Weekend Photos - October 2023

[healey36]

This project has leap-frogged to the top of the pile...refurbishment of this Lionel 1664E in gunmetal:



I had mentioned to Hondo awhile back that I was looking for a gunmetal version and he found this one (loco only) on the Trainz site for twenty bucks. It has a number of issues (broken eccentric, missing pick-up sliding-shoe assembly, and possibly other things to be found upon disassembly), none of which are overly concerning, as I'm mostly interested in the boiler casting and trim. While filthy, it looks like it will clean up nicely; I have a rather battered black 1664E from which I plan to swap out the the guts (later I can rework this one's motor and put that back into either one).

I've had this stripped 1689T tender in the parts/project bin for twenty years, so presuming I can find a reasonably decent match for gunmetal paint, this will serve as a good mate. I have a couple of cans of automotive touch-up paint that I've used before; just hoping they've not gone flat. Otherwise, I'll be looking for a new can. Gunmetal, like silver paint, can be a tough match.

I originally bought this tender with the idea of putting a loco-sound unit in it (I bought one of Ott Machine Services units back in the 1990's). I'd have to wire in a switch to turn it on or off, though, as it might get rather annoying. I'm sure there are much better units available today, but to be honest, I'm not that kicked up on adding sound anymore. For a guy with background-sound issues, loco-sound can be deafening.

[Norton]

Hennings sells Collector Color and has most all the pre war colors including #400 Gunmetal. This paint is fairly easy to use unlike the old Charles Woods enamels. It thins with naptha. If you attend York you can pick it up there.

http://www.henningstrains.com/

Pete

[healey36]

Yeah, but then I gotta drag out the airbrush

Thanks for the link; I've not used this stuff before, but should give it a try. I imagine the Train Enamel guys have a version of Lionel Gunmetal as well that I could take a look at (although their colors, like Woods, can be off a bit from the original).

Here's a tender I repainted fifteen years ago after putting it through the bead-blaster to get some bad corrosion off one side:



I used a small can of Dupli-Color spray touch-up paint that Walmart used to sell. I had Don Carver repair the motor shortly thereafter, and he noticed that the tender had been repainted (you can't slip anything past that guy). He said it looked pretty close to the original color. I think it was a Honda color, Graphite Gray.

[Norton]

No doubt Train Enamel has a Gunmetal. If you can find it in a rattle can, thats the way to go. You need an automotive paint sprayer to use their bulk paint its so thick and it takes a week to dry.

Pete

[healey36]

Ever try using one of these Preval sprayers?:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CW809ZO/?coliid=I16IGQYUAF6P05&colid=3HR3FFDZUKIW6&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I recall using something similar to this back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I used it to spray lacquer paint on auto repair touch-ups back in the day.

I hope Sarge isn't reading this

[healey36]

Cleared enough crap off the layout that I could get the newly-refurbished 253 on there to stretch its legs:



Until I make some decisions on how best to clean up the 610/610/612 passenger consist that came with the set, I'll run a few 607/608 coaches behind it.

Anybody else have trouble with cobwebs in the basement? Seems I'm infested. I might set off a couple bug bombs (misters) down there to try to wipe them out.

[v8vega]

I'm single and live alone. My layout is in my living room and cobwebs are a constant battle.

[webenda]

Anybody else have trouble with cobwebs in the basement? Seems I'm infested. I might set off a couple bug bombs (misters) down there to try to wipe them out.

I use the vacuum cleaner. Just suck up the spider and its web. Soon there are more. I attack with the vacuum again. And again. And again.

Many insect foggers contain pyrethrin as an active ingredient. While pyrethrins are somewhat effective against exposed flying insects such as house flies, they are seldom lethal to roaches, ants, bed bugs, spiders, silverfish, and other crawling pests.

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef643#:~: ... ng%20pests.

Routine, thorough house cleaning is the best way to eliminate spiders and discourage their return. A vacuum cleaner or broom effectively removes spiders, webs, and egg sacs. Destruction of egg sacs is crucial since each can contain hundreds of young spiders.

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef623

[healey36]

Shop-vac sounds do-able, although they are up in the ceiling as well between the floor joists, so a challenge to reach up there possibly. Maybe throw some mothballs in the canister to polish them off.

At least there’s no squirrels in the basement

[webenda]

...a challenge to reach up there possibly.

[healey36]

I got this Lionel 1688 Torpedo at York this past Friday (just the loco, the tender was already in inventory):



The last of the prewar O-27 locos of which I had no example, this fills a gap, at least for the time being (it has a small chunk knocked out of it on the back end of the cab). Tagged at twenty bucks, we negotiated down a bit for the damage. Had to find a pilot truck for it, which the Trainworx booth gladly supplied. Thought I had the retaining washer and spring in the parts boxes, but I don't, so I'll have to find those. I know I have a hook for the box coupler on the 2689TX tender.

Picked up a few other odds-n-ends, including a 2677 gondola for Hondo and a refurbished motor from Dave Johnston for my uncle's Flyer steamer. I missed on a late 1656 stock car (never pass on something you find thinking it'll still be there an hour later). There was a ton of other stuff I could have gone for, but I held back. A very good York meet, for sure.

[healey36]

With the holidays rapidly approaching, I'm thinking back to toy trains displayed at the local Joe The Motorists' Friend store:



The Old Man bought a second-hand Flyer set there which he handed off to me a few years later. I still have most of it, although the 977 caboose got misplaced along the way. I should have looked for one of those at York.

[v8vega]

I was looking at those prices. In CA a fast food worker now makes what I made when I retired in 2003 as a skilled aerospace machinist with a lifetime of experience.

[healey36]

A 1956 dollar is worth around eleven bucks today, so that 40%-off $39.95 trainset, adjusted purely for inflation, would set you back $439 today.

I do hope you were making more than $15-$16 per hour (current minimum wage in California) as a machinist.

[healey36]

Getting to be that time of year:



Looks like an American Flyer station (Hyde Park maybe) and their stamped-steel Zephyr; I'm thinking this is late-1930's or just before the war.