Weekend Photos - December 2023

[healey36]

What? We blew right through November and no one started Weekend Photos? C'mon people...

Been busy here. Started a new paper building project for the Christmas display, this will be a block of storefronts:



Desperately trying to finish this for inclusion in this year's display...gonna have to work 24x7 to get there in the next few days.

A couple of small items acquired at local shows:



A nice little Marx 3553 tank car in 3/16-gauge (O-gauge) that I found at the Westminster train meet, and a Dinky Healey 100 found at the York Toy Show back on Thanksgiving weekend. I printed/assembled the box using a disc of broken-down box graphics I bought on the web years ago. Not the best print, but better than nothing.

In the one of the boxes of stuff found at a recent estate sale was a lonely lantern for Lionel 394 beacon. Just needed a tower, lamp, and bulb to go with it, lol. Found one in decent shape for just a few bucks on Ebay. After all of these years fooling with this stuff, first beacon I ever owned. Haven't tried it yet, but I understand they can be fiddly.

What are you folks up to?

[webenda]

I printed/assembled the box using a disc of broken-down box graphics I bought on the web years ago.
What are you folks up to?

We moved to a new old house located in Tornado Alley, Columbia, Kentucky. It has all new windows and a new roof. Still unpacking boxes. Fixing things that neither my wife, nor the inspector we hired, noticed when we checked out the house. Like... all the toilets leaked (one so bad the water to it was shut off.) Once we moved in we noticed the toilet tanks were filling up occasionally, even though the toilet had not been flushed. The list of mini-repairs goes on as we discover things that are not right.

You printed/assembled a new box! I never considered doing such a thing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/251309443827?h ... BM9oGL54Rj

https://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/20 ... chbox.html

[healey36]

Toilets are problematic for me too, both their maintenance and any new installation. That wax ring seal is just a PITA. I never get them quite right, so then a leak. Any installs, I don't even try now, just call our plumber. Fortunately the two we have are working fine and haven't required any upkeep for quite awhile. If you have one that runs occasionally even when it hasn't been flushed, that would indicate a leak. The water level is dropping to a point where the float reopens the fill-valve. Probably the flapper is shot.

Another recent acquisition, an early (Chicago) American Flyer watchman's tower, no. 92:



There's a small repair to the manual bell, but otherwise in pretty good shape. I hope it lights, as it's all bent tabs to get it apart for a bulb change.

[webenda]

Another recent acquisition, an early (Chicago) American Flyer watchman's tower, no. 92.
I hope it lights, as it's all bent tabs to get it apart for a bulb change.

Nice example of later No. 92.

My first train was all tin, held together with tabs. I could not resist taking everything apart so many times that the tabs started breaking off. If you have to take No. 92 apart, will you put in an LED light (so as to never have to bend the tabs again) or maintain the nostalgia and use a miniature bulb?

Regarding Toilets:

All the toilets had the wrong flapper valve in them. I purchased the correct flapper valve for the first one and installed it. Problem fixed. Then, after comparing the one I just took out to the correct flapper valve, I modified the leaky one to fit bathroom number 2's toilet. Problem fixed. Under the sink of bathroom number 2, I found a new wrong flapper, still in its blister plastic package. I modified it to fit the toilet in bathroom number 3. All leaky toilets are now fixed.

Yes, the wax rings can be a PITA. If the toilet was raised by installing tile after the original installation, the wax seal will not seat into the toilet outlet. There are risers available to raise the sewer pipe to tile height. Another problem is when a sewer blockage is beyond the toilet, using a toilet plunger can blow the wax seal out.

[healey36]

You're in Columbia, Tennessee, Wayne? That's nice country over there. I last spent three days in Chattanooga at an IPMS Nationals convention, but that was pre-pandemic; that's a nice town, too. Long-haul from Maryland, but not oppressive. I need to get back to Memphis. In my experience, Memphis is a fun town, much like Boston is a fun town. I've never been to Nashville.

Last trip to York, I talked myself into finding a replacement motor for my uncle's Flyer 332X (I'm not really sure what number of this thing is). It's so far gone, I'd thought of just cannibalizing it for bits, but given the family history, I thought I'd take a wack at getting it presentable again. My goto guy at York for all things prewar Flyer is Dave Johnston...he has been so helpful over the years. He usually brings a couple boxes of reconditioned motors he's salvaged out of goners, and he had a couple that were candidates for this:



Not having the loco in hand, it was a bit of guesswork to figure out the most likely match, but knowing this is a low-end version made it easier. This will be a huge shortcut as compared to breaking down the original motor, replacement of the the swollen wheels/gears, etc. The trailing-truck wheels are pretty shot, so I'll have to track down replacements for those. I think Hennings may have them, but then how to disassemble and replace. One step at a time.

[webenda]

What scale are these O-gauge box cars?

Only the shadow knows.

[webenda]

MARX # 413 TOWER

[webenda]

The roof slides off on the Marx 413.

[webenda]

COPPER OXIDE IS A GOOD INSULATOR
When I received the Marx Tower through the mail, the miniature lamp was rattling around loose inside the tower. I slide the roof back and screwed it into the socket. It did not work. I took it out and tested it with a 9-volt battery, it illuminated. I put it back in. No light. I set the unit aside until today. Sparked by Healey's image of his American Flyer tower, I set to work on my Marx Tower. The wire under the base electrical connection screw was coated with black copper oxide. Scraping the wire with a knife fixed the problem.

Before and After

[healey36]

The Marx tower is a nice accessory; they should look great at the top of the yard or along the mainline. I’d still like to find a nice example. Other than the bell, the Flyer tower is pretty similar overall.

[healey36]

Tree's up; I was hoping to put a corrugated brick-paper skirt around the base, but I'll have to order some. For now, I'm calling this done:



I picked up an MTH Christmas trolley a couple weeks back to run around the tree; now I gotta find it.

Put a tree up? Let's see it.

[E7]

Healey, Tree looks great. Spent some time in Tennessee as bonus of my Telco job. Five weeks in Jackson (home of Casey Jones, I think). Side trip to Memphis, 76 miles west out I70. Later, a couple hit and runs to Nashville (didn't see much of it) and 10 weeks in Johnson City, which would be my pick. Great place for a single guy! Wall to wall women. That was 1974. No idea what it's like now, but I doubt I would know the place. Should have moved down there! Jackson was probably the best weather, but Johnson City won on the fun factor.

[webenda]

Tree's up;

Healey, there is a cardinal in your tree!



Religious worship of trees is interesting. Trees were probably some of the first plants to be worshiped by man. They appear to die every winter and resurrect themselves in the spring—a miracle resurrection every year. Pine trees do not lose their needle-like leaves and are symbols of everlasting life.

[healey36]

LOL, we put him in the tree to annoy my stepmother. Years ago there was a cardinal that would sit in a tree outside my parents' side door. Every time she went out that door, the cardinal would come after her. It was hilarious. Now I put this little guy up there just to unnerve her.

[healey36]

Increasing passenger traffic on the under-tree loop:



Just ten days until Christmas.