Weekend Photos - January 2024

[healey36]

Happy New Year everyone! Onto the next...

Here's a Marx #597 Commodore Vanderbilt I received recently from a good friend who's thinning his collection:



I know zippo about Marx, so a bit of research/learning to do, but there's a certain charm to the stuff Louis Marx pushed out shortly before and after WWII. I've been looking for a nice example of the Marx CV; this one has 75 years worth of chips, scrapes, and minor corrosion, but it runs well and pulls 8-10 six-inch cars easily. No idea if this is the correct tender, but it looks right to me.

[healey36]

I received quite a bit of information regarding this Marx locomotive from members of the MarxTrain group. After their review of a few photographs, they tell me this is a prewar version of the Commodore Vanderbilt, identified primarily through the shape of the front cowl and the spoked drivers (apparently Baldwin-type drivers were the fashion for the postwar versions).

This is not, however, a correct tender for a prewar CV. While the "wagon-top" tender is apparently correct for the CV, this particular NYC "cigar-band" scheme is from 1950-1952, and it typically has plastic wheels as it was intended for pairing with clockwork versions. I have swapped them around for metal wheel sets, so that too is technically incorrect.

Anyway, some pretty interesting stuff. I've seen the CV in numerous paint/trim schemes, and there's another Marx loco referred to as a "Mercury" which looks a bit similar. The shrouding on that one is a bit more rounded, and the trim is a somewhat different. I don't have much Marx stuff, and to be honest, it's not a rabbit hole I want to fall into, but I had a number of great toys made by Louis Marx when I was a kid, especially those playsets they made.

[healey36]

Lots of photos, the Lionel 2024 catalog Vol. I:

https://catalogs.lionel.com/2024/BB/

Yowza...

[healey36]

Dug out my box of orphan tenders and there were a few Marx in there. From photos of the prewar CV, this seems to be the tender most often paired with it, and I happen to have one:



Tin wheels, riveted couplers, simple frame, this seems to have the characteristics attributed to the prewar version.

[gregj410]

Lots of photos, the Lionel 2024 catalog Vol. I:

https://catalogs.lionel.com/2024/BB/

Yowza...

I like the royal blue line although I don’t see me dropping that kind of dough on a set.

[healey36]

I agree...the most impressive thing about this "catalog" is the pricing. Even at 30% off MSRP, it would be a stretch.

The AEC set looked neat, but not for a grand. Perhaps the Bob Ross water tower was the best thing in there...that looked like fun.

[healey36]

I've been laid up the last week, sick as a dog (not Covid). In between spells on the couch, I was in the basement trying to finish this damn thing. It could use a bit of touch-up, but for now, this is it...I'm calling it done:



I think this is the last of the O-gauge sized putz type buildings for awhile. They are just too big, have limited use, and present storage problems, especially if the intent is to use them seasonally. I have a few other ideas, but I'm gonna try to get some other stuff done first. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the fall.

Now this looks like Chicago last week...brrr!

[webenda]

Now this looks like Chicago last week...brrr!

The first thing I thought when I looked at the buildings was, "It looks like it's snowing!"

I feel for you. The bright side of sickness is our immune system. Without it, I would have died long ago.

I have had the measles three times. According to a new report by the CDC and WHO, there were an estimated 8,770 cases and three deaths in the U.S. in 2000.

Reference:
https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/health ... 20to%20121.

[Wburg Pete]

I've been laid up the last week, sick as a dog (not Covid). In between spells on the couch, I was in the basement trying to finish this damn thing. It could use a bit of touch-up, but for now, this is it...I'm calling it done:



I think this is the last of the O-gauge sized putz type buildings for awhile. They are just too big, have limited use, and present storage problems, especially if the intent is to use them seasonally. I have a few other ideas, but I'm gonna try to get some other stuff done first. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the fall.

Now this looks like Chicago last week...brrr!

Really nice work!!!!!!!!

[healey36]

Thanks, Pete; big scratch project, finally done! Can’t say I’m sad.

[gregj410]

I agree with Wayne on the illusion of snow, they really look great. In fact I hope you don’t mind that I took a screen shot of this one you did in July. I’m going to attempt build one of these some day. They would look so good under the tree with PW trains.

[healey36]

Go for it, Greg! If you need a few in-process pics, I think I saved some.

I got a couple of books of 1920-1940 Sears house plans for Christmas...when I get back to this, I want to make a few based on those. They look similar to a few of the houses here in the ‘hood.

[healey36]

I feel for you. The bright side of sickness is our immune system. Without it, I would have died long ago.

Thanks, Wayne. I seem to get this crud every year, although usually in late-February or March. Takes forever to get rid if it, ending with a dry cough that seems to go on for weeks. Covid really effed me up in 2022, so now I can’t take some of the more common cold meds. Just gotta grind through it.

[webenda]

The last time I was at Roundhouse Electric Trains (Louisville, KY) I found a Lionel Switch in a junk pile.
I thought it might be perfect for cycling a locomotive through N-F-N-R.

[webenda]

Lionel 364C in use.