1970s style ho scale layout

[jbrock27]

I agree w/your warning Brick.  Only in cases where one is looking for parts, should that descriptor attract any interest for the listing.  I will add, the more pics of an item, the better-front, back, center, underneath, port, starboard...for the buyer to have a better chance of knowing what they are getting.  The larger number of photos can also reveal the item is not as it is advertised, in make or other ways.

[jbrock27]

I recall that Roger has an excellent way of making roads using material from Michael's craft stores.

[jward]

Is that so? I never owned a lot of older Athearn equipment however the RS-3 I had used this awful Rubber band drive that gave it two speeds, 0 or 300 mph. I am by no means calling you a liar as one example does not speak for a whole line, however I do think one should watch out for these, beyond just the speed issues, the bands would wear away and any you obtain could have bands that have disintegrated.

athearn never made an rs3 until after their product line was merged with roundhouse a few years back. they most certainly never produced one with a rubber band drive. and for the most part, anything with a rubber band drive in it is 50 years old or more. the exceptions would have been the rdc cars and the porter hustler which for some reason retained the rubber band drive well into the 1980s. geared athearns were solid performers in their day, and with aftermarket regear kits could be made to run with a scale top speed comparable to the real ones.

ahm on the other hand put out some of the worst of the worst. the comment about having only two speeds, stopped and supersonic could certainly be applied to the ahm rs2 and c liner. honestly, I would rather run anything tyco ever made than one of those two ahm diesels.

[Irbricksceo]

Very Interesting, though as i said, I made a mistake and had an RDC, not an rs-3, I am surprised about that of info about ahm as in the past, before I had to get rid of my train stuff and start anew, I had a few AHM and Rivarossi items that ran great.

[jbrock27]

I grew to hate the A.H.M. PRR RS2 that I got in the train set I received one Christmas and later grew to hate the A.H.M. GE Center Cab I bought at a Kaybee Toy Store.  If not for making a C&O Athearn F7A Super Gear my next purchase, I probably would have stayed interested instead in gas powered COX model airplanes.

[electrical whiz kid]

WHAT??!!  A 1970s railroad?  No (GASP) steam??  Perish the thought...
Rich C.

[Irbricksceo]

Rich, if I had my way, no layout would have no steam! there is something glorious about the movement of a steamer.

[rogertra]

WHAT??!!  A 1970s railroad?  No (GASP) steam??  Perish the thought...
Rich C.

My original GER was 1970s, all diesel, all freight.

Then Bachmann issued the Spectrum 2-8-0.

Five or six of them later, the GER was backdated to 1958s.

All the post 1958 diesels, freight cars, vehicles, buildings and building details and even building lettering was replaced or removed and and non 1958 item was removed.  The GER was set firmly in 1958.  And this was before the Spectrum range was increased.  I was so impressed by the Spectrum 2-8-0 I would have stayed in 1958 even if the only steam I had the was Spectrum 2-8-0.  No other rtr plastic steam came close to that 2-8-0, it set the bar for all future HO rtr plastic steam to a new high.

Thanks Bachmann.

Cheers

Roger.

[jward]

why not the 1970s? all the coolest diesels were in service, somewhere, in concentrated quantities no matter how rare they were. stuff that the railfans to-day drool over we took for granted because they were so common. short cars were still common, you could actually see the cars and trucks on the autoracks, and you never knew what would be pulling the next train. it's a far cry from to-days unit trains and look alike widebody diesels. I just wouldn't use 1970s train set diesels on the layout.

[rogertra]

why not the 1970s? all the coolest diesels were in service, somewhere, in concentrated quantities no matter how rare they were. stuff that the railfans to-day drool over we took for granted because they were so common. short cars were still common, you could actually see the cars and trucks on the autoracks, and you never knew what would be pulling the next train. it's a far cry from to-days unit trains and look alike widebody diesels. I just wouldn't use 1970s train set diesels on the layout.

Good points, which is why I originally chose mid 1970s.  Railroads equipment was still, in the majority, from the steam age.  Most freight traveled in 40ft boxcars,  trains had cabooses, there were still steam era roundhouses, coaling towers, water towers in existence, TOFC was just getting into it's stride with trailers on 40ft flat cars, containers were rare, 50 ft cars were in the minority, most reefers were still ice reefers, cars had ACI labels, roof walks were just coming off so you could have cars with and without them.  GP9s, GP7s, F units by the dozen, lots of Alcos, RS-2s, RS-3s FAs etc., etc..  Newer power was the GP30, GP35, GP40, Alco C-424s, M636 etc., etc..  Yeppers, mid  1970s was a good time.

However, I like steam so 1958 won. 

[Desertdweller]

Back around 1970 I had an AHM (Rivarossi) FM C-Liner.  It wasn't a bad runner after it had broken in.  It would run at reasonable speeds, but its top speed was always way too high.  Just don't run it full throttle.

The main problem it had was the traction tires caused a slight wobble.  It only drove through the rear truck, but pulling the short trains on my little HO railroad was no problem.

The industry standard back then was the Athern (now called "Blue Box") line.  These had all-wheel drive and pickup, but most lacked flywheels.

I think it is unfair to draw HY-F (rubber band drive) locos into this discussion.  With the exception of the "Hustler" and the RDC, this drive system was obsolete by the late 1960s.

I did have a Hy-F Geep.  Like the C-Liner, it would run at reasonable speeds if not run at full throttle.  Hy-F drive was not all bad: it was smooth and quiet, had no gears to get jammed up, and would run in consist with any geared loco.  The drive bands could be replaced with regular rubber bands if you took care in matching sizes.

Les

[rogertra]

jward, the question really is, "Do I want to model this:-"



"Or this: -"



You can see which I preferred. 

[jward]

obviously I prefer that emd switcher. but then again, where I grew up I was exposed to numerous shortlines which used them exclusively for motive power. nothing like seeing 3 or 4 of them hauling a coal train.

[trainmainbrian]

Hello everybody,
I am new to this forum and I have a question about starting a layout for HO scale trains. I have many trains in HO, brands including Bachmann, Mantua, Tyco, and Walthers. Expect I would like my layout to be 1970s themed, with materials made by companies back then. However, I understand that the older stuff less less quality, but I already have replaced crummy horn hook couplers and other things to make them better. But as far as they layout goes, I do need some help with at least getting started. I have several hobby shops nearby me that are very helpful, but i thought it would also be a good idea to try something different.
Thanks very much,
Sebastian Marconi

Sebastian.. I sent you a e-mail to your yahoo check it out... Being I am in the process of building a Railroad myself I am 2yrs into my layout build & just made it past the 70% complete mark... I have included a Link to my Photo Bucket album for you look @ my layout & maybe you can get some idea's...
http://s35.photobucket.com/user/maintrackbrian/slideshow/........

Sabastian... I am modeling a little bit more modern stuff late 80's - 90's - 00-04 than you are... But I think I can be of great asset to you & helping you build your layout. Also like you I have a lot of Building's on my Layout I built towards the year era my locos I am running.....

[MarkInLA]

HI. With all the great replies above, I still don't know if you mean that your layout itself will be a "That 70s Show " themed .. Or, that you actually want to run model equipment made in the 70s, also. If so, then I guess you understand that it all will be analog not digital (DCC); that you'll wind up putting blocks (gapped/isolated sections of rail to park trains in while another is rolling via toggle switches). And that you accept no sound .. OR, do you mean theme is '70s real railroading (early Amtrak days of a moosh mosh of colors and rolling stock and colors of). If it  is just the era you want, not how trains are controlled, I really suggest you buy state-of-the-art digital ( DCC on board, DCC/sound or DCC ready (DC analog engines with plug under shell where a decoder is added in order to make it DCC, having bought a DCC throttle such as NCE, Digtraxx , lenz, etc. )..Believe me, DCC once over the initial costs, is a lot simpler to hook up than old analog due to never needing to do tons of wiring under layout for those blocks I mentioned and other things. You are young enough that you'll eventually most likely want to go DCC in future.  So may as well go there now and simply buy 70s type equipment and buildings...........