Buy anything cool lately?

Awesome finds everyone! It seems I’m posting new buys weekly so I might calm it down for a bit (until that Menards email comes hahaha).

Yesterday I stopped by Grzyboski’s for my monthly visit ONLY expecting to pick up some short tubular track sections. Needless to say that didn’t go as planned. I found several items to my liking and almost left the store without getting the initial track sections! Ended up leaving with a box of goodie’s and feeling relaxed from some good train therapy.

First up is the Lionel Maintenance Shed. I built  one of these over 20 years ago with my Mother and late Father. I still have it and decided I wanted a second one on my second level of my layout.

Next up is a boxcar that has some meaning behind it. It’s a Lionel Hamm’s Beer boxcar. This was my late brother’s beer of choice so I simply couldn’t set it down. He would have loved seeing this running behind our late Father’s Lionel 2035.

Following that meaningful find, I set eyes on a Lionel PRR ORE car. Introducing my first ever ORE car.

The rest of the items are Plasticville, Mattel, and a few sections of track. The chicken coop and greenhouse will be perfect addition’s to my farm scene. The garage is a 1972 Mattel.

As always, keep sharing all your cool purchases everyone! I love checking this thread daily!

This week I got a couple of K-Line Amtrak ore cars. I have the other 4 road numbers, and these were the last two I needed! Not sure if Amtrak actually had any of these, but I wanted them either way.

Click here:   https://youtu.be/B1fbgrX29gY

Birds of a feather flock together: The Legionnaire and The Pocahontas

Ash

https://ogrforum.com/...7#162334965794564207
Two beautiful trains!

Did you say Pocahontas?

I bought an intermodal truck

New to me LIONEL F-3 ABA Northern Pacific Loewy livery for my NP NCL.  A first TMCC loco for me.  Serviced before running today by my fellow club member, Ed, a retired Lionel tech and train store owner; and, who schooled me on how to program the three units.

An unusual ABA set:  The powered A and B units sold in 1997; and, the dummy TMCC A sold 5 years later in 2002.

Also, the powered A unit has fluting molded into the shell sides (which I'd not seen before) below the white line; but, there is no fluting on the B or dummy A units--their sides are smooth as was typical for non-scale F units.

A purchase that has exceeded my expectations.

I picked up two  O 3001049 - 40' GATX Airslide Hopper "Brach's Candies" covered hoppers from Mr. MUFFIN.

@Pingman posted:

New to me LIONEL F-3 ABA Northern Pacific Loewy livery for my NP NCL.  A first TMCC loco for me.  Serviced before running today by my fellow club member, Ed, a retired Lionel tech and train store owner; and, who schooled me on how to program the three units.

An unusual ABA set:  The powered A and B units sold in 1997; and, the dummy TMCC A sold 5 years later in 2002.

Also, the powered A unit has fluting molded into the shell sides (which I'd not seen before) below the white line; but, there is no fluting on the B or dummy A units--their sides are smooth as was typical for non-scale F units.

A purchase that has exceeded my expectations.

Very sharp consist, Carl. Mr. Loewy certainly had a great eye for design!!!

@carnerd3000 posted:

This week I got a couple of K-Line Amtrak ore cars. I have the other 4 road numbers, and these were the last two I needed! Not sure if Amtrak actually had any of these, but I wanted them either way.

Amtrak may or may not have had them ......but YOU do and they look great.

@Pingman posted:

New to me LIONEL F-3 ABA Northern Pacific Loewy livery for my NP NCL.  A first TMCC loco for me.  Serviced before running today by my fellow club member, Ed, a retired Lionel tech and train store owner; and, who schooled me on how to program the three units.

An unusual ABA set:  The powered A and B units sold in 1997; and, the dummy TMCC A sold 5 years later in 2002.

Also, the powered A unit has fluting molded into the shell sides (which I'd not seen before) below the white line; but, there is no fluting on the B or dummy A units--their sides are smooth as was typical for non-scale F units.

A purchase that has exceeded my expectations.

The "fluting" was added to the sides of the F3 A unit molds in the early MPC era when the Santa Fe F3 was reintroduced. It was to help factory workers align the warbonnet stripes. Lionel removed the "fluting" from the sides of the A unit shells sometime between 1998 and 2000, and also added the vents back to the front of the shell.

@Richizzle07 - Neat new stuff.  Most of the plasticville and Lionel I have seen before but the "corn crib" (last photo) is a new one to me, is it plasticville?  @Pingman - NP livery is just beautiful I have always loved it but have never connected with any significant trains with that as decoration.  A B A is beautiful.  Good luck with it.  DMASSO - cool covered hoppers, Brach's candies especially their "Good and Plenty" is my wife's favorite candy - so I am going to have to be on the lookout for one of those hoppers.  @carnerd3000 - I agree with Dallas, Amtrack may not have them but you do and they are neat!

So what might I have to offer on this (very) hot Sunday afternoon. Well as I might have said before, I cannot guarantee you will see this as "cool" but then again it only cost $5.  I found that my imaginary brakemen on top of my cars were taking a terrible risk because I did not have any warning of an approaching overpass.  SO....I have acquired a "Tell Tail" for my layout.  It was listed as Marx and indeed my Marx reference lists a #313 "low clearance Tell-tail" with a chrome round pressed base.  It even has a picture of this item, which is similar if not exactly what I have.  So although it is not marked "Marx" I am going to assume that is what it is... here she is:

The "fingers" are a very stiff cardboard and the rest is all metal.  The heavy wire support is bent at a rt angle and soldered into the bottom of the top of the dome of the base.  The entire thing except the fingers is a moderately shiny sheet steel but not "chromed" in the automotive sense.  

Well that's my "Cool" thing for today.  Not much I suppose but hey for $5 what do you expect !

Best wishes

Don

@Lou1985 posted:

The "fluting" was added to the sides of the F3 A unit molds in the early MPC era when the Santa Fe F3 was reintroduced. It was to help factory workers align the warbonnet stripes. Lionel removed the "fluting" from the sides of the A unit shells sometime between 1998 and 2000, and also added the vents back to the front of the shell.

Thanks, Lou.  They didn't need help with the stripes on the B unit sides?

I'll need to checkout the F-3s others run at the club of that era.

@Pingman posted:

Thanks, Lou.  They didn't need help with the stripes on the B unit sides?

I'll need to checkout the F-3s others run at the club of that era.

Apparently not. They just added the fluting to the A unit shells to line up the warbonnet. Around the time Lionel made the green and tuscan PRR F3s they also removed the second set of side louvers in the F3B, but those also got added back in the late 90s/early 2000s.

A few things:

#1, an MTH Rosebud Mining ore car.

#2, a new motor for my Lego Liner as I tried to do some Rocket Surgery and mate a Lionchief board to an MTH trolley, with unfortunate results... At least Trainz had a beat up MTH trolley with a fully functional motor for cheap.

And #3, some Legos to upgrade the caboose on the Lego Liner from it's usual Red/Yellow all year format to a Red/White/Green Christmas format, allowing it to pull double duty as the Lego Liner's caboose as well as a Christmas caboose when the Christmas season arrives.

@Don McErlean posted:

@Richizzle07 - Neat new stuff.  Most of the plasticville and Lionel I have seen before but the "corn crib" (last photo) is a new one to me, is it plasticville?

Thanks Don! Yes, it’s a plasticville item. The date stamped on the bottom says June 17, 1952 with Pat.# 2,600,900.

Wow Richizzle that is a new one on me, Plasticville!  Thanks for posting the markings and sharing the item number.  OK that one goes on my "need" list!  Thanks again for your response.

Don

@Pingman posted:

Thanks, Lou.  They didn't need help with the stripes on the B unit sides?

I'll need to checkout the F-3s others run at the club of that era.

Here's my 1996 vintage TMCC Santa Fe F3s. The fluting is still in the mold and apparently Lionel still used it to line up the warbonnet. B units never got fluting as I suppose it was easier to keep the stripes in line without the curve of the warbonnet.

Thanks for the photo @Lou1985.  It really highlights the fluting at the right of the ladder.

I still find the fluting to be out of place, especially on a Warbonnet shell with the same screen tops, horns, ladders, etc. that Lionel introduced 70+ years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have the NP ABA version, but I'd prefer smooth sides.

@Don McErlean posted:

Wow Richizzle that is a new one on me, Plasticville!  Thanks for posting the markings and sharing the item number.  OK that one goes on my "need" list!  Thanks again for your response.

Don

You’re very welcome Don! I just checked on ebay and there’s a few listed as the plasticville  farm outbuildings kit. Item is #45604.

Picked up a pair of K-line LIRR streamline coaches from a forum member.  I have the Greenport Scoot set with coaches 2842, and 2843. These will be a nice addition.

@RSJB18 posted:

Picked up a pair of K-line LIRR streamline coaches from a forum member.  I have the Greenport Scoot set with coaches 2842, and 2843. These will be a nice addition.

Bob don't ya just love the K-line semi-scale stuff from the 90's! While Lionel was making similar semi-scale passenger cars with white frosted plastic windows and silhouettes, K-line had clear windows with interiors and a few seated figures for around the same price. I can't tell from the photo, are those 15" cars? Nice purchase, enjoy!

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Bob don't ya just love the K-line semi-scale stuff from the 90's! While Lionel was making similar semi-scale passenger cars with white frosted plastic windows and silhouettes, K-line had clear windows with interiors and a few seated figures for around the same price. I can't tell from the photo, are those 15" cars? Nice purchase, enjoy!

Yea, they are all good. The cars in my set have figures that were added by the previous owner. They are 13" cars.

@RSJB18 posted:

Yea, they are all good. The cars in my set have figures that were added by the previous owner. They are 13" cars.

K-line, the little details like the window blinds printed on the inside of the windows! Stuff like that is what set K-line apart from the other manufacturers in that price range. Too bad they're gone. Very nice set of passenger cars Bob, enjoy! Video coming?

Great buys fellows and Happy Railroading Everyone, today at Kroger I ran into a steal, a  toy VW Minivan, with Love and Peace on the side, truly a great idea.

Looks good Larry! Was there a scale marked on it? I see vehicles at stores like Walgreens; a pharmacy that sells everything from personal care to motor oil. I’m never sure if they are in scale.

@pennsyfan, Bob, I actually didn’t check to see what scale was marked on this VW, I just loved what it had written on the sides, probably 1/43 or close. Thank you for asking. Happy Railroading Everyone

Great buy Larry. Hippie van for sure but great thoughts expressed!

Dpn

Custom Made 2'x3' framed artwork print of the Lionel 1958 Catalog. Of course has my favorite motorized unit on it since I am a fireman :-)

A Weaver Brass Pennsylvania M1a Mountain arrived the other day from Stout. I am not typically an eastern railroad guy but the M1a with the dog house has always intrigued me. So home it came.

Had a part and a couple of tiny screws laying around in the box.  Found out it was the "maintenance shelf" at the front of the boiler.  What I cannot easily see is a way to get into the boiler to re-insert the screws which hold the shelf in place. Any ideas? At some point this may receive an ERR - perhaps a case of killing 2 birds with one stone?  Not quite as detailed as I thought, but still nice and from what I understand the first Korean Brass engine imported by Weaver.

The shelf supports are tapped to accept the screws which would be inserted through the boiler head and tighten into the shelf.   

My only Weaver is a brass turbine. When I unpacked it the rear wheels fell out of the tender. As I was bringing my set to the layout my friend was taking his engine out of the box and the chassis fell back into the box. When he picked that up the motor came loose from the chassis. I was never interested in brass after that. I still have the engine it runs ok.

Bob that does not sound like a happy circumstance. I had read some positive things about the Weaver Korean brass imports. Thought I would give it a try since the "price was right".  I'll have to put it on the layout in a couple of weeks to see how it runs, but it is a nice looking engine appearance wise. Funny I picked up a 3RD Rail M10000 which had a broken pickup wire. Sat in a box for 20 years and never was taken out. Like being the first owner. Good thing there was not a 20 year old 9v in the shell. That would have been a mess.   

@ScoutingDad and @pennsyfan:

I am sorry to hear of your bad experiences with Weaver brass locomotives. I have two, a PRR 4-6-0 and a PRR 2-8-0 that were previously owned. I had no trouble with either of them. A photo of the 4-6-0 is below. The detail on these models is SUPERB! Though it was a rather tedious and expensive process, I found a repair man who knew how to convert these to MTH ProtoSound 3 and had them both weathered by Harry Hieke in New Jersey.

Just added this to my Kodak fleet. MTH Alco RS1. The prototype is now in service at our local RR museum in Industry, NY along with a GE 80 tonner. MTH painted one of their 40 tonners to match.

https://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/ek9/

https://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/ek6/

Pete

@Randy Harrison  HI Randy and all,  I would not say I had a bad experience with the the Weaver M1a mountain steamer. A couple of screws loosened up and I have to re-attach. A little more painful than an MTH diesel, but I am not expecting anything major. On the other hand if the brass solder joints were coming apart that would be a different matter.

There are a few Weaver GG1s available right now. Kind of curious if you were to buy just one GG1 for your layout which one would you choose, but has to be scale proportions, the more detailed the better (to a point).  Weaver brass, MTH Premier, 3rd Rail, Lionel? (not a Lionel guy so I have zero familiarity with their engines. Have seen the arcing catenaries  - that is pretty cool).  I have always wanted a GG1 since I was a kid.  Bought a RailKing version - but its just not right with the shortened body : ( 

BTW I am thinking about dipping into ERR for this engine and a couple of trolleys and interurbans.

@Norton posted:

Just added this to my Kodak fleet. MTH Alco RS1. The prototype is now in service at our local RR museum in Industry, NY along with a GE 80 tonner. MTH painted one of their 40 tonners to match.

https://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/ek9/

https://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/ek6/

Pete

Great information, Pete!! Thank you for sharing!!!

Just received this K-line 15" aluminum coach that I purchased NIB on eBay from seller I've done business with before, his stuff is great. It's going to be added to my K-line California Zephyr set, but do you notice what's not right with this coach? LoL

That's right, it's New York Central!!! K-line did not make matching standard coaches for the Cal Zephyr set, so I'll have to create new nameplates with the California Zephyr name and rename the coach to the Silver Feather. This will not be a prototypical Cal Zephyr car because the Zephyr didn't have any standard non dome coaches, all the non domed coaches were sleepers or diners. As usual one of the passengers is dislodged from his seat and has his butt up against the window on the left. At least he's not mooning us!

I'll change the nameplates when I disassemble the car to paint the interior seating, carpet the floor, install interior wall paneling, and replace the incandescent lights with LED's to match the rest of my Cal Zephyr coaches.

Scott, what will your process be for changing the nameplate?

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Scott, what will your process be for changing the nameplate?

Jay, probably PhotoShop, Canon Photo Printer, Canon Photo paper. I'm playing with it now. Chrome is hard to match and print, but I'm getting close. I may just put the photo paper right over the existing sign plate rather than replace it.

@ScoutingDad posted:

@Randy Harrison  HI Randy and all,  I would not say I had a bad experience with the the Weaver M1a mountain steamer. A couple of screws loosened up and I have to re-attach. A little more painful than an MTH diesel, but I am not expecting anything major. On the other hand if the brass solder joints were coming apart that would be a different matter.

There are a few Weaver GG1s available right now. Kind of curious if you were to buy just one GG1 for your layout which one would you choose, but has to be scale proportions, the more detailed the better (to a point).  Weaver brass, MTH Premier, 3rd Rail, Lionel? (not a Lionel guy so I have zero familiarity with their engines. Have seen the arcing catenaries  - that is pretty cool).  I have always wanted a GG1 since I was a kid.  Bought a RailKing version - but its just not right with the shortened body : (

BTW I am thinking about dipping into ERR for this engine and a couple of trolleys and interurbans.

@ScoutingDad:

I am glad to hear that you consider the loose screws a manageable problem and that the rest of your Weaber brass experience has been good. I have been watching Ebay and many GG-1s have come up for sale at reasonable prices. I have an MTH, Premier, Scale GG-1 that I use to run on my club's layout. It is an older one that came out before ProtoSound was created. Therefore, it was conventional control. I had the late, Wayne Renga, the patent holder of the Battery Component Replacement (BCR) upgrade it to ProtoSound 2 to operate it with the MTH Digital Command System DCS. Though I don't have a good side shot of the engine, photos of it running are below.

I am a Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) junky! My maternal grandfather was a 42 year man on the Pennsylvania Railroad and took me, beginning at the age of 3, on many train trips up and down the electrified PRR Northeast Corridor from Washington DC to New York and out to Harrisburg, PA after his retirement in 1953.  Consequently, I have ridden behind and seen many GG-1s up  close. I find that the detail on a GG-1's body and trucks can be sufficiently captured in a plastic body. For outward appearance sake, I like the MTH locomotive as much as I do the Weaver GG-1 and MTH now comes with ProtoSound 3 with a GREAT sound package and remote control capability. IMHO brass models of Diesels and electric locomotives do not buy you as much as brass does with steam due to all of the steam's exposed piping, and other parts attached visibly to the outside body of a steam engine. Also, if you want to convert Weaver to MTH ProtoSound, the process is very tedious and costly as I mentioned in my previous post. Lionel and MTH make superb scale GG-1s. I prefer MTH due to the quality and the fact that they have been traditionally a lower price point than Lionel. If you run conventionally with no aspirations of future remote control, Weaver is a good choice because of the current prices they are bringing. I have also included a photo of my PRR 4-6-0 brass engine. Click on the photo to enlarge it and you may be able to see the applied piping and other details.

I hope my "dissertation" has not confused you and is helpful in your decision process.

Dunno it this belongs here; if not moderators please move it to the proper category.

When my dad passed, there were very few items worth saving; he was a VERY HEAVY smoker, so most of his stuff was permanently "damaged" by the constant fog of smoke. I did keep the 1939 Hamilton Beach #18 milkshake maker (it was wrapped in plastic, so it didn't absorb too much smoke.)

The other thing was this:

It runs really well; is a little slower than my modern Dremel, so it's handy for polishing wheels, etc. Interesting that it was made by the "Excel Auto Radiator Co." ...  

Mark in Oregon