Model Train Journal

Hmmm...the standard gauge topics didn't survive the last purge. Need to start a new general thread.

Pulled down the MTH 9E shelf-queen recently...it was totally dead after years of no track-time. Applied power...nothin'. Dropped in a new battery but still no operation. No clanks-of-death, just nothin'. Took it in to the guys at Toy Trains Unlimited in Hanover PA figuring it needed a hard-reset or some sort of chip replacement. It runs well now.



This thing is tempermental as hell. Using the Lionel LW I got from Kent you need to start-cycle it at a low voltage. Too much power and it just sits there clanking at you, lol.

I am figuring on running this under the Christmas tree this year on a loop of 42-inch radius track. I'll zip-tie the sections together but expect it will be off the track a lot...kids can't seem to resist running stuff at full steam, err voltage...

Healey

healey36 wrote:I am figuring on running this under the Christmas tree this year on a loop of 42-inch radius track.

Hmmmm.............giving me ideas here. Maybe I will take out my father's 10E....

Excellent!

healey36 wrote:Excellent!

If I can find the track,

Hello Standard gauge folks

Here is a link to watch a Lionel 1912 pulling some knobby cars ..all circa 1910 ...and a #5 pulling some 10 series freights #5 1907 , freights 1909.. layout still a work in progress..but note early split pin track ..pre 1912 .
Cheers Carey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_-221KL1eE

Really nice gear Carey. It still amazes me that the stuff runs more than one hundred years later. I have a late 33, probably 1926 or so, that runs like a clock. It was the first piece of std gauge I ever bought. Despite a poor refurbish job by a previous owner it’s still a favorite.

Healey

This one will drive you guys wild!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApJa04UYrWk

Yeah, I remember that video, matter of fact I've got a copy of it around here somewhere. The Old Man used to tell me there was a fine line between being a collector and being a hoarder, and Frank IMHO seemed to cross that line. How many flippin' State sets do you need? I once ran into a guy at a meet who was snapping up prewar Lionel 2-6-4's (sometimes referred to as Berk's by collectors). He told me he had close to sixty of them in his collection. WTF, I don't understand that mentality, but I think it ran deep during the early days of the TCA. Now those guys are all box collectors...

Man, I'm bitter, lol...

I really like your standard gauge photos Healy.

I wish you would stop posting them... they make me want to buy one of those beautiful restored or new locomotives.

Well, you can keep posting them, they provide the opportunity to practice for self-control.

Prices for the non-pristine originals are coming down Wayne, pretty quickly from my perspective. Watch eBay...you can find nice well-used Lionel 8's and 10's for reasonable money these days. The pre-Lionel Corp versions of MTH's repro's are falling in price as well. The 9E above, an early Protosound unit, probably listed for $500 when new...doubt you could get $150 for it now.

I'm told my maternal grandfather received a standard gauge set as a boy, something that's hard to imagine now. Must have been something cracking those boxes Christmas AM...

healey36 wrote:Prices for the non-pristine originals are coming down Wayne, pretty quickly from my perspective. Watch eBay...

Nooooooo! Stop it!

Was down in the basement looking for a box of dremel bits, found this partially reassembled Lionel 341:



Totally forgot I had this. Goes back to my early period when I wanted everything to look pristine. Partially disassembled, repainted the body. Needs some roof paint, new window material, rewire...

Healey

Christmas 2017...MTH 9E and consist pounding around the tree:



Pre-Lionel Corp Protosound version I bought from a shop that closed, probably twenty years ago. Always pined for a set of Girard coaches to mate up with it but I think that has passed. Looks fine with a string of 500-series freights. Kids enjoyed it.

Healey

Nice.

From the archives:


Lionel 10


Lionel 33

Both of these had been cosmetically refurbished by the previous owner. They were purchased as under-the-Christmas-tree runners and served that purpose for many years.

Healey