O gauge Trains

[monaco75]

I know there are a couple other model train buffs on here. Thought some of you might enjoy these.

I havn’t had room to have the trains out in many years. They have been boxed up in a closet waiting to come out again someday. Moving into the new place has given me a place to play with them, in the sunroom.

Bought some lumber, and got a table built. Also went out and treated myself to some train goodies this week. Its nice having them out again.

It all started with the old lionel starter set in the middle. It escalated from there pretty quickly lol.

I had a MTH railking Union Pacific, afterwards that crapped the bed years ago. Then came the mth premier new york central. This one has always been finicky. Its an old proto sound 1 engine, and is a pain to get going. I havn’t been able to get her going this time around yet. She’ll turn on, and make noise, and smoke, but is stuck in neutral at the moment.

Next came an MTH P.A. Steam engine. Another proto sound 1 engine, but is a bit more reliable. All functions still work, and she chugs right along. I have the complete passenger car set for her. Only 2 on the table currently.

I went out, and treated myself to this bad boy today. A lionel Chicago & North western diesel. She’s a bit of an older engine. Been sitting on the shelf at the local hobby shop for quite some time. Made what I though a pretty good deal in her. This is the first engine I’ve had where I can really utilize my lionel train master command control setup. Very cool! I love the hirn on this one! Sounds great! Has a lot of detail, and a bunch of different functions. Need to get some proper freight cars for her.

Went to Daytona earlier this week to what seems to be the last real model train shop left in FL. Picked up the buildings, and some other stuff there. Hoping to expand the setup here soon.

The whole layout in motion

 

[LeBaron1973]

Looks great Zac, well done. Happy model railroading.

 

[LocuMob]

I always love seeing model railroads, I used to pour through my dad's old magazines. My dad has a stash of HO motive power and rolling stock and even a room built for a layout, but I don't think it will ever happen, sadly.

 

[78Brougham]

Very cool Zac! Great work.

I just put up an MTH setup on a shelf I built around my game room after Christmas. I was amazed on how the technology has changed since I was a kid.
Running two trains on the same track was almost impossible back in the day. And the sound nowadays... amazing!

 

[DocMcNeedy]

Zac, nice set up...I used to run a table/ping pong table with 4 tracks. My uncles had the 1950's- vintage O scale that I used to play with as a kid in the 60's thru 70's. I added to my own collection here and there over the years. Probably have 5 or 6 engines and 30+ cars on shelves in basement now. I occasionally still go to train shows in Minnesota. usually get the interest to run them around the Thanksgiving - Christmas period when we used to run track around the tree as a kid, too. Had the buildings and accessories for a small town, etc...

 

[polara71]

 

[DocMcNeedy]

I always love seeing model railroads, I used to pour through my dad's old magazines. My dad has a stash of HO motive power and rolling stock and even a room built for a layout, but I don't think it will ever happen, sadly.

I used to pour thru my Dad's old magazines...But, they weren't railroad mags...

 

[rapidtrans]

I work in half "O". Still designing my new layout for the basement. Fun to set up a loop once in a while just to keep them operating.

 

[mr. fix it]

That's cool to see this
I think most of us as kids given our possible common ages here that we all had a train to play with at one time as kids.

 

[DCMC]

I was limited on space and have N scale, worked at a house that had Z scale and my helper almost put a piece of ceiling plaster through it when his foot slipped off the floor joist. A great movie to watch is the Station Agent, filmed here in Northern NJ.

 

[Samplingman]

Hey, now we’re talking! Nice work! I’m in my house 13 years with a full basement and I still have boxes of stuff, LOL. MTH has some good stuff but early Proto 1 and the infamous “two clings of death” gave them a short life expectancy. When the internal battery dies the first power to the tracks from the transformer typically fries the board, thus the stuck in neutral issue.

Next week is Toy Train week in York PA, the biggest TCA convention in the country. Now if they could do it around the same time as Chrysler’s in Carlisle I might never go back to Jersey. The wife says I only have time for one hobby so when the vert is done I’ll be putting a fully sceniced railroad in the trunk. Happy Railroading!

 

[cm23uoc]

My late 70s Märklin set is up in the attic packed away for decades. My dad enjoyed it actually more than I and was grateful to be able to afford a set for Christmas for me.
I leaned mostly towards the streamlined engines, not the traditionally designed Steamers. These were my favorites.

 

[67Monaco]

When I was a kid I had N scale then later HO. Been looking at Z scale for funzies. But I gotta get the nit-picky issues on the barge fixed first.

 

[mrfury68]

I set up an HO layout every year around November through February. A lot of the buildings are Plasticville that my dad bought when I was a kid. It was our tradition every year around Christmas to set up the platform. My son and I continue to do it and we have grown it to include an HO slot car track and some beautiful hand made buildings from my Uncle Mike. It is built to resemble an old steel mill town circa early 70s that were so prevalent here in SW Pennsylvania. Of course most of the cars on the road are Mopar.

 

[PH29Fury]

Very Nice guys....I'm envious...mine have been boxed up for 14 years...man that time went by fast!!! Hope to get them out someday!!!

 

[monaco75]

Zac, nice set up...I used to run a table/ping pong table with 4 tracks. My uncles had the 1950's- vintage O scale that I used to play with as a kid in the 60's thru 70's. I added to my own collection here and there over the years. Probably have 5 or 6 engines and 30+ cars on shelves in basement now. I occasionally still go to train shows in Minnesota. usually get the interest to run them around the Thanksgiving - Christmas period when we used to run track around the tree as a kid, too. Had the buildings and accessories for a small town, etc...
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Gotta love those old ZW transformers! Always get a kick out of seeing those. I need to step my game up on rolling stock. All I have is whats currently on the table. Damn are they pricey though. $60-100 just for a freight car.

That's cool to see this
I think most of us as kids given our possible common ages here that we all had a train to play with at one time as kids.

It’s a shame how it is now a days. It is a quick dying hobby. No interest in it from the younger generations. Kinda like the car hobby. The older guys with a little more disposable income are into it, so the company’s make great, but expensive stuff. The younger guys can’t afford it, or mom and dad wont go out and drop a grand on a little setup.

The local hobby shop has one isle for trains in the back. When asking them about it, none of em knew a thing about the trains. I was told all the “train guys” retired. Could tell all the product had been sitting there for a long time.

Hey, now we’re talking! Nice work! I’m in my house 13 years with a full basement and I still have boxes of stuff, LOL. MTH has some good stuff but early Proto 1 and the infamous “two clings of death” gave them a short life expectancy. When the internal battery dies the first power to the tracks from the transformer typically fries the board, thus the stuck in neutral issue.

Next week is Toy Train week in York PA, the biggest TCA convention in the country. Now if they could do it around the same time as Chrysler’s in Carlisle I might never go back to Jersey. The wife says I only have time for one hobby so when the vert is done I’ll be putting a fully sceniced railroad in the trunk. Happy Railroading!

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Yes! Damn proto 1! lol. The new york central was a gift from grandma many years ago. It was purchesed on ebay. It came in not working. Had to go to a repair shop right out of the box. It worked for a while, but now seems to be doing the same thing.

The train guy in daytona was amazed it still had the white 9 volt battery. Said they were real old. He sold me some new batteries for them. I switched it out before powering it up, but its still sitting here stuck in neutral.

Also put a new battery in the P.A. Steamer. She still goes luckily. They are a pain to get going. Cant have any other draw on the track until they are locked out of neutral. Once its locked out, then I can put the passenger cars on the track behind it.

Very Nice guys....I'm envious...mine have been boxed up for 14 years...man that time went by fast!!! Hope to get them out someday!!!

It’s nice having them out. Thought they would never see a table again for quite some time. Even toyed with the idea of selling them a while back. Happy I didn’t!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

My layout is HO scale. HO scale cars are 1/87 scale (roughly 2/3 the size of a typical Hot Wheels car). Not a whole lot of C bodies in that scale, but here's one towing an Airstream on my layout.

 

[monaco75]

My layout is HO scale. HO scale cars are 1/87 scale (roughly 2/3 the size of a typical Hot Wheels car). Not a whole lot of C bodies in that scale, but here's one towing an Airstream on my layout.

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Very cool! Any whole layout pics?

 

[stubs300]

I'm into O myself, you need a big house for a layout!
My 300 trunk and top as a train yard!

Custom paint job under construction, I'm into C&NW myself!

 

[Fury440]

Wow, great train stories, brings back a lot of memories.

My early train was a Christmas present in 1949, it was an O gauge steam engine with 5 or 6 freight cars. That Christmas my dad spent the whole holiday crawling around the floor making train sounds and telling me and my younger brother to stay off the track. Later on when he lost interest, I got very interested in the "electrics" and that interest guided me into electronics and an engineering degree. During my teens my interests switched to cars, then I discovered computers. In 1971 I bought my first house and turned 1/2 the basement into a fancy HO train layout. Had a blast and collected quite a bit of HO rolling stock. However I moved west in 1974 and had to pack everything for the move. Between career, raising a family and running a few businesses my trains rested waiting for me to get time to play. Well they now reside in a big trunk and wait. Unfortunately, I've put it off too long as I've got cataracts and macular degeneration so detailed HO work is no longer possible. My grandson has just reached 10, maybe I can pry him away from programming Minecraft and building robots with is dad to see if he would be willing to accept the challenge of automating a bunch of old HO hardware. Who knows, could be integrated into his Minecraft world.

Ever wonder why so many model railroaders are also C-body owners? Must have something to do with bigger is better and you can't every have enough horsepower!!