extremely well tuned with knowledge and info on the exhibits.

A cool little mock up of a station and a wonderful shot of the inside of the stations. They have well articulated mannequins throughout the museum in almost every exhibit. They are well done in period dress appropriate for the subject matter.

Gorgeous. The colors in person are even better.

Marc

You are just blown away....

When you walk into the museum, you walk into a massive display of planning and executing the railroads across California and the West transformed America. Again, this picture DOES NOT do this justice. If you want to learn something, read through as much as you can at the exhibit and try not to gawk at the amazing engine that is part of it.

As an aside, I've been wanting to go this museum for the last several years. It's multiple levels of real trains is mind boggling and the Sefton Collection just caps it.

Marc

CSRM Walking in...

Don't even start to think these pictures can do this museum justice. This is the train you get to see when you walk in the door. This museum is the DEAL of the century (by the way), at $9 a person for admission, it just doesn't get better than this.

They have a little bit of Tom Sefton's collection down near the entrance. You know, the cheap stuff like the original Buddy L stuff in a sandbox, the 2 7/8 Converse Trolley and an original Lionel Station and some O gauge. This is in the foyer of the museum, not the museum itself.

So as far as I'm concerned, I got at least half of my nine bucks worth right in the foyer. By the way, the gift shop isn't bad. That have a decent selection of railroad books. A little pricey but they need to support one of the best museums in the world so I tend to want to cut them some slack. More soon.

Marc

There are museums and then there are "museums"

If you are an art aficionado or devotee, there are museums in every state and in every country you can go to. Almost every one of them will be good and some will be excellent. Others are beyond excellent, you almost have to pinch yourself to believe what you are seeing. The Louvre in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Museum of Modern Art in New York are a few of those kinds of places.

I liken this experience to art because when you see the trains in the California State Railroad Museum, you'll get it like I did. These things are art. It's tempting to think toy trains are art. They are. But they are art imitating life which is (in fact) art. The paint, the color, the metals and smells are just heavenly. I've been to the Vatican, I've been in the Sistine Chapel more than once and this is pretty close to that experience.

The California State Railway Museum is one of those museums where you need to pinch yourself to make sure that either:

A. You aren't sleeping or dreaming.

B. That you haven't left the planet and are now at the Pearly Gates of Railroad Heaven.

C. You want to make sure blood and oxygen flow to all parts of your body is still normal.

I had to walk through this museum twice to absorb it. There is a two hour parking limit down the Streets of Old Sacramento. Just don't do it. You aren't leaving that place in two hours. And even if you do, there are more trains and a Steamboat behind the museum. Just don't. Park in the lot across the street and figure you'll be there at least 4 hours. And bring a camera with a ton of space on your memory card. I took 600 shots without blinking an eye. I brought a really nice Oympus 13.5 megapixel camera and now I kind of wish I brought the Nikon. The town of Old Sacramento wonderful as well. Not quite a religious experience, it still is a place where you can spend (easily) a day walking around, looking at the shops and making friends with some wonderful people. Loved it and I want to go back and ride the riverboat and the trains.

By the way, the museum only offers train rides on the weekend. If I didn't have locked and loaded airline tickets....

So I'll post the pics outside of this little blurb I've written. Blogger (the Google Software) has a tendency to jumble up the text when I insert the pictures, so I'll try to keep my prose short and sweet.

Marc

California State Railroad Museum Coming At Ya!

I visited the wonderful Tom Sefton collection and museum in Sacramento this week. All I can say is that I was struck dumb. I have so many pics and thoughts to post, it will basically refresh the entire blog page. Let me settle down a bit first, I have some bad jetlag and need to figure out which timezone I am in...

Marc

Some pics for the forum

Some of you requested I post some pics of Mr Cohen doing his thing. I dug back in the archive and found a few. I know I have more, they are just part of about 10,000 pictures I have stored so far on my server..

I'll keep digging. In the meantime, I'd respectfully ask that these not be re-used at all for any reason. I didn't put a watermark on these as I felt that it was inappropriate, I've uploaded the full pictures as they came from my camera.

Remember, just one guy used all of those machines to turn out standard gauge and 2 7/8 gauge trains. The car he is holding up is his prototype knobby roof day coach.

Marc