Standard Gauge stuff

Standard Gauge Trains, Vintage to Modern
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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Wed Aug 26, 2020 4:33 pm

Yup. I'm careful about using the "restored" descriptor (as opposed to "refurbished"). This, however, was definitely a meticulous restoration by a previous owner. The thing works very well as compared to some of my station stops.

gregj410
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby gregj410 » Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:07 pm

About every Christmas I get a hankering for tinplate. When my kids were little I bought a G scale Christmas train and I always ran that at Christmas time. Once I tried to set up my dads PW trains at Christmas one year and the kids were like ‘What are you doing dad’? :lol:

Maybe as I enter the grand child phase of my life I’ll get a second chance. I’ve always loved this train
https://youtu.be/yqNDb8N3B20
Something about that Orange, cream and blue that brings joy to my heart. Likely from the childhood memories of my dad getting those PW trains out at Christmas....still in their original boxes BTW.

Moving along, I hope someday to build something nostalgic like this with a loop or two of tinplate and maybe some old school accessories.

Image
Image

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rogruth
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby rogruth » Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:11 pm

I never had any standard gauge trains. When I was young many years ago I had a neighbor with an attic full of standard.
All I really remember is they were B I G and colorful.
roger

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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:20 pm

That is nicely done, Greg. I've seen some really intricate benchwork over the years, and that's right up there.

Many years ago I chucked the N and S-gauge for prewar O and Standard tinplate. I think I found the fact that they are toys, not models, largely hand-assembled, the attraction. Just some cool old stuff from a bygone era.

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robert.
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby robert. » Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:24 am

One Christmas. 45 years ago. My father and uncle fought over their childhood standard gauge trains. " Dad wanted me to have them. No i'm the oldest i get them blah blah blah " You know the story or how this kind of fight goes. My Grandmother not wanting Christmas to turn into one of her Childhood Irish Christmases said " sit down give time I'll figure it out" By New year's She gave them all to the salvation Army. Argument settled :shock:
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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:56 am

They probably put her in a home after that!

Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Fri Jan 08, 2021 4:08 pm

robert. wrote:My father and uncle fought over their childhood standard gauge trains. " Dad wanted me to have them. No i'm the oldest i get them blah blah blah " You know the story or how this kind of fight goes.


Actually I do, but it happened when I was very young. I was not aware of it until later when my father wanted to buy a set for himself to replace the one he never had. I still have that set.
Conservatism: The intense fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is inferior is being treated as your equal.

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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Fri May 28, 2021 11:45 am

Left to right, a Lionel 068 (O-gauge) and Lionel 68 (Standard gauge):

Image

I think I posted a snap of these before, but lost in one of the purges. The 68 is handy for putting on the mantel around the holidays when lots of folks are tramping through the house. If a Standard gauge collector is among them, this will usually smoke them out.

Healey

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rogruth
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby rogruth » Fri May 28, 2021 12:05 pm

Very nice! Are those original condition or refurbished?
Doesn't make any difference, beautiful either way.
roger

I support thread drift.
If God didn't want women to be looked at, He would have made 'em ugly. RAH

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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Fri May 28, 2021 1:18 pm

They're original, as best I can tell. During the prewar era, Lionel used a dipping process to paint some accessories, so it's pretty easy to discern original paint as it can be a bit globular in places. If it has been stripped and repainted, the finish is much thinner and neater.

Here's three O-gauge from the prewar era:

Image

Left to right, Lionel, American Flyer, and Hafner. These things seem to turn up randomly at flea markets and antique malls. I often find them comingled with housewares, knick-knacks, and occasionally, in old tin toys.

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rogruth
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby rogruth » Fri May 28, 2021 6:21 pm

Again, nice stuff !
roger

I support thread drift.
If God didn't want women to be looked at, He would have made 'em ugly. RAH

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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Wed Jul 14, 2021 4:10 pm

I have sharply curtailed purchasing stuff, but still add a few bits when they turn up. Ray Ellen down at Vienna Station had a nice example of the Lionel 101 bridge (a Lionel 104 center span with two 100 approaches):

Image

Usually when you find these, the finials are missing from the center span, and the paint is rough. This one looks pretty complete, with what looks to be the original paint.

Manufactured between 1920 and 1931, this was Lionel's version of the Hell Gate Bridge prior to the epic Lionel 300 (manufactured between 1928 and 1942). I'll need to find three pieces of three-tie standard gauge track for it (all of the modern production track I have features four ties per section).

Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Thu Jul 15, 2021 2:31 pm

Nice acquisition on the bridge and parts! Slick item to run trains over while on the floor around the tree in December, :wink: :wink:
Conservatism: The intense fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is inferior is being treated as your equal.

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healey36
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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby healey36 » Fri Jul 16, 2021 5:05 pm

At 42 inches, it's a bit big for a round-the-tree loop. Gotta think of something.

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Re: Standard Gauge stuff

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:26 pm

healey36 wrote:At 42 inches, it's a bit big for a round-the-tree loop. Gotta think of something.


Bigger tree?
Conservatism: The intense fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is inferior is being treated as your equal.


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