Any Vintage HO Collectors Here?

I suppose that some would call my stuff vintage.  I have some brass imports from the 1960s and 1970s.  I should have sold them a long time ago.

NH Joe

I have one each of what I've been told was the last custom run of boxcars and reefers from Varney. My father was working for the National Brewing Co. in the mid 60's when a little Christmas "bonus" was given out: a white wood sided reefer and a red steel sided boxcar, both marked "National Bohemian".

No, sorry, I don't have pictures. I can't be the only one who has them. Anybody else?

NH Joe: Vintage HO brass is cool. Wish I'd kept my Hallmark Baldwin VO1000 I purchased back in 1970. Didn't run worth a crap, but some good memories attached to it.

artyoung: Varney is very tempting, as is vintage Revell. Oh, and vintage Athearn sets... and...

However, I must be strong. Vintage HO can get too obsessive.

What the heck... might as well post some pics of one of my recent Lindberg Lines purchase...

The above set is almost identical to my original Lindberg Lines set that I received for that wonderful Christmas of 1962.  However, mine was the "deluxe" set (had two more cars).  NOT to worry, though, Lindberg used the same box for both the basic and deluxe sets... so simply remove the yellow filler box at the bottom, insert the two additional cars... and it looks just like the set I received in '62! (Yup, I have the cars on hand that are needed, and I will be adding them to the set once I do a bit of restoration work on the rolling stock box that will contain one of them.)

Confession: I'm Having way too much fun dinking around collecting old Lindberg Lines stuff.

If it’s die-cast I probably like it, Mfg'ers like Penn Line, Varney, Bowser, and Mantua to name a few.  I got into it with a Varney F unit with a Lindsay motor from a flea market a few years back.  It has since snow balled into a small collection with several locomotives and a few pieces of rolling stock.

Hello Andre,

I have a "few" vintage HO sets...all kidding aside I wish I bought that Lindberg

service station "floor plan" set at York in April of 2014...probably wont see one of those again in our lifetime !

BT

I wish I had some of my HO trains from childhood.

PennLine: Don't get me started on Varney, Penn Line, et al!!! Stop it!

Bob:

Hi 'ya BT! Yup... you have a "few".  I recall that Lindberg Lines Service Station set being quite pricey for Lindberg.  BTW: Replied to your email.  Did you get it?  If not, perhaps your spam filter thinks I'm a spammer???

86TA355SR (whew... that's a toughie to type!):

What mfg'er(s) were they?  I'll bet they're "out there" if you want to re-gather 'em bad enough!

As for me, I'm "thinking" about starting to watch for an "in the (red) box" Tyco Santa Fe GP20 like I bought in '63. 

Now, there's no way to I want an operating layout of this vintage stuff, my new DCC/Sound equipped HO is SOOOO far superior... but I do like the warm fuzzies my vintage HO gives me when I look at, hold, smell (the engines) oogle, etc.

  I still have my first HO trains bought in 1957. Here's the Athearn GP7 and ATSF caboose. The loco came with a rubber band drive but many years ago it was converted to the common Athearn diesel gear drive......DaveB

Same here. 50s, 60s, and 70s brass. Very little after that. All steam and all but two are Southern Pacific. Brass engines, like British motorcycles proved to be a teaching platform. You either learned to fix them yourself or pay someone a lot of money to do it for you. Very few ran right out of the box.

Pete

My major HO interest is HO structure kits, that can be extrapolated into a scratchbuilt

O scale equivalent, as so MUCH more is available in HO.  However, I have a few older HO brass cabooses, Hallmark, etc., that are sidedoors or drovers for which I also want to do that, for that reason (much more available), extrapolate into O scale versions.  I haven't picked any of these up in years, and didn't pick up any of the more

expensive HO brass Mack railbuses, McKeen cars, etc., I also would like to extrapolate.

I have a few unbuilt Aristocraft building kits in nice, colorful boxes. And a few all metal signals.
I also have some Postwar Lionel HO.

Some Penn Line too.

As I mentioned in another thread, I got rid of my Modern era Lionel HO.

Here's a Bachmann model of the Central Pacific "Jupiter" which was purchased at a Two Guys after Christmas sale in the 70s.

Bob

So there ARE some of you others that are crazy too!

daveb: Vintage Athearn is neat. I really like the box art they used on their sets back in the 60s.

 "Vintage Athearn is neat. I really like the box art they used on their sets back in the 60s."

   Hi Andre, Yeah I wish I had the boxes for mine but I took the models out of the box and assembled them and put them on my layout and probably threw the boxes away. My mom kept all my HO stuff packed away in a trunk after I moved out and gave it back to me when I got a house many years later. ...DaveB

"Most of my heritage stuff is from the 1970s, so really not sure if that is considered heritage."

   It's heritage to those the same age as you now, keep it long enough and it will be heritage to anyone :>  I don't know what year they changed them but one can tell the early Athearn boxcars from the later ones even without a box. The older ones have doors that slide in glued on guides instead of the claws of later stuff, they also have screw on coupler box covers instead of the spring clips ,and they have rubber spring inserts instead of real coil springs...DaveB

I had some Mantua Metals from my uncle and a few that were mine from the early '60's. I gave them to my cousin that still runs HO. The factory was in a nearby town.

So, I ended any thoughts of collecting HO.

Most of my HO fell under the spell of my tools and airbrush, so nothing is truly original, but here's two of my favorites:

The PFM Russian Decapod.  All time favorite.

The Bachmann Reading 2-8-0.  Picked this one up at Sears of all places, in the middle of July when I was out east for training.

The pancake motor gave out years ago, but it's such a neat locomotive.

Rusty

Here's another 70s era piece: a Life-Life work caboose with a working light....looks like something right out of a Lionel catalog.

Bob 

I've got plenty of HO...some modern, some 1970s/80s/90s from a collection (and now gone layout) I purchased circa 2000 before going back into O for good. 

IN the case is a majority of "modern" HO - Athearn, Bachmann Spectrum, etc products. There are a few N scale pieces tossed in there as well. The bottom (UP Caboose, tank cars, and crane) and all old 1970s/80s/90s vintage pieces.  

This is a small bit of the "vintage" HO collection. Not all shown and some has since been tossed in the trash as, well, that is what it was! 

Well if you consider Gilbert HO vintage, yes.

Absolutely!

PICS!  Must have PICS!!!

Seein' as I'm flappin' my jaws about PICS... figured I'd better put up a'nuther.

Here's a semi-rare Lindberg Lines CNW SW in the box:

I'm in the Athearn cult as well.  I especially like the F-units - rubber band drive, please.  Still have the cars from my 1959 set, and the engine has been replaced by the same from eBay.

Lindberg is cool, and there are several other manufacturers on my shelves, too.

My modeling days are long over with, but I still have a few copies of RMC from 50s-70s.

Here is a colorful Cox ad from 1972.

For a period of time, I was "collecting" various PFM pieces, particularly Tenshodo and Fujiyama northerns. 

I sold off most of that when I decided to focus on GN and NP, but a lot of my original GN motive power is Tenshodo that I painted in Glacier Park colors (or in my home road) back in my teens.

Tenshodo GN C-1 class 0-8-0

United GN H-5 4-6-2

Tenshodo GN N-3 2-8-8-0

All three of these are running NCE D103 decoders.  One of these days I have to yard that out and throw in sound decoders.  The only problem is the N-3 articulated sounds like a dentists drill.  I don't own a quiet Tenshodo articulated. 

Luckily, NWSL make a hi-low gearbox set for them, and when retrofitted, are dead quiet.  I have three of these to do, and they are the backbone of my GN assigned fleet. 

Regards,

Jerry

I have COX, Mantua Tyco and a few old Athearn blue boxes.

I'm actually a Marklin fan. I have several postwar pieces...maybe it's the fact that they run on a third rail. LOL.

My Varney box and ice cars mostly have warped underframes.  Bob Stevenson cast up some slightly small but usable reproductions in brass, salvaging these beautiful lithographed cars.  I think he still has them available.

here you go - all metal:

Ignore the O Scale track.

Not really a collector of HO, but I did have to track down an example of my first HO engine, a Penn Line Whitcomb midget diesel switcher.

Jim

And here's a photo of my collection of Lindberg Lines SW's.  You're basically looking at  an example of ALL known liveries the little Lindberg Lines SW was released in!

What you're seeing:

Boxed top: The very rare Illinois Central version.

Second row boxed: L - The also rare CNW version. R - The more common B&O version.

Front row on track: L - Also common ATSF version. R - The B&O version.

(Middle track - Some extras I acquired over the years!)

I have lots of vintage HO trains.....depends on how old vintage is maybe all of it is vintage!

I have a Marx set, a few Polks Hobby models and lots of AHM locos and cars. 

A note on the COX HO trains....they were just a marketing of the Athearn line.....reboxed and slick ads to sell current Athrean trains. Lionel did the same thing before COX did. Lionel did enter HO again later with their own tooling. The GS-4 lives today under Bachmann HO line.....upgraded. 

I remember Lindberg HO trains from my youth. I have seen few so nice and mint!

How did they run?? What type drive?

They are interesting today because the Lindberg line of plastic kits are being revived today and they are using the old logo shown on your packaging. 

Here is a 1961 AC Gilbert/American Flyer Wabash. I have  no idea about it except that it does not run. Not even sure where I got it. Sorry as picture is a little dark.

AMCDave said:

quote:

I remember Lindberg HO trains from my youth. I have seen few so nice and mint!

How did they run?? What type drive?

They are interesting today because the Lindberg line of plastic kits are being revived today and they are using the old logo shown on your packaging.

Hi Dave!

Gotta' be truthful: The above all run like crap.  I think when new they ran much better. At least, I remember the new one I received in my 1962 Christmas set running pretty darn good for the day. Time and age takes its toll on vintage stuff. (Us included!)

I've learned that the Lindberg Line of HO products were WAY ahead of their time. The above all used a spring belt drive, a large flywheel with a jack shaft gear set, etc.  Below is a page from their "owners manual" sent with their engines:

Not only flywheel drives and such, but all of their equipment, engines and rolling stock, had NMRA RP25 wheel contours. Very rare for train sets.  In fact, their rolling stock trucks were so state of the art, they are still sought out by modelers TODAY: Cast in hi-detailed "Delrin", sprung sideframes, needle point axles, and RP25 wheel contours. Here's a literature pic of their Bettendorf type of truck:

It IS interesting that the old Lindberg Line of models (non_HO trains, I assume) is being revived. Do you know what kits are being considered for release at this time?

I balance between Ho and O gauge. I have recently gone through most of my HO Scale stuff have down sized to just four locomotives and a few cars. Mostly Tyco equipment, I love just the simple charm of Tyco.

I've got a fairly nice collection of late 50's to early 70's Marklin and Fleischmann HO. I also have a fair amount of 1958-68 Tyco-Mantua,Marx,Lionel and Athearn HO. We have HO display shelves on the wall in our home office. The Tyco Mantua steam locomotives are excellent runners when used with an excellent powerpack (MRC Tech 4) and track (Kato).Some of the Marx HO diesels are actually smooth but somewhat noisy runners with 8 wheel drive.Not bad for 50+ year old HO.

I'm not a collector of vintage HO, but I do have an old Lionel HO Geep (7 or 9??) in the B&O gold 50th anniversary scheme. Looks ok but needs work. A future project for sure if I can find the parts.

At one time I thought about buying some of the old Tyco stuff I had as a kid back in the late '70's. I have too many things already, so I decided against it.