Old Timers' Reminiscing

[jward]

mine would probably tag along with her steam engines.

[Jerrys HO]

the only steam mine has is coming from her ears when she can not find her kitchen utinsels that are helping me build my scenery.

[RAM]

To me Marx's was low quality,  how ever I have a ho depressed center flat car that is very nice.  I was sure surprised when I turned it over and found out it was a marx.

[electrical whiz kid]

Ray;
I can remember getting a start in this hobby in around 1955.  I thought that Varney, Athearn, and (gasp!!) Hobbyline were great brands!  mantua came with those "Baker' type couplers and I nixed them.  The trouble I had was coupling and uncoupling those scale (and I do mean scale) couples that came with the abovementioned kits..
My life turned disastrous around age thirteen, but somewhat recovered three years later.  I will say that, in my case, it wasn't girls or cars, but that Fender Stratocaster (1961) I managed to acquire through the many attic-cleanings, -shoveled walks, etc.  As a result of developing talent to a marketable state, a lucky break into a good "greaseball" band- the cars-and girls (JUST in that order) came along soon after. 
A stint in the Air Force came and went, marriage, and divorce came and went, then the railroad bug bit-hard.  Here I am, present day, and sort of retired, enjhoying both life, and a level of modelling that I nevr dreamed possible!  WHat a great time to be in this hobby!
Rich   

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Mantua came with those "Baker' type couplers and I nixed them.

You still see really vintage Mantua cars with those couplers quite regularly on eBay.

[CNE Runner]

Jerry - It was neither as a reread of the thread had me realize that RichG was the culprit with those locomotives. This isn't to say that the other two guys are extremely talented. [Don't feel left out RichG as I have 'tons' of projects for your expertise.]

I had totally forgotten (thankfully) about Hobbyline trains. You are right...they did run terribly - but were usually cheap enough for a kid's budget. Speaking of budgets, I remember when one could afford to buy MRC and early Athearn kits. 'Remember all the filing one had to do on those zamac car bottoms? When you were all through, those stirrup steps were still a scale foot thick!

Car kits, themselves, have gone through quite a metamorphosis over the years. I remember the old Silver Streak, Comet, Varney, and early Ulrich kits that were 90% wood (if you got one of the kits produced during WW2, it had NO metal at all). Generally speaking most of those kits came sans couplers and trucks. Additionally the car sides consisted of printed paper that one glued (very, very carefully) on the wooden 'block' that was the car's 'shape'. The absolute toughest car I think I ever assembled was a Comet flatcar...all wood with paper sideframes. [As an aside, a buddy of mine tried to give me 6 or 7 of those type kits at Saturday's train show. You could almost feel my shuttering when I opened one of the boxes and there it was...that darn Comet flatcar kit.]

Most of those old kits look pretty sad in today's world of highly detailed offerings. Over the past year I built the crane car #34 (by Ye Old Huff n' Puff...but originally an Alexander car kit), and what a job that was (see the picuture next). Those old kits really were tough.

Some of the kit manufacturers 'in the day' were: Ambroid, Athearn, Bowser, Cannonball, Comet, Devore, International Models, Main Line Models, Mantua, Megow's Models, Pacific HO Company, Penn Line, Red Ball, Model Die Casting, Silver Streak, Ulrich, Varney...and probably others that have long faded away.

Ah, memories,
Ray

[Doneldon]

Most of those old kits look pretty sad in today's world of highly detailed offerings.
Some of the kit manufacturers 'in the day' were: Ambroid, Athearn, Bowser, Cannonball, Comet, Devore, International Models, Main Line Models, Mantua, Megow's Models, Pacific HO Company, Penn Line, Red Ball, Model Die Casting, Silver Streak, Ulrich, Varney...and probably others that have long faded away.

Ray-

I'm not do sure I agree with you on the detail level of the older kits. Yes, the plastic and pot metal kits were crude but the craftsman kits like Ambroid, Walthers, Silver Streak and Central Valley are still impressive today. And challenging. What would you pay to see a modern-day "scratch builder" who buys every part and then basically builds his own kit trying to shape the wooden roof of a Walthers heavyweight steel-sided passenger car? (Walthers and CV are two of the classics you missed.)

                              -- D

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

When I was a kid I always wanted the Revell railroad yard structures and farmhouse and farm buildings. I never had them back them--but I do now, thanks to eBay. 

(I'm talking genuine Revell here. ...)

Regarding car kits, I bought an assembled Silver Streak drovers' caboose on eBay. I think it's quite nice, though I'm not as discriminating as some folks. 

[CNE Runner]

Don - I guess you are right...those old Ambroid kits (et. al.) were really something to behold. I 'forgot' a lot of the old manufacturers; but that is what age does to you.

I remember starting out with paper structures. As was mentioned on another thread, one could purchase a pamphlet that contained several printed 'structures'. You then glued this onto some card stock (we used the inside surface of cereal boxes). After cutting them out one would glue them together, using the supplied tabs, much like paper dolls.

A little later on (when finances permitted) we entered the world of plastic building kits. Nearly everyone had at least one Plasticville structure. Revell was the big name in those days. My first plastic building kit was the Revell Small Town Station. I remember putting the thing together (at Warp #4...remember I was ~13 years old) and never bothered painting the structure or the supplied people. Dad put a modified flashlight bulb inside and the darn thing glowed like a UFO. I found a picture of one of these buildings:

My second building came from a sympathetic neighbor and was the Revell Operating Engine House. Do you remember all the fussing to get those door mechanisms working correctly? Luckily my dad had the patience of Job and we were able to experience the doors opening as the locomotive came up to the doors (they had to be closed manually). Here is an image of the box as I couldn't find a completed model on the Internet:

Ray

[Jerrys HO]

Ray

I love that old crane car. I have got to find one..

Jerry

[CNE Runner]

Jerry - The crane car came from Ye Olde Huff n' Puff and is kit #341 which sells for $27 + shipping (www.yeoldehuffnpuff.com). This place sells reissues of many of the old Silver Line (and other) kits from the 'old days'.

I warn you to be ready for some frustration as these kits are not intuitive. Building model airplanes (of the balsa wood variety) will assist in some of the skills required. The crane boom is composed of two white metal (zamac?) beams and God-knows how many little parts (even the gear train must be assembled from metal gears to wooden axles). The car itself is constructed almost entirely of wood.

When you have completed your crane, you have a car that seems to have little prototypical use. The actual car (supposedly) did exist (BTW the kit was originally an Alexander offering). Specifically the boom is fixed into position. This means the crane can only swivel and pick items up within a set radius. Other than off loading a truck, or railcar, to another (on an adjacent track or road) I cannot see any other use for this car. Most cranes are constructed such that the boom, itself, can raise and lower.
Having said that there is a lot of satisfaction in the completion of this kit.

Ray

[Woody Elmore]

I've built a kit from just about every manufacturer. Near my college was a hobbyshop that featured flying models (it was across the street from Van Cortlandt Park in NYC.) The shop was owened by brothers and one brother was a train guy. He had a small backroom loaded with all sorts of goodies. I bought a Penn mikado from them and built a lot of car kits. The store had kits from red Ball, Binkley and Laconia, among others. I even acquired a Mantua metal gondola. The main body was formed tinplate. ends and underframe were zamac. The sides were embossed paper. If I recall the thing screwed together.  It made a nice model.

I remember buying an Ulrich offset side hopper - lettered for the Frisco. The thing was all cast zamc and weighed a ton. One problem was finding a glue to use. In those days it was either Ambroid cement (a cellulose kind of glue) or Walther's Goo. Then you needed to paint the rest of the car to match the sides. Choices were Floquil, All Nation or 410m paint. Testor's made a little kit of RR colors but I never could locate one to buy (no Ebay back then.)

To me the fun in model railroading was to see a train of cars that I built running. Tinkering with them to get them to fit was always a challenge; as was mounting trucks and couplers.

This has been an interesting group of postings!

[jward]

does anybody remember an old model railroader book of layout plans which contained a mountain railroad called the ute central?

my first layout was an adaptaion of this layout, and i'd like to get a copy of this book but can't seem to find it.

[CNE Runner]

Jeff - I vaguely remember that layout. If you know someone who has purchased the Model Railroader DVD of back issues, you could probably locate an ad or reference to that project (I haven't yet decided to part with $200 or railway funds to purchase that DVD myself).

Woody - About six months ago I built a Ulrich 55-ton hopper kit from the early 1970s. When compared to an Accurail 55-ton model it definitely gets second place (it was a lot of fun? to build). You may want to check out the track cleaning thread on this board for more reminiscing (we kinda/sorta hijacked that thread). [As an aside, aren't you on Free Rails?]

My grandfather bought me an MRC Dual Throttlepak (which is what we used to run the Great Northern Pacific). I did a Google search and couldn't locate an image of this transformer. I do remember it 'humming' and getting rather warm to the touch after a lengthy operating session. I saw the same throttlepak for sale (in rather poor condition) at last weekend's train show...'guess they are still around.

Ray

[ebtnut]

The mention of zamac (or zamak) brings to mind one of the problems from those early days.  Zamac is an alloy of zinc, magnesium, aluminum and copper.  It's one drawback is that if the alloy mix has ANY lead contamination, it will begin to corrode internally, eventually crumbling away.  The John English line of loco kits was particulary known for this problem.  Some of the earlier Japanese import models used zamac for things like driver centers, tender underframes and even detail parts like air pumps.  I've seen some where the driver centers have just disappeared.  Most of the old Mantua, Ulrich and Roundhouse kits from that period seem to have avoided this problem.