Grand Central & Christmas

Last Saturday I organized a trip and took 12 members of my local train club to New York City riding on the New Jersey Transit Northeast corridor line. Once in town we visited Grand Central Station to see the spectacular new light show and the MTA museum branch in the station. There is some tinplate on display and the Lionel layout is drawing a big crowd (see the write up in the December issue of CTT.) Other attractions we visited included FAO Schwartz and "The Station" multi-gauge layout at the CitiGroup building. FAO Schwartz has a nice contemporary Lionel display, but my cast iron floor toy collector friend and I spent more time in the antique toy department tucked away around the corner from Lionel. There we found many high end tin toy treasures suitable as a gift for the toy train collector who has everything!
Jim

More On Bridges

SGB reader Jon Hinderer sent in these great shots of his favorite standard gauge bridge, the American Flyer "Salt Lake" wooden span. Jon is building a layout but unfortunately construction is on hold since he found out that his new Pride Lines Voltamp interurban won't clear the bridge! I'm with Jon on this one - I really like these AF bridges although I don't own one. I like the longer version with the approaches, light, and telephone pole castings. Does anyone have that version on their layout?

Jim

Steam Layout?

I just saw this and it intrigued me. Has anyone ever seen this? A steam layout?

I was curious. How many people have experience with real steam? What happens if you mix it with a regular layout?

It looks to me like this stuff is pretty controlled. I've seen quite a few steam engines in my life and these look pretty cool. I saw an article some time back in CTT about faking steam power. This company (The Great Steam Company) also has some really cool steam driven people. Check them out (especially the machine shops they have). To coin a Monty Python phrase; And now for something completely different.

M

Lionel/MTH Lawsuit Not a Done Deal... Again...

Lionel weasled out of paying or admitting any wrong-doing by yet again playing the appeals game.

This isn't reporting and I don't have to be fair or balanced (usually a phrase used by people that are neither).

It's my opinion. I'm sick of hearing about this lawsuit and I don't like it when corporations dodge responsibility by legal manuevering.

Check out the CTT article on it by using the link above. Lionel should have paid their bills and moved on. Make some great trains and let the customers decide with their wallets and loyalty.

Guess that rooster flew the coop today. More depositions! More attorneys fees! Less wonderful toy trains.

M

"Any Boy Will Be Proud To Own One Of Them"

...but I'd prefer to have three in a row! Picking up on the accessories thread and Marc's post about bridges, the Lionel 280 bridge is my "accessory of the day." I've always felt that the little 280 standard gauge bridge is an underrated item. I only have one on my layout in a spot where I could use two, but I haven't found the matching late light green/nickel plates piece that I need just yet. Introduced in 1931 and catalogued until the end of the prewar era, the 280, 281 (dual bridge) and 282 (triple span) boasted a design "taken from the great railroad bridges in America" complete with "a foot path on each side with a handsome portal at either end of the path." Does anyone have two of these, or even better, three of them in a row on your layout? Send us pictures of your single 280 bridge or multiple bridges, and we'll post them.

Jim

Congratulations Mike!

Congratulations to our good friend and regular SGB reader

Mike Isenberg, whose really beautiful standard gauge under the holiday tree themed photo appears on pages 18 and 19 of the just out January 2007 issue of Classic Toy Trains magazine. Mike is a real pro when it comes to the graphic arts and his photo shows just how talented he is with a camera. The photo shows Mike's magnificent Lionel black 400E circling under a dazzling tree with lots of great accessories in the background. One of Mike's wonderful Coke billboard reproductions can also be seen in the shot. Mike's photo is so good that it just blows away the two other photos included in the two page spread. 'Way to go Mike!

I happen to know that, in spite of how good it is, it took Mike several years to get his photo into CTT. I gave up trying to get them to publish any of my shots. Once I sent them what I thought was a charming photo of a couple of my old war horse standard gauge locos that were seeing duty on my layout at the time. They wrote me back saying that the locos were too scratchy, and didn't I have something that looked nicer (newer)! So I wrote them back and asked: "Isn't your magazine called Classic Toy Trains?" Well, they backtracked a bit at this, but rejected my photo anyway. They have their standards and publish the magazine the way they want to, but CTT's glossy, over-lit, fluffed up photo pages, which are mostly devoid of standard gauge, leave me wishing for something that better captures the charm, nostalgia, authenticity, and originality of our genuine Classic trains. We need a Classic Pre-War Toy Trains magazine or something like that with editors who appreciate the trains so many of us are collecting and running in addition to the new stuff. But then again, we have Marc's Standard Gauge Blog. So how about it? Send us some photos of your trains, accessories and layouts and we'll put them right here!

Jim

Seen any new bridges lately?

I like bridges. It's one of the reasons why I love New York City. You can have the restaraunts, the Bohemian lifestyle. I'll keep the cornbeef sandwiches, the bridges and the trains.

If there is one place I'd love to see some innovation, it is in the bridges. I'd love a Brooklyn Bridge. How about a standard gauge Bascule Bridge (saw one the other day when I was driving by Newark Airport). I drove by the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges yesterday on the FDR (yes, I also saw the Hellgate). They would look great even in an abbreviated form (as standard gauge tends to do). Plus instead of running JUST to Ward's Island (like the Hellgate) they also run to a slightly more populated area.

I'll try and dig up some pictures of the old Dorfan and Ives Bridges. They were nice but they couldn't handle heavy motive power or anything going fast. They are generally missing most of their paint but they had a quaintness about them that was always kind of nice. Go easy on the old Hellgate. It's getting overdone.

M

Books, Catalogs, and Paper

One of the aspects of the hobby I enjoy is collecting books, certain catalogs, and other paper like instruction sheets and magazine advertisements. I have, I think, a pretty good library in terms of books on prewar standard gauge, but only a small collection of related paper. I know that there is a paper collector's group that meets at York. I sent in a request to join a few months ago but I must have used an old address because the envelope was returned. If anyone has current contact information for the paper group please post it in the comments section. In addition to books I do keep the TCA Quarterly magazines I receive, and I buy back issues from time to time when I see them at train meets. The various Greenberg's Guides probably form the core of my standard gauge related book collection. Over the years I've managed to acquire most of them that focus on prewar trains. It's a shame that it is unlikely that they will ever be reprinted. The TCA Lionel book is also a must for any serious collector. David Doyle's book on prewar Lionel is a welcome contemporary addition to the library. Doyle also edited the recently published 6th edition of O'Briens Collecting Toy Trains - another excellent recent tome. I sure hope that there are more such books about prewar tinplate on the horizon.

Jim

Mark Your Trains For Safety

There's an interesting article in the latest TCA National Headquarters News penned by Gordon Wilson entitled "Mark Your Trains For Safety." Gordon suggests using an "Invisible Ink" pen to mark your trains, so that no one can do the old switcheroo on you and claim you sold them something not as you advertised on EBAY, or just for identification in case of theft. Here's the bottom of one of my standard gauge tinplate tenders. No markings are visible, but thanks to the pen it does carry my TCA number written with the invisible ink pen.

The pen has a built in ultraviolet light source that you use to "see" the invisible writing.

The pens are available from the TCA Desert Division in quantities of one or more at $10.00 per unit including shipping. Send checks to Robert Herman, Desert Division Treasurer, 11429 N. 68Th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85254.

It's too bad that we have to take precautions., but better safe than sorry.

Jim

Where's the Railway System?

Ives got it. A "system" in 1909. We all assume trains are now made in a system. But with different means of control (TMCC vs. DCS) and different radius of track, high rail vs. low rail (or whatever isn't "super detailed") can anyone claim to have a system?

Does system mean ecosystem or was it just a clever way to sell trains 100 years ago? I like it, at least conceptually. Plus I think the advertising is neat. Better than the current dribble from toy companies and/or utter gibberish like drug/car/home improvement or whatever companies.

Should new trains and toys be made as part of a system? Seems like the concept has been lost (except by wildly successful companies like.... Lego).

M

Road Trip

Marc posted recently about accessories, so here's a look at one of my favorite accessories - my "accessory of the day" for today. This American Flyer goodie is a tough one to find in original, complete, condition because of the "zincpest" problem. Luckily, there are replacement castings available for some of the components that make up this accessory, which is known in some circles as "the monument." It's an impressive piece that looks great on any standard gauge layout.

Well, I'm off to Reading, Pennsylvania in a little while to attend the Great Train Expo there. My dad was born in Reading and he used to take me and my brothers there on day trips when we were kids. It's been a long time since I've be there, though. Dad died a few years ago but I'll be thinking of him as I drive to the show. My parents got me started with trains, so I'll be continuing the family tradition as I walk the aisles. I don't go to these shows looking for anything in particular, rather I just like to look at trains and talk to people about what's on their tables. You never know what you'll find, even at these dealer-oriented exhibitions. Books on tinplate, catalogs, and other paper and paraphernalia often show up, and once in a while some standard gauge tinplate treasure!

Jim Kelly

Lionel's 10 Greatest?

The December issue of American Heritage magazine contains an article entitled "Lionel: The Greatest Gift" penned by David Lander. Mr. Lander writes a column titled "The Buyable Past" for the American history oriented magazine. I picked up a copy of the issue so I could take a look at the Lionel article. I'm not a regular reader of this particular magazine, but I must say that there is quite a lot of interesting reading contained in this issue.

The Lionel article is a pretty good capsule history of the firm much like others that have appeared in print. There are some interesting photographs including one of Mr. Cowen showing off a 2-7/8" gauge piece to a youngster. One of the more interesting items in the article is a side bar listing "Lionel's 10 Greatest - A Roster Of The Company's Most Desirable Products" as selected by a collector named Michael Shames. Mr. Shames considers the 10 greatest Lionel products to be: The 20th Century Limited Set; The Blue Comet Set; The 400E loco; The Santa Fe four car set; The GG1; the 700E; The Hellgate; The 840; The 444; and finally, the 921 three piece terrace set.

I can't quibble with too many of Shames' picks, but in a few cases I think I'd make some substitutions. For example, I'd rather have a brass #7 than a 921 terrace set. And of course, I'd rather have ANYTHING in 2-7/8" gauge than a Santa Fe set or a GG1. However, It's fun to compare notes with this list, and the article is worth a read, as is the rest of the issue. Look for a great picture of Jackie Gleason having a drink with Toots Shor, and read the capsule review of the new movie documentary about the famous New York club owner. Yes, this magazine has a lot of appeal to an aging baby boomer like me!

Jim Kelly

Ask your dealer....

Most of the train dealers around here suck. They have squat for tinplate and charge outrageous prices.

I do miss the days when a dealer or even a manager in a department store was a trusted confidant; willing to make suggestions on the big and little stuff. Most train dealers carry the big money items; motive power.

I hope they take a page out of Lionel's old playbook. I know it sounds kind of silly but what does Apple sell more of off season? $200 iPods or $1800 computers? The accessory will always be strong!

M

Of Toy Trains And Department Stores

Thank you Marc, for inviting me aboard the Standard Gauge Blog as a team member. I'm looking forward to adding a thought or two about our wonderful big tinplate standard gauge trains from time to time.

This is me c. 1954 or 1955 (age 5 or 6) probably at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia. I forget what I asked for that year, but by the expression on TV personality Sally Starr's face and Santa's glassy eyed stare I figure that it might have been something impossible like a 400E State set.



Speaking of department stores, the other day there was a report on one of the network TV news shows about their resurgence. I did a double take when this came on. Department stores? ...those retail dinosaurs that we city dweller baby boomers remember oh so well from our youth? Well, it seems as though shoppers have now decided that they like the big aisles and the warm and fuzzy feel of department store shopping once again. I've always enjoyed wandering through the big old department stores. I never warmed up to the specialty store or to the mega-mall shopping experience.

When I was a kid here in Philadelphia we had five major department stores downtown: three on one corner alone at 8th & Market (Lit Brothers, Strawbridge & Clothier, and Gimbels,) and two others: Snellenbergs at 11th & Market (which later became Philadelphia Community College's first campus,) and the great John Wanamaker Philadelphia flagship store at 13th & Filbert. They are all gone now. The last full line store was the Strawbridge store which closed earlier this year. The hulking building now sits cold and empty with its huge display windows empty and dark probably for the first time in decades. What a sad sight at the holidays. I used to love to go into that store at this time of the year with it's brass chandeliers on the main floor all decked out with bright red lamp shades for Christmas. But all that's left now department store-wise in downtown Philly is the scaled back Macy's store housed in the bottom three floors of the historic Wanamaker building.


Years ago the great old flagship department stores used to have wonderful train displays around the holidays. I can remember watching the trains on what seemed like a huge layout at Gimbels with my mom while waiting in line to see Santa. The Wanamaker store featured a great floor full of toys including electric trains, and they actually had a functioning monorail that ran around the ceiling of the toy floor that kids could actually ride in! Talk about fantasyland!

Wouldn't it be great to once again have a big store train display featuring standard and 0 gauge tinplate trains? Well, I guess it's too much to hope that the old time department stores return with their toy departments and train displays. But who knows? I saw an interesting post on another forum about the Lionel display at FAO Schwartz in New York City. Maybe there's hope yet! Standard gauge train displays in stores once again, now that's an item on my grownup Christmas wish list.

Jim Kelly

Classic Models Corp Flyer

I was going through some 31 year old TTOS Bulletins (1975) and this flyer just fell out.

It's kind of like finding the Rosetta Stone. Ok, not that cool but certainly not bad.

These CMC trains come up all the time on eBay, in auctions, all over the place. There's always speculation about them, especially in the tinplate forums.

The one that is missing is the Camelback. That's probably my next quest.

I actually have a few of these items; I have one of CMC's Bicentennial engines. It's kind of neat. I also have a passenger set. I have yet to put a DC power source on the tracks so they haven't seen any runtime yet. Still, these things were a bit different. The trucks on the tenders and boxcars are very different. They are a bit more scale than Lionel, McCoy, etc. but they don't seem to stay together very well. Brains or beauty?

The other really interesting thing is the prices. Makes you kind of reflect and wonder if all the bellyaching we hear about current prices is really merited. Granted, when I go through all of those old magazines it seems like all those guys with mutton chop sideburns and collars the size of the Jersey Turnpike are all smiling. All of them are ear to ear. Maybe it's because they knew they were at a moment in time when people had a shot at reasonable prices and innovative, low run vendors? Or maybe they were just looking forward to a high tech future? We'll just have to ask them when we see them. Maybe we should be smiling too?

M

Wanamaker colors but no Wanamaker....

My buddy Mike is a bit of an Ives aficionado. He found some interesting original Ives sets. The set to the left poses an interesting problem.

It's an Ives set in Wanamaker colors but is missing Wanamaker markings. A curveball from Ives in the 20's? Whatever the case; it's a very nice looking set.

Marc

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors....

It's a rumor so don't go nuts with the above letter head. I used it because it differentiates the Lionel of new from the Lionel of old.

There is a rumor that I have now heard from more than one source (it's out there on the O Gauge Forums) that Lionel is going to sally forth back into the world of Tinplate (meaning prewar O or Standard Gauge trains) AND that Lionel has some suprises.

Can anyone fill in some blanks? TMCC or non-TMCC? Why now? Are they going to dabble in the market or will they stay in the market? Standard or O?

I have some items I would like to see Lionel produce. I guess I would love to know who they are getting their information from and how they are studying this part of the market? I'm all for them jumping into the fracas of tinplate. One thing for sure, whatever they do won't go un-noticed!

M

Jim Kelly is in the house!

Jim Kelly has answered my call for help! He will be periodically contributing to the blog (as his time permits).

To put it bluntly; I am really glad to have someone of Jim's caliber reading the blog, let alone writing for it.

Here's his Erector Plane flying high above his basement layout.

I've been trying to get my hands on some American Flyer planes myself. I've sent several notes to Santa Claus yet nothing has appeared.

I am looking forward to Jim's writing. If anyone else would like to join as a moderator and publisher, please let me know. As we have all seen from recent political elections, blogs have power, especially when many opinions and ideas percolate freely.

Marc

Attention to detail...

Bob sent me these great pics of his layout. Check out some of the prewar Jefferson Sales features (like the trees) features he has on the layout. You'll need to blow it up to really catch the detail.

Even in larger tinplate the attention to the little things (like people and cars and the wall around the power station) really has an impact.

Also, click on the link above to see Bob's gorgeous 390E in action (a movie at the end of the pictures) as well as his family's amazing Flyer collection. This guy has one heck of a diverse layout and collection. I am really glad he shared it with us.

Pride Lines Voltamp

You can't tell me that you haven't seen this wonderful bit of innovation from Pride Lines. Man these guys are good!

Every time I look at that Pride Lines Voltamp Trolley I get Goosebumps. It's actually one of the nicest standard gauge items I have seen produced by any manufacturer.

I can't wait to see the Tinplate Times review on this one!

I wonder what these things will be pulling??


Marc

About a Gazzillion Auctions...

Ok, so there aren't gazillions of auctions. Maybe 3 or 4 really good one's. Here's a nice pic of a really nice bit of power for any layout (Christmas included).

I've seen a few posts on the forums about powering layouts. Something you need to remember: not all trains are AC. Some are DC. Quite a few of the really old one's are DC. Most of the newer transformers are AC. So when an old engine just sits there and buzzes at you.... Don't say I didn't warn ya!

On Dec. 17 (my Brother's Birthday) there's the Westchester, NY Train show... That's actually a pretty good show most of the time. it isn't cheap but they do have a decent selection and walking around that big old county center is kind of fun.

I've been frustrated a bit lately. Quite a few folks are reading the blog but almost nobody is contributing. I was reading an old TTOS bulletin with a very long article that was an interview with Louis Hertz. One thing you could say about him; he was knowledgable and he was very giving with the knowledge or thoughts he had.

I need everyone not to hoard their knowledge, thoughts, pictures of layouts, whatever. Send me your Christmas layout pics, your general layout pics. If you have a favorite train, take a digital picture and send it. If you don't have a camera I have about 10 disposable cameras in my basement. I'll send it to you, take the pics, send it back to me, I'll get the pics developed and post them!

Come on folks, I have been at this for two years and I can count the contributors to the blog on two hands. This isn't the old days. Heck, I work for a company that makes digital cameras. Email me and I promise I will get you a discount on them. I just got a great one for 135 bucks! 7 megapixel, really cool.

If Bobby "Bacala" can play with trains, so can you! Contribute! (Yep, he is my favorite Soprano's character).

"It would be a crying shame to see this blog have an "accident" while it is walking across the tracks (if ya know what I mean)"

Hypothetically speaking of course.

M

Long before eBay....

In the days of yore, long before eBay, people went to "meets" where they purchased standard gauge toy trains cars. The cars were "less than perfect". But that was ok.

Because what the cars became was something else. Again, the above is from an old TTOS bulletin from 31 years ago. The interesting thing is that these cars are still affordable and get-able 24 hours a day on our favorite global flea market (eBay).

Heck, these are some damn nice interurbans. I have decided that I am going to peruse some train shows and the like and make myself one of these. I have at least a dozen cars that merit Interurban capability.

You have to admit these are pretty cool. I've been geeking about these since I saw them.

M

PS Definitions are in order - "Geeking" from the Urban Dictionary -

Overly excited about a simple thing; excited about something that most people would not find exciting.

Example: I'm totally geeking that I won that bean grinder on eBay.

Railroad Express - Check them out!

I've been buying stuff from these guys for a couple of years; they consistently have really cool DVD's of old trolleys, Lionel and Flyer and old trains from the New York Central and the like.

This isn't advertising, just a great vendor that has some very interesting train media.

Check out the link above.

Marc

Happy November!!

Happy November! Ok, it's that time of the year again. The tree is going up soon, the track is getting stacked in the living room and den instead of the attic or basement and we're thinking about trains.

There's a ton of great shows, eBay has standard gauge that doesn't suck and the auctions are numerous. The catalogs are out (and definitely not a disappointment I might add).

There's a whole bunch of newbies running wild on the O gauge forums talking about which MTH item they're going to buy first and on and on.

It's a nice time to play with toy trains. I just had the carpet on my stairs cleaned on the way up to my train room and when I tell you it's a mess, I'm not doing the word justice.

My problem is that I have a limited amount of room, I've tried to straddle back how much stuff I buy and I've started to play with the items I have and I still have just made a huge mess.

Oh yes, the picture caught my eye from an old TTOS Bulletin. It's of some scratchbuilt items. With all of the pictures of Clem's "Stomper" going up I thought everyone might get a kick out of these scratchbuilt items from 30 years ago. I'll post some more later; I just thought these were kind of neat.

M

Ross Custom Switches

Looks like Ross is working on some new switches. My experience with them in O gauge has been extremely positive. I have to believe stanard gauge would be similar. Here are the questions from RCS:

Hi Guys,

Today we have started work on our new standard gauge line of switches. WE NEED INPUT! I do have some standard gauge myself, noteably an MTH state set and a few others. But since

I am not a standard gauge guy, I am hoping for some input here as these switches (turnouts) are designed. I have a Rydin switch in hand at the moment and some MTH track.

I have determined the following;

1. The gauge between the rails is 2.1" Is this correct?

2. The height of the rail is .350"

3. The narrowest part of the frog, where the lead rails converge is .2"

4. I read somewhere that some engines have the large diameter gears (like some Marx O gauge) on the back of the wheels that can interfere with the wheels passing thru the frog. Is this true?

5. What about pickups? We want Pre-war and modern equipment to run thru them right?
Does pre-war have sliding center rail pickup shoes and what has pick up rollers?

6. What is the widest width of the wheel flanges that you have seen? What is the narrowest?

7. What is the widest wheel tread known? What is the narrowest?

8. What problems have you encountered with standard gauge switches? Such as stalling, derailing, etc.

9. The base will be plastic with plastic ties milled in. What scale shall we make the ties....I mean should we make them closer to scale width and spacing or more like the Rydin switch?

10. What scale is most standard gauge closest to...I.E. 1/32 or 1/29?

Today I am working on a prototype for a #4 switch. If all goes well we will make any number of different turnouts, YES, INCLUDING A 4-WAY!!

The faster I can get as much info as possible the sooner these will become reality.

HERE IS THE STANDARD MANS OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE JUST LIKE "O" GAUGERS!! PASS THIS INFO AROUND, ALL INPUT WILL BE APPRECIATED!

Happy Railroading!
Steve
President/CEORoss Custom Switches
steve@rossswitches.com

A couple of tidbits...

The November 4th NETTE auction is up here. Looks like some nice standard gauge. Mostly classic era stuff.

The new MTH catalog is up here. The site is slow as molasses. Can't imagine why...

Been a ton of debate and discussion on pictures at York.

I actually enjoy the discussion even if it doesn't yield any huge change. I won't babble anymore opinions about it on the blog.

Next time I get that voting card in the mail from the TCA, I am going to be looking for leaders that want to make a difference and a change. I'll be looking for leaders that tell me about their positions and not just what they are doing pre or post retirement....

M

SGMA Kickin some serious standard gauge butt!

Just follow the link up top to the Tinplate Times. The one thing about this hobby that I love is seeing happy people! And these were about to see some serious standard gauge metal running around the tracks in York, PA.

I just wish we had pics of the full layout and YouTube movies of the action (in lieu of me actually being there and helping out). Seeing thier happy faces really did make me wish I could have been there and offered up a couple of my trains.

Funny, I never thought there would be a part of any toy train hobby that told me I couldn't do something (like take pictures). Wierd :(

M

Rail Inspection Car

A little article from a 32 year old TTOS bulletin....

I'll post a few more pics of neat rail inspection cars. This is one scratchbuilt flavor.

It's really nice and Larry Archer does a great job of giving us a blueprint of how to make these.

MTH can't make everything. It might just be up to us.

Marc

Sorry for the strange rendering...

Hi All,

I have to apologize, the blog seems to be rendering itself a bit strangely depending on your browswer, screen real estate and so on. Or maybe it's just York and the Blog wants to go?

Whatever the reason, I'll figure it out and fix it. IE7 (the new Microsoft Browser) does do some caching and strange rendering that's different than IE6. At any rate, if you are seeing the blog incorrectly spaced do not adjust your monitor; it's my HTML.

Marc

A few new MTH Pics

The Prewar Times has a few new MTH Standard Gauge Tinplate pics. If Blogger behaves today the rest might get posted!

Go check them out and go check out O Gauge Watch's York report.

Marc

JAD Hiawatha

I've seen quite a few speculations about JAD in the Tinplate forums. Here is the TTOS Bulletin where the first JAD Loco (the Hiawatha) was introduced.

May 1974 was a good year for standard gauge. Actually 2006 and 2007 isn't too bad for standard gauge either.

Check out John Daniel's (it's Daniel by the way) introduction to JAD. This is a small part of the story of Daniel and the various toy train hobbyists in California. I've heard some good stories. They were a very, very creative bunch (think Dick Mayer, Ward Kimball, John Daniel and on and on).

Check out John's write up below.

M

PS Join TTOS and be part of a whole bunch of people that are also nuts for standard gauge stuff (and tend to take matters into their own hands!)

Check this out....

Here's a neat little trolley from George Templin. The ad was done in the 1970's. The train reminds me of a 2 7/8 gauge trolley. You can blow it up by clicking on it.

I always wonder how these low run items perform, especially over the decades? The train itself is unusual and has some real charisma.

Does anyone have one they can contribute pics of? 25 units and 30 plus years old. Sounds "rare" to me!

M

Holy Schnikey's!

I got a look at this catalog today. Wow! If there is one thing MTH definitely likes, it's our niche market.

I don't know about you but I am going to vote with my dollars. This catalog is fantastic. It is one heck of alot of tinplate.

I like trains. If I had to stop collecting tomorrow I'd still be happy with my collection. When catalogs like this come along, it makes me want to double the size of the pike and collecton. I should be medicated.

M

PS Holy Schnikey's is from one of my favorite flicks, Tommy Boy. It's a silly movie and I miss Chris Farley every time I watch it. A few of my others : Trading Places, Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia and almost any World War II movie (Battle of the Bulge and Bridge at Remagen are two of my favorites).

I saw this in a 1974 TTOS bulletin. It fascinated me for a couple of reasons; the scratchbuilt standard gauge Bi-Polar being one of them.

The little note from the builder Bill Crippen was also interested me; especially his last comment. This was over 33 years ago and yet the commentary is still very similar as it is today on our standard gauge groups and forums.

Still, in dark green, this whole set must really be something. It's another one of those "Where are they today?" discussions. I hope an amazing set like this wasn't broken up (as I've discovered even I have done without knowing all the facts).

Marc

Dorfan - What could have been?

There's no denying it, Dorfan Trains are some of the most unique trains ever developed. If only the castings had been better developed.

I often wonder what an innovative company like this could have done with some venture capital and a little better marketing with some less lethal rivals (like Lionel).

It's signficant that we have MTH and some smaller manufacturers building standard gauge but it must have been really exciting to have multiple manufacturers developing these toys in the early part of the 20th century.

I wonder what would have happened if companies like Dorfan had been allowed to develop their products unfettered by the economics of the times?

The Dorfan lithography was really amazing, especially on the freights. Maybe some standard gauge with less rivet detail and more litho?

Any thoughts?

Marc

Amazing 1 Truck Set

Check out this amazing standard gauge set. I was perusing some old TTOS bulletins and I saw this little set. How cool is this?

These one truck cars are really cool. I bet they don't need 072 curves either. I could have a layout that's practically z-scale up in my office and still have a standard gauge pike! I wonder where this amazing little set is now. Talk about a "one of a kind" masterpiece! So when everyone is waxing on about what they'd love to see a manufacturer make, this would be my addition!

M

PS The TTOS Bulletin this came from was May, 1974.

Something I'd like to see....

These were just some whistful trucks lying around here in CT. I thought they made a poetic picture. Useful, purposeful and un-used. Seems like a familiar refrain in the world of railroading.










I liked the little PA Weight car. I think I have seen something similar in standard gauge by Rich Art. I'll have to dig around and see what I can find. I also found some interesting stuff by John Daniel in a 1974 TTOS bulletin on JAD. I'll post it later.

M

Buffalo Terminal

Central Terminal Restoration Corporation 2006 Slide Show

Hi All - I was just goofing around on YouTube and I found a neat slide show on the revitalization of Buffalo's Central Terminal. This is the right thing to do with old relics like this. The World's Fair station (1933) has a very strong resemblance to this particular departure area....

M

PS The music wasn't the right choice, I'd shut off the sound.


Buffalo Central Terminal

A real turntable (that works!)

Danbury, CT Turntable

Was goofing around today at the Danbury Railway Museum. We went on one of the few working turntables in New England (or anywhere for that matter).

I posted a YouTube video of it rolling. The roundhouse is gone but the wonderful turntable remains, even through the 1955 flood in Danbury that put almost 5 feet of water over the turntable (hard to believe).

It was really fun riding it and seeing some idle motive power hanging out around New England in fall. The foliage is what drew us to Southern New England. I also got a look at some mint refinished gear like the Budd Cars and some incredible rolling stock. Damn, they'd be nice in standard gauge....
M


Real Turntable in Danbury, CT

Julia Nov. 11 2006 Auction

We're heading into that part of the year again. The part of the year I still haven't paid off from last year.

That's right, auction season! When train shows and auctions stretch an already negative bank balance even further!

The picture here is a rare C&F Interurban. It's part of an enormous and amazing collection of trains and antiques being sold by Julia Auctions. My experience with them has been positive. I've bought some items from them and they were exactly as described, well packed and expeditiously sent. I can't make that claim for every transaction every person has had with them but mine was extremely positive.

Go out to their website and check out the preliminary pics from this auction. Looks like a doosey!

M